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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2019)
REGION Friday, December 13, 2019 East Oregonian A3 BRIEFLY Energy Facility Siting Council to meet in Pendleton Staff photo by Ben Lonergan The Pendleton Christmas Display at the corner of Highway 11 and Southeast Emigrant Avenue refl ects on the wet concrete on Wednesday night. Lighting up the night Public Works Department brings Christmas display to life By BEN LONERGAN East Oregonian PENDLETON — For the second year in a row, the city of Pendleton’s Christ- mas Display at the corner of Highway 11 and Southeast Emigrant Avenue came to life Tuesday. Dave Pedro fi nished installing the fi nal strands of lights on the display Tues- day morning and said that it was unlike anything he had done before. “It takes me a good week to get the whole thing up,” said Pedro, an electrical and HVAC technician with the city of Pendleton. The display features three, 12-foot Christmas trees, more than 2,000 feet of extension cords and nearly 50,000 individual LED lights, an increase of 5,000 over last year’s total. However, the display is not your typical Christmas light setup. A small radio trans- mitter allows those with an FM radio to listen to a selec- tion of Christmas music as they pass by. Glenn Graham, the facil- ities and technology man- ager for the city of Pendle- ton, said the display runs on a device called Christmas in a Box. The device is a ready-made kit that controls the light show and turns on and off individual strands of lights in time with the music. The Christmas display was made possible through donations from Creative Signs, Gordon’s Electric, Graham’s Photos, Platt Electric and Zimmerman’s Hardware, as well as vol- unteer support from the Pendleton Public Works Department. According to Graham, the device will cycle through six songs before repeating Man arrested for allegedly lying to police about shooting By EMILY THORNTON Walla Walla Union-Bulletin MILTON-FREEWATER — A local man was arrested today for allegedly lying to police last week about being shot to cover up a gambling debt. Johnson Le, 35, was arrested for investigation of initiating a false report and tampering with evi- dence, both misdemeanors, and unlawful weapon use, a felony. He was taken to Uma- tilla County Jail, according to Milton-Freewater Police Chief Doug Boedigheimer. Le’s wife did not lie to police, Boedigheimer wrote in an email, although his previ- ous report indicated otherwise. L e ’ s Le wife, Maria Morales, 50, told Milton-Freewater police by telephone at 9:08 p.m. Dec. 4, that her husband was shot by an unknown masked person who entered the backyard of the couple’s home at 308 Miller St. to rob them, Boedigheimer wrote in an earlier email. He wrote today that Le “made that up, and admitted to shooting himself.” Investigations revealed that Le shot himself in the arm with a 9 mm Glock pis- tol and lied “to attempt to hide and cover up a gambling debt,” Boedigheimer wrote. Le was taken by Mil- ton-Freewater Rural Fire Department medics to Prov- idence St. Mary Medi- cal Center with a gunshot wound. Hospital spokes- woman Kathleen Obenland wrote in an email she did “not have any information on a person by this name who is from Milton-Freewater.” No one else was involved, according to Boedigheimer. Oregon State Police troopers and Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce dep- uties also responded. the show. Those interested in listening can tune their radio to 89.3 FM. The radio station broadcasts the music in a roughly 2- to 3-block radius around the display. Graham advises those wishing to watch the entire display to park in the park- ing lot of the state of Oregon offi ce building across the street. The display runs 24 hours a day, however, Gra- ham said it is best viewed at night. Graham said he hopes the display will continue in the years to come and that it can continue to improve. “Each year we try to think of something more that we can do,” said Graham. SALEM — Oregon’s Energy Facility Siting Council will meet on Dec. 19-20 in Pendleton. The pub- lic meeting begins at 5 p.m. Dec. 19 and will reconvene Dec. 20 at 8 a.m. at the Red Lion Inn, 304 S.E. Nye Ave. The main item on the council’s agenda is the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line. The council will receive a pre- sentation Dec. 19 from Ore- gon Department of Energy staff, reviewing the B2H Draft Proposed Order, com- ments received on the DPO and responses from the proj- ect’s applicant, Idaho Power, to those comments. The agenda item continues Dec. 20 and the council may pro- vide staff comments they would like to see refl ected in the proposed order. The proposed 500-kilo- volt transmission line would span about 280 miles in Oregon and fi ve counties, including Umatilla, Union and Baker counties. The next council meet- ing is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 24 in Hood River. Hermiston school board approves project manager HERMISTON — The Hermiston School Board approved a project manager for the 2019 bond projects this week. December 14, 2019 at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Vendors will be selling a variety of handcrafted items. All proceeds will go to support the needy in our community. A $1.00 fee gives admission and a raffle ticket. Vendor space is available for $60.00. