REGION
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Students compete for shot at state chess tournament
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
A deafening silence settled over
the Hermiston High School library
as 20 kids stared at chess boards,
plotting their next moves.
The Region 23/24 chess tour-
nament drew elementary schoolers
from Heppner, and middle and high
schoolers from Hermiston, all who
are trying to qualify for the state
tournament. The tournament is
March 9 and 10.
After a high-drama three-way
tie for the top high school spot,
all three students will move onto
state. The winners were senior
Gabriel Gomez and sophomores
Isaac Bonifer and Jeremy Bowden.
Each boy won four out of the five
matches they played.
At the middle and elementary
school level, the top five scorers
will attend the state tournament as
a team. The winners for the middle
school level are Luke Gray, Zane
Herron, Nathan Booher, Dillon
Herron and Elijah Robinson.
The elementary school winners
are Owen Guerra, Nicholas
Wenberg, Claire Lindsay, Jaime
Cavan, and John Lindsay and
Maya Payne, who tied for the third-
highest score.
As Hermiston High School
sophomores Neveah Cubbage and
Kylie Barker waited to start their
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
Two Hermiston High School students play a game of chess at Sat-
urday’s state-qualifying tournament.
Club advisor Delia Fields
said there are anywhere between
30 and 40 people in chess club,
encompassing all three secondary
schools. The team practices twice a
week, and students get the chance
to play opponents of varying skill
levels, and get assistance from adult
volunteers.
Fields said the chess club
received a boost this year, when
it became an official “Chess for
Success” team. Joining a group of
schools all over Oregon and one
in Washington, the organization
final round of the day, they reflected
on their games so far. The biggest
challenge, Cubbage said, is that
with a fairly small group of people,
they have to find new ways to beat
the same opponents.
“If you play a lot of the same
people, they know what your moves
are, and they can figure out how to
beat you,” Barker said.
But both agreed that their
favorite aspect has been meeting
new people. The two became
friends when they joined chess club
several years ago.
started in 1992 as a way to teach
chess to at-risk youth, to help
them develop critical thinking and
problem solving skills.
“It’s allowed us to go from a
small, strong program to a larger
strong program,” Fields said. “The
kids aren’t hamstrung by registra-
tion fees.”
A group of about 40 elementary
schoolers from Heppner made the
trip to Hermiston. The only elemen-
tary school in the area with a Chess
for Success program, students have
found a lot they like about the game.
“I like the ‘touch-move’ rule,”
said fifth-grader Jaime Cavan,
noting a rule that if a player touches
a piece, they have to move that
piece. “Sometimes my opponent
messes up.”
Claire Lindsay, a third grader,
said one of the challenges has been
playing chess under pressure.
“When I went to state, it was
really hard,” she said. “I saw that I
was going to be able to get a draw,
but I didn’t win,” she said.
For some students, chess has
quickly become a favorite pastime.
Though they were done competing
for the day, Luke Gray and Zane
Herron, sixth graders at Armand
Larive Middle School, sat with a
chessboard outside the library and
played a practice game.
Both had won four of their five
tournaments.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
Program would expand UAS operations
East Oregonian
The Oregon Department
of Aviation has applied for
a program that would allow
its three unmanned aerial
systems ranges — Pendleton,
Tillamook and Warm Springs
— to work with private drone
companies on more advanced
operations.
According to a department
press release, inclusion in
the Federal Aviation Admin-
istration’s UAS Integration
Pilot Program will allow test
ranges to work with drone
companies to complete
procedures like operations
at night, flights over people,
automated flights, and flights
that are beyond the line of
sight of the remote pilots.
As these companies
develop applications like
drone delivery, search and
rescue operations, wildlife
surveys, and accident scene
reconstruction, the FAA will
continue to receive data that
it will use for the eventual
integration of UAS into the
national airspace.
“The state of Oregon
has been a leader in the
field of unmanned aircraft,”
department Director Mitch
Swecker said. “The state
has been at the forefront
of creating balanced UAS
legislation, and has created
an environment that attracts
UAS businesses to Oregon.
The three established UAS
test ranges are a testament to
Oregon’s commitment. That
means jobs and economic
development
throughout
our state.”
Steve Chrisman, Pendle-
ton’s economic development
director and airport manager,
said the Pendleton UAS Range
had been independently
working on an application for
the program. But when range
officials realized that many
of the program’s operational
benefits were things the range
was already working on, they
dropped their application and
threw their support behind the
state.
Chrisman
said
the
program could eventually
result in more business for all
three test ranges, but they’ll
have to wait to see how the
application process works
out.
The press release states
that the department is working
with Intel, Insitu, Skyward,
Oregon State University and
other industry members to
develop a framework that
would integrate an electronic
license plate system for
drones with an automated
state-wide air traffic control
system.
Trials underway for armed robbery defendants
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The Morrow County trial
for armed robbery defendant
Daniel Faustino Arce of
Portland stretches into its
fourth day Tuesday. And the
trial for co-defendant Desirea
Devin of Heppner begins
Wednesday.
