REGION Wednesday, February 1, 2017 East Oregonian MILTON-FREEWATER BRIEFLY Power fails for 4,600, closes school East Oregonian A problem at an electric substation in Walla Walla Tuesday morning left about 4,600 customers in Milton-Freewater without power and canceled a day of school, city manager Linda Hall said. Bonneville Power Administration spokesman Kevin Wingert said Milton-Freewater’s power went out around 5 a.m. and was restored around 10:30 a.m. The BPA supplies electricity to the city of Milton-Freewater, and when a conductor was tripped early Tuesday morning, the city and two other utility organizations lost power. Wingert said BPA crews worked to reroute the supply to restore power by the late morning and repaired the conductor by 1:37 p.m. The prolonged power failure caused the Milton-Freewater Unified School District to close its schools and Blue Mountain Community College to close its Milton-Freewater campus. Milton-Freewater Super- intendent Rob Clark said the district initially made the decision to delay the schools’ start time, but once the outage persisted past 8 a.m., he made the call to cancel school for the day. Barring a snow day because of inclement weather, Clark said school is currently scheduled to resume on Wednesday. Hall said city hall utilizes a backup generator during outages to keep the building’s dispatch center operational, but other city facilities are in the “dark and cold.” MISSION Rez killing, shooting trial gets 2nd delay By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian The federal criminal trial for the March 2016 shooting and homicide on the Umatilla Indian Reservation has been delayed again. Julian Darryl James Simpson of Idaho faces murder for the shooting d e a t h of Tony Jimenez Jr. of Pend- leton. A n d c o - d e - Simpson fendant Victor Joseph Contreras of California faces attempted murder and assault for shooting Beau Welch. Federal prosecutors also charged Simpson and Contreras with gun crimes. Their five-day trial was to start Feb. 7 at U.S. District Court, Portland. Benjamin T. Andersen, the defense attorney for Simpson, asked the court on Jan. 20 to delay the trial to gather more evidence. “My investigation is ongoing,” Andersen stated in his request. “The govern- ment indicates that it is in the process of providing more discovery related to their ongoing investigation.” This was Andersen’s second motion to continue. Paul Maloney, assistant federal prosecutor, joined the latest request, according to the document, and Contre- ras’s attorney, Francesca Freccero, also asked for a delay. Judge Anna J. Brown granted the motion and reset the trial for April 11 in Portland. And Brown in December reset the trial of Joseph Aaron McIver, Edward Duarte Ayala and Armando Ruben Vargas to May 16 in Portland. They each face weapons charges stemming from the shooting death of Thadd Nelson on Jan. 27, 2016, at his home near Meacham on Umatilla Indian Reservation land. ——— The Boardman rest area stabbing case concluded in early January when 18-year-old Talon Davis of Idaho pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault. Davis was 17 in May 2016 when he stabbed a woman in the restroom off Interstate 84 near Boardman. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson recommended a prison sentence of five years and five months, which Circuit Judge Christopher Brauer agreed to hand down. The prison time is five months fewer than the stan- dard mandatory minimum for the crime. Nelson said two circumstances figured into the sentence: Davis had no serious criminal history before the attack, and he was high on methamphetamine and marijuana when he committed the crime and believed someone was after him. Nelson said opting out of the mandatory minimum prison time is incentive for Davis to participate in mental health programs and drug treatment to earn time off his sentence. Davis also must serve three years of post-prison UP employee dies on train tracks BURBANK, Wash. — A Union Pacific Railroad employee died on the railroad tracks in Burbank at 5 a.m. Tuesday. John P. Schneider, 54, of Spokane Valley, was killed at 5 a.m., close to the Boise Paper mill near U.S. Highway 12. The incident was still under investigation as of this morning, but it appears Schneider died instantly, said Walla Walla County Coroner Richard Greenwood. Schneider was part of a work crew but the only person outside the train at the rail switching when he died, Greenwood said. There were no other injuries in the incident, said Justin Jacobs, a spokesman for Union Pacific, adding he had no further information. — Walla Walla Union Bulletin Ukiah woman takes deal on health care theft Staff photo by Kathy Aney Weekly protest marches on Dakota Access Pipeline protesters walk along Pendleton’s Main Street on Satur- day as part of their weekly stance against the project. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order reviving the controversial pipeline. PENDLETON Old city hall owners get court date to dispute fines East Oregonian The Pendleton Munic- ipal Court is the last thing between the family that owns old city hall and potentially hundreds of dollars in fines. At a Feb. 21 trial, municipal court judge will hear the Quezada family’s case to fend off nuisance code enforcement from the city. The historic old city hall was set on fire after an explosion in July 2015, killing Eduardo Quezada and heavily damaging the building. The building went unrepaired for more than a year, a violation of the city’s nuisance ordinance, which can fine offenders up to $500 per day. With assurances from the family that they intended to restore the building and turn it into an apartment complex, the city gave the Quezadas a couple of extensions. But despite arguments from family