REGION
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Hermiston woman marches on D.C.
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
For Alex Hobbs, the deci-
sion to go to the Women’s
March on Washington was
not a difficult one.
“We booked our tickets
shortly after the election,”
she said. Hobbs and her
husband, Fletcher, along
with hundreds of thou-
sands of others, gathered
in Washington, D.C., the
day after President Donald
Trump’s inauguration to
march in protest of much
of Trump’s rhetoric during
his campaign, including his
comments against women,
racial minorities and immi-
grants. Crowds also marched
in support of reproductive,
LGBT and immigrant rights.
“There are a lot of things
I reject about Trump’s
ideology, the campaign he
ran — there’s a laundry list
of reasons why I marched,”
said Hobbs, 26.
Hobbs, from Hermiston,
said she was surprised by
how many men showed
up at the march, and by the
diverse group of people who
attended. Before the march,
attendance was expected
to be around 100,000, but
several reports afterward
estimated attendance to have
hit more than 400,000.
“To me, it felt like what
Photo contributed by Alex Hobbs
Hermiston residents Fletcher and Alex Hobbs attended the Women’s March on
Washington Jan. 21 with hundreds of thousands of other marchers.
America really looks like,”
she said.
Hobbs said one of her
favorite moments at the
march was a speech by
Sophie Cruz, a six year-old
who, joined on stage by her
parents and little sister, spoke
on behalf of immigrants.
“I don’t think there was a
dry eye in the crowd,” Hobbs
said.
Hobbs added that while
there were a handful of
Trump supporters in the
audience trying to antago-
nize marchers, the event was
largely peaceful.
Though Hobbs said she
has not been too active with
politics in the past, she is
interested in getting more
involved.
“A couple of months
ago, my friend and I put on
an immigration forum,” she
said. “And I’m finishing up
my degree in political science
at Oregon State in June.”
While she doesn’t know
what she’ll do after she
graduates, Hobbs said she’s
interested in advocacy for
immigrants.
“There’s certainly a need
for it in the area,” she said.
Students piece together art project
Butte mosaic
to be auctioned
during fundraiser
Beach & Beef
Dinner and Auction
Hermiston Education
Foundation
When: Feb. 4; 5 p.m.,
doors open
Where: Hermiston Con-
ference Center
Cost: $35
Info: 541-567-5215 or
www.mkt.com/hef
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
A three-year mosaic project of the Hermiston Butte
created by groups of Highland Hills fifth grade students
will be up for bid during the Feb. 4 Hermiston Educa-
tion Foundation Beach & Beef Dinner and Auction.
crab dinner is at 6:15 p.m. and
a live auction follows. Tickets
are $35 each and are available
in advance at the conference
center, the district office,
305 S.W. 11th St., or www.
squareup.com/store/hef.
Money raised from the
event is used for grants
awarded each fall and spring
to staff in the school district
to enhance the educational
experience of students.
Over the years, projects
have funded the purchase of
musical instruments, field
trips, technology equipment,
books, special curriculum and
speakers.
Espinosa is impressed
with Temple’s leadership with
the mosaic project.
“I think it’s great that
he’s taken that initiative to
involve his students in that art
perspective in the Hermiston
School District,” she said.
Prior to actually beginning
to piece together the project,
Temple met with students to
discuss the history of mosaics,
the importance of safety while
working on the project and
learning about techniques.
After starting, Temple
discovered the project was
going to take longer than
anticipated. Students looked
forward to working on
the piece, but also wanted
time to socialize.
“I had to reconcile to
myself ... while we were
making progress, it wasn’t
all necessarily focused on the
mosaic,” Temple said.
Participants
collected
cups, plates and other items
that could be re-purposed
for the mosaic. The students
enjoyed sharing about where
they found particular pieces.
However, their favorite part,
Temple said, were “breaking
days.”
“Students used hammers
and lots of enthusiasm in
smashing plates, tiles and cups
to be used in the mosaic,” he
said.
Temple said taping off
and assigning portions of
responsibility helped students
envision the process. They
couldn’t see progress putting
in dime-sized pieces of mate-
rial — but they could see their
section filling up.
“That’s what made it
click,” Temple said. “They
took ownership of their
section.”
The completed project
is currently on display at
the Hermiston Conference
Center.
