REGION
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
MILTON-FREEWATER
Jury finds man guilty
of sexual abuse of minor
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
A Milton-Freewater man
was found guilty on 36 counts
of sexual abuse and sodomy, a
jury unanimously decided in a
trial last week.
Jeffrey
Allen
Pierce, 40, was
initially
charged
with 50 counts of
sexual abuse in the
first degree, and
sodomy in the first
and second degrees
against a relative
who was under 12
years old at the time Pierce
the abuse began.
However, Jaclyn Jenkins,
the lead deputy district
attorney, said that some of
the charges were dismissed
because of a potential overlap
in dates of some of the
incidents. She said based on
the victim’s recollection of
what grade she was in, some
of the dates may have been a
year off and to avoid charging
Pierce twice, the charges were
dismissed.
Court documents state
that Pierce abused the victim
over a period of five years
beginning in 2008.
Pierce’s attorney, Thomas
Gray requested an “in-camera
inspection,” which was
denied. Jenkins said an
in-camera inspection is a
review done by the judge in
chambers.
Gray
had wanted access
to Department of
Human Services
records.
Jenkins
said the DA’s office
had provided him
with some of those
records, but he
wanted the judge
to require them to
hand over all the
documents.
Jenkins said the most
compelling evidence came
from the victim herself.
“She’s an ‘everything’s
OK’ sort of person, but every-
thing wasn’t OK,” Jenkins
said. “Allowing herself to
be vulnerable, the jury got a
glimpse of how horrific the
situation was for her.”
Jenkins said she had been
working with the victim since
May, and the case went to
grand jury in September.
Pierce’s
sentencing
hearing is Feb. 2.
Marijuana proponents push for
legalization in Wallowa County
By KATHLEEN ELLYN
EO Media Group
Marijuana proponents in
Wallowa County are working
to collect enough signatures
to force a November vote on
legalizing marijuana in the
county.
But if it were to pass,
the economic potential for
Joseph or Enterprise is diffi-
cult to estimate.
The tiny town of
Huntington (pop. 435) in
Baker County is often cited as
an example of the riches a city
can reap from recreational
marijuana dispensaries. It is
home to two dispensaries. It
is the closest available legal
pot point of sale for 600,000
residents of Boise and popu-
lations east of Pendleton.
“What we get mainly are
Idaho drivers, hundreds a
day,” said Huntington mayor
Candy Howland.
Wallowa County, with a
population of approximately
7,000, has an estimated
805,000 visitors per year.
Huntington’s experience
does aid in understanding
how a small city can get the
biggest bang from marijuana
dispensary bucks. Hunting-
ton’s share of the $850,000
the state distributed to cities
has come to about $12,000,
Howland said.
Huntington’s three percent
city tax on recreational mari-
juana is a far bigger boost to
the local budget — as is the
case in Pendleton.
Howland said that the
city used the first quarter city
tax payments to extrapolate
annual income of $200,000
from the local marijuana tax
in 2018.
“Our usual total city
budget was $135,000 to
$175,000 a year,” Howland
said.
The city plans to spend
that money wisely, Howland
said.
Most of the new dollars
funneling into city coffers
will be spent on infrastruc-
ture and emergency services,
according to the mayor.
BRIEFLY
Lifeways hosts
meet and greet
HERMISTON — The
public is invited to meet
Tim Hoekstra, the new
chief executive officer of
Lifeways, Inc.
A meet-and-greet is
Thursday from 5-6:30 p.m.
at Lifeways, 595 N.W. 11th
St., Hermiston.
Hoekstra began
overseeing the organization’s
services in Hermiston,
Pendleton, Umatilla, Milton-
Freewater and Ontario on
Jan. 15. He has 28 years
of experience providing
executive leadership with
healthcare operations and
integrated physical and
behavioral health services. In
addition, Hoekstra has served
on numerous legislative
committees regarding
policies, rules and laws
impacting communities and
healthcare organizations.
Lifeways provides mental
health services in Umatilla
County and beyond. For
more information, visit
www.lifeways.org.
Deadline looms for
ArtWORKz
MISSION — The
submission deadline for the
2018 ArtWORKz Junior
Art Show & Competition is
Thursday.
Open to all artists 18
and under, all mediums are
welcome. There is no entry
fee.
The show and competition
runs Jan. 27 through March
17 at Tamástslikt Cultural
Institute, located near
Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
Numerous awards will be
presented during the artists’
reception, which is Saturday,
Feb. 10 at 1 p.m.
Tamástslikt is undergoing
a maintenance closure,
however submissions will
be accepted at the museum’s
front entrance. For more
information, visit www.
tamastslikt.org or call
541-429-7700.
