REGION
Saturday, January 15, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Andy Nicolais/East Oregonian
With the emergence of the omicron variant, COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed in Umatilla County since the beginning of the year. On Dec. 31, 2021, the seven-day average number of new
cases reported was 42. As of Jan. 13, the seven-day average was 189, with 29% of tests coming back positive. During this pandemic, spikes in hospitalizations have followed spikes in new
cases, indicating a likely increase in hospitalizations in the weeks ahead.
Hermiston police make arrest in 2015 murder
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Herm-
iston police Thursday, Jan.
13, made an arrest for a 2015
murder of a Umatilla man.
Jose Maria Oseguera,
40, now is in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton,
on probable cause charges
of second-degree murder,
unlawful use of a weapon,
felon in possession of a
weapon and contempt of
court and failure to appear.
Police arrested Oseguera
for the homicide of Alonso
Madrigal. Hermiston police
Chief Jason Edmiston in a
press release stated in the
evening of March 4, 2015,
Madrigal, 23, was “sense-
lessly murdered” in the park-
ing lot of a convenience store
in the 400 block of North-
west 11th Street, Hermiston.
From early in the inves-
tigation, several persons of
interest were identifi ed and
for the last six-plus years,
Hermiston detectives have
worked on the investiga-
tion, according to Edmis-
ton. Days after the murder,
Ron Saager, owner of
beloved M-F shoe shop,
dies on Christmas Day
methamphetamine and a
large amount of cash.”
Detectives have remained
in constant contact with the
family of Madrigal, Edmis-
ton also reported, and Herm-
iston police told Madrigal’s
family about the arrest.
Throughout this inves-
tigation, Hermiston police
received assistance from the
Umatilla-Morrow County
Major Crime Team, the
Umatilla County District
Attorney’s Offi ce, the Los
Angeles Sheriff’s Office
crime lab, the police depart-
ment of Huntington Park,
California, and the United
States Marshals Service.
And on Jan. 13 before the
arrest, the Umatilla Police
Department assisted while
Hermiston detectives were
in Umatilla.
Edmiston also stated the
Hermiston Police Depart-
ment’s biggest thank you
perhaps needs to go to
Madrigal’s family.
“They have been so
incredibly patient and
understanding with us as
our detectives worked the
Bill Aney. But when Aney
dropped out just ahead of the
fi ling deadline, Neuman ran
unopposed.
At-large
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Saager
the dangerous seasonal work
and moved back home to
Milton-Freewater to work at
the family’s shoe shop when
he met his wife, Julie Hardin,
in the summer of 1980.
“Working at the family’s
shoe store brought Ron great
joy. He loved his customers
and crew, many of whom
became family. He was so
proud of the store, and always
grateful to serve such a beau-
tiful community,” his Janu-
ary obituary read.
Ron Saager, a McLough-
lin High School graduate, is
survived by his daughters,
Deidre Nyburg and Kayla
Saager; his grandchildren,
Trevor, Bailee and Ruby; his
youngest brother and one of
his best friends, Rick Saager
and family; his oldest brother,
Norm Saager and family;
uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces
and nephews.
Per Ron’s wishes, no
public service will be held,
but friends and family are
welcome to share memories
and photos on the Munselle-
Rhodes funeral page. To
leave a condolence visit
munsellerhodes.com.
investigation,” he said in the
press release. “We had all
the pieces of what transpired
that fateful night, we were
just waiting for a break we
prayed would come. Within
the last couple of months,
that break happened, and
the DA’s offi ce presented the
information to a grand jury
where an arrest warrant was
eventually issued for Mr.
Oseguera. It is our sincere
hope that once brought to
justice with a conviction, the
family will have some sense
of closure.”
Pendleton City Council incumbents make
reelection decisions with deadline in sight
Campbell and
McDonald intend
to run again;
Cambier to retire
By MARGAUX
MAXWELL
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
MILTON-FREEWATER
— Ron Saager, the longtime
head of Milton-Freewater’s
iconic Saager’s Shoe Shop,
died Christmas Day at 70
years old.
Co-owned by the Saager
family and daughter Deidre
Saager-Nyburg, Saager’s has
been in the business of repair-
ing and selling shoes at 613 N.
Main St. for over a century.
The store always has been
a family-owned and run oper-
ation, now in its fourth gener-
ation.
William Saager started the
business in 1914, at the same
location. “My grandpa was
a man of many talents,” Ron
Saager said in a 2013 inter-
view with the Walla Walla
Union-Bulletin.
William Saager was prac-
tical, innovative and self-suf-
fi cient, Ron Saager said.
“In his younger days, he’d
get up in the morning and
hitch up 90 head of mules to
harvest wheat,” he said. “He
also had a 4-acre fruit farm in
Milton-Freewater.”
