REGION
Thursday, December 19, 2019
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Pearson Creek at sunset
Extra deputies
on patrol during
holiday season
Photo contributed by Mike Morehead
The sun sets over the Blue Mountains near the city limits of Pilot Rock. This is the view south of Pilot Rock, looking toward
Pearson Creek at sunset.
Hermiston City Hall remains closed
Cleanup after
Tuesday fi re will
keep building
closed until Jan. 6
By JESSICA POLLARD
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hermis-
ton City Hall will be closed to
the public until Jan. 6, follow-
ing a Tuesday evening fur-
nace fi re that left the North-
east Second Street building
with smoke damage.
Until cleanup is complete,
according to a press release
from the city, staff will be
housed in the Hermiston
Building Department, 215 E.
Gladys Ave., across the street
from the city hall building.
Some city staff, according
to the release, have relocated
to nearby offi ce space and
phone calls will be rerouted
to their new locations.
Staff photo by Jessica Pollard
Firefi ghters from Umatilla County Fire District 1 prepare to en-
ter Hermiston City Hall following reports of smoke coming from
vents inside the building before 5 p.m. Tuesday. As a result of a
fi re in the building’s furnace, city hall will remain closed until
Jan. 6. City staff have been relocated to nearby offi ce space.
City hall staff evacuated
the building Tuesday after-
noon after there were numer-
ous reports of smoke coming
from the vents inside.
Crews
from
Uma-
tilla County Fire District 1
remained on scene for at least
two hours that day, according
to Fire Marshall Scott Goff.
“We’ve got an unknown
failure in one of the heating
appliances,” he said.
Goff added a fi re was con-
tained within a heating unit in
the building, and the resulting
smoke caused the majority
of the issues that are keeping
city hall closed.
He said the city hired a
cleaning company to address
the smoke odor.
“The fi re department did
a really good job of getting to
city hall quickly and knock-
ing out the fi re,” Hermiston
City Manager Byron Smith
said. “We’re all thankful for
their response.”
The furnace dates back to
the building’s construction in
1965, according to the press
release. The furnace involved
in the fi re will need to be
replaced.
All city of Hermiston
water, sewer and garbage bills
can be paid online, and in-per-
son payments for Hermiston
Energy Services can be made
at the Umatilla Electric Coop-
erative, 750 W. Elm Ave.
Chamber plans for more political advocacy
Staff still plan to
introduce motor
ponies this summer
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Despite
some turnover at the top of
the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce, Executive Direc-
tor Cheri Rosenberg said
the board and staff are start-
ing to achieve their goals and
already have priorities for
2020.
Following the sudden res-
ignation of former Executive
Director Janet Duffy in Jan-
uary, the chamber elevated
membership
coordinator
Cheri Rosenberg to the direc-
tor position.
Rosenberg told an audi-
ence assembled at the Pend-
leton Convention Center on
Tuesday for the second annual
Accountability Forum and
Luncheon that she wouldn’t
be able to share many statis-
tics from 2019 because she
spent the fi rst few months of it
trying to keep her head above
water instead of collecting
numbers.
One of the chamber’s main
goals is increasing its political
advocacy. Short of endorsing
a political candidate, Rosen-
berg said the chamber intends
to advocate for or against gov-
ernment policies that will
affect its members.
“Outside of that, we’re all
in,” she said.
Rosenberg said the cham-
ber took an active role in the
city’s road funding discus-
sions by writing a letter spell-
ing out the board of director’s
preferred options.
When the Oregon Legisla-
ture convenes in February for
its short session, Rosenberg
said the Pendleton Cham-
ber of Commerce and other
local chambers will regularly
video conference with north-
east Oregon legislators to get
updates and ask questions.
Rosenberg said the Pend-
leton chamber expects the
Legislature to consider a bill
that will restrict use of inde-
pendent contractors and the
chamber wants to organize to
oppose it.
Staff highlighted other
ways the the chamber intends
to expand its focus.
In October, the chamber
was awarded $15,000 to buy
several motorized horses as
a promotional tool for Travel
Pendleton, the chamber’s
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tourism arm.
Travel Pendleton Coordi-
nator Kristen Dollarhide said
the “cowboy courtesy centers”
will be deployed this summer
to assist tourists throughout
downtown Pendleton.