———
Contact
Community
Editor Tammy Malgesini at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4539
Hermiston Police Chief says crime is trending down
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The Hermiston Police
Department released its
annual crime statistics on
Monday and confirmed what
they already know: Rates for
some crimes are up this year,
but overall crime continues to
trend downward in the city.
Police
Chief
Jason
Edmiston said the two
categories of crime that
increased this year were rape
and aggravated assault — the
number of rapes increased
from four in 2015 to seven
in 2016. Aggravated assault
numbers increased from 12 in
2015 to 20 in 2016. Edmiston
said because numbers of
both have been fairly low in
Hermiston, a few instances
can skew percentages.
“Obviously one rape is
one rape too many,” he said.
“With the rapes last year, all
participants were known to
one another, and there was no
random crime. Three of them
were consensual but age was
a factor.”
With aggravated assaults
tracked last year, Edmiston
said 57 percent of the inci-
dents were domestic-related,
43 percent involved the use
of a controlled substance,
and only one incident was
definitively identified as
gang-related.
There
are
statistics
provided for eight types of
crime on the annual report:
homicide, rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, burglary,
larceny, auto theft and arson.
Edmiston said the depart-
ment prefers to look at crime
over a longer period of time.
“Crime can be very
cyclical,” he said. “When it
comes to identifying trends,
we feel it’s more appropriate
to look at 10-year periods.”
Overall, he said, crime
rates were comparable to last
year, decreasing 2 percent
overall from 2015.
He said over the past 10
years, total crime is down
32 percent, even though the
population of Hermiston has
increased 15 percent during
that period.
Edmiston said officers
have several strategies for
addressing crime in Herm-
iston. They look at statistics
throughout the year, posting
quarterly reports, looking
for trends and redirecting
funds if one area needs more
attention.
Edmiston also discussed
crime stats for juvenile
offenders. The department
processed 186 juveniles for
315 different crimes.
Drug charges dropped
among juveniles and charges
for alcohol stayed the same as
last year, but use of tobacco
increased. Charges of disor-
derly conduct, harassment,
assault and menacing were
also down among juvenile
offenders, Edmiston said.
“It’s interesting that those
things are down in the juve-
nile world, but in the adult
world they’re up,” Edmiston
said.
Edmiston also reviewed
patrol statistics — officer-ini-
tiated activity is down 12
percent, and traffic stops are
down 13 percent. An unex-
pected trend, Edmiston said,
appeared with sick leave.
“Use of sick leave
increased
86
percent,”
Edmiston said. A total of
2,280 hours were used for
sick leave — essentially one
full-time employee. He said
after identifying the trend in
May, he has discussed it with
the department.
Edmiston said that histor-
ically, Hermiston has had
low violent crime rates and
high property crime rates —
and that officers are trying
to teach citizens to avoid
becoming victims.
“We
know
there’s
offenders, and there’s people
who allow themselves to be
victimized,” he said. “Not on
purpose, but by not locking
their doors or something
like that. We try to impede
offenders, but also to teach
people to lessen the likeli-
hood they’ll be victimized.”
Edmiston said he couldn’t
compare Hermiston crime
statistics to those of nearby
towns, because many other
cities don’t publish their
statistics.
“I get calls all the time
from people contemplating
moving to the area, asking
about schools, crime, specific
neighborhoods,” he said. “I
think it’s important to report
things, even things we’re not
proud of.”
The complete crime report
is available on the city of
Hermiston’s website.
Page 3A
HERMISTON
Desert View employee
stole from coworkers
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
HERMISTON
A three-year art project
created by groups of fifth
graders from Highland Hills
Elementary School will go
to the highest bidder during a
Hermiston Education Foun-
dation fundraiser.
Patrick Temple said the
creation of “A Portrait of the
Hermiston Butte” began in
2013. The fifth grade teacher
has worked on other mosaic
projects with students, which
are on display in the Highland
Hills library and at Martha’s
House.
“I have enjoyed doing
mosaics for years,” Temple
said. “It’s an interest of mine
I find fun to share with my
students.”
Temple calls the Butte
mosaic, which is approx-
imately 3-foot by 5-foot,
an “heirloom” piece. Tori
Espinosa, treasurer of the
Hermiston Education Foun-
dation, agreed, saying “it’s
beautiful.”
The Beach & Beef Dinner
and Auction is Saturday, Feb.