District Attorney Justin
Nelson said jury selection last
week for Arce’s trial took one
day and not just a few hours,
and what was planned as a
two-day trial has doubled. He
said the same situation could
happen with the Devin case.
Arce, 29, and Devin, 23,
face charges of robbery,
burglary, theft, and more,
including unlawful use of a
weapon and attempted arson.
The state accused them of
committing the crimes Dec.
17 in southern Morrow
County and firing a gun at
one victim. Bird hunters
pinned down the pair when
they tried to set fire to the
vehicle they stole, according
to court records, which led to
their arrests.
Devin’s attorney, Robert
Klahn of Pendleton, has
filed a motion to suppress
her statements after she
told a deputy she wanted a
lawyer. In response, Nelson
is asking the court to strike
the suppression motion or
to continue the trial because
Klahn did not follow court
filing deadlines. Circuit
Judge Daniel Hill will hear
arguments on the matter
Tuesday morning.
The case has a third
defendant — Vera Rose
Smith, 35, of Warm Springs.
She faces charges of first-
and second degree burglary,
unauthorized use of a vehicle,
first-degree theft. Nelson said
her charges are different from
Arce and Devin’s because
Smith was involved at the
start of the crimes and soon
left. Her trial begins Feb. 20.
All three defendants
remain in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
“I just love to play chess,” Gray
said.
“It’s a nice, relaxing game,”
Herron said. “It’s a good way to
free your mind and focus. I believe
it makes you more self-aware.”
Gray has been playing for
several years, and learned from his
father.
“My dad’s a trucker. And when
he was on the road, we would play
online chess on chess.com,” he
said.
MaryAnn Elguezabal, the
Heppner chess coach, said many of
her students come in with little to
no chess experience. The Chess for
Success program provides lesson
plans, and she relies on volunteers
to help teach.
Both Elguezabal and Fields said
they have seen changes in their
students outside of the chess game.
“We’re a safe landing place,”
Fields said. “They learn social
skills, real thoughtful and
purposeful actions.”
Elguezabal said she has seen
an improvement in patience and
manners from many students.
“They learn that everything you
do has a consequence,” she said.
“Once you’ve moved that chess
piece, it’s moved.”
———
Contact Jayati Ramakrishnan
at jramakrishnan@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4534
FRIDAY
10:41 a.m. - A Hermiston woman told police
she cannot keep her dog right now, so a friend
has the pet, but he has been neglecting her dog,
which is now “skin and bones.” She also said her
friend gave her 72 hours to get the dog back.
11:30 a.m. - A caller at the Heppner Elk’s
Lodge, 142 N. Main St., reported someone
assaulted her son.
12:15 p.m. - Pendleton police responded
to a 911 report on Northwest B Place of a man
assaulting another male. The suspect was gone
when police arrived.
2:07 p.m. - A Milton-Freewater caller reported
the theft of an electric bicycle motor from a
vehicle on the 100 block of South Russell Street.
7:54 p.m. - Pendleton police took a report of
an assault at Southwest Eighth Street and Isaac
Avenue.
SATURDAY
3:57 a.m. - Pendleton police responded to
Brooke RV Park, 5 N.E. Eighth St., on a report of
a prowler but did not find anyone.
11:43 a.m. - An Irrigon resident reported her
brother was trying to hit a female. The Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office sent a deputy, who spoke
with the people involved.
3:26 p.m. - Morrow County emergency
services responded to Southeast Division Street,
Irrigon, after a vehicle hit a man. An ambulance
took the patient to a hospital.
5:28 p.m. - Hermiston police responded to a
burglary report on the 1100 block of South First
Street.
6:01 p.m. - Pilot Rock police dealt with a dog
issue on Northwest Alder Drive.
SUNDAY
8:01 a.m. - Pendleton police took a report for a
burglary at the Red Lion Hotel, 304 S.E. Nye Ave.
12:35 p.m. - A caller reported a neglected cow
in the pasture behind the motor home right after
the curve on Tum A Lum Road near Stateline
Road, Milton-Freewater.
6:03 p.m. - An Irrigon caller asked the Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office to send someone to get
four puppies. The pups may belong to a neighbor,
she said, but no one would answer their door.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office took them to
Pet Rescue-Humane Society Eastern Oregon.
7:10 p.m. - A Hermiston-area woman told
the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office she is going
through a divorce and put a lock on her bedroom
door, but her soon-to-be-ex husband kicked in
the door. The sheriff’s office determined this was
a civil matter, not criminal.
7:25 p.m. - A resident on Dark Canyon
Avenue, Umatilla, prompted a call to police when
he threw things from his garage into the middle
of the street. The caller said the man has made
trouble before.
ARRESTS, CITATIONS
Friday
•Morrow County Sheriff’s Office arrested
Krisiti Marie Worden, 36, of Heppner, for driving
under the influence of intoxicants (alcohol),
reckless driving and nine counts of reckless
endangerment
•Morrow County Sheriff’s Office arrested Eric
Michael Masterson, 26, no address provided, for
DUII following a single-vehicle crash at about 6
p.m. on Willow Creek Road, Heppner, about half
a mile south of Blake’s Ranch.
