A8
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 20, 2022
Casino:
posted the video to Face-
book.
All th ree wit nesses
commented on how quick
the violent encounter was
and how fast police arrived.
Waggoner said three police
cars were at the scene in
short order and Umatilla
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce and
Oregon State Police also
arrived.
Continued from Page A1
The district did not iden-
tify the staff member.
CTUIR Board of Trust-
ees Chair Kat Brigham
in a statement the morn-
ing of Aug. 19 reported the
bystander is expected to make
a full recovery.
CTUIR
offi cials react
Witnesses
recount events
Matt Waggoner was one
of the people standing by the
entrance to the casino on a
video call with his son when
he saw a police car roar up
to the entrance of the food
court hundreds of feet away.
He said an offi cer stepped
out of the vehicle and began
yelling for everyone to get
down and put their hands
up.
“It was all so sudden,”
Waggoner said.
The Athena resident said
he saw the robber emerge
from the doors, fi ring away
at the offi cer. After exchang-
ing gunfi re, Waggoner said
the gunman appeared to be
hit on his right side before
crumpling to the ground.
He also captured about
20 minutes of footage of the
shooting and subsequent
Antonio Arredondo/East Oregonian
Several local police work Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 17, 2022, near the entrance to the food
court at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Mission, following a robbery attempt that ended with
the suspect and a bystander suff ering gunshot wounds.
action on his phone.
Danielle McClelland said
she was on her way to an
afternoon work retreat when
she witnessed the shooting.
At the time, she was waiting
for her father to pick her up.
“The shooting happened
so fast. I couldn’t see much. I
heard so many shots,” she said.
There were 13 bullet
casings in the area behind
the offi cer’s car and at least
three bullet casings on the
gunman’s side.
Along with Waggoner,
other bystanders filmed
the shooting. Police asked
one to stay back to provide
evidence. The man, who
wanted to remain anony-
mous, said he was waiting
for a transfer bus to Hermis-
ton for an appointment when
the shooting happened. His
statement corroborated at
least part of Waggoner’s
recount.
“(The gunman) came
towards the officer shoot-
ing,” the man said. “It was
surreal to see that and being
able to film it. Luckily I
had my phone in my hand
because I was shaking.”
The man also said he
Fire:
Supplies:
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
Ninbu rg also noted
Hemphill is listed as inactive
with the Oregon Department
of Public Safety Standards
and Training.
“It is not only irresponsi-
ble, but it’s gross negligence
on your part to overlook
these violations and egre-
gious acts and allow him
to continue to work for
the (Pilot Rock Rural Fire
Protection District),” she
asserted, and keeping him
on violates the district’s poli-
cies and procedures.
Brooke Bell-Uribe is the
fi re certifi cation coordinator
for DPSST. She confi rmed
Hemphill’s certification
status is “revoked.” She also
said she was familiar with
the case and knew Hemphill
works at the Pilot Rock
district but he is not listed as
employed.
Critchley said Pendle-
ton Fire has had an agree-
ment with Pilot Rock Fire
to provide administrative
support since July 1, while
Rostov went on administra-
tive leave.
“The agreement is open-
ended,” Critchley said.
“We’re good neighbors.
We’ve been part of the inves-
tigation and want to help
them until their personnel
issues have settled down.”
Ninburg provided no
information to back up the
sexual harassment claim.
Critchley said he could
not provide information
about Hemphill’s service and
Six donation bins are
spread out around the
community waiting to
receive more backpacks. The
spots are at Blue Mountain
Small Engine Repair, Prism
Botanicals, Courtesy Home
Furnishing, the Pendleton
Chamber of Commerce,
Kind Leaf and the Heritage
Station Museum, and are
available during business
hours at each.
For those who can’t drive
out to donate physical items,
monetary donations are
accepted through the Let’er
Uber and Zom-B13 Face-
book pages. Reynon said
those donations go toward
purchasing bulk backpack
orders.
And it’s not just back-
packs the group is looking
for — it’s all school supplies.
Reynon said they accept
pens, pencils, protractors
and other supplies. There
also will be hygiene bags
complete with toothbrushes,
fl oss and sanitizer.
