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East Oregonian
Police charge Vatican
cardinal with sex offenses
SYDNEY
(AP)
—
Australian police charged
a top Vatican cardinal on
Thursday with multiple
counts of historical sexual
assault offenses, a stunning
decision certain to rock the
highest levels of the Holy
See.
Cardinal George Pell,
Pope Francis’ chief financial
adviser and Australia’s most
senior Catholic, is the high-
est-ranking Vatican official
to ever be charged in the
church’s long-running sexual
abuse scandal. Pell said he
would return to Australia to
fight the charges.
Victoria state Police
Deputy
Commissioner
Shane Patton said police
have summonsed Pell to
appear in an Australian court
to face multiple charges of
“historical sexual assault
offenses,” meaning offenses
that generally occurred some
time ago. Patton said there
are multiple complainants
against Pell, but gave no
other details on the allega-
tions against the cardinal.
Pell was ordered to appear
in Melbourne Magistrates
Court on July 18.
For years, Pell has faced
allegations that he mishan-
dled cases of clergy abuse
when he was archbishop
of Melbourne and, later,
Sydney. But more recently,
Pell himself became the
focus of a clergy sex abuse
investigation, with Victoria
detectives flying to the
Vatican last year to interview
the cardinal. It is unclear
what allegations the charges
announced Thursday relate
to, but two men, now in
their 40s, have said that Pell
touched them inappropri-
ately at a swimming pool in
the late 1970s, when Pell was
a senior priest in Melbourne.
The Catholic Archdiocese
of Sydney issued a statement
on behalf of Pell, saying the
76-year-old cardinal “strenu-
ously denied all allegations”
and would return to Australia
to clear his name.
“He said he is looking
forward to his day in court
and will defend the charges
vigorously,” the statement
said.
Patton told reporters in
Melbourne that none of the
allegations against Pell had
been tested in any court,
adding: “Cardinal Pell, like
any other defendant, has a
right to due process.”
The charges are a new
and serious blow to Pope
Francis, who has already
suffered several credibility
setbacks in his promised
“zero tolerance” policy about
sex abuse.
Pell’s actions as arch-
bishop came under intense
scrutiny in recent years by
a
government-authorized
investigation into how the
Catholic Church and other
institutions have responded
to the sexual abuse of
children. Australia’s Royal
Commission into Institu-
tional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse — the nation’s
highest form of inquiry —
has found shocking levels of
abuse in Australia’s Catholic
Church, revealing earlier this
year that 7 percent of Cath-
olic priests were accused of
sexually abusing children
over the past several decades.
FIREWORKS: Marks
hopes someone will pick up
the fundraising effort in 2018
Continued from 1A
“It’s just a huge project,
and it takes a group to do it,”
she said.
Marks said a community
fireworks show was the
longtime responsibility of
the local Junior Chamber
of Commerce. When the
Jaycees disbanded, fund-
raising responsibility began
hopscotching
between
various community organi-
zations.
The Eagles took over for
Cornerstone Church three
years ago, but Marks felt that
she bore most of the respon-
sibility for the 2016 show.
“Last year, I got no help
whatsoever,” she said.
Marks said she told
people inside and outside the
Eagles that she wasn’t going
to lead fundraising this year,
but no one revived the effort.
People underestimate the
money and effort it takes to
organize the event each year,
Marks said, and it takes the
“Last year, I
got no help
whatsoever.”
— Becky Marks,
organizer of past shows as
a member of the Eagles
work of an organization to
make it happen.
Marks, who is serving her
third term on the Pendleton
City Council, said the city
already contributes to the
show by providing public
safety and she would not
support taking $10,000 from
the city’s general fund to put
the show on.
Marks said she hopes that
the lack of fireworks this
year will inspire someone
else to pick up the fund-
raising effort in 2018. The
Fourth of July parade in
downtown Pendleton will go
on as scheduled, beginning
at 10 a.m.
IRRIGON: Morrow County’s
fire departments are manned
with volunteer firefighters
Continued from 1A
“I saw a little bit of smoke.
I didn’t think anything of it,
then all the sudden boom,
I see a huge thing of black
smoke,” he said.
He ran to help get people
out of the nearest home, then
grabbed a garden hose and
started spraying everything
down. He said the fire depart-
ment took “a long while” to
show up so he was grateful
for everyone who jumped in
and helped as soon as they
realized the field was on fire.
“All these good people
from the community came
together and saved these
houses,” he said.
The news release from
the sheriff’s office reminded
citizens that all of Morrow
County’s fire departments
are manned with volunteer
firefighters who are not
waiting at the fire hall to
respond to calls, but must
instead leave their day jobs
to go to the fire hall and suit
up before heading out to
fight the fire. Homeowners
can “greatly improve the
chances” of saving their
homes by keeping the 30 feet
around their homes cleared
of flammable brush and dry
grasses, which are especially
thick this year due to the
extra wet winter and spring.
“Thanks to the expertise
and hard work of our local
and neighboring fire fighters
there was no loss of life or
homes due to this fast moving
fire,” the release said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
SHOOTING: Obstruction charge carries
a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison
Continued from 1A
hostage rescue team at the
scene failed to disclose that
they fired two rounds that
missed the Arizona rancher.
“The actions of the
FBI HRT team in this case
damage the integrity of
the entire law enforcement
profession, which makes
me both disappointed and
angry,” said Deschutes
County Sheriff Shane
Nelson, whose department
investigated
Finicum’s
shooting.
