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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2020)
REGION Wednesday, January 15, 2020 Snow day shenanigans East Oregonian M-F schools opening two new positions to better serve students By SHEILA HAGAR Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Kevin Gregg sleds in Aldrich Park on Tuesday morning. A snowstorm on Monday night blan- keted the region in snow, leading to school closures and car crashes. Spike in Milton-Freewater crime stirs residents to action By CHLOE LEVALLEY Walla Walla Union-Bulletin MILTON-FREEWATER — A recent spate of crime led residents of Milton-Free- water to start a citizens’ patrol and brought them to city council on Monday to request the support of the city. Community members want to “Take Back Our Lit- tle Town of Milton-Freewa- ter,” which is the name of the longstanding Facebook group a number in atten- dance Monday said they follow. Jason Gruening, a mem- ber of the group, said resi- dents need to be out walk- ing and patrolling the streets during the middle of the night. “We want to help out, we want to take our darn town back,” he said. Weekly or bi-weekly meetings will be scheduled, and the group will be setting up a meeting with Police Chief Doug Boedigheimer, Gruening said. The chief himself addressed the council and audience on Monday, detail- ing how busy he and his 10 offi cers and six dispatchers have been. “There was a robbery at the tea room there on Columbia,” he said. “There is the Umatilla County Sher- iff’s Offi ce robbery out at the cigarette store on State- line Road. Then there’s the murder of poor George Mar- tin. Then there’s the robbery of the Union-Bulletin paper carrier and, heartbreakingly so, there’s the robbery at Sam’s Corner Market this morning,” he said. The police department thinks these robberies are linked and that people are working together to commit them. Evidence is coming in, which is starting to sup- port these theories, he said. Boedigheimer also spoke about Martin, 60, who was found dead from a gunshot wound in a home on South- east Seventh Street on Jan. 4. The case has kept staff busy, Boedigheimer said. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of the job your offi cers, your detectives, your dispatchers are doing on this case. They took basi- cally nothing and are on a road that is skirting right on resolution,” he said. Councilman Brad Hum- burt said the city has tried to get a citizens’ patrol pro- gram started at least three times, and the group will only get his support if they organize themselves, act like grown adults and prove they will follow through. Past efforts of the police department and the coun- cil have brought community members an offi ce, a confer- ence room and telephones at the community building, Humburt said. “All the people that come in here,” he said, “they get madder than hell, and ‘we’re gonna go out and do some- thing and take back our town,’ and it lasts about two months, and they disappear and it just goes away.” A couple members of the group said they had been living elsewhere when those events happened. “I’m willing to put my life on the line, with no weapons out here, to come on these streets and make a difference … I don’t want vigilante justice out there on the street, and if we can’t work together, that’s what’s going to happen,” Gruening said. Contact information for the police chief was given out, but there was no offi - cial support for the group by council or the police department. Boedigheimer gave some background information to the council and the com- munity about staffi ng — the department is down one offi cer currently — and on attempting to mitigate false information on Facebook. A3 “It’s invalid information on its face, that we always only have one offi cer on at night,” he said, referring to comments made online. “Our minimum staff levels always start out as two.” It fl uctuates when police have to make an arrest at the jail and when they receive domestic violence calls that require two offi cers, he said. He did a search and study through the police depart- ment’s records management system. There are 168 hours of a work week for police; only 28 of those hours have one offi cer on board. In the total shift structure, only 16% is covered by one offi - cer. There are two offi cers or more on duty 84% of the time, Boedigheimer said. Each offi cer makes about 70 arrests each year, and dispatch received 21,125 calls from 2017 to 2019. “There is no call more important than investigat- ing the murder of someone,” he said, referring back to the Martin case. “I believe we have a 100% resolution rate on our homicides. I don’t know many places who can do that.” 1/15 Cineplex Show Times M I LTON-FR EEWA- TER — Some changes at the Milton-Freewater Uni- fi ed School District will make for better use of tax- payers’ money, offi cials say. Aaron Duff, superinten- dent of the school district, told board members Mon- day he has appointed Ami Muilenburg as the new director of Student Ser- vices, effective next school year. Muilenburg is the prin- cipal at Gib Olinger Ele- mentary School. She begins the new job July 1. In the newly created position, Muilenberg will oversee Student Success Act programs in the dis- trict, such as mental health, teacher and staff mentor- ing, curriculum adoption, before- and after-school programs and state report- ing requirements. The position will be funded by a mix of state and district dollars. Ore- gon’s Student Success Act, signed into law last May, is making a real difference in school districts around the state, Duff said Monday. “We have opportunities for programs we haven’t had in this district since 2004.” The law was intended to provide school districts with the ability to offer new and improved services for children and families. Muilenberg’s experi- ence made her the right choice for the job, Duff said. “This position will help ensure that our students receive more resources, and she will be a strong advocate for students and staff.” Muilenburg has worked in education for 23 years, including in family advo- cate positions and as a home visitor for preschool programs. She came to the Milton-Freewater dis- trict in 2013. Her departure from that offi ce means Gib Olinger Elementary’s prin- cipal position will be open. “We have some good staff there,” Duff told the board about his decision to open the job internally. The superintendent said he’s also opening another spot — an overall direc- tor of programs for low-in- come students, English language learners, migrant students and dual-language classrooms. The work under each of those programs is currently being done by a mishmash of people but without cohe- sion or the necessary hours, Duff said last week. “This is a better use of taxpayers’ money.” This new position will also be funded by state and local money and begin July 1. The need for it is in direct response to serving underserved students in the area, he said. “We’re at the point we need to serve students bet- ter at the district level, make sure those kids are getting what they need and help those teachers get what they need.” BRIEFLY Hermiston residents involved in rollover HERMISTON — A car full of Hermiston residents was in a single-vehicle roll- over crash north of Dayton, Washington, on Monday at about 5 p.m. According to Washing- ton State Police, Rafael T. Meras, 22, was driving westbound on Highway 12 near Highway 261 when he lost control of the vehicle, which struck a guard rail and rolled over. Passengers Angel M. Hernandez, 43; Juan Tor- res, 69; Marta Velara, 32, and a 9-year-old child were injured and transported to Dayton General Hospital. Meras was also injured and transported to the hospital. According to the police report, Torres was not wearing a seat belt. Pos- sible charges are pending for Meras, who the report states was driving too fast for the road conditions. City to hold open house on wayfi nding project HERMISTON — The city of Hermiston is host- ing an open house next week to discuss a new wayfi nding project. The city plans to add and update signs around town to make it easier for visitors to fi nd their way around Herm- iston and discover commu- nity attractions. According to a news release, they have have hired MERJE, a design fi rm with “specifi c expertise in Community Wayfi nding,” to assist with the project. Community members can come and listen to a pre- sentation, ask questions and give input on Jan. 22 from 4-6 p.m. at the Hermiston Community Center, 415 S. 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