NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Saturday, September 15, 2018
BOARDMAN
MILTON-FREEWATER
Te Velde loses Lost Valley Farm
School canceled after
reported shooting threat
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
A bankruptcy judge in
California will appoint a
trustee to operate Lost Val-
ley Farm, Oregon’s sec-
ond-largest dairy, after find-
ing owner Greg te Velde
is “unwilling, or unable to
comply with his duties as a
fiduciary.”
The ruling, handed down
Sept. 12, states te Velde has
continued his long-standing
pattern of drug use and gam-
bling while owing creditors
$160 million — including
$68 million to Rabobank, a
Netherlands-based agricul-
tural lender.
In addition to Lost Val-
ley Farm near Boardman, te
Velde will lose control of his
two dairies in California —
GJ te Velde Ranch in Tip-
ton, and Pacific Rim Dairy
in Corcoran — with a com-
bined total of 53,382 cattle.
When reached Friday, te
Velde said he had no com-
ment on the ruling.
The U.S. Department of
Justice asked Judge Fred-
erick Clement to appoint a
trustee for all three of te Vel-
de’s dairies, citing his alleged
drug use, gambling and lack
of financial transparency.
Since filing for bankruptcy,
te Velde has continued to
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Lost Valley Dairy outside Boardman, Ore., is one
of three dairies owned by Greg te Velde that will be
managed by a trustee.
For example, after declar-
ing bankruptcy, te Velde
borrowed $205,000 from
Pasco Farms without court
approval. Between May
8 and June 2, te Velde
was authorized to person-
ally withdraw $10,000,
but instead took $38,420,
explaining he was “unac-
customed to personal bank
accounts, took the cash he
needed, and authorized his
bookkeeper to pay his per-
sonal bills from the dairy
accounts.”
Lost Valley Farm opened
in April 2017 after receiving
a wastewater management
permit from the Oregon
Department of Environmen-
tal Quality and Department
of Agriculture, which jointly
use methamphetamine two
or three times per week and
has gambled away $2,000 to
$7,000 per month, according
to court documents.
Te Velde has blamed his
financial problems not on
his lifestyle, but rather on
market forces outside his
control, such as low milk
prices and construction
cost overruns at Lost Val-
ley. But creditors in court
papers say they believe that
“darker forces have caused
his insolvency, or if not the
cause, preclude te Velde
from effectively resolving
his debt problems.”
Te Velde also does not
abide by the orders of the
bankruptcy court, Clem-
ent stated in his ruling.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
MONDAY
SUNDAY
TUESDAY
Times of clouds
and sun
Nice with clouds
and sunshine
Partly sunny
73° 49°
68° 44°
WEDNESDAY
Partly sunny and
pleasant
Pleasant with
abundant sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
69° 44°
71° 45°
71° 49°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
71° 45°
76° 51°
72° 44°
75° 46°
OREGON FORECAST
76° 49°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
62/56
70/43
71/43
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
74/52
Lewiston
65/53
78/53
Astoria
64/54
Pullman
Yakima 72/47
63/52
74/48
Portland
Hermiston
67/55
The Dalles 76/51
Salem
Corvallis
65/48
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
71/42
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
69/50
68/38
73/42
Ontario
79/45
Caldwell
Burns
75°
41°
80°
49°
96° (1937) 30° (1970)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
68/52
0.00"
Trace
0.17"
5.15"
6.65"
6.29"
WINDS (in mph)
78/44
72/31
0.00"
0.00"
0.21"
6.52"
11.37"
8.59"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 70/41
68/52
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
73/49
71/50
70°
45°
79°
50°
94° (2013) 31° (1916)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
64/51
Aberdeen
70/48
69/49
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
65/55
Today
Medford
74/45
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
69/31
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sun.
WSW 6-12
WNW 6-12
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 8-16
W 7-14
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:33 a.m.
7:07 p.m.
1:10 p.m.
10:50 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Sep 16
Sep 24
Oct 2
Oct 8
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 110° in Thermal, Calif. Low 18° in Stanley, Idaho
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
cold front
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
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Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
manage the state’s confined
animal feeding operation, or
CAFO, program.
Almost immediately, the
dairy began racking up per-
mit violations, including 32
infractions related to waste
storage between June 28,
2017 and May 9, 2018. The
state attempted to revoke
the permit in June, though a
Multnomah County Circuit
Court judge ruled in August
that Lost Valley Farm could
stay in operation while te
Velde and regulators worked
out an agreement to get the
dairy back in compliance.
Lost Valley is within
the Lower Umatilla Basin
Groundwater Management
Area, established by DEQ
in 1990 for elevated levels
of groundwater nitrates. A
spokeswoman for the Ore-
gon Department of Agricul-
ture said regulators continue
to inspect the facility rou-
tinely, and have conducted
11 inspections since June 1.
Meanwhile, te Velde also
filed for Chapter 11 bank-
ruptcy protection in April
after Rabobank sought to
sell the Lost Valley herd to
repay debts. Lost Valley
has 10,500 dry and milk-
ing cows, along with 4,000
replacement heifers. The
dairy is permitted for up to
30,000 animals.
Milton-Freewater
schools were closed Fri-
day after a McLough-
lin High School student
allegedly told another stu-
dent he planned to carry
out a school shooting.
A student was arrested
Friday for fourth degree
assault and disorderly
conduct.
According to a news
release from Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office,
deputies were investigat-
ing an assault complaint
involving high school-
aged males in the Mil-
ton-Freewater area Thurs-
day night when a student
reported the assault sus-
pect had made a threat to
shoot up the high school.
