NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
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Saturday, April 2, 2022
Baker City Police called to disturbance during GOP forum
County Republican Party,
which organized the forum,
set, including a prohibition on
people videoing the event or
applauding while candidates
were speaking.
Kerry McQuisten, Baker
City mayor and a Republi-
can gubernatorial candidate
who attended the forum, said
County district attorney,
said he is awaiting reports
from the Baker City Police
to determine whether there
is anything to pursue with
possible charges.
Rick Rienks, of Baker
City, who along with his
wife, Penny, was escorted
from the Elks Lodge by Prevo
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
BAKER CITY — Two
Baker City Police officers
responded to a complaint
about audience behavior
during a forum featuring
several Republican candi-
dates for Oregon governor
March 25 at the Baker Elks
Lodge.
Officers Justin Prevo and
Jonathan Parsons responded
to the Lodge, at 1896 Second
St., around 6:09 p.m., accord-
ing to the dispatch log.
They escorted a few
people from the Elks Lodge
early in the forum, which
started about 6 p.m. Police
didn’t make any arrests and
no charges were filed, Police
Chief Ty Duby said.
Duby said on March 29,
that he “doesn’t feel really
comfortable” with what
happened.
“It puts us in a bad situa-
tion,” Duby said.
He said he doesn’t believe
police are responsible for
ensuring people attend-
ing an event such as the
forum, which took place at
a privately owned venue,
comply with the audience
rules.
So long as people attend-
ing aren’t acting in a threaten-
ing way, Duby said he doesn’t
believe police officers should
be involved.
Greg Baxter, Baker
“NO PART OF OUR
WONDERFUL
CONSTITUTION GIVES
ANY INDIVIDUAL
PERMISSION TO CAUSE
HARM SIMPLY BECAUSE
THEY FEEL ENTITLED
TO. THIS BEHAVIOR ISN’T
PATRIOTISM;
THIS IS THUGGERY.”
Thielman
some candidate forums this
year, including one in Pend-
leton on March 24 and one on
March 26 at Vale, had similar
rules.
McQuisten said she
believes the “disturbance”
during the forum at the Baker
Elks Lodge was “scripted and
preplanned.”
Mc Q u i s t e n , w h o s e
mother, Suzan Ellis Jones,
Rules cause conflict
The conflict stemmed in
part from rules that the Baker
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
McQuisten
— Kerry McQuisten, Republican candidate for governor
and Parsons, contends that
the situation didn’t warrant
summoning police.
Rienks said he and his
wife, who are registered
Republicans, attended the
forum because they wanted
to hear from the candidates.
SUNDAY
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MONDAY
TUESDAY
is chair of the Baker County
Republicans, said that prior
to the forum she overheard
a group of people talking
about their plan to speak out
in opposition to the rules.
McQuisten said some of
the people she overheard were
carrying campaign signs for
Marc Thielman, who is also
WEDNESDAY
validity” to McQuisten’s
implication that his support-
ers conspired to disrupt the
Baker City forum.
In a March 28 letter
responding to the incident
at the forum, the six-mem-
ber executive committee of
the Baker County Republi-
can Party blamed the disrup-
“ONE MUST WONDER
WHY A CANDIDATE, VIA
HER MOTHER/CAMPAIGN
MANAGER, WOULD
BE SO DETERMINED
TO STIFLE THE
RESPECTFUL COVERAGE
OF CANDIDATE
POSITIONS.”
— Marc Thielman, Republican candidate for governor
seeking the Republican nomi-
nation in the May 17 primary.
Thielman called the forum
rules “weird” and said he was
disappointed that some candi-
dates drove for hundreds of
miles to attend the forums
with a goal of “getting their
message out” and meeting
voters, only to have distur-
bances interfere.
Thielman said there’s “no
tion on Baker County United,
the local group formed last
summer that has objected to
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s
executive orders requiring
mask wearing and vaccina-
tions during the pandemic.
“Law enforcement was
made aware that we may have
an issue at this event,” the
letter reads. “We hoped not.”
The executive committee
consists of Jones; vice chair-
man Julie McKinney; trea-
surer Joanna Dixon (who is
also treasurer of McQuisten’s
campaign committee and,
like McQuisten, a member
of the Baker City Council);
secretary Justin Langan; and
delegates Tom Van Diepen
and Keith Jones.
The letter states that the
ban on livestreaming the
forum, except for hosts, was
added after “ugly behavior”
at a forum in the Portland
area when someone “used
their recording/livestreaming
to bash other candidates with
slander and name calling.”
Jones said the organizers’
video of the forum will be
posted online.
The letter states that
during the Baker City forum,
one couple was recording the
event and, after being asked
to stop, declined. Jones said
she believes Langan, who
was part of the security detail
along with Van Diepen and
Sharon Bass, then called
police.
Rienks said that when
officers Prevo and Parsons
arrived, he told them that
he was there to listen to the
candidates and did not feel
there was any reason for him
and his wife to leave.
He said he considers the
episode a “betrayal” of the
candidates who attended, and
he intends to send an apology
letter to each of them.