Oregon U.S. Attorney
Billy Williams would
neither confirm nor deny
that up to four additional
members of the FBI team
are under investigation for
making false statements.
Asked why Astarita may
have lied, Williams said: “I
suspect that question will
be answered in court.”
The FBI spokeswoman
in
Portland,
Jennifer
Adams, referred questions
to headquarters in Wash-
ington, D.C., which did not
return messages seeking
comment.
A grand jury indicted
Astarita on making false
statements to his FBI
supervisors just after the
shooting and obstruction of
justice for misleading the
Oregon State Police.
A one-week jury trial
is set for Aug. 29. The
obstruction charge carries
a maximum penalty of
20 years in prison, while
making a false statement
could bring five years.
Finicum’s
widow,
Jeanette Finicum, has said
she plans to sue state police
and the FBI, alleging the
use of excessive force in her
husband’s death. Nobody
answered a call to her
number Wednesday, and
her lawyer, Brian Claypool,
AP Photo/Don Ryan
U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy J. Williams speaks during a press con-
ference in Portland Wednesday, after the indictment of an FBI agent. FBI special
agent W. Joseph Astarita pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied about shoot-
ing at a key figure in last year’s armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge just
before the man was killed by Oregon police.
did not return a message
seeking comment.
Dozens
of
people,
including leader Ammon
Bundy, occupied the remote
Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge from Jan. 2 to
Feb. 11, 2016. They were
allowed to come and go for
several weeks as authorities
tried to avoid bloodshed
seen in past standoffs at
Waco, Texas, and Ruby
Ridge, Idaho.
But authorities moved in
Jan. 26 when key standoff
leaders left for a commu-
nity meeting, pulling over
two vehicles and arresting
the occupiers inside.
Finicum, 54, was driving
one vehicle. Video taken
by a passenger showed the
occupants panicking after
authorities stopped the
truck.
With his window rolled
down, Finicum shouted at
officers: “Shoot me, just
shoot me! Put the bullet
through me.”
Finicum then sped off,
coming to a roadblock and
plowing into a snowbank.
Authorities say the FBI
agent fired two errant shots
as Finicum left the truck. As
Finicum stood in the snow,
authorities told him to lie
on the ground. Instead, he
reached toward his jacket,
and state troopers fired
three rounds that hit him.
Williams, the U.S.
attorney, said the shooting
was necessary to protect
officer safety.
Most occupiers left
the refuge after Finicum’s
death, though four holdouts
stayed an additional 16
days.
Federal
prosecutors
tried to convict occupation
leaders Ammon and Ryan
Bundy and five others in
a trial last fall but jurors
acquitted them of charges
of conspiring to impede
federal workers from their
jobs.
Several others pleaded
guilty without going to trial
or were convicted.
The Bundys and others
are now facing conspiracy
charges in Nevada over a
2014 armed standoff with
federal agents.
———
Follow Steven DuBois at
twitter.com/pdxdub
SAFEWAY: Fitzmorris nowhere near ready to retire
Continued from 1A
national and state parks in
Northern California.
Safeway floral manager
Tari Smith echoed some of
Fitzmorris’ thoughts.
Smith, herself a 33-year
veteran of Safeway, said
Fitzmorris always brings a
positive attitude to the job
that she appreciated. Smith
said Safeway has several
decades-long
employees
at the Pendleton store and
attributed it to the compa-
ny’s benefit package and
overall stability.
Some of Smith’s and
Fitzmorris’ opinions are
mirrored in recent research.
According to a 2015
study by the Oregon
Employment Department,
the grocery retail sector
has remained relatively
stable despite a fluctuating
economy.
Between 2001 and
2015, grocery employers’
total payroll employment
increased by 7.2 percent, a
point lower than the state’s
total average but a point
higher than the retail trade
industry overall.
And while the grocery
industry resisted the housing
bubble in 2005 by only
growing by 0.6 percent, it
performed admirably during
the 2009 recession year,
shrinking by 2.5 percent
while retail trade decreasing
by 6.8 percent and total
employment by 6.2 percent.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Safeway cashier Mike Fitzmorris spent the first 35-years of his career working in
the Beaverton area before moving to work in the Pendleton store 10 years ago.
Age
demographics
are also starting to reflect
grocery stores’ experienced
workforce.
While 1 in 8 grocery
workers were between the
ages of 14-18 in 1991, that
figure dwindled to 1 in 28 by
2014, although the industry
still has the highest share of
14-24 year old workers of
any job sector in Oregon.
On the other end of
the spectrum, the share of
workers ages 45-54 has
grown from 11 percent in
1991 to 19 percent in 2015.
The 55-64 cohort grew at a
similar rate.
Despite his own stability,
Fitzmorris has noticed
some other changes. When
he started at Safeway, Fitz-
morris remembers grocery
store work being viewed as
a middle-class type of job.
Now, Fitzmorris sees higher
turnover and many see the
job as a stepping stone to
a more lucrative career
elsewhere.
Fitzmorris’
boss,
Michael Cox, said he rose
to front end manager after
starting out his Safeway
career a few years ago
by collecting carts in the
parking lot. Cox added how
odd it was to mentor an
employee who dwarfed him
in experience.
Fitzmorris said he and
his wife are trying to steer
their daughter away from
a career in the grocery
industry and into more
professional career path.
But Fitzmorris sees himself
adding plenty more time to
the 45 years he’s worked
at a local Safeway — he’s
nowhere near ready to
retire.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Before and After ‘The Big One’
By Jade McDowell
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