Dollarhide said the motor
ponies have already received
a positive reception from peo-
ple who have seen them.
“We were in Vegas and
people were goo goo ga ga
over them,” she said.
While one chamber mem-
ber pointed out that the pur-
chase was criticized on social
media, Rosenberg said she
wasn’t going to respond to
“keyboard warriors.”
Dollarhide said the cham-
ber also received an $8,400
Wildhorse Foundation grant
to create a mural for the Ore-
gon Mural Trail, a Travel
Oregon program.
She added that a Pendle-
ton mural would be the only
one between The Dalles and
Ontario on the trail, and she
intends to seek more funding
for the mural with the city.
Overall, Rosenberg said
the chamber wants to spend
2020 building relationships
with other community organi-
zations and improve member-
ship services, like creating a
member-to-member discount
program.
“Rather than fi ght over a
piece of the pie, let’s make the
pie bigger,” she said.
PENDLETON — The
Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce is remind-
ing motorists to be safe
this holiday season and
extra deputies are on duty
through its participation
in the Oregon High Vis-
ibility Enforcement pro-
gram to help keep streets
safe, according to a press
release from the sheriff’s
offi ce.
Deputies are actively
patrolling for impaired
drivers, including those
who are under the infl u-
ence of alcohol and/or
drugs.
This DUII/HVE event
began Dec. 13 and will
continue through Jan. 2.
The event is funded by
a grant from the Oregon
Department of Transpor-
tation and Oregon State
Sheriff’s Association.
People are asked to
report suspected intox-
icated drivers by call-
ing 541-966-3651, or
911 if it appears to be an
emergency.
WW man pleads
innocent to identity
theft, forgery
WALLA
WALLA,
Wash. — A Milton-Free-
water man pleaded not
guilty Monday in Walla
Walla County Superior
Court to taking his neigh-
bor’s checks, forging and
cashing them.
Daniel Saldana Silva,
21, was charged Aug. 28
with two counts of sec-
ond-degree identity theft
and six counts of forg-
ery between June 28 and
July 6. His fi rst appear-
ance was Aug. 22 and his
arraignment was sched-
uled for Sept. 23, how-
ever, he didn’t show and
a bench warrant was
issued, records stated.
He later was found and
booked into Walla Walla
County Jail on Dec. 12.
According to court
documents, a man who
was house sitting for the
alleged victim reported a
burglary to Milton-Free-
water police that included
a missing television and
checks. The victim later
learned the checks had
been written to his neigh-
bor, Alejandro Saldana,
and deposited into Ale-
jandro Saldana’s account
at a Walla Walla credit
union, records stated. The
victim then confronted
his neighbor, who told
him his brother, Dan-
iel, had committed the
alleged crimes, records
stated.
Police contacted the
credit union and obtained
video from its ATM with
Daniel Saldana Silva
allegedly depositing sto-
len checks and withdraw-
ing cash on six occasions.
On Monday, his trial
was scheduled for Feb.
25, 2020.
Weston man
arrested on multiple
sex crime charges
PENDLETON — A
Weston man is in jail fol-
lowing
his arrest
Tu e s d a y
on a num-
ber of sex
crimes
charges.
K e n - Gascon-Martin
neth Allan
Gascon-Martin, 29, was
arrested after Umatilla
County detectives served
a search warrant at his
Weston residence. The
search warrant was a cul-
mination of a monthlong
investigation, police said.
Gascon-Martin
was
arrested
on
charges
of first-degree rape,
first-degree
sodomy,
first-degree
unlawful
sexual penetration, sec-
ond-degree sexual abuse,
strangulation, and con-
tributing to the sexual
delinquency of a minor,
involving multiple minor
victims.
An information filed
Wednesday states that
Gascon-Martin will be
prosecuted on one count
of first-degree rape, a fel-
ony and one count of sec-
ond-degree sexual abuse,
also a felony.
The charges are in
relation to the same inci-
dent, and both list the
same victim according
to court documents. Gas-
con-Martin is accused of
forcing the victim into
sex with physical force or
a threat.
First-degree rape is
a Measure 11 crime and
carries a mandatory min-
imum sentence of eight
years and four months in
prison.
Gascon-Martin’s bail
is set at $525,000.
Detectives continue to
investigate and are seek-
ing additional victims.
— EO Media Group
and wire services
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