dorran pleads guilty to duII, enters diversion program | REGION, A3
E O
AST
145th year, No. 32
REGONIAN
Thursday, december 31, 2020
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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.