REGION
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
Umatilla County
‘Little Street People’ rise downtown District Attorney’s
Offi ce charges
kidnapping suspect
PENDLETON
By YASSER MARTE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
intersection of Southeast
Court Avenue and First Street
in downtown Pendleton on
June 25 held a surprise for
locals and passersby — rock
sculptures.
Dozens of the figures
were standing in the new
decorative rock beds where
the Oregon Department of
Transportation has been
improving curbs. One man is
responsible for the creations
— Neal Correa.
Correa in 2015 built large
boulder sculptures in Herm-
iston. At the time, he was
battling legal troubles for
theft and burglary. His father
died from kidney failure and
as the issues accumulated,
Correa sunk into fi nancial
hardship and became home-
less.
Still, the rock work caught
the attention of the East
Oregonian. But that also led
to some hardship for Correa
when he missed a court date
and violated his probation.
“I missed it because I was
getting interviewed and I
thought they would be OK
with that,” he said. “They
arrested me right away.”
State court records show
Correa in 2019 pleaded
guilty in Umatilla County
circuit Court to third-degree
assault of a 10-year-old boy.
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Neal Correa poses for a photo June 28, 2022, near some of the
rock sculptures he made in downtown Pendleton. He said he
plans to return to the art world and build more structures.
One of Neal Correa’s rock
sculptures stands June 27,
2022, in downtown Pendleton.
His three years probation for
the crime ends in September.
State court records also show
Correa completed group
work on anger manage-
ment, alcohol education and
relapse prevention as part of
his probation.
Correa said he worked
to get his life together. His
grandmother became a
mentor and a shining light
through his journey.
“She taught me how to
paint to Bob Ross when I was
a kid,” he said. “She passed
away a couple of weeks ago
at 102 years old.”
After his grandmother’s
funeral, Correa wanted
to honor her memory. He
decided to go out and begin
about 20 hours building his
sculptures, which has drawn
the attention of some folks
around town.
“T h is g uy is ver y
talented and I don’t think he
knows he’s talented,” said
Jerry Nicholson, Pendle-
ton resident, who was pres-
sure-cleaning the outside
steps of the new Pendleton
Hotel.
“A lot of people have been
gathering for this. We have
several a day and several at
night,” he said. “It’s amazing
because (Correa) just does it
and then just disappears.”
Correa said he plans to
return to the art world and
wants to begin working on
an art show.
working on rock sculptures
again.
“This is something that
has helped me cope with
that,” he said.
Correa manages to use
diff erent mediums with each
sculpture, such as sticks
and feathers, to help bring
out diff erent characteristics
in his work. Correa studied
architecture at the University
of Oregon and has an under-
standing for balancing struc-
tures.
“If I had to put a name on
this it would be ‘Little Street
People and Their Families
Downtown,’” Correa said
as he sat outside of Hamley
Cafe.
Correa claimed he spent
Fire guts Pilot Rock home
Yellow caution tape on Sunday, July 3,
2022, stretches across the front access
to what remains of the house at 531 S.W.
Birch St., Pilot Rock, after a fi re July 2
gutted the home. The fi re erupted around
5 p.m. Pendleton Fire Chief Jim Critchley
reported his department and Umatil-
la Tribal Fire responded to assist Pilot
Rock Rural Fire Protection District with
the blaze. Pendleton fi re received the
call for help at 5:04 p.m. and arrived at
5:17 p.m. Firefi ghters contained the blaze
at 5:33 p.m. Three occupants escaped and
one dog was rescued and sent to a veteri-
narian. The damage to the house comes to
$100,000, according to Critchley, the cause
of the fi re remains under investigation,
and the Red Cross is aiding the people who
lived in the home.
Phil Wright/East Oregonian
Amazon Think Big Space to open in Umatilla
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — Umatilla
High School is getting its own
Amazon Think Big Space.
Umatilla School District
on June 29 announced in a
press release a collabora-
tion between Amazon Web
Services Inc. and the high
school’s robotics program is
resulting in a revamp of the
space the program now uses.
The robotics program
aims to spark student inter-
est in STEAM — science,
technology, engineering, arts
and mathematics — and the
new educational lab is going
to support that eff ort with a
“stimulating learning envi-
ronment” that helps expand
the “school’s interactive
hands-on technical educa-
tion, cloud computing training
and advanced manufacturing
technology off erings.”
This is the third AWS
Think Big Space in Eastern
Oregon and the second in
Umatilla County. Amazon
opened its first Think Big
Space in the county in April
at Nixyaawii Community
School on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
Umatilla School Board
Chair Jon Lorence in the press
release said it was “wonder-
ful to see this investment
from AWS in our school and
community. We’re excited to
get started on the design and
construction work, which we
expect to begin this summer
so we can open in Janu-
ary 2023, just in time for the
Umatilla Robotics season
kick-off and game challenge
reveal.”
