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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2020)
dorran pleads guilty to duII, enters diversion program | REGION, A3 E O AST 145th year, No. 32 REGONIAN Thursday, december 31, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Morrow County begins administering COVID-19 vaccine county makes vaccine available to first responders By BEN LONERGAN East Oregonian hePPNer — despite the cold weather, wind and drizzle, mor- row county sheriff Ken mat- lack appeared in a jovial mood on Wednesday, dec. 30, await- ing his first dose of the Moderna cOVId-19 vac- cine beneath a tent in the park- ing lot of the bar- tholomew build- ing in heppner. After filling Rivera out paperwork and picking an arm, matlack lifted the left sleeve of his uniform and received the first vac- cination of the morning. “It feels like just getting a flu shot,” he said as he returned to his patrol car to wait out the manda- tory 15-minute recovery period. While heppner’s Pioneer memorial hospital wrapped up its staff vaccinations earlier this week, the dec. 30 vaccination event marked the first time Mor- row county made vaccines avail- able to law enforcement, firefight- ers, emergency medical personnel and other first responders. “I think it’s really a good deal,” matlack said. “We’re hoping that more people will take the oppor- tunity of getting the shot.” matlack said as of dec. 30 about half of his staff intended to get the vaccine, a number he hopes to see increase as he and others in the department begin to receive the vaccination. “I think when people start see- ing more and more people doing it, it’s going to help get more peo- ple interested,” he said. after the sheriff, undersher- iff John bowles stepped up for his vaccination followed by board- man chief of Police rick stokoe and several other first responders. While the initial trio of vac- cinations took place outdoors, county health officials then tran- sitioned to administering vacci- nations in a drive-thru manner. Individuals pulled up, filled out paperwork, parked and received their shot without leaving their vehicles. Following the vaccination, drivers were required to wait out a 15-minute recovery period to check for side effects before they were able to depart. The drive-th- See Vaccine, Page A8 Police search for husband after shooting The victim, marlen bowles, was Life Flighted to Ohsu in critical condition where she later died By BRYCE DOLE East Oregonian mOrrOW cOuNTy — Police are still searching for the husband of a woman who was shot on Tuesday, dec. 15, in heppner and later died at Oregon health & science university in Portland, according to officials. The victim’s husband, david bowles, 43, is a person of inter- est in the investigation, and police say he should be considered armed and dangerous. “since the time of the shooting, he hasn’t been located or found yet,” morrow county district attorney Justin Nelson said. “so he’s somebody I know law enforce- ment is trying to talk to to find out the whole process and what hap- pened. We’ve interviewed many other witnesses, but we still need to talk to david bowles.” The victim, marlen bowles, was Life Flighted to Ohsu in crit- ical condition where she later died with her family at her bedside, according to Nelson. The Oregon state Police took the lead in the investigation at the request of the morrow county Sheriff’s Office partly because david bowles is the brother of morrow county undersher- iff John bowles, according to Lt. melissa ross, a public information officer from the sheriff’s office. ross said the investigation was handed to OsP out of concern for appearance and perception, not that there could be a potential con- flict of interest. “as my general understanding, it’s really not considered a conflict of interest unless it was like one of our employees,” she said, adding the undersheriff was not involved Chloe LeValley/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Sandy Fujan opens the drapes in her Milton-Freewater home as her husband Roger points the thermal imaging camera to the window. The blue shadows on the screen are not ghosts in this instance, “just our reflection,” he said. Ghost hunting Northeast Oregon Paranormal tours private homes searching for ghosts in Milton-Freewater By CHLOE LEVALLEY Walla Walla Union-Bulletin M ILTON-FreeWaTer — sandy Fujan recalls that shortly after her father died, she saw her hus- band’s razor rocking back and forth on a table. as one who believes in the paranormal, the milton-Freewater woman assumed it was her late father moving the shaver. See Shooting, Page A8 See Ghosts, Page A8 Chloe LeValley/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin An electromagnetic field reader is used during initial walk-throughs of homes by North- west Oregon Paranormal investigators to note normal emissions from appliances or elec- tricity in the walls. Physician revels in running, family time dr. deborah Woodbury moved to Pendleton from Pennsylvania Editor’s Note: This story is part of an annual series by the East Oregonian called “Our New Neighbors,” which intro- duces the community to peo- ple who have moved here in the past year. By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian PeNdLeTON — dr. debo- rah Woodbury is getting to know her new town by lacing on her running shoes and hitting the streets. In august, the physician moved to Oregon from Pennsyl- vania as cOVId-19 ramped up. she would spend the next couple of months painting and install- ing flooring at her new North hill home, and then start her family practitioner job at Pend- leton Family medicine in the fall. While a pandemic isn’t an ideal time to explore a new town or make friends, she enjoys the company of family who live in Pendleton. Woodbury frequently visited Pendleton to spend time with her parents, ron and melissa Woodbury (both now deceased), and her sister, sarah Woodbury, brother-in-law, dan haug, and their children. deborah’s two sons, John and Tom, often spent their spring breaks in Pendleton while growing up. deborah, a veteran of 16 mar- athons, usually starts her day with a run. she goes from 5 to 12 miles and incorporates steep hills into her daily workout. she might run up airport road and into farm country. Or head up North main street, circle back to town, and then run up and down red Lion hill to Grecian heights Park and back home. This kind of tenacity has qualified Woodbury for six boston marathons. she’s often on the road before dawn, doing her cool down before most of us have finished our first cup of coffee. endurance is her gift, not speed, Woodbury said. When prodded, however, she said her personal best is a See Physician, Page A8 Kathy Aney/East Oregonian Dr. Deborah Woodbury poses in her front yard with her dog, Goldilocks. Woodbury moved to town in August to be near family and work at Pend- leton Family Medicine as a family practitioner.