“The more, the merrier,”
she said. “We’ll accept
anything that comes in.”
The program’s success
has led to the group making
an event out of the give-
away. When the giveaway
begins on Aug. 24 at Roy
Raley, there will be a raffl e
for prizes for those who
donated and perhaps even a
Pepsi vendor.
The prizes range from a
$150 gift certifi cate to Blue
Mountain Small Engine
Repair to a custom Let’er
Zombie poster from Leach-
man. With all of these new
elements, the event has
grown into much more of a
spectacle than the humble
backpack donation Leach-
man made the year prior.
The Zom-B13 creator said
Drazan:
Continued from Page A1
To get to Mahonia Hall,
Drazan has to defeat Demo-
crat Tina Kotek, who served
as the speaker of the Oregon
House 2013-22, and Betsy
Johnson, a longtime Demo-
cratic Oregon legislator
now running an unaffi liated
campaign.
As part of her campaign’s
“Roadmap for Oregon’s
Future,” a six-page list of
issues and proposed solu-
tions she would implement as
governor, Drazan described
a series of “political agendas
and bureaucratic hurdles” that
interfere with Oregon’s agri-
cultural community.
“Sometimes we’re talking
about banning the equipment
that they use in the fi elds, like
diesel bans,” she said.
Drazan has also been vocal
about her support for changing
Oregon’s education system,
citing a low overall high
school graduation rate (80.6%)
as a mandate for change.
According to Drazan’s “Road-
map,” this includes focusing
on academic accountabil-
ity and “keeping politics out
of the classroom.” She said
graduation requirements that
East Oregonian, File
Pilot Rock Fire Chief Herschel Rostov discusses the station’s
air tank refi ll procedure Nov. 18, 2021, during a training at
the fi re station in Pilot Rock. Rostov has been on administra-
tive leave since at lease July 1, 2022.
record because the matter is
under investigation.
Weinke did not reply to a
phone message and an email
requesting his comments on
the situation. Pilot Rock Fire
Capt. Craig Beers also did
not respond to a message left
on the station phone.
Ninburg charged that
members of the community
have been denied the oppor-
tunity to work as a volun-
teer for Pilot Rock Fire for
lesser charges than those on
Hemphill’s legal record.
“You’ve both stated that
there is no one else in the
fire department that has
the training and or experi-
ence to command a fire,”
she wrote to Critchley and
Weinke. “This is entirely
untrue. The lieutenants and
captains currently serving
all have the certifications
and are qualified to take
command of structure or
wildland fi res.”
She also urged Critchley
and Weinke to immediately
take Hemphill off duty and
list him as inactive.
Weinke is active in his
community, serving on the
Pilot Rock School Board as
well as on the fi re district’s.
He oversees all central farm
operations for Oregon State
University’s Hermiston
Agricultural Research and
Extension Center and is a
beef cattle rancher.
Besides her service on the
Los Angeles fi re commission,
Ninburg co-founded the LA
Derby Dolls, a volunteer-run
Roller Derby league team,
and the Good Deed Corps,
a nonpartisan, nonprofit
“committed to building a
strong, engaged civil society
that embodies a diversity of
voice and perspective.”
were rolled back during the
pandemic should be rein-
stated.
“I believe that those were
positive, not negative for our
kiddos, and that our expec-
tations should be higher, not
lower,” she said.
And students who are
members of minorities
already face numerous
them into a position where
they don’t even have a strong
education on the other side of
this,” Drazan said. “We need
kids to be able to have a level
playing fi eld and raise up all
kids.”
Pivoting to Oregon’s
homelessness problem,
Drazan has stated publicly
she would declare a state of
emergency on homelessness.
She said she would prioritize
repealing Measure 110, which
rescheduled and legalized
small amounts of narcotics.
She said the measure is one of
the many factors that contrib-
ute to Oregon’s homelessness
problem.
And merely amending
the “regulatory environment
specifi cally around housing,”
she said, does not address the
holistic problem of homeless-
ness.