4 with the doors opening at 5
p.m. at the Hermiston Confer-
ence Center, 415 S. Highway
395. People can view silent
auction items, socialize
and make purchases from
a no-host bar. The beef and
East Oregonian
A Hermiston School
District employee was
fired on Monday after she
was caught stealing credit
cards from colleagues’
purses in October 2016
and spending the money on
cigarettes.
Lisa Bryan was a speech
language pathologist at the
Hermiston School District
since the beginning of the
2016-2017 school year.
Bryan was arrested and
lodged in the Umatilla
County Jail on four counts
of identity theft, four
counts of fraudulent use of
a credit or debit card, and
four counts of third-degree
theft.
According to school
district documents received
by the East Oregonian,
Bryan was placed on paid
administrative leave for
three months, starting
in October 2016, while
Hermiston police investi-
gated the alleged theft.
During that period,
district
employees
attempted to meet with
Bryan to discuss the inci-
dent, but Bryan did not
appear for the scheduled
meetings.
The
district
then
moved forward with the
information they had, and
recommended to the board
that Bryan be terminated,
which they did Monday.
The
investigation
began October 14, when
Hermiston police received
a report that three teachers
at Desert View Elementary
School had their debit or
credit cards stolen out
of their purses during the
previous few weeks.
On October 20, police
received surveillance video
from the school showing a
pregnant female entering
and exiting several class-
rooms. A few hours later,
Bryan met with two Herm-
iston police officers.
Officers told Bryan
she was caught on video
surveillance at the 11th
Street Market using one of
the stolen cards.
After initially denying
having any knowledge of
the alleged theft, Bryan
admitted to using stolen
cards to purchase cigarettes
and other items. Officers
learned that in addition to
employees from Desert
View, Bryan had also
stolen from a colleague at
Highland Hills Elementary
School.
When asked why she
had stolen the cards, Bryan
told police that she was
having financial difficul-
ties, but had not used the
cards to pay for any bills or
household items.
BRIEFLY
Transient with toy gun arrested
HERMISTON — Richard J. Mills, 62, was arrested
Wednesday afternoon for walking around the Stafford
Hansell Building and the Eastern Oregon Higher
Education Center holding what appeared to be a
handgun in his hand. The weapon turned out to be an
airsoft-style toy gun. Mills was arrested and charged
with disorderly conduct and taken to the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
An employee of the Umatilla County District
Attorney’s office first observed the man walking around
the two buildings with what looked like a handgun, and
alerted Hermiston Police officers. Officers found Mills,
a transient, inside the EOHEC building. Mills began to
yell and cause a disturbance. Officers found that Mills
had two airsoft handguns in his possession, both of
which were seized as evidence.
Hermiston police chief Jason Edmiston said in a
statement that the department has dealt with Mills
several times, and that he has been increasingly
aggressive with officers.
“The decision by Mr. Mills to walk around the
courthouse and ultimately into the education building
is very unfortunate as there were numerous people
inside,” Edmiston said in a statement. “Our officers
responded appropriately and took immediate action.”
New BOT secretary will be elected Feb. 7
The race to replace David Close, the former Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Board
of Trustees secretary, is heading into its final stretch.
Tribal members will choose from six candidates
on Feb. 7, the date of a special election set after Close
was recalled from office in October amid allegations
of failing to fulfill the tribes’ constitution, elder abuse,
abuse of position and other violations.
The candidates are Kat Brigham, a former board
secretary, Giselle Halfmoon, David Wolf, Lawanda
Bronson, Roberta Kipp and Leila Spencer.
The board secretary is responsible for all board
correspondence, issuing of public notices, taking
of minutes and recording of official actions, and is
custodian of all board files and records.
Tribal members can vote in person at the Nixyaawii
Governance Center on Feb. 7 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Absentee ballots may be requested from the tribes’
election commission by going to the CTUIR website.
———
Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
MULTI-MEDIA SALES
Great work environment.
Super awesome team.
Good pay. Retirement plan.
Weekends off. Interested?
Chris McClellan,
Multi-Media Sales Consultant
Send resume and letter of
interest to
EO Media Group
PO Box 2048
Salem, OR 97308-2048
by fax to 503-371-2935 or
e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com
East Oregonian has an
opening for multi-media sales.
No multi-media experience?
That’s fine, as long as you
understand the importance
of customer service,
working hard and a desire
to enjoy your job.
Could this be you?
Base wage plus commissions,
benefits and mileage
reimbursement. Benefits
include Paid Time Off (PTO),
insurances and a 401(k)/Roth
401(k) retirement plan.