Women’s choir
warms up for
spring concert
PENDLETON — Sisters
in Song, Pendleton’s
community women’s choir,
will resume its rehearsal
schedule in preparation for a
spring concert.
All returning and new
singers are invited to join
the weekly rehearsals. They
begin Monday, Jan. 22 from
6:30-8 p.m. in the Pendleton
High School choir room,
1800 N.W. Carden Ave.
Auditions are not required to
join the choir.
The mission of Sisters in
Song is to learn and perform
a variety of music, striving
for musical polish and
beauty while working in an
atmosphere of supportive
and good-humored
cooperation. The group is
directed by Lezlee Flagg
and Cheryl Carlson with
accompaniment provided by
Suzi Wood.
The spring concert
is Sunday, May 20. For
more information, contact
Flagg at 541-263-2755,
Carlson at 541-429-0160
or womensingpendleton@
gmail.com.
———
Submit information
to: community@
eastoregonian.com or
drop off to the attention of
Tammy Malgesini at 333
E. Main St., Hermiston or
Renee Struthers at 211 S.E.
Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call
541-564-4539 or 541-966-
0818 with questions.
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Rancher takes different tack on wolf depredation
By LEE JUILLERAT
For the EO Media Group
The recent killings of
three calves by wolves in
Jackson County, probably by
members of the Rogue Pack,
hit close to home for Mark
Coats, who advocates a
predator awareness program
he believes can reduce such
incidents by wolves, coyotes
and other carnivores.
Coats, who has cattle
operations in Siskiyou
County in far Northern
California and Klamath and
Jackson counties in Oregon,
said the attacks happened on
a neighbor’s land.
“My cows turned out
fine,” he said. “I’m confident
in my cows’ ability to stand
off predators,” explaining
he routinely takes steps to
retrain his herds.
Coats doesn’t necessarily
like it, but he accepts the fact
that wolves have become a
fixture in Oregon and parts
of Northern California.
“The wolf is a carnivore.
Killing is what he does.
By the laws of the ESA we
can’t do a lot,” said Coats,
referring to protections to
wolves mandated under the
federal Endangered Species
Act. “We need to learn how
to stay in business in his
presence.”
Over the past six years
Coats has been studying and
implementing new ways of
preventing cattle deaths by
predators, including wolves,
coyotes and mountain lions.
He has been working with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service on creating a pred-
ator awareness program he
believes can successfully
reduce or eliminate predation
deaths.
“What they need is the
individualized chase,” where
a wolf or wolves isolate a
cow or calf from the herd,
then chase, immobilize and
eat the animal, which is often
still alive. “We’re trying to
Courtesy of Mark Coats
Cattle form a defensive group, which rancher Mark Coats trained them to do
when threatened by a predator. In the foreground is a guard dog. Studies indicate
wolves do not attack groups of livestock, Coats said.
“My cows turned
out fine. I’m confi-
dent in my cows’
ability to stand off
predators.”
— Mark Coats, cattle owner
interrupt that. That is the
key.”
The key, he believes, is
training cattle to gather in
herds when threatened by
wolves or other potential
killers.
Coats began researching
wolf and cattle behavior six
years ago when OR-7, then
a lone male gray wolf that
for several years was elec-
tronically tracked after it left
the Imnaha Pack in north-
east Oregon in 2007, passed
through his lands near the
Lower Klamath National
Wildlife Refuge along the
Oregon-California
state
line. During his wander-
ings in Southern Oregon
and Northern California,
OR-7 eventually found a
breeding female. The pack
has grown and includes
OR-7’s grandchildren.
“My phone was ringing
off the hook because I was
the cattlemen’s president,”
remembers Coats, who
served as the
Siskiyou
County Cattlemen’s Associa-
tion president for three years,
of what spurred his interest.
“I started doing a lot of
research on what cattlemen
can do.”
What cattlemen and others
can do is limited. Wolves
east of Highway 395, which
slices through Washington,
Oregon and California, are
not protected by the ESA but
wolves west of the highway
are protected, which restricts
ways cattle ranchers and
others can deal with potential
depredation threats. Coats
said various studies, including
research done in Yellowstone
National Park, show threats
can be reduced or eliminated
if cattle are taught to group
together and not to flee or run.
“The fear of the wolf
is still there. There are no
sound practices to defer
him,” Coats said of concerns
by livestock owners who
are legally prevented from
killing wolves. “We cannot
manage them with any effec-
tive measure.”
Instead of hunting or trap-
ping wolves, he believes the
predator awareness program
is a viable alternative. “When
wolves confront livestock,
(livestock) get fearful for
their lives. Once they reach
the group, the pressure
is relieved. A defensive
standing posture will defer
wolves. What we’re encour-
aging is a defensive posture
of moving to the herd.”
