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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2018)
BUCKS COME BACK COWBOY CHURCH ON SUNDAY SPORTS/9A REGION/3A HOMICIDE IN GRANT COUNTY REGION/2A FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2018 142nd Year, No. 220 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON Your Weekend Committed to cameras • • • Watch the Dress Up Parade in Pendleton Visit the grand opening of the Harkenrider Center Fundraiser taco feed in Stanfield For times and places see Coming Events, 3A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 88/58 78/50 80/52 Watch a game Pendleton vs. Hood River 7 p.m. Friday at Pendleton High School Morrow Co. makes plan to develop for housing By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Like many communities in Oregon, Morrow County has a housing shortage. A new county-wide project will aim to find out where the gaps are and work to bridge them. On Thursday, a group of city and county represen- tatives had their first meet- ing for the Buildable Lands Inventory and Housing Analysis to assess available lands, and see how those lands can be used. Morrow County Planning Director Carla McLane said there were representatives from four of Morrow Coun- ty’s five incorporated cities, as well as a county commis- sioner, at the closed-door meeting. They met with two planning firms that will con- duct the analysis — Angelo Planning Group and John- son Economics. Both firms are from Port- land, but McLane said both have worked on projects in Eastern Oregon before, including at the Umatilla Army Depot. Police have found body cams a useful tool By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian T he city of Hermiston spent $70,000 in late 2014 to give its police department body- mounted video cameras for offi- cers. The contract for the cam- eras, data storage and records management expires at the end of five years. Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston said he recognizes the cost to the city was significant, but the 12 Axon Flex cameras continue to deliver and he hopes the city re-ups the agreement. Hermiston Police Department has 27 officers, but the 17 in the patrol division have to wear the cameras, plus the four sergeants share one. The sergeants spend part of their shifts in the office, so they do not need individ- ual cameras. Edmiston said that helps cut down on costs. Cam footage has revealed “when we haven’t always put our best foot forward,” Edmis- ton said, and those videos pro- vide valuable teaching tools for improvement. The cameras also have exonerated officers. Right off, he recalled an inci- dent in late May 2015 when officers had to deal with a tran- sient near City Hall. Two offi- cers tried to get him to leave, yet after several attempts the man refused and flicked a lit cigarette at police. EO file photo It has been more than three years since the Hermiston Police Department issued lapel-mount- ed body camera to all of their patrol officers. “That was it,” Edmiston said. “He was under arrest for offen- sive littering.” As an officer tried to handcuff him, the chief said, “he reared back and head-butted a pane glass window.” The window did not shat- ter, and police took the man to the ground, where he began head-butting the sidewalk. A third officer rushed over and put his boot under his head to keep the man from hurting himself. Police cameras captured the ordeal and a Hermiston woman watched it unfold from a dis- tance. She contacted Edmiston because she thought she saw police kick the man in the head and considered taking her story to the media. “I let this lady explain to me what she saw,” Edmiston said. “Then I played the video for her.” He said he told her it was OK to think she saw what she saw, but the video showed what really went down. Hermiston officers with the cameras also use “Signal Side- arm,” technology that senses when an officer pulls their gun from the holster. The holster sen- sor turns on the officer’s camera and the cams of nearby officers. The technology means officers in those stressful moments do not have to think about flipping on cams. “It’s great because any time we’re pulling our guns out it’s See CAMERAS/8A Contributed photo Still images from a police body camera shows what the camera can see when an officer is following a vehicle, making a traffic stop or arriving at the location of a call. HERMISTON Admissions down at county fair, but concessions and carnival up Gate sales came in $40,000 under budget By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian See DEVELOP/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Fair-goers line-up to ride the Yoyo at the carnival during the 2018 Umatilla County Fair in Hermiston. Calculating how many people attended the Umatilla County Fair can be complicated, and this year’s numbers have provided a bit of a mystery. Fair board member Lucas Wag- ner said not all numbers are finalized, but it appears admissions revenue was down while revenue from con- cessions, the carnival and other ways people spend money at the fair were “significantly” up. “I’m scratching my head as to how that could be,” Wagner said. Umatilla County chief finan- cial officer Robert Pahl said admis- sion revenue was about $145,000 this year, compared to $166,120 in 2017 and $188,050 in 2016. The coun- ty’s 2018-2019 budget adopted this summer had predicted $185,000 in admissions revenue. Wagner said ticket sales at the gate don’t provide a full picture of fair attendance because there are so many people who get in free with passes for volunteers, sponsors and other people involved in the fair. So the fair board usually takes into account concert attendance, concessions sales, carnival wristbands, parking and other factors to calculate a more inclusive number. Based on those fac- See FAIR/8A $188,050 $166,120 $145,000 Admission revenue, 2016 Admission revenue, 2017 Estimated admission revenue, 2018