Ron Saager’s father, Herb
Saager, bought into the busi-
ness in the 1950s.
The store’s original name
was Freewater Electric Shoe
Store, to indicate the store
had a light bulb and an elec-
tric motor that could be
moved to operate machinery
such as a sewing machine —
an innovative technology for
its time.
After spending much of
his young life working as a
commercial fisherman in
Alaska, Ron Saager ditched
detectives fl ew to California,
where a vehicle involved in
the homicide was located
and seized.
Hermiston police detec-
tives with Oregon State
Police and the Blue Moun-
tain Enforcement Narcotics
Team arrested Oseguera at
about 7 p.m. in the parking
lot of Walmart, 1350 N. First
St., Hermiston.
At the time of his arrest,
according to Edmiston,
Oseguera “possessed a
loaded handgun, crystal
substance suspected to be
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton City Council has
fi ve seats up for election in
May, but only one candidate
has fi led so far.
Prospective candidates
have until March 8 to fi le for
the May 17 election, giving
incumbents and newcomers
less than two months to enter
their names. Voters will elect
one candidate for each of
Pendleton’s three wards, and
thanks to an early resignation
two years ago, two citywide,
at-large candidates. If any of
the winning candidates can’t
secure more than 50%, the
top two vote-getters will go
to a runoff held during the
Nov. 8 general election.
In a series of interviews,
incumbents up for election
shared their election plans
for 2022.
Ward 1 (Downtown,
South Hill, Riverside)
Innes said she plans to run
for a second term in May and
will fi le her candidate paper-
work to make it offi cial in the
near future.
Innes said she feels good
about her fi rst four years on
the council and has enjoyed
the feedback she’s gotten
from constituents, even
when they don’t agree with
her positions.
Innes was a first time
candidate when she won her
seat in 2020, but she sought
Antonio Sierra, East Oregonian, File
Mayor John Turner swears in, from left to right, Councilors
Linda Neuman, Carole Innes, Jake Cambier and McKennon
McDonald on Jan. 8, 2019, at Pendleton City Council Cham-
bers. Neuman said she is considering running again in
2022, and Cambier intends to retire at the end of his term.
Both Innes and McDonald intend to run for new terms in
May.
a spot on the city council
slightly earlier.
After Councilor John
Brenne died in 2018, Innes
was one of two candidates
the council considered to fi ll
the seat for the remainder of
the year. The council opted
for Chuck LeValle, but Innes
stayed in the race for the full
term, winning a majority of
the vote against the incum-
bent and a third candidate.
gained experience and other
council members left offi ce,
McDonald went from a fresh
face to its longest tenured
veteran in the span of two
terms.
McDonald was elected
council president in 2019, a
mostly ceremonial position
that allows McDonald to
preside over council meet-
ings if the mayor is absent.
Ward 2 (North Hill,
Westgate, airport)
Ward 3 (Southgate,
Tutuilla Road, McKay
Creek)
As of Monday, Jan. 10,
Ward 2 Councilor McKen-
non McDonald was the only
candidate who has fi led for
offi ce.
The president of the city
council, McDonald fi rst won
offi ce in 2014 at the age of 23
by defeating former Coun-
cilor Bryan Branstetter. She
then won a second term
unopposed in 2018. As she
Ward 3 Councilor Linda
Neuman said she’s leaning
toward running for reelec-
tion but hasn’t made a fi nal
decision on seeking a second
term.
Neuman was a fi rst-time
candidate when she won her
fi rst term in 2018. Neuman
was originally set to vie
for the seat against retired
U.S. Forest Service worker
Thanks to early resigna-
tion, both at-large seats will
be up for election in 2022.
Only a few months after
winning a second term
on the council in 2018,
Councilor Paul Chalmers
announced he was leav-
ing Pendleton and resign-
ing from his at-large seat on
the council. The remaining
councilors selected Steve
Campbell from a fi eld of nine
applicants to fi ll the remain-
der of Chalmers fi rst term
and serve the fi rst half of his
second.
Campbell said he plans
to run to fi ll the last part of
Chalmers’ term. He said he
likes the direction the city is
heading toward and wants to
keep on working on issues
like housing. Whoever wins
Campbell’s at-large seat will
have to run again in 2024 for
a full, four-year term.
The other at-large seat
held by Councilor Jake
Cambier will see a new face
when the council convenes
for its fi rst meeting in 2023.
Cambier said he intends
to retire at the end of his
term. If he had run again and
won, Cambier said he would
have been 81 by the time
his next term ended and he
wanted to give someone else
a chance.
Cambier was appointed to
his at-large seat in 2016 to fi ll
the fi nal two years of Coun-
cilor Al Plute’s term after
the latter resigned. In 2018,
he won a full term by beating
retiree Rex Morehouse.
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