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.