The sheriff’s office
located the suspect and his
guardians Friday morn-
ing. The student “denied
that he made any threat-
ening statements towards
the school or anywhere
else, and had no inten-
tion to shooting anyone.”
He did not have access to
firearms, but after inter-
viewing the student and
performing a threat assess-
ment deputies determined
there was enough evidence
to arrest him for assault
and disorderly conduct. He
was lodged at a juvenile
detention center in Walla
Walla.
Superintendent
Rob
Clark said about 11:15 a.m.
that law enforcement had
notified him a few min-
utes earlier that the student
was in custody. But when
McLoughlin High School
principal Mindi Vaughan
called Clark early Friday
morning to notify him of
the situation, the student
had not yet been located,
prompting Clark to “err
on the side of caution” and
cancel all school for the
district.
Clark said law enforce-
ment emailed Vaughan on
Thursday evening about 11
p.m. and she saw the email
at 5 a.m. After conferring
with law enforcement and
Vaughan he made the deci-
sion to notify parents that
school was being canceled
across the district due to a
“credible threat.” He said
these types of situations
are difficult for adminis-
trators, but safety of staff
and students is the first
priority.
“Do I like canceling
school?” he said. “No,
I don’t like canceling
school. But it was the right
decision.”
Feds tests first nationwide text alert
SALEM — The first-ever
nationwide text message
alert takes place Thursday.
The Oregon Office of
Emergency Management
reported the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency
and Federal Communica-
tions Commission are coor-
dinating the test of the Inte-
grated Public Alert and
Warning System.
The test will go out via
radio, TV, cable stations
and wireless carriers. The
public warning system
encompasses the Emer-
gency Alert System and
Wireless Emergency Alert
System.
The wireless portion of
the test will occur Thursday
at 11:18 a.m. and the Emer-
gency Alert System portion
at 11:20 a.m.
The text messages will
state, “THIS IS A TEST
of the National Wireless
Emergency Alert System,”
according to state emer-
gency management, and
“No action is needed.”
The Integrated Public
Alert and Warning System
“is a national system for
local alerting that provides
authenticated
emergency
alerts and information from
emergency officials to the
public through radio, TV,
cell phones and Internet
applications,” according to
emergency
management.
This is the fourth emer-
gency Alert System test but
the first national test of the
Wireless Emergency Alert
System.
Andrew Phelps, direc-
tor of Oregon Emergency
Management, said in a writ-
ten statement the agency
does not want anyone to be
caught off guard.
“No matter where some-
one is — at work, in their
car, at school, at the doc-
tor’s office, anywhere —
they should hear and see the
alert on their phone,” Phelps
stated.
The nationwide test
ensures that during an emer-
gency or disaster, public
safety officials have methods
and systems that will deliver
urgent alerts and warnings
to the public. Federal agen-
cies would use a nationwide
wireless message only in the
most extreme emergency
situation.
Thursday’s event also
tests the operational readi-
ness of a national message
and reveals whether tech-
nological improvements are
needed.
Oregon
Emergency
Management called the
test very important to help-
ing improve the ability
to provide critical infor-
mation to the public. For
more information visit:
https://www.fema.gov/
emergency-alert-test.
Bodycam video released in fatal shooting
PORTLAND (AP) —
Body camera video from two
campus police officers in
Oregon shows they ordered
a legally armed black man to
drop a gun before opening
fire, killing him.
Portland State Univer-
sity released the video Friday
after Officers James Dewey
and Shawn McKenzie were
cleared of wrongdoing by
a grand jury in the June 29
death of Jason Erik Washing-
ton, a 45-year-old Navy vet-
eran and U.S. Postal Service
employee who had a permit
to carry a concealed weapon.
The two body camera vid-
eos and 70 freeze frame pho-
tos were released through
public records requests.
A separate 397-page
police report completed
by the Portland Police
Bureau, also released Fri-
day, revealed the gun Wash-
ington had was not his,
but belonged to his friend
who had asked Washing-
ton to take it so he didn’t
make a “poor decision” in a
drunken confrontation.
Washington, who had been
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out drinking with friends, had
a blood-alcohol level of more
than three times the legal
driving limit when he died,
according to records from the
medical examiner’s office.
The footage from Dew-
ey’s camera shows the cam-
pus police officer rolling
up to a fight on a street in
downtown Portland outside
a bar on the fringes of the
university’s campus. Dewey
exits his patrol vehicle and
a man at the scene says sev-
eral times, “He pulled a gun
on us! He pulled a gun!” as
he points to Washington,
who appears to be trying to
keep his friend from a fight.
At that point, Washing-
ton’s visibly intoxicated
friend breaks away and
begins punching another
man until he is kicked by a
third person in the head and
knocked out.
As Washington tries to
pull the man away from his
unconscious friend, Dewey
grabs Washington’s arm
from behind and tells him to
back away from the fight. A
black object that appears to
be a gun is visible protrud-
ing from Washington’s right
hip pocket at that moment in
Dewey’s body camera video.
Corrections
The name of the foundation providing special treat-
ment for a local girl Thursday was misidentified in Fri-
day’s East Oregonian. The nonprofit Children’s West-
ern Wish Foundation presented gifts and recognition to
Mikayla Herrera during this year’s Pendleton Round-Up.
“Adventures on the Water” on page 6C of today’s East
Oregonian erroneously reports the Hanford Nuclear Res-
ervation produced uranium during World War II. Hanford
produced plutonium for nuclear weapons.
The Friday article “Relay with rising stakes” misstated
which race Umatilla Express advanced to. They raced in
the consolation on Friday.
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