142nd Year, No. 29
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Hermiston Bulldogs’ celebrate with their fans on the fi eld after defeating Churchill 38-35 in the 5A state championship
game on Saturday in Hillsboro.
Champs
again
The Hermiston Bulldogs won a
title on Saturday night they’ll always
remember, and will never have to
defend.
Going up against the undefeated
Churchill Lancers in their fi nal
OSAA football contest, the Bulldogs
clinched a 38-35 victory — their 10th
straight win this season — to capture
the 5A state title.
It was a fond farewell for the
Bulldogs, who will compete in the
Washington Interscholastic Activities
Association beginning next fall.
The program captured its fi rst
football title in 2014, and this is the
fi rst under coach David Faeteete.
For more on the game, see Page 1B.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Dogs rescued from a home near Hermiston sit in kennels on Monday at the Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter. Thirty dogs
were taken from the home with 17 of the animals ending up at PAWS.
Police lab backlog
delays evidence
crucial in sex cases
“This is not an isolated incident. There are a bunch of horrifi c situations out
there that we need to address, but we don’t have the means to do it.”
OREGON CITY (AP) — Nearly a year after
telling police she was sexually assaulted by an
acquaintance who she suspects drugged her
with LSD, an Oregon woman is still waiting for
the lab results and for authorities to conclude
their investigation of the alleged attack.
Juliette Simmons told police of the assault
last December. Simmons says she blacked out
and then woke up in the passenger seat of her
own car with the man over her.
The Associated Press does not generally
name victims of sexual assaults, but Simmons
told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she
decided to go public with her name and her
case to highlight the extraordinary delays in
processing evidence from sexual assault kits.
Oregon has spent more than $1 million
to hire new staff to address the backlog, The
Oregonian/OregonLive reported .
“Nothing has been happening with my
— Cindy Spiess, PAWS board member
See LAB/10A
PAWS takes in hoarded dogs
More animals remain at residence
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
Seventeen neglected and
bedraggled dogs arrived at
the Pendleton Animal Welfare
Shelter (PAWS) this weekend.
The canines, originating
from a home near Hermiston,
weren’t the only animals at the
residence.
“We’re estimating about 30
more,” said Robin Barker, a
volunteer with Fuzz Ball Animal
Rescue in Hermiston.
Barker learned about the
dogs from Facebook classifi eds
post, which said the owner has
been evicted and needs to fi nd
new homes for her dogs. Barker
decided to visit, accompanied
by another volunteer. They
weren’t invited into the house,
but could hear muffl ed barking
from within. Other dogs, mostly
Chihuahua and heeler crosses,
roamed outside around piles of
garbage and broken-down vehi-
cles. They looked thin. Barker
said the owner accepted the
offer of dog food. The animals
competed for kibble, breaking
See DOGS/10A
WESTON
Workforce woes leave
Smith short-shifted
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Finding enough workers
is getting to be more of a
challenge for Michael Lesko
at Smith Frozen Foods.
The company, which
processes and packages frozen
vegetables near Weston, is
capable of storing more than
130 million pounds of product
on site, including corn, lima
beans, onions and carrots.
Harvest season typically
begins around June 1 and runs
through the end of November,
when the demand for seasonal
labor is at its strongest.
Lesko,
director
of
human resources for Smith
Frozen Foods, said the plant
has roughly 100 regular
employees and typically hires
another 200 seasonal workers
through harvest. Those posi-
tions, however, are becoming
more diffi cult to fi ll, he said,
which has left the plant short
up to 10 workers on any given
shift over the past year.
“It’s been diffi cult keeping
people, by all means,” Lesko
said. “We were looking for
See WORK/10A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Like many agricultural businesses in the area Smith Frozen Foods is dealing with
a current labor shortage.