REGION
Saturday, February 25, 2017
HERMISTON
East Oregonian
Cantu pleads guilty
to manslaughter
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
EO file photo
A three-year mosaic project created by Highland
Hills fifth grade students was donated to the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event Center on Friday.
EOTEC still
working out fair,
rodeo contracts
Contributed photo by Gregg Rietmann
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Less than six months
remain until the Umatilla
County Fair and Farm-City
Rodeo. And while construc-
tion is progressing at their
new home, some details have
yet to be worked out.
At the Eastern Oregon
Trade and Event Center
board meeting Friday, Farm-
City board member Mike
Kay raised a concern that a
contract between EOTEC
and the rodeo has not yet
been finalized.
“From a history stand-
point, we’ve been waiting
for a year for this,” Kay said,
recalling repeated attempts
to solidify a contract. “We’re
now five months away from
the rodeo, and we still don’t
have any type of a working
agreement.”
He added that the agree-
ment for the rodeo-specific
mercantile building had
already been completed and
a year-long lease had been
signed.
“We have a piece of
property that we have to start
developing that’ll be at finan-
cial cost to the rodeo,” he said.
“It doesn’t do us any good
to continue to work on the
mercantile piece if we don’t
have a working agreement on
the piece of property.”
Byron Smith, who is both
EOTEC board chair and
Hermiston city manager, said
the contract has been delayed
so the fair and rodeo contracts
can be brought before the
board at the same time, but
told Kay and the Farm-City
board to trust in the “good
faith” agreements between
the entities.
“It’s been a little slower
putting together the contract
for the fair than for the
rodeo,” Smith said. “We’re
starting to work with them,
and have gone through a first
draft.” He said many people
want to be able to comment
on the agreement before it
is finalized, but that should
happen in March.
The
EOTEC
board
includes representatives of the
fair, rodeo, city and county.
The board received some
construction updates at
the meeting as well. Smith
Page 3A
reported Hendon Construc-
tion is continuing to pour
concrete walls for the arena
despite the cold weather, and
construction has also begun
on ticket booths and sound
racks. Gravel is scheduled to
be brought in Monday, and
Smith said the city is also
paying for the drilling of a
second irrigation well.
The board also discussed
how to handle sponsorship of
the fair and rodeo this year.
Smith noted that in the past
EOTEC has sponsored both
entities, but this year may be a
little different, as both events
will now be on EOTEC
property.
Both groups said they
would still like EOTEC’s
sponsorship, and will go
through the application
process.
Smith said EOTEC paid
about $5,000 in sponsorships
for each group last year,
and anticipates EOTEC’s
contribution will be similar
this year.
Also at the meeting:
• Hermiston teacher Pat
Temple and Rotary president
Dean Fialka presented a
mosaic artwork donation,
which depicts the Hermiston
Butte and was created by
students over the past three
years. The artwork will hang
in the EOTEC building for
the public to enjoy.
• The board announced
a neighborhood meeting at
5:30 p.m. on March 7 where
fair and rodeo representatives
will discuss logistics for the
events including parking,
traffic and noise issues.
• The board discussed
the proposed organizational
structure for EOTEC. At
the top of the chart is the
Hermiston City Council
and
Umatilla
County
Commissioners,
followed
by the EOTEC board. The
board oversees the manager,
who in turn is in charge of
an administrative assistant
and operations/maintenance
manager. The board hopes
to finalize this structure at its
next meeting, March 10 at 7
a.m.
–——
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan at 541-564-
4534 or jramakrishnan@
eastoregonian.com
Call for Vendors!
Community Health Fair
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Pendleton Convention Center
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Free Community Event
to Promote Wellness
N O C HARGE TO
H OST A B OOTH
To Reserve a Space
Call Emily @ 541-278-2627
emilysmith@chiwest.com
2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR 97801
Large hole opens up
on Griffith Road
Rain, snow and flooding earlier this week took its
toll on Morrow County roads.
“We got roads closed all over Morrow County,”
said Ione farmer Gregg Rietmann. He said on Tues-
day he drove on Elmer Griffith Road north of Ione
and saw water making a ditch a couple of feet wide.
About three hours later he drove by again and found
the ditch grew into this washout. He estimated the
hole was about 10 feet long and 14 feet deep.
“If you didn’t know it and came down there, it
would swallow your car right up,” he said.
The East Oregonian is looking for more examples
of what winter’s weather wrought on local roads.
