REGION Saturday, September 11, 2021 East Oregonian A3    ‘  ­€Ž—  ‚  ƒ „ŠŒ‚Ž Ž•“ ‚” €„… „ŠŒ‚Ž Ž€“ ‚” €† Ž Ž‘’“ ‚” †… €† ‡ˆ ­  ƒ Ž˜ ‚ €‰ Ž Ž•“ ‚” €† Ž Œ „ €„… Žƒ ‚…  ƒ Ž ‚ ŽŒ  – ‡ˆ Ž ‰Š‡‹‰„  ƒ Žƒ ‚„  ƒ Žƒ ‚…  ­€ŽŠ‡  ’“€“Œ­…‹Œ“…Œ”€„€ŠŒ‡•”­‡…€…‰€Š€„‡Š…€• žš›˜Š †š•˜‘Œ‘•‘“—˜€€œ˜†Ÿ†Œ˜—¡¢£  ‚Ž€ ‚€ Ž“…  ­€Ž“…  ­€ ™††š›…›š†˜œ ‡ˆ Ž †‡ˆ‡‚    ­  €‰ Š†‹ „ŠŒ‚   ­€  ‚  ƒ Local police help nab leaders of outlaw motorcycle gang One works as prison guard at Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian WALLA WALLA — Local police detectives on Thursday, Sept. 9, helped the Gang Intelligence Team of the Walla Walla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce arrest leaders of an outlaw motorcycle gang. The sheriff ’s offi ce in a press release reported police captured Dustin Wendelin, a corrections offi - cer with the Washington Depart- ment of Corrections, and Charles Montgomery of Milton-Freewater. Both hold leadership positions in a local chapter of the Pagan’s Motor- cycle Club, the sheriff’s office reported. Wendelin is in the Walla Walla County Jail, Walla Walla, and Montgomery is in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton. The Walla Walla County Sher- iff’s Office reported it has been collaborating with Spalding County Sheriff ’s Offi ce, in Griffi n, Geor- gia, for several months, along with federal law enforcement partners. Intelligence generated from traffi c stops in Walla Walla County led to a joint investigation into two local members of the Pagan’s MC, the sheriff ’s offi ce reported. The Pagen’s is a “1%er” or “One Percenter” club — the 1% of motor- cycle clubs that operate outside the bounds of the law. The gang frequently participates in violent crime, traffi cking and racketeer- ing, according to the sheriff ’s offi ce, and Pagan’s members nationwide in the past have allegedly participated in bombings, shootings, felonious assaults and homicides. The Walla Walla County Sher- iff ’s Offi ce worked with the Geor- gia Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI, as well as several law enforcement agencies in Washington state. Detectives with the Umatilla Window painting returns for the return of Round-Up The passion for painting continues By NICK ROSENBERGER East Oregonian PENDLETON — It all began with a former Navy man who worked at the Pend- leton Post Office. As new 1950s cars rumbled past the town’s brick buildings, Tom Simonton began painting the signs for the grocery store next door to his work in his free time. Simonton, known locally as “Big Tom,” eventually moved from signs to paint- ing shop windows and, when Round-Up rolled around, someone asked him to start painting rodeo cartoons on their storefronts. “And that’s how it all started,” said Rick Simon- ton, Tom’s son. Big Tom spent his days cartooning, drawing and painting everywhere he went. He would draw on the back of napkins for wait- ers, he would visit hospi- tals to whip up cartoons for doctors and babies, he would paint animals on the bellies of kids and windows for Round-Up. “Every place he went he would draw something for anybody and everybody,” Simonton said. A completely self-taught cartoonist and painter, he would continue his creative hobby for the rest of his life until he died in 1993. “I think he just liked it,” he said, “he liked to make people happy.” Big Tom’s paintings and cartoons were so popular and so in-demand that nearly Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian One of Laurie Doherty’s Round-Up cartoons adorns the front window of the Rainbow Cafe Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, in downtown Pendleton. every shop-owner in Pend- leton seemed to want him to come by. Overwhelmed by the number of requests during Round-Up in the 1970s, Laurie Doherty joined in the eff orts to cover Pendle- ton’s windows in paint. “It fell into my lap because Tom was over- loaded,” Doherty said. D oh e r t y a n d To m Simonton had two things in common: a voracious appetite for creativity and a passion for painting. The two were constantly creat- ing, never quite turning off the switch on their imagi- nations. And, over decades, the paintings have become a part of the Pendleton community — a legacy that can be found in nooks and crannies around town during Round-Up week. A perma- nent mural of Big Tom’s remains at Crabby’s Under- ground Saloon. When Doherty published a book titled “Be Happy, Be Healthy and Learn to Cartoon,” she visited schools around the region to talk with and teach children about painting cartoons. She said she loved to see the bright light go off in their eyes after realizing that they’d painted something. “It made my heart sing,” she said. And that was an element she said kept her going. “Knowing that it was making a difference,” she said, “a positive diff erence — in people’s lives, giving them hope.” After 51 years, Doherty still is looking for ways to express herself and has continued to paint windows, completing four this year even with a broken bone in her foot. Doherty, who is plan- ning on retiring soon, runs a nonprofi t art studio called Laurie’s