MYSTERIOUS QUERREY STUNS
WATER FLOWS MURRAY IN
IN HERMISTON QUARTERFINALS
REGION/3A
92/58
WIMBLEDON/1B
THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017
141st Year, No. 193
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
OSU Extension proposes new tax districts
Programs include 4-H, Master Gardeners, farm research
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Corp
Hamm
Oregon
State
University
Extension Service is looking to
taxpayers for help funding local
outreach and education programs
in Umatilla and Morrow counties.
A citizens advisory committee
has proposed creating two new
service districts for OSU Exten-
sion — one in each county. If
approved by voters, the districts
would tax at a rate of 33 cents per
$1,000 of assessed value.
That money would go toward
paying for things like additional
staff, supplies, maintenance and
utility costs. OSU Extension
not only has farm and livestock
agents working across both
counties, but supports educational
programs such as 4-H and Master
Gardeners.
HERMISTON
The Umatilla County exten-
sion district would also include
OSU’s Columbia Basin Agricul-
tural Research Center north of
Pendleton and Hermiston Agri-
cultural Research and Extension
Center, where scientists conduct
experiments to improve farming
practices.
See EXTENSION/8A
MILTON-FREEWATER
Suspect told
detectives he
burned body
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A fi refi ghter sprays a mountain of burning cardboard Wednesday at a recycling facility south of Hermiston on Highway 395.
Cardboard goes up in fl ames
East Oregonian
A fi re started around 1:30 p.m.
at the cardboard recycling facility
on South Highway 395 and spread
to a nearby fi eld. Around 5 p.m.,
crews were still out at the site, and
fi re offi cials said they would likely
be out there for several hours.
Fire Marshal Tom Bohm said
he didn’t know what had caused
the fi re or exactly how wide it had
spread, and neither did the owner
of the facility, Medelez Trucking.
More than 30 fi refi ghters from
Umatilla County Fire District,
as well as fi re departments from
Umatilla, Pendleton, Boardman,
Echo and East Umatilla County
were on scene to help control the
blaze. Bales of cardboard were
engulfed in fl ames, and fi refi ghters
were fi lling large containers with
water to help tackle the fi re.
The Oregon Department of
Transportation briefl y shut down
Highway 395 due to smoke
crossing the roadway.
UCFD Battalion Chief J.W.
Roberts said no structures were
affected by the blaze, though he
estimated $60,000 in losses for
cardboard and $5,000 in equip-
ment at the facility.
“It’s just a pain with this wind,”
Roberts said. “These things don’t
go out. This’ll burn all night.”
Roberts said the fi re would
likely continue to burn into the
grass as well, so crews would
probably just burn the whole fi eld.
Crews responded to a fi re at
the recycling center last year as
well, Roberts said.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce
late Wednesday revealed what led to the
arrest and charges in the fi re-related death
of Marcos Jesus Gutierrez-Rodriguez in
Milton-Freewater.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce
in a written statement reported detectives
received new information in the case that
led to charging Conor Michael Dayton, 24,
of Milton-Freewater, with abuse of a corpse
and tampering with physical evidence.
“At the time of the fi re and discovery of
Mr. Gutierrez-Rodriguez’s body, there was
insuffi cient evidence
to prove a criminal
case,” according to
the statement. Depu-
ties and detectives
continued to follow
leads and talk to
witnesses and persons
of interest, including
Dayton, an acquain-
tance of the victim.
Dayton
Sheriff’s detective
Kacey Ward and Oregon State Police
detective Damian Acosta on Friday ques-
tioned Dayton, according to the statement,
and Dayton “provided information that
he started the fi re that burned Mr. Gutier-
rez-Rodriguez.”
Firefi ghters and police found Gutier-
rez-Rodriguez’s body after extinguishing an
outdoor fi re early May 22 under the Eastside
Bridge along the Walla Walla River. The
sheriff’s offi ce at the time it appeared he
died from a cooking fi re mishap.
The sheriff’s offi ce Wednesday stated
Dayton told the detectives he found Guti-
errez-Rodriguez’s body at the location and
started the fi re to hide his drug use. The
Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Offi ce
reported Gutierrez-Rodriguez “had very high
levels of methamphetamine in his system,”
according to the sheriff’s offi ce, “and his
body was badly damaged from the fi re.”
The sheriff’s offi ce reported its inves-
tigation continues with the support of the
Oregon State Police, Oregon State Medical
Examiner’s Offi ce, the Hermiston Police
Department and the Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Offi ce.
Circuit Judge Jon Lieuallen set bail at
$50,000 for the case. Dayton’s next court
hearing is Tuesday.
Nomination of Bounds to
Ninth Court stuck in limbo
Hermiston man recommended by Rep. Walden in Jan.
House Republican leader
Mike McLane for U.S.
attorney, has gotten plenty
of
attention,
another
President
Donald
has not. Walden has
Trump is expected to stock
recommended a relatively
the ranks of federal judges
unknown federal prose-
and top prosecutor posts
cutor, Ryan Bounds, to fi ll
with hard-line conserva-
an opening on the powerful
tives. But in Oregon the
U.S. Ninth U.S. Circuit
process has barely started,
Court of Appeals — a
giving rise to speculation Bounds
choice that could rever-
that dark-horse picks could
berate for decades.
have a chance.
Bounds, from Hermiston, is a
In January, Oregon’s lone Repub-
lican member of Congress, U.S. former White House adviser whose
Rep. Greg Walden, recommended family is close to Walden. His sister is
lawyers to take over top posts in the the congressman’s chief of staff. Like
state’s federal legal apparatus.
See BOUNDS/8A
While one of those suggestions,
By NICK BUDNICK
Portland Tribune
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
26 days until the county fair
Steven Hartsteen, of Bothum Construction, uses a saw
Wednesday to cut siding for a ticket booth at the Eastern Ore-
gon Trade and Event Center. The event center will be the site of
next month’s Umatilla County Fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo.