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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2018)
REGION Thursday, August 16, 2018 East Oregonian Page 3A HERMISTON Three arrested in drug bust at nuisance house By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Three people were arrested and another was temporarily detained Wednesday morning, as Blue Mountain Enforce- ment Narcotics Team seized illicit narcotics and firearms from a Hermiston home. According to a Herm- iston Police Department press release, the home, at 1100 W. Sunland Ave., has been an ongoing nui- sance, and the tenants have caused livability issues for neighbors. Those arrested were: • Suzun Ka Patterson, for felony charges of unlaw- ful possession of metham- phetamine and unlawful delivery of methamphet- amine, and a misdemeanor charge of frequenting a place where controlled sub- stances are used. • Tausha Lynn Patterson, for unlawful possession of methamphetamine, fre- quenting a place where con- trolled substances are used, and felon in possession of a weapon. • Gene Ray Ball, for fel- ony charges of unlawful possession of methamphet- amine and parole violation, and a misdemeanor charge of felon in possession of a weapon. According to the press release, two small children were also at the scene, and were taken into protective custody and removed by Child Protective Services. The police department will also recommend additional charges of alleged child neglect in the first degree to the Umatilla County Dis- trict Attorney’s office. Capt. Scott Clark said in the release that he had attended the last of many eviction hearings for the occupants of the property, and the property is now owned by the U.S. Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs. Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston explained in an email to the East Oregonian why the house was owned by the VA. He said on March 17, 2016, a woman was stabbed in the neck at that house, and police arrested Rich- ard David Taylor, who was incarcerated at Two Riv- ers Correctional Institution. Edmiston said Taylor was a veteran, and the house was financed through the VA. “Our problem has been trying to get someone to claim ownership so we can get people out of the house that have been squatting for the last 1.5 years,” he wrote. “We sent detectives to Two Rivers and Mr. Tay- lor advised he had no inter- est in the house since he was incarcerated.” PENDLETON MILTON-FREEWATER Boutique gets four- year extension to continue air service GO Week celebrates new school By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Following a year-and-a- half honeymoon period that saw the Pendleton airport substantially expand its pas- senger traffic, the city and Boutique Air agreed to settle in for another four years. At a Tuesday meeting, the Pendleton City Coun- cil unanimously voted to award a four-year, $10.4 million Essential Air Ser- vice contract to Boutique. Although the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation foots the bill, the federal govern- ment agency follows the local community’s direction. Presenting in front of the council, Boutique CEO Shawn Simpson touted the company’s passenger num- bers in Pendleton, which rose from 400 boardings in December 2016 when Boutique started to more than 1,000 boardings more recently. According to Boutique, the San Francisco company has increased Pendleton traf- fic by 72.4 percent versus SeaPort Airlines during each carrier’s last 12 months of operation. On average, Bou- tique has increased passen- ger traffic by 158 percent whenever it takes over an airport’s air service, Simp- son said. Simpson said Boutique has developed a codeshare agreement with United Air- lines, meaning the flight between Pendleton and Portland plus the connect- ing flights out of PDX can be booked through United. He added that similar agree- ments are being negotiated with two other major airlines. Boutique serves 30 air- ports across the U.S., but Pendleton to Portland is the company’s only route in the Northwest. Simpson said Boutique is exploring expanding into other North- west communities like Seat- tle, Boise, North Bend, Newport, Walla Walla, and Lewiston, Idaho. With Boutique’s recent record of success, the coun- cil asked Simpson if he was considering serving Pend- leton with an aircraft larger than the eight-passenger plane it currently uses. Simpson said Boutique could deploy a larger plane to Pendleton, but the com- pany estimates it would cost an additional $1.3 million over the life of the contract. Despite the increase in passengers, Simpson said 70 percent of Boutique’s reve- nue on the Pendleton to Port- land is route still comes from the EAS subsidy. He said the DOT is more amena- ble to receiving requests for more trips per week with the smaller aircraft than spend- ing more money for a bigger aircraft. Offering a larger aircraft was one of the top pitches from Boutique’s only com- petitor for the EAS contract: Silver Airways. Based in Fort Lauder- dale, Florida, Silver offered to serve Pendleton with a 34-passenger aircraft that would transport passengers from Pendleton to Portland twice per day. Airport Manager Steve Chrisman reported that Sil- ver’s bid would have been $5.4 million per year versus Boutique’s $2.5 million and the larger plane would create additional costs to the city, like an additional $1 mil- lion to $1.5 million for fire support and hiring a private company to provide security checks. By TAMMY MALGESINI East Oregonian Although the Mil- ton-Freewater Rocks! fes- tival has been canceled, the community has bigger things to celebrate as it rolls out its first new school in nearly a century. Voters in May 2016 over- whelmingly passed a $12.5 million school bond in the Milton-Freewater School District. Additional