A8 REGION East Oregonian Thursday, January 14, 2021 Residents ask council to ‘open up’ Hermiston By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce/Contributed Photo A utility terrain vehicle helps with the rescue of an injured snowmobiler near Ruckel Ridge, where a Life Flight heli- copter, also pictured, awaits. Man seriously injured in snowmobile crash East Oregonian UMATILLA COUNTY — Umatilla County Sher- iff’s Offi ce rescued a man injured in a snowmobile accident in a remote area on Sunday, Jan. 10. According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, dispatch received a 911 call at about 1 p.m. reporting a snowmobiler had been injured during a crash on USFS 31 Road about 1 mile north of Ruckel Junction. Deputy Hayes responded and discovered a 56-year-old male who was not named in the news release had been thrown from his snowmobile, which had landed on top of him after he tried to navi- gate an embankment. “The patient was expe- riencing signifi cant pain in his chest and left side, caus- ing concerns with moving him,” the release stated. “Deputy Hayes and other snowmobilers on scene covered the patient with rescue tarps and blankets to maintain body tempera- ture.” Because ambulances were only able to get within 9 miles of the crash site, Life Flight and Search and Rescue from Union and Umatilla counties assisted with the evacuation. Life Flight was able to land on Ruckel Ridge east of the crash site, and Union County search and rescue and other snowmobilers on the scene transported Life Flight personnel and equip- ment to the crash site to treat the patient. Then members of Umatilla County Search and Rescue carefully loaded the patient onto their utility terrain vehicle and trans- ported him to the Life Flight helicopter, which fl ew him to a hospital in Walla Walla, Washington, at about 4 p.m. USCO thanked partic- ipating members of the mission, including Bob and Dottie Carrell with Umatilla County Search and Rescue for using their own UTV in the mission, as well as Union and Umatilla County Dispatch Centers, Union County Sheriff’s Office, Elgin Rural Fire Protection District, La Grande Fire Department, Union County Sheriff’s Offi ce, Life Flight Network, and Union County Search and Rescue. HERMISTON — It was three city councilors’ first meeting in offi ce on Monday, Jan. 11, and several city resi- dents wasted no time in getting in front of them to encourage the council to do something about the COVID-19 restric- tions imposed by the state and enforced by state agencies. Allen Aichle said he feels for all the business owners struggling right now, some of whom he knows personally. “We’re looking to our local governments to help this thing along and we’re not going to get this done looking the other way like they’ve done on the federal level and the state level,” he said to applause from audience members. A man identifi ed as Steve thanked the city for the grants it has partnered with Umatilla County to offer small busi- nesses impacted by COVID- 19, but said it was frustrating to live in a state with so many restrictions. He said he wanted to see Oregon open up and “get this thing behind us,” citing South Dakota, Florida and Texas as examples of states he felt were doing things right. “Right now, business owners don’t feel served, they feel strangled, so what is it we Clackamas County being clas- sifi ed as extreme risk. In a Jan. 5 follow-up post on his Facebook page he noted that he was hearing reports from some partici- pating businesses that they are now “being contacted by the governor’s enforcement “WE’RE NOT GOING TO SOLVE THIS THING TONIGHT.” — Rod Hardin, Hermiston city councilor can do to open this up?” he asked. Some at the meeting mentioned the mayor of Sandy, Oregon, as an example of a city leader they said had “opened up” his city. Mayor Stan Pulliam encouraged restaurants and other closed-down busi- nesses in Sandy to protest state mandates by opening and following the “high risk” instead of “extreme risk” rules on New Year’s Day, despite agencies about possible fi nes and other punishments” and encouraged people to donate to his political action commit- tee, Main Street Mayors, for a legal defense fund. City Councilor Roy Barron responded to the group at the Jan. 11 city council meeting by saying while he is tired of the pandemic too, the state COVID-19 mandates that businesses face are not enacted or enforced by the city. “As a city, we cannot over- ride stuff that’s going on in the state and federal govern- ment. That’s just the way it is,” he said. “We appreci- ate everybody coming here today because you guys are the reason why government runs, absolutely. We’re here to hear you, absolutely. But when there’s something that is out of our control we can’t simply do it.” During council comments later in the meeting, other councilors expressed similar views, and said while due to the council’s rules they had not engaged in a back-and-forth discussion with the comment- ers during the public comment period, they had heard their views and would continue