OSP sergeant shot and killed in Joseph
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Breezy this
morning
Intervals of clouds
and sun
58° 36°
62° 45°
Windy with a
couple of showers
Partly sunny;
winds subsiding
Warmer with
periods of sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
57° 37°
61° 39°
55° 33°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
63° 34°
66° 50°
61° 41°
67° 38°
60° 34°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
52/43
49/33
61/35
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
57/39
Lewiston
57/43
65/37
Astoria
51/41
Pullman
Yakima 62/37
55/39
56/35
Portland
Hermiston
59/44
The Dalles 63/34
Salem
Corvallis
59/38
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
52/31
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
60/39
58/34
53/32
Ontario
64/31
Caldwell
Burns
60°
28°
63°
37°
78° (2000) 16° (2008)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
59/39
0.00"
0.00"
0.03"
1.95"
1.73"
2.80"
WINDS (in mph)
62/28
56/22
0.00"
0.00"
0.05"
3.60"
3.34"
4.12"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 47/27
60/41
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
58/36
63/41
59°
32°
59°
38°
76° (1921) 18° (1936)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
55/40
Aberdeen
53/34
58/38
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
54/43
Today
Sun.
Boardman WSW 10-20
Pendleton
W 10-20
Medford
67/40
WSW 7-14
W 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
60/26
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:34 a.m.
7:25 p.m.
7:25 a.m.
9:17 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Apr 8
Apr 16
Apr 23
Apr 30
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 92° in Zapata, Texas Low -5° in Gunfl int Lake, Minn.
JOSEPH — An Oregon
St ate Police sergeant
was found dead Tuesday,
March 29, in Joseph of a single
gunshot wound to the head,
according to a press release
from Wallowa County Sher-
iff Joel Fish.
Fish and WCSO deputy
Paul Pagano responded to a
3:41 p.m. call of a possible
medical emergency at the
residence of OSP Sgt. Marcus
McDowell on North College
Street in Joseph.
When Fish and Pagano
arrived, they found McDow-
ell unconscious in his patrol
car in the driveway. After the
officers made a forced entry
into McDowell’s vehicle, they
found him to be dead of a
gunshot wound.
Fish said it is not yet known
if McDowell’s death was
self-inflicted or if foul play
was involved.
“The final determination
will be by the state medical
examiner,” he said March 30.
Fish said McDowell had
been an OSP trooper for 17
years, previously working in
the La Grande area patrolling
Wallowa and Union counties.
The sheriff said McDowell has
lived in Joseph “many years”
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Oregon State Police troopers walk up to a Wallowa County
Sheriff’s Office pickup Tuesday, March 29, 2022, as part of
an investigation into a shooting death at a residence along
North College Street in Joseph.
and has family in the area.
Units from Enterprise
Ambulance and the Joseph
Fire Depar t ment also
responded, as did three Enter-
prise Police Department offi-
cers, a total of three WCSO
units and three OSP troopers.
North College Street between
East Joseph Avenue and East
Williams Avenue was blocked
to traffic while the investiga-
tion was underway.
OSP Superintendent Terri
Davie issued a statement in the
release.
“Thank you to our partner
IN BRIEF
Walla Walla PPD shuts down
app, will return to social media
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
EastOregonian.com
In the App Store:
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,
by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals
postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
WALLA WALLA — The Walla Walla
Police Department’s digital app has gone
dark.
WWPD spokesperson Gunner Fulmer
confirmed the app was taken offline about
three weeks ago.
“We had to end the app as we were having
issues and were having trouble getting them
fixed,” Fulmer said. “We had a deadline for
repayment for the year with the app company
and opted not to renew.”
The department reported in November
2020 the app would cost the city about $120
per month.
Police Capt. Chris Buttice, who will
become the department’s new chief on May 1,
said one of his first priorities will be determin-
ing how to best communicate with the public.
“The police app was problematic and
Circulation Dept.
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Local home
delivery
Savings
(cover price)
$10.75/month
50 percent
52 weeks
$135
42 percent
26 weeks
$71
39 percent
13 weeks
$37
36 percent
EZPay
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
originated from outside the country,” Butt-
ice said. “We’re exploring how we are going
to communicate with the community.”
Fulmer said the department is preparing
for a return to social media.
The department left social media in June
2020 and later announced it would keep in
touch with the public via the app.
The department also launched Bridging
the Gap classes, taught by Fulmer, where
members of the public can ask questions
about the department and law enforcement
and get face-to-face answers from Fulmer.
Fulmer has presented the class to almost
300 community members and had planned
on continuing it throughout the rest of the
year.
However, attendance began to fall this
year, and Fulmer announced the April 4
edition of the class — which has since filled
up — will be the last until October.
— Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
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agencies for their assistance,
compassion and professional-
ism during this tragic time,”
Davie said. “Our heartfelt
thoughts and prayers go out to
the family, friends, coworkers
and responding emergency
personnel.”
OSP has not yet responded
for a request for additional
comment.
Officers and investiga-
tors from Enterprise Police
Department, Pendleton Police
Department, state police and
its crime lab are providing
assistance in the investigation.
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