“Frankly, if we have a
challenge around our land
use system, let’s tackle it,”
Drazan said. “If it’s aff ecting
our ability to be responsive
to homelessness, it’s proba-
bly aff ecting our ability to be
responsive in other issues.”
Drazan campaigned all
week in Eastern Oregon,
including stops at Burns,
Ontario, Baker City, John
Day and Fossil. Heppner was
the last place on this swing.
“FRANKLY, IF
WE HAVE A
CHALLENGE
AROUND OUR
LAND USE SYS-
TEM, LET’S
TACKLE IT.”
— Christine Drazen,
Republican gubernatorial
nominee
cultural and social challenges,
she said, and while there
have been leaders focused
on addressing some of the
social and emotional dynam-
ics within schools, they failed
to actually help those students
obtain an education.
“The thing that we cannot
possibly do is then also put
T he confederated
Umatilla tribes reported
approximately 20 police
were on site after the shoot-
ing, including tribal police
and FBI.
Wildhorse in a statement
reported ambulances took
both the suspect and the
bystander to St. Anthony
Hospital, Pendleton.
“We are grateful no one
else was physically injured
with all that took place,”
according to Wildhorse
CEO Gary George. “Secu-
rity personnel and Tribal
Police were quick to act and
the situation was controlled
in a swift manner.”
He also credited Wild-
horse staff, saying, “The
way the cashiers and every-
one handled the situation was
exemplary.”
Members board of trust-
ees were at the casino attend-
ing a lunch with a guest when
the robbery attempt and
shootout occured. Brigham in
her statement said the “scary
event has been far ranging for
everyone involved,” and the
tribes’ policy and procedures
are there to protect people.
“Our staff, the tribal
police, our casino security
and our gaming commission
did a great job in making sure
everyone was safe,” she said.
Brigham also stated
Yellowhawk Tribal Health
Center is providing mental
health counseling and
resources to those who may
need it.
“We understand how
trauma aff ects each individ-
ual diff erently and we want
to make sure our employ-
ees have the resources they
need,” according to Brigham.
“The Tribe will continue
eff orts to improve our secu-
rity, emergency response and
communications to protect
our tribal members, commu-
nity, employees and guests.”
CTUIR also reported
Umatilla Tribal Police is
leading the investigation with
the assistance of the FBI and
local and state law enforce-
ment agencies.
— East Oregonian news
editor Phil Wright contrib-
uted to this report.
Antonio Arredondo/East Oregonian
Heritage Station Museum is one of six locations through-
out Pendleton accepting donations during its business
hours for the Pendleton Community School Supply
Drive and Backpack Giveaway, which occurs Wednesday,
Aug. 24, 2022, at Roy Raley Park. The museum is open
Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Antonio Arredondo/East Oregonian
A drop-off bin sits Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, at the Pend-
leton Convention Center, waiting for backpacks or other
school supplies for the Community School Supply Drive
and Backpack Giveaway on Aug. 24 at Roy Raley Park.
he never thought the event
could get bigger than its size
in 2021.
“It’s all been overwhelm-
ing,” Leachman said. “After
last year, I thought, ‘this is
the best I’m going to do.’”
Now, the more than 200
backpacks as well as count-
less other school items will
be free to Pendleton school
children. With a less than a
week remaining until give-
away day, those numbers
only can increase. Even
with all the success on the
operations side, Leachman
said at its core, what matters
most is making sure chil-
dren have what they need
for school.
“I know some people
struggle with the pricing of
school supplies,” Leachman
said, “It can be diffi cult for
them to make decisions on
what to get. We’re hoping to
alleviate that.”
WHAT
DOES AN
AUDIOLOGIST
DO?
Audiologists diagnose, manage, and
treat hearing and balance problems.
They work with all patients from
newborns to older people. The first
step toward healthy hearing starts
with a medical history review and
evaluation of current health. Next, the
audiologist will perform various tests
to help diagnose the problem. They
will help you to manage the condition
through a customized treatment
plan which may include hearing
aids, aural rehabilitation, or
balance therapy.
541-276-5053
2237 SW Court, Pendleton • renataanderson.com/resources/