REGION
Thursday, January 6, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Former attorney remembered for love of community
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pete
Wells, a longtime Pendleton
city attorney and municipal
judge, died on Friday, Dec.
31. He was 78.
His wife of more than
52 years, ElRae Wells, said
he died from complications
from internal head injuries he
received last spring. A hemo-
philiac, ElRae said Wells
wasn’t expected to live past
21.
ElRae and Wells grew up
attending the same church
together in Portland, and
after the couple got married
and Wells graduated from
law school, the couple moved
to Pendleton in 1977 to take
a job at the Corey, Byler and
Rew law fi rm. Wells held a
number of positions over his
years in Pendleton but one of
his most prominent was city
attorney, a role he fi lled from
1992 to 2011.
Former Pendleton Mayor
Phillip Houk remembered
Wells as a studious and
thorough legal counsel who
made sure the city stayed in
compliance with the law.
“His offi ce was just not
too far from mine, and he
was always in there,” Houk
said. “Always working and
trying to gather information.
He was pretty good at doing
research and background
information.”
Wells retired as city attor-
ney in 2011 but was imme-
diately appointed to fi ll the
vacant role of judge of the
Pendleton Municipal Court.
“I love municipal law and
I love working with the city
of Pendleton,” he said at the
time. “I hope I can do a good
job doing it.”
Wells left the city’s
employ for good in 2013, but
East Oregonian, File
Cindy Webb, left, stands next to Pete Wells in this photo from
2017, and the quilt she made with his Relay for Life T-shirts
as a raffl e item to raise money for the American Cancer Soci-
ety. Wells, longtime former city attorney for Pendleton and
volunteer for Pendleton Relay for Life, died Friday, Dec. 31,
2021, at the age of 78.
continued to stay active in the
community as a volunteer.
A survivor of both prostate
cancer and squamous cell
carcinoma, Wells was a long-
time volunteer at the Pend-
leton Relay for Life and also
donated his time to Pendleton
SMART, a children’s reading
program. And when the Chil-
Transgender woman who killed girlfriend
sues Oregon for gender discrimination
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PORT LA N D — A
former Echo man serving
time for killing his girlfriend
in 2014 is suing the state of
Oregon for failing to provide
protection in prison after he
transitioned to female.
Zera Lola Zombie, 37, is
a transgender woman serv-
ing time for manslaughter
for the bludgeoning death of
Samantha Brown. Zombie
was Daniel Lee Smith at
the time of the killing. She
changed her name in July
2020 along with changing
her gender to female, accord-
ing to state court records.
She fi led the lawsuit Sept.
10, 2021, in the U.S. District
Court of Oregon.
Zombie in the 18-page
complaint alleged she
“suffered ongoing harass-
ment and verbal, mental,
and psychological abuse by
both prisoners and (Oregon
Department of Corrections)
staff as a result of her sex,
gender and gender identity”
while she was in custody at
Oregon State Correctional
Institution and then Oregon
State Penitentiary. The
lawsuit also alleges other
inmates physically and sexu-
ally assaulted her and staff
did not protect her from the
attacks.
The lawsuit names the
state as the lead defendant,
plus numerous correctional
offi cers and other staff and
Josh Highberger, super-
intendent of Oregon State
Correctional Institution, and
Brandon Kelly, superinten-
dent of Oregon State Peni-
tentiary.
The harassment and
assaults began in November
2019, according to the plead-
ing, when a male offi cer at
Oregon State Correctional
Institution strip-searched
Zombie in front of a male
inmate. The abuse escalated
from there, and on Christ-
mas Day 2019 staff denied
she could have toilet paper
for bathroom hygiene. The
lawsuit claims she uses her
socks to clean herself and
had to dispose of them in a
biohazard bag.
Sometime after that the
Department of Correc-
tions transferred Zombie
to the state pen. There, she
claims, another inmate,
Allen Howard, physically
assaulted her on Oct. 9, 2020,
and staff ignored the assault.
Zombie also claims
OSP staff housed her from
March 2020 until June 2021
with Mikal Shabazz. Court
records show he is serving
at least 40 years for convic-
tions in 1997 in Multnomah
County for a slew of crimes,
including robbery, assault,
sodomy and first-degree
rape. Zombie claims Shabazz
physically and sexually
assaulted her, sometimes on
a daily basis. She reported
the assaults to prison staff at
least twice, according to the
lawsuit, and they did nothing
to protect her.
Other inmates also
assaulted and harassed
Zombie, the pleading states,
and she now suff ers “psycho-
logical trauma, anxiety and
mental anguish as a result
of the physical, mental and
sexual abuse she has experi-
enced” while in the custody
of the Oregon Department of
Corrections.
Zombie did not specify
how much she is suing the
state for. Rather, she wants
a jury trial and compensa-
tion for physical pain and
suff ering, emotional distress,
economic losses and an
award for punitive damages,
plus court costs and attorney
fees and “other and further
relief as the court may deem
just and equitable.”
Oregon Department of
Corrections online inmate
information shows she is
serving her sentence at
Snake River Correctional
Institution, Ontario. But
in the lawsuit she claimed
she was an at Coff ee Creek
Correctional Facility, the
only prison in Oregon that
houses female inmates.
Attorneys John Burgess
and Katharine Edwards
with the Portland fi rm Law
Offices of Daniel Snyder
represent Zombie and fi led
the lawsuit on her behalf.
Judge Ann L. Aiken is
presiding over the case and
set Tuesday, Jan. 11, as the
day to complete discovery
and Feb. 10 for other fi lings,
including a Joint Alternate
Dispute Resolution Report.
The state as of Jan. 4 has
yet to fi le a response to the
lawsuit.
