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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2017)
Page 8A NORTHWEST East Oregonian Over the Rainbow Public safety personnel respond for deaths, stabbings, beatings, drugs By SEAN HART EO Media Group The Rainbow Gathering has come and gone, for the most part. More than 13,000 people descended on Flagtail Meadow on the Malheur National Forest south of John Day last week for the annual gathering surrounding a July 4 prayer for peace. As of Monday, about 785 remained to clean up and repair the site. Forest Service resource specialists will meet with the cleanup crew to ensure the rehabilitation is up to federal standards, and the goal is to return the site to as close to original conditions as possible, according to a Monday update from the Forest Service. Officials said previously, regardless of the group’s intent to leave the land better than they found it, ecosystem damage would be inevitable from so many people in such a small area. The event was not only taxing on the environment. Over the last several weeks, local public safety personnel have responded to a variety of incidents from medical emergencies to shoplifting to violence. Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said his depu- ties and others have been “running nonstop” with few days off since mid-June. “Mental health has just been slammed. The ambu- lance has been swamped. The hospital has been swamped. The jail has been swamped,” he said. “And the locals end up paying for it all. It comes out of our local tax base.” Palmer said two people died at the event: George Ernest Rogers III, 43, of Dumas, Texas, and William Pasko, 74, of Takoma Park, Maryland. Pasko died of natural causes from a heart attack July 3. Rogers collapsed near a makeshift medical station at the gathering July 2. Palmer spent several days trying to Contributed photo/Richard Benson An aerial view of the Rainbow Gathering. EO Media Group photo by Rylan Boggs Rainbow Gathering attendees form a “hippie roadblock” to collect any trash people might be carrying. identify the man and track down his family. Stabbings and beatings also occurred at the event, Palmer said. As of Monday, 15 arrests were made, and 117 violation notices were issued, according to the Forest Service. Kevin Sonoff, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said about a quarter of the arrests were felonies. About half of the violations were related to traffic or vehicle offenses, he said, and about a quarter were related to drugs. Other viola- tions were related to alcohol, officer interference, fires, and forest roads and trails. The Department of Justice and the U.S. Forest Service Office of General Council conducted three mobile court sessions near the event site, and most of the people showed up to address their federal tickets. The mobile courts help alleviate the load on the local court system. Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter said his office was not inundated with cases as he was told to expect. Law enforcement offi- cers were very busy, he said, but most cases were resolved without criminal charges. The DA’s office has had fewer than 15 cases related to the Rainbow Gathering, primarily for intoxicated driving, disorderly conduct and shoplifting. Carpenter said he is considering accepting one juvenile case from Forest Service law enforcement, and he has accepted two cases from them involving the possession of controlled substances. Palmer said a large amount of drugs — LSD, heroin, cocaine, marijuana — were confiscated at the event. He said he was particularly surprised by the amount of LSD, a hallucinogenic. “From what I saw from the Forest Service law enforce- ment, I don’t ever want to experience another Rainbow,” Palmer said. “I would never wish this on anybody. I don’t think this is the Rainbow the founders envisioned.” Wednesday, July 12, 2017 Officer cleared in shooting of Bend driver BEND (AP) — A police officer who fatally shot a motorist in Bend last December will not be charged with a crime, the Oregon Department of Justice said Tuesday. The agency said in a letter obtained by The Bulletin newspaper that Officer Scott Schaier was justified in using deadly force because Michael Jacques was trying to escape, putting the lives of Schaier and others at risk. According to the Justice Department: Jacques, 31, was pulled over Dec. 23 because of reports he was driving erratically. He had glassy, bloodshot eyes and was unresponsive to questions from Schaier and Officer Marc Tisher. After Schaier opened the driver’s side door, the motorist pulled Schaier into the vehicle and began punching him in the head, authorities said. Both offi- cers deployed Tasers to no avail. Schaier then sprayed pepper gel on Jacques, also with no effect, according to authorities. The van lurched forward; the tires screeched and spun in place. Schaier yelled out, “Put the car in park now!” Schaier told investiga- tors he was afraid that he or Tisher would get run over or dragged by the van. He drew his handgun and fired five shots, killing the unarmed Jacques. “He used deadly force against Mr. Jacques because he believed that his life, Officer Tisher’s life, and the lives of the numerous pedestrians nearby were at risk from Mr. Jacques,” the letter states. The state Justice Department took over the investigation because the Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel had a conflict of interest. He previously had hired the attorney retained by Jacques’ mother. Before reaching their conclusion, investigators reviewed interviews with 50 witnesses and more than 80 reports. Fish ladder to help salmon, steelhead LA GRANDE (AP) — A fish ladder being constructed this summer at La Grande Reservoir aims to restore salmon and steelhead populations in a previously inaccessible stream channel in Beaver Creek. The stream channel has been blocked since about 1910 by a dam at La Grande Reservoir, The Observer reported. A significant number of salmon and steelhead spawned in these areas before the channel was blocked, La Grande Public Works Director Norm Paullus said. The fish ladder will reopen 17 miles of pristine spawning areas for those fish, he said. Paullus noted that as recently as 10 to 15 years ago, caretakers who lived at the reservoir found steel- head at the base of the dam trying to get over it. Some caretakers reportedly lifted them over the dam and into the reservoir. The Beaver Creek Project cost $1.4 million, which includes the ladder’s construction. The fish ladder being constructed will enable fish to pass around the barrier by giving them the opportunity to swim and leap up a series of relatively low steps into La Grande Reservoir, which is fed by Beaver Creek. Each step will be a concrete vault with a small pool of water where fish can rest before going up the next step. The reservoir is a backup water source for the city.