Send your pictures to editor@eastoregonian.com.
States set spring chinook
season on Columbia River
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Spring chinook fishing
season will run March
1 through April 6 on the
Columbia River from the
mouth upstream to Bonne-
ville Dam, and March 16
through May 5 from the
dam to the Oregon-Wash-
ington border.
Fisheries
managers
from both states set the
seasons Thursday during
a joint state hearing in
Vancouver, Washington.
This year’s forecast calls
for 227,900 returning
spring chinook, including
160,400 fish migrating
upriver. The prediction
is down from last year’s
return of 274,700 spring
chinook, and the 10-year
average of 285,900 fish.
From Bonneville Dam
to the Oregon-Washington
border, the daily bag limit
is two fin-clipped adult
salmon or steelhead in
combination, of which
no more than one can
be a chinook. Anglers
can also retain up to five
fin-clipped jack salmon
per day.
Up to 921 chinook will
be available to harvest,
and the fishery may be
shortened or extended
depending on the catch.
Boat fishing for salmon
and steelhead is prohibited
between Bonneville Dam
and the Tower Island
power lines, about six
miles downstream from
The Dalles.
Downstream
of
Bonneville Dam, the bag
limits are the same. The
states have also adopted
a no-fishing sanctuary
around the mouth of the
Lewis River in Washington
to protect returns.
For more information
about salmon and steel-
head fishing, check the
2017 Oregon Sport Fishing
Regulations.
George
Rodriguez
Cantu pleaded guilty
Friday to second-degree
manslaughter for the
slaying
of
Guadalupe Jose
Diaz.
Cantu,
24,
of Walla Walla,
appeared
in
person in the
courtroom at the
Umatilla County
Courthouse,
P e n d l e t o n . Cantu
Moments before
the hearing, he
maneuvered his shackled
hands so he could sign the
petition to change his plea
and accept the charge.
Two armed sheriff’s
deputies sat near Cantu
while other security staff
watched over the court.
A handful of Cantu’s
supporters sat on the
benches behind him while
people who knew Diaz
sat across the aisle. Some
cried and none spoke.
The state accused
Cantu of killing Diaz in a
drive-by shooting in July
2015 in Milton-Freewater.
Cantu has been in the
Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, since March
2, 2016. He was to go
to trial starting March
6 on charges of murder,
unlawful use of a weapon,
unlawful discharge of
a weapon and unlawful
possession of a firearm.
His attorney, Robert Klahn
of Pendleton, announced
Thursday that both sides
had reached a
deal.
Circuit Judge
Christopher
Brauer
asked
Cantu if he
acknowledged
he
“recklessly
contributed
to
causing the death
of
Guadalupe
Diaz,
thereby
committing the
crime of manslaughter in
the second degree.”
Canto said he did.
“You want me to accept
and sign this petition?”
Brauer asked.
“Yes, please,” Cantu
responded.
Second-degree
manslaughter carries a
mandatory
minimum
sentence of six years, three
months. Brauer set Cantu’s
sentencing for March 15.
Courts
allow
the
offender and victims to
give statements at the
time of sentencing. Until
then, Cantu remains in the
county jail.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
BRIEFLY
Umatilla County
Jail gets two
new deputies
PENDLETON — Two
Umatilla County sheriff’s
corrections deputies
graduated Friday from
the Oregon Public Safety
Academy.
Jeff Reichle and
Anthony Scott completed
the basic corrections
course, according to the
Oregon Department of
Public Safety Standards and
Training. They were among
40 graduates at the event
in Salem that included
Union County corrections
deputy Dylan Hamilton
and Malheur County
corrections deputy Derrick
Peasley.
The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Office also
reported their results from
the recent nationwide
“Click It or Ticket”
campaign.
Deputies from Feb. 6-19
worked more than 33 extra
hours to focus on seat belts,
child restraints, texting and
speed violations and issued
more than 69 warnings and
citations for traffic offenses.
Hermiston schools
plan community
forums
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston School District
announced a day of
community forums to
talk about enrollment
challenges, safety and
security concerns, aging
infrastructure and present
information about the
proposed 2017 bond.
Three sessions are
scheduled Friday, March
10 in the Hermiston School
District office, 305 S.W.
11th Street. The forums will
begin at 7 a.m., noon and
7 p.m. Translation services
will be available.
All who are interested in
learning about the different
aspects of the bond or who
have questions, comments
or concerns are encouraged
to attend.