Umatilla School District
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
explained this Think Big
Space is unique because
Umatilla robotics students
took the lead in creating the
initial concept, project design
“and every step of the grant
application process for the
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Darryl Joe McKay, 7, on April 6, 2022, inspects one of the
drones he will learn to fl y in the new Think Big Space, fund-
ed by Amazon Web Services and inside the former Nixyaawii
Community School. Umatilla High School is next up for a
Think Big Space in Umatilla County.
space.” The team ensured
AWS understood the full
spectrum of the K-12 robot-
ics and STEAM offerings
and articulated its vision for
a revamped space, which
is to have a strong focus on
advanced manufacturing
technologies.
This new training lab,
she continued, “will provide
industry grade opportunities
for Umatilla students so they
can take their robotics work to
a new level.”
Sophomore Avery Guti-
errez was one of the students
who assisted with the grant
application process. She is
the junior project manager
for Team Confidential, the
school’s robotics team. She
said is was a thrill to help with
the grant and honor to receive
it.
“I’m excited to see what
we can do as a team in this
space,” she said in the press
release, “and what oppor-
tunities we can hopefully
off er to the community as we
learn to use our equipment
and teach others.”
The AWS Think Big
Space is an AWS InCom-
munities program. Corne-
lia Robinson, global lead of
inclusion and outreach for
AWS InCommunities, in the
press release said Amazon is
committed to making a posi-
tive impact in the communi-
ties where its employees live
and work.
“We are proud of our
presence in Eastern Oregon
and to have the opportunity
to support our neighbors
who share our passion for
STEM education,” accord-
ing to Robinson. “I hope this
AWS Think Big Space at
Umatilla High School allows
its students to not only ‘think
big’ but to also dream big. I
can’t wait to see what they
will create.”
PENDLETON — The
Tillamook man Pendleton
police arrested June 25 for
kidnapping a woman and
f leeing in a high-speed
chase now faces official
criminal charges.
The Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Offi ce
on Friday, July, 1, charged
Charles Frederick Seel-
ing, 34, with eight counts
in all, including felonies
for second-degree kidnap-
ping, coercion and fl eeing
police and for misdemeanor
assault. The charges stem
from a June 28 grand jury
indictment.
The district attorney’s
offi ce also notifi ed the court
it would seek to enhance
any sentencing based on
several factors, including
the “crime involved delib-
erate cruelty to the victim”
and Seeling already was on
supervised release.
State court records show
Seeling is serving three
years of probation in Clat-
sop County on charges of
unlawful use of a weapon
and fl eeing police, and he
violated that probation in
March and April when he
checked himself out of a
detoxification center and
then did not check in with
his probation offi cer. Seel-
ing also has a felony theft
case pending against him
in Tillamook County.
According to Pend-
leton police, emergency
dispatchers June 25 at
10:11 a.m. received several
911 calls from witnesses at
Walmart, 2203 S.W. Court
Ave., reporting a female
screaming for help in a
vehicle in the parking lot.
Witnesses reported about
what appeared to be an
abduction, as a male took a
female by force and sped out
of the parking lot.
Witnesses also provided
a good vehicle descrip-
tion and location of
travel, according to the
press release. While offi-
cers were responding, the
female in the vehicle called
911, screaming she had an
emergency before the line
was disconnected. The
female called again scream-
ing for help and stated her
boyfriend was hitting her
before the call was discon-
nected again. She called
911 a third time and said the
suspect had a hammer and
she was in fear he was going
to use it against her.
During the calls, the
victim was able to provide
updates about their loca-
tions. During the last
call, she said they were
approaching the Interstate
84 eastbound milepost 213
on-ramp.
Officers tried to stop
the vehicle on I-84 near
Exit 216, but the suspect
led police on a high-speed
chase on South Market
Road for about 10 minutes
before abandoning the vehi-
cle and victim at the end of
Marsh Hawk Lane, where
he then barricaded himself
in a barn.
Police were able to
arrest him at 10:59 a.m. and
reported he was smoking
fentanyl in the barn.
Med ical person nel
attended to the victim and
did not take her to a hospital.
Umatilla County Circuit
Judge Christopher Brauer has
set Seeling’s bail at $380,000.
He remains in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton.
LOCAL BRIEFING
Pendleton launches
communications
survey
PENDLETON — The
city of Pendleton is launch-
ing a survey to evaluate
how the city communicates
with residents and visitors.
And participants can win
one of four $25 gift cards.
The city in a press
release Friday, July 1,
announced the Pendleton
Communications Survey
2022 is to help gauge
conditions and g uide
communication decisions,
working toward Pendleton
City Council Goal No. 4:
Improve communication
between the community
and the city council/
mayor’s offi ce/city of Pend-
leton.
Now live, the 20-ques-
tion survey asks partici-
pants to provide feedback
on city communication,
including via the city
website and social media
pages. Participants will be
able to share thoughts and
give feedback, according
to the press release, and the
answers are confi dential.
The survey is open
through Aug. 15. Those
who complete the survey
on or before July 31 and
choose to provide contact
information will be entered
into a drawing for one of
four $25 gift cards.
The city of Pendleton
Communications Survey
2022 is available at www.
s u r vey mon key.c om /r/
FQGXMD6. Hard copies
of the survey are available
on request at Pendleton City
Hall, 500 S.W. Dorion Ave.
— EO Media Group
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