East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, August 16, 2018, Page Page 3A, Image 3

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    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.
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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.
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“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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