members and advisers that the winter weather was hindering their efforts, the Pendleton City Council voted to begin enforcing the ordinance because repairs weren’t completed by Jan. 1. How much the Quezadas will be fined is now in the hands of the municipal court judge, who has the discre- tion to nix the fines if the family is able to complete the roofing project by the court date, city officials say. Marco Quezada, a member of the family, said the family has made strides since the city council decision, having cleared the alley behind the building of debris, boarded up the broken windows and made significant progress on the roof. He said the roof needs one final layer to reach completion and could be finished in a week to a week and a half with dry weather. Unfortunately for the family, the National Weather Service is forecasting snow for most of the week. Umatilla County to reimburse ranchers for wolf problems East Oregonian Six Umatilla County livestock producers could receive grants totaling about $24,000 due to wolf depre- dation. County attorney Doug Olsen said most of the grants would pay for methods to keep livestock safe from wolves, but some would cover the cost of livestock that wolves killed. He explained the money comes from the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s wolf depredation fund. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife investi- gated seven claims of wolf depredation in Umatilla County in 2016, according to its online listing of depredation investigation reports. Three investigations confirmed wolves killed the following livestock: • One lamb in May on private land in the area of the South Fork Walla Walla River. S T U D EN T O F TH E W EEK C am ille Riley McLoughlin High School Camille has a 3.97 GPA and is our Senior Class Presidenc. She is a member of Nacional Honor Sociecy, FBLA, Varsicy Club and Key Club. Wich all chese clubs Camille has spenc numerous hours doing communicy and school service. She has been one of our oucscanding volunceers for 4 years. She has helped chair our fund raiser for che Sc. Mary’s Cancer Cencer. Camille is a member of our crack ceam, played soccer and cennis. Camille is a Varsicy Cheerleader ac Mac-Hi. Wich all of che sporcs ceam Camille has helped wich youch camps. Camille spends her summer as a lifeguard ac che Milcon Freewacer Pool. Her parencs are Kevin and Jennifer Riley.  Proudly Sponsored by 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR • 541-276-5121 Page 3A • A 450-pound calf in August on private land in the Meacham Creek area. • Two sheep in September on public land in the North- east Mount Emily Wildlife Management Unit. Wolves in that case also injured two other sheep. The county board of commissioners will consider the grants during its meeting Wednesday at 9 a.m. in room 130 at the Umatilla County Courthouse, 216 S.E. Fourth St., Pendleton. UKIAH — A 20-year-old Ukiah woman is in jail after admitting she stole health care benefits from the state. The Medicaid Fraud Unit at Oregon Department of Justice prosecuted the case and alleged Tyanna Billings obtain health care payments larger than what she was entitled in fall 2015 and in early 2016. The state on Nov. 22 charged Billings with four counts of making a false claim for health care payment and four of first- degree theft by deception, all Class C felonies. Billings on Monday at circuit court in Pendleton took a deal and pleaded guilty to two counts of each crime. Circuit Judge Christopher Brauer sentenced Billings to 20 days in jail, though he allowed the Umatilla County Community Justice Department to consider her for alternatives to jail. She also has to serve three years probation and pay restitution of $4,817. Grant provides transportation for seniors and vets PENDLETON — The city of Pendleton received a $20,625 grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation to provide public transportation through June 30 to low-income seniors, people with disabilities and veterans. According to Pendleton finance director Linda Carter, qualified individuals can buy $3 one-way tickets to take them to doctor appointments, pharmacies, therapy and the grocery store. For more information, call 541-966-0207. OCT to offer grant info at Pendleton Center for the Arts The Oregon Cultural Trust is providing tips to local arts and culture nonprofits who want to apply for a cut of the $5 million in grant funding available to them. As a part of a series of discussions led by trust manager Aili Schreiner, a session will be Thursday, Feb. 16 from 3:45-6:15 p.m. at Pendleton Center for the Arts, 214 N. Main St. The trust encourages libraries, arts organizations, museums, cultural centers, historical societies, arts alliances, literary groups, heritage organizations and other similar nonprofits to attend the meeting. Registration is not required. VA to hold town halls in Morrow County Town halls for veterans will be March 7 in Boardman and Irrigon. The meetings will give local veterans the opportunity to hear updates and to voice their concerns directly to Veterans Affairs officials. Walla Walla VA Medical Center director Brian Westfield will lead the meetings in Morrow County and provide updates on facilities and the Veterans Choice Program. Morrow County Veteran Service Officer Linda Skendzel will also be available to answer questions and provide assistance. The Irrigon session will be from 10-11 a.m. on March 7 at the Oregon Trail Library (200 South Main St. in Irrigon), while the Boardman session will be 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the Port of Morrow (2 Marine Drive in Boardman). Many thanks to all those who expressed sympathy and love to Doreen Brown before, during and aft er the ceremony at Folsom-Bishop. Gerald Brown