COMEY LIGHTS
INTO TRUMP
IN NEW BOOK
NATION/6A
HERMISTON CITY
COUNCIL CANDIDATES
DEBATE AT FORUM
REGION/3A
ROUND-UP KICKOFF CONCERT ANNOUNCED
REGION/3A
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018
142nd Year, No. 126
Your Weekend
•
•
•
Welcome baseball
season with Adams Day
Base of the Blues Bash
in Milton-Freewater
Arbor Day tree
giveaway in Pendleton
For times and places
see Coming Events, 5A
Weekend Weather
Fri
Sat
Sun
57/43
63/42
58/40
Watch a baseball game
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Dayton changes plea to murder
Life sentence
handed down with
parole at 25 years
charge increased
Dayton’s prison
sentence from
20 years to at
least 25.
Dayton,
24,
appeared
Thursday
morning
via
jail
room
video
Dayton
in
Umatilla
County Circuit
Court, Pendleton, to change his plea.
Judge Christopher Brauer called the
hearing unusual and the first for him
in his 12 years on the bench and
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Conor Michael Dayton of
Milton-Freewater changed his plea
from manslaughter to murder for
killing Marcos Gutierrez Rodriguez
in 2017.
Pleading guilty to the harsher
more than 30 years of practicing law.
Dayton killed Rodriguez under a
Milton-Freewater bridge on May 20,
2017, and two days later burned the
body to cover up the crime. Dayton
pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to first-de-
gree manslaughter and first-degree
abuse of a corpse.
Brauer asked Dayton if it was his
intent to have the court withdraw
the original pleas for the charges of
murder and first-degree abuse of a
corpse.
“Yes, your honor,” Dayton
replied.
Defense attorneys L. Kent Fisher
and Herman Bylenga of Pendleton
were in the courtroom. Brauer told
them he needed a reason to alter the
deal.
Bylenga said Dayton had not
fulfilled certain elements of the plea
agreement, but he did not specify
what, and as such Dayton was
willing to admit to murder.
Dayton again affirmed this was
what he wanted. After some legal
formalities, the judge asked Dayton
how he pleaded to murder and
first-degree corpse abuse.
THE BLING WHEELMAN
vs.
Hood River at Hermiston
Doubleheader Saturday
at noon
Trump
weighs
rejoining
the TPP
See TRUMP/2A
Wolf
count
hits
124 in
state
Annual report
by ODFW tallies
base population
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Bureau
By KEN THOMAS
and KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a
striking reversal, President
Donald Trump has asked
trade officials to explore
the possibility of the United
States rejoining the Trans-Pa-
cific Partnership agreement,
a free trade deal he pulled
out of during his first days in
office as part of his “America
first” agenda.
Trump’s request comes
as he faces pressure from
farm-state
Republicans
anxious that his protectionist
trade policies could spiral
into a trade war with China
that would hit rural America.
Trump spent the 2016 pres-
idential campaign ripping
into the multi-national pact,
saying he could get a better
deal for U.S. businesses by
negotiating one-on-one with
countries in the Pacific Rim.
See PLEA/9A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Jose Adan Guardado of Irrigon has overcome a lot of adversity in his life, and is now starting a design
business selling T-shirts with help from his long-time friend, Laurie Ellis.
Dysfunctional
body can’t cage
indomitable spirit
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
J
ose Adan Guardado has every
right to be mad at the world.
He was born with cerebral
palsy in El Salvador, where his
mother abandoned him as a toddler.
His grandparents collected the little
boy and raised him at their home in
Irrigon.
Multiple disabilities make each
day a climb up Mt. Everest for the
23-year-old. He can’t speak intel-
ligibly. He struggles to control his
muscles and eats via a tube connected
to a port in his stomach. Painful
spasms make his muscles cramp and
contract.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Laurie Ellis checks the sizes and number of T-shirts left in a box at Jose
Adam Gaurdado’s resident in Irrigon.
While others might give up in the
face of such obstacles, Guardado
stubbornly figures out ways over,
through and around them.
See SPIRIT/9A
SALEM — Oregon
wildlife officials counted
at least 124 wolves at the
end of 2017, an 11 percent
increase over the year end
total for 2016, according
to the latest annual report
released Thursday.
The survey, which is
conducted by the Oregon
Department of Fish &
Wildlife, is not a true
population estimate but
documents the minimum
number of wolves across
the state based on verified
evidence such as visual
sightings, tracks and
photographs.
ODFW will present an
overview of the findings
at the next Fish and Wild-
life Commission meeting
April 20 in Astoria.
“The wolf population
continues to grow and
expand its range in
Oregon,” said Roblyn
Brown, ODFW wolf
program
coordinator.
“This year, we also docu-
mented resident wolves
in the northern part of
Oregon’s Cascade Moun-
tains for the first time.”
See WOLVES/10A
Opposite stances arise in county races
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Athena Mayor John Shafer answers a question
about the capabilities of the Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Department during a commissioner forum Wednes-
day in Hermiston. Shafer is challenging Umatilla
County Commissioner Larry Givens, at right.
Umatilla County commis-
sioner candidates managed
to take some shots at each
other Wednesday night in
spite of forum rules banning
exchanges.
Rick Pullen and Tom Bailor
are challenging Commis-
sioner George Murdock for
Position 1 on the county’s
three-member board. All three
live in Pendleton. And Athena
More inside
Hermiston city council
candidates discuss housing,
economic development.
Page 3A
Mayor John Shafer aims to
unseat Commissioner Larry
Givens of Umapine from
Position 2. The five men sat
at the same table Wednesday
night for a forum at Armand
Larive Middle School, Herm-
iston.
The Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce helped sponsor
the event, which attracted
about 50 people. Under the
rules, a moderator asked
each candidate the same
question, but the candidates
were not allowed to debate
each other. The topics ranged
from economic development
and housing to mental health,
from
law
enforcement
to balancing the county
budget.
See RACES/10A