to consider how the city might fi nd ways to help. “We’re not going to solve this thing tonight,” Coun- cilor Rod Hardin said, before encouraging people to speak with Umatilla County offi- cials, since the state’s COVID- 19 levels are broken up by county rather than city. LOCAL BRIEFING Gang member sentenced to federal prison PORTLAND — A Port- land resident was sentenced on Monday, Jan. 11, to 58 months in prison after he was arrested in Morrow County last year. Jaelan Sarray Reid, 26, a known Hoover Criminal Gang member, was sentenced for illegally possessing a fi re- arm as a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams. According to court docu- ments, on June 18, 2020, a deputy from the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that several people with outstanding criminal arrest warrants were traveling west on Interstate 84 in a black Range Rover. The deputy located the vehi- cle with three occupants and conducted a traffi c stop. Reid identifi ed himself as “Charles Benton” and gave the deputy a false date of birth. The deputy identifi ed Reid using a DMV photo and detained him. During the traffi c stop, the deputy noted a strong smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Deputies searched and located a backpack behind the driver’s seat. Inside the pack- age was a prescription bottle in Reid’s name and a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Reid was arrested and held at the Umatilla County Jail on state charges. During recorded jail calls, Reid made several incriminating statements about possessing the fi rearm in his backpack. This case was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Secu- rity Investigations, Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Offi ce with assistance from the Morrow County Sheriff’s Offi ce. Autopsy proves inconclusive, no sign of foul play PENDLETON — An autopsy conducted on a man, who was a “person of inter- est” in a December 2020 shooting in Heppner and was later found dead in the Umatilla County Jail after turning himself in, has proven “inconclusive” but indicates there was “no foul play,” according to a spokesperson from the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce. David Bowles, 43, was wanted for weeks in connec- tion to a homicide investiga- tion on the shooting death of his wife, Marlen Bowles, who was shot on Dec. 15, 2020, and later died after being Life Flighted to Oregon Health and Science University in Portland in critical condition, according to offi cials. Now that the initial autopsy has been conducted, medi- cal examiners will conduct a toxicology report, which could take more than three months to complete, accord- ing to the spokesperson. The toxicology report will analyze things like possible medical issues or drug use that could have contributed to Bowles’ death, the spokesperson said. Bowles turned himself in to the Morrow County Sher- iff’s Office on Thursday, Jan. 7, and was then lodged in the Umatilla County Jail on charges of first-degree manslaughter and felon in possession of a weapon, according to the Oregon State Police. Jail staff found Bowles deceased in his bed while making their rounds on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 9. — EO Media Group 2020 COMMERCIAL RECYCLER of the Year EAST OREGONIAN At the end of each year the employees of Pendleton Sanitary Service, Inc. (PSSI) nominate several commercial businesses or institutions for the Commercial Recycler of the Year award. The winning recipient is also determined by a vote of PSSI employees. This award is given to a commercial recycler that does an outstanding job in recycling or has made significant improvements in their recycling efforts over the past year. The employees of Pendleton Sanitary Service voted unanimously to choose the East Oregonian as Pendleton’s Commercial Recycler of the Year for 2020. The East Oregonian began recycling newspaper in 1984 as one of PSSI’s first commercial recycling customers. In the 36 year working relationship, the East Oregonian has continued to be a community leader in recycling efforts. In 2020, the East Oregonian recycled 102 tons of newspaper, 13 tons of cardboard and 2.1 tons of office paper. This ranks as one of the City’s top commercial recyclers! In addition to the significant volume they recycle, the East Oregonian’s quality of recycled material is impeccable. Their recycled newspaper ranks as grade #9, which requires near zero tolerance for contamination. That quality standard has been maintained consistently over almost four decades of recycling with PSSI. Impressive to say the least! Last, the East Oregonian has consistently worked with PSSI to reuse and repurpose newsprint rolls that are damaged or unusable. Those rolls have been marketed to other printers or mills to be reused rather than disposed of. An excellent example of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle hierarchy! Pendleton Sanitary Service would like to congratulate and thank the East Oregonian and their employees for their outstanding efforts in recycling!