Cartoons and is off ering to teach those with creative souls how to paint and cartoon to keep the tradi- tion alive. Many of you have served with Bob and his family during his 85 years of volunteer service to the Round-up! We'd love to have you stop by and share your memories that have made the Pendleton Round-up such a special event for the Stangier family and the great town of Pendleton! FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 TH 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM BURNS MORTUARY PARKING LOT • 335 SW DORION WE WILL BE SERVING BLOODY MARYS SCREWDRIVER BREAKFASTSNACKS COME BY AND HAVE A LITTLE CELEBRATION BEFORE THE PARADE! Tribal Police Department, Morrow County Sheriff ’s Offi ce and with the police departments of Pendleton, Hermiston, Milton-Freewater and Boardman also participated in the apprehensions. Those local agen- cies are members of the Blue Moun- tain Enforcement Narcotics Team, the local illegal drug task force. The Pendleton Police Depart- ment oversees BENT. Pendleton Police Chief Charles Byram said the arrests of the two Pagan’s was not an offi cial BENT project, and detective Rick Jackson, the lead on BENT, and detective Howard Bowen, who is not on BENT, both assisted. Wendelin’s apprehension came at approximately 6 a.m. at the Wash- ington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. The Walla Walla Union-Bul- letin reported public records show Wendelin lives in Milton-Freewater. About three hours later, police arrested Montgomery at his resi- dence in Milton-Freewater. The sheriff’s office reported both men are indicted in Georgia with charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and three counts each of violation of the street gang terrorism and prevention act. The sheriff ’s offi ce also reported Wendelin and Montgomery’s extra- dition to Georgia is the fi rst step in a joint investigation into the West Coast Pagan’s MC, and the local investigation continues with addi- tional charges pending. LOCAL BRIEFING Governor will sit out ’21 Round-Up SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown will skip the 2021 Pendleton Round-Up. At a Tuesday, Sept. 7, press conference to discuss the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of school, KGW reporter Pat Dooris asked Brown if she would attend this year’s rodeo and what she would say to attendees. “Unfortunately I will not be going this year,” she said. “For those who are attend- ing, I encourage them to get vaccinated ahead of time and to wear their masks. I know that sometimes it can be quite warm in the Pendleton region but we know that, combined with vaccines, masks are a very simple and eff ective tool to reduce transmission of the delta variant.” After she encouraged rodeo-goers to “Let’er Buck,” Dooris asked why she was declining to attend. “I’m certainly concerned about community spread,” she said. Umatilla County OKs site to take on homelessness HERMISTON — The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners on Wednes- day, Sept. 8, agreed to allow a warming station and tempo- rary living huts to go on 10 acres the county owns. The site is at the inter- section of Lind and Bensel roads, Hermiston, and the county Public Works Depart- ment has used the site to store aggregate storage, and Gran- ite Construction leases part of the site for equipment, rock and gravel storage. Commissioner George Murdock said the county has been working with Umatilla, Hermiston, Echo and Stan- fi eld on a site for temporary shelters to help take on home- lessness. Commissioner Dan Dorran at the meeting said the land is fl at and usable and near Highway 395, which makes it good for transporta- tion to towns as far away as Milton-Freewater. Umatilla County would own the shelter and continue to own the land. Hermiston City Manager Byron Smith said the project is largely a response to a new law the Oregon Legislature passed in June that mandates cities codify ordinances that would protect people from fi nes and fees for sleeping on public lands if a local govern- ment fails to provide other viable alternatives. Cities have two years to comply with the law. The local plan at this stage calls for a modular building to act as a warming station that also would provide show- ers, restrooms and meeting areas. The site would need to connect to infrastructure for water and power, and and pumping truck would provide sewage services. Funding for the project could come from grants but also local cities. Rather than each of the four cities creating its own solution for the new mandates, Smith said the shelter is an eff ort by the cities to fi nd a comprehensive solution to assist those experiencing homelessness. — EO Media Group 9/10-9/16 Cineplex Show Times Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free) Malignant (R) 2:10p 5:10p 8:30p Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings (PG13) 1:10p 4:30p 6:20p 7:50p PAW Patrol: The Movie (G) 1:30p 3:50p Free Guy (PG13) 1:50p 4:50p 8:10p Jungle Cruise (PG13) 12:50p 4:10p 7:30p wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216