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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2018)
WEEKEND EDITION PENDLETON BOYS STAY DESPITE PERMIT, PERFECT IN CRC SPORTS/1B A TRIP TO INDIA LIFESTYLES/1C NO TURKEYS KILLED 3A JANUARY 27-28, 2018 142nd Year, No. 73 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file Robert “LaVoy” Finicum Finicum family sues U.S., FBI, OSP Seeks $5M for widow, 12 children By STEVEN DUBOIS Associated Press PORTLAND — The family of an Arizona rancher who was killed by police during the armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon alleged in a U.S. lawsuit Friday that he was “deliberately executed by a preplanned government ambush.” The wrongful-death lawsuit filed in Pendleton on the second anniversary of Robert “LaVoy” Finicum’s death seeks at least $5 million in damages for his widow and each of their 12 children. The United States is listed as a defendant, along with the FBI, Oregon State Police, Gov. Kate Brown and others. FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. Representatives for the governor and state police did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Finicum served as a spokesman for the armed group led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy that occupied the Malheur National Wild- life Refuge in 2016 to oppose federal control of land in the U.S. West and the imprison- ment of two ranchers. Investigators determined that state troopers were justified in shooting Finicum three times in the back after he exited his vehicle at a police roadblock, put his hands in the air and then reached toward a handgun in See LAWSUIT/12A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Inmate tutor Fabian Solis helps fellow inmate Wayne Woodruff understand a math question during a GED class on Thursday at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton. PRISON PUPILS BMCC instructors help inmates earn nearly 6,000 GEDs since 1985 By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Doreen Matteson often gets goosebumps. The teacher works deep inside the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution helping inmates learn what they need to know to get their high school diplomas. Her students are convicted criminals who often have spent more time on the streets than in the classroom. She regularly marvels at the transformation she observes in inmates working to earn their General Education Diplomas (GEDs). Away from drugs and alcohol, the men start to see school through a different lens. “A lot of these guys had drug and alcohol issues in high school,” Matteson said. “In here, their heads clear out. They may be fearful they will fail again at first, then it starts clicking and it’s ‘Oh, my gosh — I can do this.’ They catch the vision that they can succeed at this. It is attainable.” That’s when the goosebumps come. Matteson had never stepped foot inside a prison before taking the job teaching English as a second language here. She and the eight other teachers inside EOCI actually work for Blue Mountain Community College, which contracts with the prison to provide education services. The program consistently awards more GEDs than any other prison education program in the state. The state of Oregon ranks in the top five nationally in corrections education. See PRISON/12A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Inmate tutors Ryan Huebner and Eric Burnham both have advanced degrees. Huebner is studying for his masters degree in psychology and Burnham is studying for his PhD in counseling. HERMISTON ‘Smart meters’ let residents know how their water flows By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian New meters installed by the city of Hermiston will help residents be smarter consumers of water and power. While the city is just beginning to install new electrical meters around town, installation of new water meters is finished and customers can now track their water usage by the day, by the hour or even in 15 minute increments. Assistant city manager Mark Morgan said while some customers might not care about monitoring their “For those customers who are really sensitive to rate increases, this gives them the ability to track what they can do to decrease their own bills.” — Mark Morgan, Assistant city manager water usage more carefully, others may find it helpful to look at where their water is going. For example, when he did a test run of the app a few months ago, he was able to experiment with the timing of how he watered his lawn and reduce his bill. “For those customers who are really sensitive to rate increases, this gives them the ability to track what they can do to decrease their own bills,” he said. Customers will be able to create a variety of charts and graphs after logging into their account, such as a line graph showing daily water usage compared with the temperature for those days. See WATER/12A Hermiston residents can download an app on their smartphones to monitor their water usage via the new “smart meters” installed by the city. Staff photo by E.J. Harris