Northeastern Oregon sees $22 million in
reimbursements for devastating 2020 fl oods
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — Oregon
State Sens. Ron Wyden and
Jeff Merkley announced
nearly $22 million in grant
money would be disbursed
to Northeastern Oregon.
The funds will be used to
help reimburse the costs asso-
ciated with the historic fl ood-
ing that occurred in February
2020, when nearly 400 homes
were destroyed or damaged
by the torrential rain, mostly
in Umatilla County.
The total cost of the
damage was estimated to be
more than $48 million, with
well more than $26 million in
removing debris, emergency
protective measures and
repairing roads, bridges and
public buildings, according
to the Oregon Offi ce of Emer-
gency Management.
“We’re prepared to take
full advantage of the fund-
ing, and we’ve got projects
in the works for develop-
ment,” said Tom Strandberg,
public information officer
with the Oregon Department
of Transportation for Eastern
Oregon.
Exactly $11 million
was earmarked for North-
east Oregon specifically,
citing the severe storms and
increased snowmelt that
caused fl ooding, landslides,
sinks, downed trees and
erosion that had resulted in
damage to critical transpor-
tation infrastructure, accord-
ing to the grants the Federal
Highway Administration
approved.
As well, $9 million was
approved for projects repair-
ing damage to major high-
ways across Oregon that
experienced similar damage
in January 2021. A fi nal $1.7
million was appropriated for
the Umatilla National Forest
to repair roads and trails that
were damaged by fl oods in
the winter 2020.
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Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Nate Fuller, left, and Archie Morrow await rescue on the
roof of a home in Thorn Hollow on Feb. 6, 2020. The pair
was stranded when they attempted to rescue the elderly
couple stuck in the house as waters from the Umatilla Riv-
er began to rise. According to a family member of one of
those stranded, all four people were rescued by 9:40 p.m.
on Feb. 6, 2020. Northeastern Oregon is getting $22 mil-
lion in federal grants to help reimburse the costs associat-
ed with the historic fl ooding.
dren’s Museum of Eastern
Oregon needed a Santa Claus
for an event, Wells donned a
red suit to match his already
considerable white beard.
He also dabbled in local
politics, running as the
Democratic nominee for state
House District 58. Running
as a Democrat in conserva-
tive Northeastern Oregon
already is an uphill battle, but
Wells only jumped into the
race after incumbent Repub-
lican Rep. Bob Jenson faced
a spirited challenge from his
right in his own primary.
Jenson ended up hanging in
the primary, but Wells stayed
in the race and Jenson went
on to safely win reelection.
Wells is survived by his
wife in addition to four chil-
dren and fi ve grandchildren.
While the Wellses may have
moved to Pendleton for work,
they stayed in Pendleton and
made a family because of
what the community had to
off er.
ElRae used the Round-Up
as an example, saying local
volunteers put their diff er-
ences aside each year to put
on the world-class rodeo.
“Overall, Pendleton is
a caring community,” she
said. “If we could bottle up
what Pendleton has, particu-
larly now, and spread it to the
country, our whole country
would be a whole lot better.”
She turned to an old quote
from actor Jimmy Stewart
about how she wanted Wells
to be remembered: “As some-
one who believed in hard
work, love of country, love of
family and love of commu-
nity.”
ElRae would amend Stew-
art’s statement to include
“love of God” when talking
about Wells, but otherwise,
the best summary of Wells’
life already had been said.
Pendleton spends
$500k on vehicle
for drone range
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — One
of the Pendleton Unmanned
Aerial Systems Range’s latest
purchases is a half-million
dollar piece of equipment.
The Pendleton City Coun-
cil in December gave the
test range the green light to
spend $500,000 to purchase
a mobile command center
from Skyward, a subsidiary
of telecom giant Verizon.
According to a staff report,
the command center was
custom-built for Verizon
but would have been much
more expensive if bought
new by the city. Drone range
customers have used mobile
command centers in the past
to give them an operational
base while working in remote
areas.
During the city coun-
cil’s meeting Tuesday, Jan. 4,
Darryl Abling, the range
manager, said there was high
demand for these types of
vehicles on the range. The
airport already rents out two
command centers to Insitu,
a subsidiary of Boeing that
runs testing operations in
Pendleton.
In the staff repor t,
Economic Development
Director Steve Chrisman
wrote that Verizon’s vehi-
cle will enhance safety at
the airport because it could
use the company’s cellular
network to increase aware-
ness of other aircraft in the
sky.
While $500,000 is a fairly
big line item for many city
budgets, Chrisman assured
the council that it would pay
for itself.
“This is not a CARES Act
eligible purchase,” he wrote,
referring to a previous round
of federal COVID-19 aid.
“However, acquisition of the
(mobile command center)
will bring with it new range
contracts that will generate
new revenue in excess of the
(vehicle’s) purchase price
within the next 12 months.
The (vehicle) will more than
pay for itself in 12 months,
and should continue to gener-
ate airport revenue for many
years.”
While the equipment was
custom-built in Montana for
use by Verizon in its own
drone testing, Abling said
the vehicle is easily adapt-
able and is a “turnkey” asset
for the range to off er to its
customers.
Even as previous tenants
such as Airbus and PAE have
moved on in years past, the
drone range continues to
attract high-profi le custom-
ers. Chrisman wrote that
range staff anticipate Verizon
will be a long-term customer
at the range and Amazon
recently confi rmed that it was
doing some testing in Pendle-
ton as well.
And while Airbus has
long moved on from Project
Vahana, its attempt to proto-
type an unmanned passenger
vehicle, a memento of its time
in Pendleton has remained.
Abling said Airbus recently
donated its model of Project
Vahana to the UAS range and
the vehicle will go on display
at the range.
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