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NATION/6A
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018
142nd Year, No. 144
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
UMATILLA
HERMISTON
Videos shed
new light on
murder case
Judge not convinced of self-
defense or presumption of guilt
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Umatilla City Councilor Selene Torres-Medrano is spearheading the first Mental Health Awareness Month for the city of
Umatilla and the Umatilla School District. Torres-Merano, who also works for the Umatilla School District, has devised a
multi-pronged, month-long program that aims to improve mental health through physical wellness.
Mind your mental health
Umatilla schools are
teaching ways physical,
mental health intertwine
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
umping rope or eating an apple is
good for more than just your phys-
ical wellness — it can help keep
your mind healthy, too.
Throughout the month of May,
the city of Umatilla and the Umatilla
School District will focus on mental
health, and the many parts of life that
contribute to it.
The events will parallel the national
Mental Health Awareness Month
theme, “whole body,” and will help
residents understand the connections
between physical activity, nutrition and
mental well-being.
Breaking down the month into
weekly themes, the district has released
a calendar, and each day teachers and
families are encouraged to do a differ-
ent exercise or activity that focuses on
mental health. There will also be free
events throughout the month, including
parent classes and a 5K run/walk.
Week 1 is called “let’s talk about
it,” simply discussing with students
and families what it means to be aware
of mental health. Week 2, “mind and
soul,” teaches students how to be aware
of their thoughts and feelings. Week
J
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Students in the leadership class at Clara Brownell Middle School made
posters for Mental Health Awareness Month that now adorn the halls of
the school in Umatilla.
3 focuses on the connection between
physical and mental health, and Week
4 highlights the importance of nutrition.
The daily activities and tips include
thought exercises — “tell someone two
positive traits about yourself” or “ask
an adult one thing they do to help them-
selves feel better” — physical activi-
ties, like doing 10 jumping jacks or
going for a 10-minute walk, and healthy
Events for Umatilla Mental
Health Awareness Month
Tuesday, May 16: Parent Zumba
class, 6-8 p.m.
Saturday, May 19: 5K Race/Walk
and mental health fair, 10 a.m.,
Village Square Park
Thursday, May 24: Parent cooking
class, 6-8 p.m., McNary Heights
Elementary School.
The case of a Hermiston man charged with
murder will go to trial in October after hear-
ings this week revealed new information in
the case — but not enough for the judge to
agree to his release.
Tyree Houfmuse,
35, will remain in
the Umatilla County
Jail on charges of
murder, manslaugh-
ter and felon in pos-
session of a firearm.
He has been in jail
since June 2017 for
the murder of James
Cragun last Memo-
rial Day weekend.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Houfmuse’s trial is
Houfmuse
set to begin Octo- Tyree
during a pre-trial
ber 29.
The past two hearing on March 27,
Tuesdays,
Judge 2018, at the Stafford
Government
Eva Temple heard Hansell
Center in Hermiston.
arguments for Houf-
muse’s release after
his attorney, Kara Davis, argued he had acted
in self-defense.
District Attorney Dan Primus tried to con-
vince the judge that there is enough presump-
tion that Houfmuse is guilty of murder that
Temple should order him to stay in jail with
no bail.
Temple did not grant either side’s request,
and reduced Houfmuse’s bail from $1 mil-
lion to $250,000. She stated that there was not
enough evidence to rule out self-defense, and
that she did not see a strong presumption of
guilt, either.
“There is a lot of contradictory evidence
in this case,” Temple said after hearing both
arguments. She said that according to Cra-
gun’s autopsy, he had several injuries that
have not been discussed elsewhere in the case,
such as lacerations above his eye and bruised
knees.
She also noted that the primary contributor
of DNA on the gun was Cragun. Houfmuse’s
DNA has not been found on the weapon. Pri-
mus said the state cannot explain the lack of
Houfmuse’s DNA on the gun.
Over the two days of hearings, Temple
heard more than eight hours of video inter-
views with Houfmuse and several witnesses,
including a woman both Houfmuse and Cra-
gun had dated, and two women who were
present when Cragun was shot.
Houfmuse and the witnesses described
the night Cragun died. They said Cragun
drove up to the apartment Houfmuse and the
woman were going into. Cragun got out of the
car, jumped over a hedge and started moving
toward Houfmuse.
Cragun had been convicted of assaulting
See MIND/8A
See MURDER/8A
PENDLETON
Wildfire scenarios build local
agencies’ ‘muscle memory’
U.S. Forest Service trains
for how best to respond
to area’s next big blaze
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Photo by Antonio Sierra
Joe Hessel, district forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry,
talks about wildfire response at the Pendleton Convention Center.
From the safety of the Pendle-
ton Convention Center, some of the
region’s top emergency officials ana-
lyzed a fire raging in eastern Umatilla
County.
The fire started around 10 a.m. in a
narrow, scraggly canyon near Gibbon,
an unincorporated community east
of Pendleton, where Meacham Creek
feeds into the Umatilla River. The fire
quickly grew to envelop hundreds of
acres and more than 100 structures.
If no one sprang out of their seat
during the briefing, it was because the
fire was a hypothetical scenario rather
than a disaster-in-progress.
Dozens of officials from local gov-
ernments and the region’s emergency
response apparatus convened at the
convention center to receive a train-
ing on National Cohesive Wildland
Fire Management Strategy, a U.S. For-
est Service program that aims to pro-
tect landscapes and communities from
See WILDFIRE/8A