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. For more information call 541.215.3464 eomediagroup.com Holiday savings so good, you’ll jump for JOY The perfect holiday gift is available now! BOOK DETAILS: Hardcover, 144 pages • Historic photos of Umatilla County Limited time offer — discount expires Dec. 31, 2019! Man pleads not guilty to assaulting two Walla Walla police offi cers By EMILY THORNTON Walla Walla Union-Bulletin WALLA WALLA, Wash. — A Milton-Freewater man pleaded not guilty Mon- day in Walla Walla County Superior Court to two counts of third-degree assault and obstructing a law enforce- ment offi cer. Jakob K.P. Johnson, 33, allegedly assaulted two Walla Walla police offi cers after they responded at about 8 a.m. Nov. 25 to the 900 block of West Main Street for reports of two people fi ght- ing, records stated. Offi cers saw Johnson holding a large rock and yell- ing at another man in a back- yard. Offi cers told Johnson to drop the baseball-sized rock, but he yelled at the offi cers and walked toward another person. An offi cer blocked him from getting too close to them, records stated. When offi cers tried arrest- ing Johnson, he put one offi - cer in a headlock and hit another offi cer in the face while “fl ailing his hands,” according to Sgt. Eric Knud- son. One received an abra- sion on his neck and the other a cut lip. A witness told offi cers Johnson had yelled a racial “This is a very exciting day,” said second vice chair Ginny Holthus. District superinten- dent Tricia Mooney rec- ommended Wenaha Group Incorporated to the board on Monday evening. She said the project management and consulting fi rm was the lone applicant during the request for proposal process. “Wenaha Group has partnered with Hermis- ton School District for quite a while,” said Board Chair Karen Sherman at Monday’s meeting. “I was excited when I heard they put in for request for proposal.” Dave Fischel, current vice president of Wenaha Group, was project manager for the 2008 bond projects, according to a recent press release from the district. Wenaha Group provided a facilities assessment for the Umatilla School Dis- trict, which completed con- struction projects from a $10.5 million bond in June. The Pendleton-based fi rm has also worked with the Milton-Freewater and Pendleton school districts, as well as the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, accord- ing to its website. Voters approved the dis- trict’s $82.7 million bond in November. Bond projects that Wenaha Group will oversee include the replace- ment of Rocky Heights Ele- mentary School and the construction of a new ele- mentary school. — EO Media Group and wire services $34.95 reg. $44.95 plus shipping slur at a man putting gas in a vehicle nearby, and the two began yelling at each other. This escalated to fi ghting and throwing rocks and lasted until police arrived, records stated. The witness also told police the other man fl ed before they arrived and wasn’t who the offi cers saw. Johnson’s trial was sched- uled for March 3, 2020. Just released! Pick up your books locally, including pre-orders East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave., Pendleton (Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.–5 p.m.) Order online and save with flat-rate shipping Umatilla.PictorialBook.com 12/13-12/15 Cineplex Show Times $5 Classic Movie Showing Wednesday @ 12p A Christmas Story Jumanji: The Next Level (PG13) 2D 1:30p* 4:20p 7:10p 9:30p 2:00p* 10:00p Expedited shipping available for Christmas delivery Order by mail now (discount expires 12/31/19): Postmark by 12/5/19 for Christmas delivery Ship my order to me: $34.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling per book. Order will be shipped to the address below. Quantity: ___ x $41.90 = $______ total Payment method: ☐ Check/Money Order Credit card orders can be placed online: Umatilla.PictorialBook.com Name Richard Jewell (R) 12:50p* 3:40p* 6:30p 9:20p Address Frozen 2 (PG) 11:40p* 1:50p* 4:40p* 7:00p 9:20p City State Phone E-mail Knives Out (PG13) 1:10p* 4:00p 6:50p 9:40p A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG) 4:10p 6:40p * Matinee Pricing wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 Zip From the archives of the Athena Public Library, City of Echo, Milton-Freewater Area Historical Society, Pendleton Round-up, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute and Umatilla County Historical Society Send form and payment to: East Oregonian 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or call 800-522-0255