money for the school and sports complex project came from the Wayne and Gladys Val- ley Foundation, and the Ore- gon School Capital Improve- ment Matching Program. Gib Olinger Elemen- tary School — named after a longtime community vol- unteer, local businessman, school board member and a member of the 1939 Uni- versity of Oregon “Tall Firs” championship team — is Milton-Freewater’s first new school building since 1922. Olinger died in 1999. His daughter, Barbara Olinger, said in a 2017 interview that her father often avoided tak- ing credit for his good deeds. “My father is looking down from heaven, say- ing, ‘They didn’t have to do that,’” she said about nam- ing the school after him. Gib Olinger Week — aka GO Week — kicks off Wednesday, Aug. 22 with a family movie night at 6:30 p.m. in the school’s gym- nasium, 1011 S. Mill St. Popcorn, bottled water and candy bars will be avail- able for purchase during the showing of a G-rated movie. The celebration contin- ues Thursday, Aug. 23, with a parade at 5:30 p.m. It will begin at Grove Elementary and travel to Gib Olinger Elementary. At the school, there will be fun and games for the whole family. Activi- ties include Latin dance and cheer team demonstrations, face painting, a dunk tank, a cake walk, sports activities File photo Children play with the golden shovels at the May 2017 groundbreaking ceremony for the new Gib Olinger El- ementary School in Milton-Freewater. and more. “This is such a wonder- ful accomplishment for our community, and we couldn’t be happier to help organize this fun celebration for our town to enjoy,” said Jenni- fer Konrad, Milton-Freewa- ter Chamber of Commerce executive director. The official dedication ceremonies will be held Fri- day, Aug. 24, at 5 p.m. in the gym, followed by a rib- bon-cutting at 6 p.m. in front of the building. A salmon barbecue will be served at 6:30 p.m. on the softball fields. Dinner tickets, which are available at the chamber and school district offices, are $15 per person. Also, hot dog meals for youths will be available for purchase. Also held in conjunction with the event is the 18th annual “Harvest of Art.” The juried fine arts show starts Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria. It continues Thursday and Fri- day, 5-8 p.m. In addition, the inaugu- ral Broadway Block Party, hosted by the Milton-Free- water Downtown Alliance, is Saturday, Aug. 25, from 3-7 p.m. Through its Project Dis- covery as a way of connect- ing the community, the group coined Broadway Avenue as the hyphen in Milton-Free- water. The event features bounce houses, face paint- ing, a 5K run, food trucks and music by Diego and the Detonators. Also, adults can purchase beverages from Watermill Winery and Blue Mountain Cider Company. “We wanted to create a fun family atmosphere that brings visitors and residents together,” said Norman Saager, owner of Broad- way Family Dental Care and Broadway Fitness. Viewing Milton-Freewa- ter as a growing town, Alex Hedges, director of Water- mill Winery, said there are tremendous opportunities for those who live and visit the city. Participating in the block party, he said, is a way to showcase what the town has to offer while giving back to the community. For questions about GO Week, call the chamber at 541-938-5563 or visit www. mfchamber.com. For more about the block party, con- tact Hedges at 509-440-3530 or alex@watermillwinery. com. GoodHealth LIVE Learn about how a joint replacement can help reduce your pain! Three adults, five young children killed in Harney County crash By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press A family of seven, includ- ing five young children, died on a remote Oregon road in a head-on collision on their way to an end-of-summer vacation in Las Vegas, a fam- ily member said Wednesday. Erika Carter Boquet, 29, was driving her 2016 Toy- ota 4 Runner eastbound on Oregon Highway 78 when an oncoming vehicle veered into her lane, authorities said. Boquet, of Tacoma, Washington, and her chil- dren Isabella, 11; Elisabeth, 8; and Tytis, 6, were killed, Boquet’s brother, Jesse Tate, told The Associated Press. The other passengers were Kyla Marie Brown, 28, and her two children Ari- anna Marie Brown, 10, and Xavier King Johnson, 2, all of Olympia. Authorities did not provide details about the relationships between the victims. “It’s a tragedy I wouldn’t wish on anyone else,” Tate, 30, of Spanaway, Washing- ton, told The Oregonian/ OregonLive in an earlier interview. The driver and sole occu- pant of the other car, 48-year- old Mark Robert Rundell, of Prairie City, also died. The crash happened in a remote part of Oregon about 130 miles west of the Idaho border. Tate first learned of it from relatives who contacted him on social media. He then called his father, who told him who was involved, he said. Boquet volunteered at a Tacoma-based nonprofit she created called Last Stop that provides resources to low-income families. The group hosted an Easter egg hunt earlier this year, Tate said, and Boquet hoped to have a backpack drive before the school year began. She aimed to one day build a park in Tacoma. GSC GSC Express Express Moving Moving You pack pack it...We it...We move move it! it! . You Local Local . Express Express . Relocation Relocation . Service Service 40 Years of Moving Experience 40 Years of Moving Experience Call Call for for Estimate Estimate 541-567-8980 541-567-8980 N N Hwy. Hwy. 395 395 Hermiston Hermiston “She was outgoing, per- sonable, made friends every- where she went, and her kids took after her,” Tate said. “They all just cared about everyone around them.” A GoFundMe page to help bring the bodies home and pay funeral costs had raised more than dou- ble its goal of $10,000 on Wednesday. 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