WEEKEND EDITION
DUCKS
GLIDE
INTO
ROUND 2
STUDENTS
WITH A
MESSAGE
ORGAN TRANSPLANT
SPORTS/2B
PAGES 3A/4A
LIFESTYLES/1C
E O
AST
142nd Year, No. 108
MARCH 17-18, 2018
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Charities
wary of
donation
misuse,
theft
UMATILLA-MORROW HOMELESS COUNT
How nonprofits
proect themselves
from sticky fingers,
embezzlement
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Small nonprofits can do
an outsized amount of good
in their communities. But
their part-time, volunteer
nature can also make it easy
for abuses to go unnoticed.
It happens in Eastern
Oregon. Shawn MacGregor,
former director of the
Pendleton nonprofit shelter
Tonya’s
House,
was
arraigned earlier this month
on charges of theft after
being accused of embezzling
more than $10,000 from
the organization, which
had to close its doors in
2017 for financial reasons.
The Umatilla Chamber of
Commerce, Spray Rodeo
Association and Haystack
Cemetery Association have
reported thefts by employees
in recent years.
Nonprofit thefts in the
news was what led Nicole
Shelton to recently broach
the subject with the board
of the Hermiston Warming
Station. Shelton, who was
a board member until she
resigned Sunday, said there
were signs that donated items
were being mishandled.
Once, for example, she
saw a board member take
home a pair of bras that
were among clothing items
donated to the Warming
Station. She said when
confronted later the person
said they had given them to
their daughter’s friend who is
on the verge of homelessness.
Another time a volunteer
told Shelton they witnessed
a board member take home
a donated tube of toothpaste
with the comment they had
run out of toothpaste at home.
When Shelton complained,
they said the toothpaste was
expired and slated to be
thrown away anyway.
Shelton said the organi-
zation keeps careful track of
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Stephen Scarbro, who came from San Antonio, Texas, walks along the Pendleton River Parkway on Thursday in Pendleton. Scar-
bro, who is currently homeless, says he is spends his time maintaining a low profile while waiting to start a new job.
Hundreds more homeless
New method finds 557
living on streets, in cars,
crashing on couches
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Case managers for Community
Action Program of East Central
Oregon had a problem with their
2017 count of the area’s homeless
population.
The point-in-time census counted
55 homeless people in Umatilla
County, one in Wheeler County and
none in Gilliam or Morrow counties
— the regions where the nonprofit
aims to help low-income popula-
tions. Glenda McDaniel, one of
those CAPECO case managers, said
the figure was surprising because it
was so small.
They conducted a second count
at the end of the summer, that time
finding 64. Still lower than their
estimates.
The latest count came Jan. 31,
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Stephen Scarbro puts a Danish he saved from his lunch at the Sal-
vation Army into a bag to save for later Thursday in Pendleton.
and it revealed 557 homeless people
in the four counties.
“We knew the numbers were out
there,” McDaniel. “And there are
probably even more.”
Gilliam and Wheeler counties
had no documented homeless popu-
lation. But 46 were counted this time
in Morrow County, including 17
females and 18 males in Heppner.
Umatilla County had 511, with 292
in Pendleton, 123 in Hermiston, 51
in Athena, 44 in Milton-Freewater
and one in Echo.
Males outnumbered females
274 to 252, and 31 people did not
identify their gender.
The census found they ran the
gamut when it came to where
they spend the night: 1.4 percent
squatted; 15.1 percent stayed on
the street; 40.6 percent stayed with
friends.
“A lot of people are one paycheck
away from losing housing,”
McDaniel said.
Susie Stuvland and Sean Ruud,
fellow case managers, said the orga-
nization examined its methodology
and added more volunteers to arrive
at a more accurate picture of the
area’s homeless situation. The effort
included talking to school districts
to find homeless students and going
to where the homeless gather, from
churches to The Salvation Army
to the banks of the Umatilla River.
They also worked on asking better
questions and asking questions in
better ways.
See HOMELESS/12A
“A lot of people are one paycheck away from losing housing.”
— Glenda McDaniel, CAPECO case manager
See NONPROFITS/11A
Districts train for better reporting on sex misconduct
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
In the first month of 2018, a
grim statistic was perpetuated.
On Jan. 24, Ione Community
Charter School music teacher
Bryan Bates was arrested for
official misconduct, two counts
of harassment and two counts
of third-degree sexual abuse for
incidents with a 16-year-old female
student.
Less than two weeks later,
Windy River Elementary School
teacher Robert Weems was arrested
for one count of official misconduct
in the first degree, two counts of
sexual abuse in the second degree,
and one count of sexual abuse in
Photo illustration by E.J. Harris the third degree for ongoing sexual
Sexual misconduct between teachers and students can include both contact with a teen in The Dalles,
sexual conduct and “grooming” — developing a romantic relation- where he used to teach.
ship intended to become sexual.
Safe at school
Through the month of March,
the EO will report on the
many ways schools protect
students, both on and off
campus.
Despite tight-knit communities
and small-town values, Eastern
Oregon hasn’t been immune
to sexual misconduct between
teachers and students.
According to state records,
the Oregon Teacher Standards
and Practices Commission has
disciplined 10 teachers for explicit
sexual misconduct from 2007 to
2017 in Umatilla and Morrow
counties, an average of one case
per year in an area with a combined
population of 87,000 residents.
See SEX ABUSE/11A