He said studies indicate
wolves do not attack groups
of livestock, choosing instead
to chase individual animals.
According to Coats, previous
studies showed that wolves
will leave if livestock remain
still and in groups. While he
is focused on cattle, he said
the group-and-stand theory
applies to other livestock.
“We always saw losses to
coyotes, but since we’ve
worked with this program
we haven’t had any losses to
mammals.”
CONDON
Celebration features tatties, neeps and Scottish merriment
East Oregonian
Pipers, drummers and other partici-
pants come from near and far to help
the Condon community celebrate its
Scottish heritage on the 259th anniver-
sary of the birth of Robert Burns.
The Royal Condon Highland Guard,
an eclectic bunch of roving pipers and
drummers, began gathering in Condon
more than 20 years ago, said Mac
Stinchfield, one of the group’s longtime
members. The purpose, he said, is to
have fun and celebrate the birth of the
Scottish poet in traditional fashion with
music and merriment.
Held each year on the Saturday
closest to the Scottish bard’s Jan. 25
birth date, this year’s Robert Burns
Supper is Saturday, Jan. 27 beginning
at 2 p.m. at the Condon Elks Lodge,
117 S. Main St. Tickets are $17.50 per
person or $30 for a couple. The event
continues well into the night with abun-
dant piping and dancing.
In addition to highlighting the works
of “Rabbie Burns,” the event features
lively and festive music from the Old
Country and a traditional Scottish
meal of haggis, neeps and tatties. Also,
with the popularity of the shortbread
contest growing each year, it is open to
everyone.
Also, anecdotes from the annuls
of Scottish families who settled in
the greater Gilliam County area will
be shared. The tradition of honoring
specific families began several years
Photo contributed by Mac Stinchfield
Ann Rosen of Salem, Linda Mae Dennis of Vancouver, Bill Shelton of Car-
son, Washington, George Jamieson, formerly of Condon; Rick McCaul
of Portland, Patrick Hogan of Vancouver, Katie Santini of White Salmon,
Washington, Debe McCaul of Portland, Mylinda Humble of Vancouver
and Mac Stinchfield of Condon, performed with the Royal Condon High-
land Guard during the 2016 Robert Burns Supper. In celebration of the
Scottish poet’s life, this year’s event is Jan. 27 at the Condon Elks Lodge.
ago, Stinchfield said. This year’s event
will include ‘bio snippets’ of many area
families.
“Back in the 1950s, the celebration
was called ‘Uncle Will Stewart Night,’
which honored Will Stewart, my great-
uncle and an aging bachelor in his 90s
at the time,” Stinchfield said. “The
celebration faded away for a generation
until we revived it over 20 years ago.”
For those with lingering hunger
pangs in the morning, the Condon Lady
Elks will offer a Robert Burns Break-
LIVING WELL WITH DIABETES
Whether this is a new diagnosis or not, this class will
assist you with learning more about diabetes and its
effect on your mind and body. Six FREE
FREE weekly
classes. Attend alone or with support person.
Call for upcoming
dates & times
Must pre-register, call 541-667-3509
fast. Everyone is welcome to attend
Sunday, Jan. 28 from 7-10 a.m., also at
the Elks Lodge.
The all-you-can-eat buffet-style
breakfast includes biscuits and gravy,
sausage, scrambled eggs and pancakes.
The cost is $8 per person.
To purchase tickets or for more
information about the Robert Burns
Supper, contact The Times-Journal
at 541-384-2421 or times-journal@
jncable.com. In addition, tickets will be
available at the door.
STUDENT
OF THE
WEEK
ACT PROGRAM:
Giovani Armenta-Garcilazo
ACHIEVE, CONQUER, THRIVE
Senior - Umatilla High School
This 6 month lifestyle change program will help you
achieve your health goals! Registered Dietitian
Nutritionists will help you learn how to make healthy food
and activity choices each and every day. Program
includes 8 weekly group classes, individual appointments
for 2-3 months and a follow up group class.
New Classes start Jan 22
5:30pm
Must pre-register, call 541-667-3517
DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP
FOR OUR EXERCISE CLASSES!
Information or to register
call (541) 667-3509
or email
healthinfo@gshealth.org
www.gshealth.org
In June he will be graduating with his high
school diploma along with his AAOT. He
is also involved in tennis and basketball
all while working full time. He has a 3.76
cumulative GPA and will be attending
Oregon State University majoring in
construction engineering management.
Proudly Sponsored By:
Proudly Sponsored By:
1411 6th Street, Umatilla, OR • 541-922-3001