East Oregonian : E.O., January 18, 2018, Image 1

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018
142nd Year, No. 66
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
City cuts
$2M in
features
from fi re
station
On track to break
ground in May
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The Pendleton projects
and equipment paid for by a
$10 million fi re bond remain
under budget, but cuts had to
be made to keep it that way.
Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo
told the Pendleton City
Council Tuesday that the
fi re station needed to cut $2
million in features to stay on
target.
In an interview after the
meeting, Ciraulo explained
that the cuts were the result
of an updated construction
cost estimate.
Under a previous fi re
department
administra-
tion, offi cials estimated it
would take $7.7 million in
construction costs to build
a new fi re station. The
department operated under
that estimate through the
bond’s successful May 2017
election, but the numbers
changed once design fi rm
Mackenzie and contractor
McCormack Construction
took an updated look on the
costs. Their estimates now
say it would take $10 million
to get the project built.
The fi re department and
its consultants then spent
time eliminating features
on the fi re station design to
bring the project back under
budget.
“We have no other pot of
money,” Ciraulo said.
The cuts ranged from
“niceties” that would have
improved the aesthetics
of the facility to features
that would have improved
service or the safety of
personnel.
The fi re department was
planning to install folding
doors — garage doors that
open horizontally rather than
vertically — because they
open and close faster and
have a longer lifespan. But
they’re more expensive than
a traditional garage door, so
they had to go.
Also gone was the depart-
ment’s plan to line the entire
See FIRE/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
From left: Maribel Marin, Michelle Ryan and Kate Allen investigate a crime scene during a pre-test lab exercise during a forensic
science class on Tuesday at BMCC in Pendleton.
Students get hands-on lesson in forensics
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
In one episode of “CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation,” Captain Jim
Brass shouts to investigator Gil
Grissom.
“Hey, look what I found: a
knife with blood on it.”
Grissom answers deadpan.
“Hey, look what I found,” he
said. “A dead guy.”
About 25 newbie crime scene
investigators combed through two
faux murder scenes on Tuesday
on the Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College campus, looking for
such evidence — plus a lot more.
The CSI wannabes, entering their
second week of Matt DeGarmo’s
forensic science class at the
college, found a gruesome scene
on a grassy hill near the school’s
softball fi eld. A bald man (all
right, a dummy) lay there, with
four bullet holes riddling his body.
In a second scene inside the
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
An evidence marker and a ruler mark a footprint at a crime
scene during a pre-test lab exercise for the forensic science
class Tuesday at BMCC in Pendleton.
forensics classroom, a woman
lay sprawled on the tile fl oor
with a knife protruding from her
chest. Knocked-over chairs gave
evidence of a struggle.
This was a pre-test. The
students didn’t know much yet
except what they’d seen on TV.
“You’re going to have to put
all the pieces together,” DeGarmo
instructed.
He grinned at them.
“You’ve seen CSI,” he said.
“You can fi gure it out.”
On the hillside, fi ve students
encircled the area with yellow
crime scene tape. They donned
blue surgical gloves and grabbed
evidence bags. They stepped
gingerly, looking for clues and
placing evidence markers next to
shell casings.
DeGarmo, instructor and
program coordinator of the
school’s recently rebooted crim-
inal justice program, advised
them to patiently soak in the
scene, assessing all evidence large
and small.
“Move slowly in concentric
circles from the outside,” he said.
“Be extremely observant and take
baby steps.”
See FORENSICS/8A
Hermiston fi sherman sues after boat crash
Video of accident
released on Tuesday
By JACK HEFFERNAN
EO Media Group
Clatsop County Sheriff’s Offi ce
A Hermiston sport fi sherman has fi led a lawsuit over a boat crash near
Hammond in August.
A Hermiston sport fi sherman has
fi led a lawsuit after being rammed
in a harrowing boat crash on the
Columbia River near Hammond in
August.
Bryan Maess, a patrol sergeant
with the Hermiston Police Depart-
ment, is suing the alleged driver of
the boat — Marlin Lee Larsen — for
$372,500 after the boat he was on
was slammed while trolling for
Chinook salmon during the popular
Buoy 10 fi shery season. The lawsuit
claims Larsen caused physical and
emotional injury in his negligence
prior to the crash.
Maess, Chris McMahon and
Roni Durham were standing in a
20-foot Weldcraft about 8:30 a.m.
near Tansy Point when they noticed
a 31-foot Bayliner Trophy speeding
toward them. After yelling at the
boat and waving their hands, the trio
leapt into the river seconds before
the crash. The three were eventually
pulled from the water and treated
at Columbia Memorial Hospital,
Astoria for minor injuries. Their boat
was severely damaged.
The lawsuit alleges Larsen was
traveling at an excessive speed,
distracted and using his cellphone,
and did not have one of the two other
occupants of the vessel keep watch
for surrounding boat traffi c.
Maess sustained injuries to the
right side of his body. He continues
to wear a knee brace, his ankle still
See BOAT/8A