•Pendleton police arrested John T. Marquez,
35, Pendleton, for DUII.
•Stanfield police arrested Jose Lewis Cerda,
34, of Stanfield, for tampering with physical
evidence, second-degree theft and possession
of methamphetamine.
•Pendleton police arrested Jesus Bueno
Jr., 55, no address provided, for hindering
prosecution.
Saturday
•Pendleton police arrested Delise R.
Guerrero, 35, Pendleton, for DUII.
•Hermiston police arrested Mitchell Wayne
Thomas, 28, of Hermiston, for violating parole
and felon in possession of a weapon.
Sunday
•Oregon State Police at 2:39 a.m. responded
to Interstate 84 near eastbound milepost 241 for
a crash between a Toyota Corolla and a semi-
trailer. The trooper arrested the driver of the
Toyota, Antonio Guerrero, 32, of Hermiston, for
DUII, and took him to the Umatilla County Jail,
Pendleton, where he gave a breath test that
showed a blood-alcohol content of .21 percent,
almost three times the legal limit of .08 percent.
•Pendleton police arrested James C. Hassler,
27, of Amarillo, Texas, for DUII.
•Morrow County Sheriff’s Office arrested
Drion Mark Donner, 28, no address provided,
for first-degree burglary, second-degree mischief
and resisting arrest.
•Pendleton police arrested Mary Irene Perry,
35, of Pendleton, for felony DUII following a the
rollover of an SUV a little after 4 p.m. on the 1200
block of Tutuilla Creek Road.
•Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office arrested
Timothy Merrill Leischner, 35, of Pilot Rock, for
first-degree assault, third-degree assault, reck-
less endangering, menacing and harassment.
BRIEFLY
Irrigon man injured
in hit-and-run
An Irrigon man was
injured in a hit-and-run
Saturday, and the Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office is
still looking for the offender.
Around 3:30 p.m.,
pedestrian Miguel Angel
Gutierrez, 46, was hit by a
vehicle on Southeast Division
Road in Irrigon. The vehicle
immediately left the scene.
According to Melissa Ross of
the sheriff’s office, Gutierrez
was bleeding from the head,
but there are no further
updates on his injuries.
Ross said there was a
witness to the incident, but
she did not have the person’s
name. She said the investiga-
tion is ongoing.
Heppner Fit Park
underway
HEPPNER — Heppner
residents will soon have
a new place to exercise
in the great outdoors. The
Port of Morrow on Friday
broke ground on the “Fit
Park” on Riverside Avenue
in Heppner. The park,
scheduled to be completed
in May 2018, will have a
variety of exercise gear such
as circuit training equipment.
It will have a grassy area
for multi-sport use, a stage,
public restrooms, and
badminton and pickle ball
courts. The park is a little
over 1.5 acres, and is located
next to the Willow Creek
Water Park.
Kim Cutsforth, former
Heppner city manager
and Morrow County
administrator, said the park
cost $325,000 with a variety
of grants and donations, from
groups such as the Wildhorse
Foundation and the Oregon
Parks and Recreation
Department. The park is
the result of a combined
effort of the Willow Creek
Park District, Heppner High
School, Morrow County,
the Port of Morrow and the
Howard and Beth Bryant
Foundation, of which
Cutsforth is the director.
Cutsforth said planning
for the park began in summer
of 2016.
Irrigon chamber to
discuss plans
IRRIGON — A round-
table discussion is planned
during the upcoming Irrigon
Chamber of Commerce
meeting.
The no-host luncheon
gathering is Wednesday
at noon at Stokes Landing
Senior Center, 150 Columbia
Lane, Irrigon. The cost is
$8 for members and $10
for non-members. The
discussion will focus on the
future of the Irrigon chamber.
Also, people are
encouraged to save the
date for “Time to Shine,”
the community’s citizen
recognition event. Additional
details will be announced.
For more information,
contact Tracey Johnson
at irrigonchamber@
irrigonchamber.com,
541-922-6259 or visit www.
irrigonchamber.net.
2/12-13
Cineplex Show Times
$5 Classic Movie • 2/14 • 12:00 PM
A taste of the Region’s Craft Wine, Beer, Distilled
Spirits, Chocolates and Cheeses
Saturday, Feburary 17, 2018
5-7 pm
Blue Mountain Community College - Student Union
Tickets: $25 or $30 at the door • Attire casual - dressy
Your ticket includes a commemorative wine or pint glass
and tasting tickets
An Affair to Remember
Fifty Shades Freed (R)
4:50 7:20 9:50
Peter Rabbit (PG)
4:30 7:00 9:20
The 15:17 To Paris (PG13)
4:40 7:10 9:30
Tickets available at Pendleton Art +
Frame or by calling the BMCC Foundation
Offi ce at 541-278-5775
Winchester (PG13)
4:20 6:40 9:10
Hostiles (R)
4:00 6:50 9:40
* Matinee Pricing
wildhorseresort.com
541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
All proceeds benifi t student scholarships
through the BMCC Foundations