Hermiston shooting suspect
captured near Boardman
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 137 NO. 22 10 Pages
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Alex Luis Ahumada, of Boardman. Ahumada, 33,
Boardman, a person
was confirmed to
of interest in a shoot-
be barricaded inside
ing that occurred in
the residence at that
Hermiston on May
address.
19, was taken into
Morrow Coun-
custody and trans-
ty Sheriff’s Office
ported to Umatilla
(MCSO), Boardman
County jail after a Alex Luis
Police Department,
four-hour standoff Ahumada
Hermiston Police
on May 23 near
Department and
Boardman.
Oregon State Police all
The Boardman Po- responded to the scene.
lice Department received MCSO had earlier request-
an anonymous tip at 2:49
p.m. on May 23 stating
that a subject that law en-
forcement was looking for
was at 70072 Kunze Lane,
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Airstream caravan enjoys Heppner stop
Happy campers – These Airstream campers are enjoying their stay at the Willow Creek Park above the lake. The above
photo was taken by a drone one of the campers sent up above the campsite. There were 17 campers in the caravan staying
here May 20-22. -Contributed photo
By David Sykes
A caravan of Airstream
trailers made a stop in Hep-
pner last week and the visi-
tors said they enjoyed their
stay and seeing the sights
of the area.
Seventeen trailers came
on Sunday and departed
Tuesday. While here the
visitors toured the local
museums and the court-
house, visited with local
people and had “an excel-
lent breakfast” at a local
restaurant. The tour was
arranged by Bruce Sorte of
the Oregon Airstream Club.
Many people know Bruce
from his work as an Oregon
State agricultural econo-
mist. Bruce’s son, Jerry and
family lived here for a time
while Jerry was employed
as county administer.
First, the people in the
club all love their Airstream
trailers and Sorte said part
of their interaction during
the trip involves swap-
ping information about
caring and repairing their
Airstreams. While the
Gazette-Times was at the
campground people were
gathered as a retired elec-
trician was giving a talk on
how to fix certain electrical
problems that may come up
with their trailers. A quick
search of the internet shows
it’s not hard to get into the
$150,000 price range for
a new Airstream, which is
why many people, even
himself, have purchased
used ones to work on and
rehabilitate.
John and Carol Dion
of Portland said they have
owned their Airstream for
the past four years and this
is their second caravan trip.
They retired four years ago
and had planned on retiring
to a home in Bend. They
decided they wanted to
travel however, and after
trying several other travel
trailers settled on the Air-
stream. “We were looking
for quality, and we like the
Airstream,” John said.
The couple said the cur-
rent trip started in Cascade
Locks where the group first
met up. They met the mayor
while there, and after two
days, they were on to Emi-
grant Springs with a visit
from a representative from
the Forest Service who
spoke about the eastern Or-
egon forests and then there
was a visit to the Hermiston
Agricultural Center. From
there they went on to Baker
for another two nights and a
visit to the Baker Heritage
Museum, with some travel-
ers going out to the Oregon
Trail Museum for a tour.
One interesting point was
made that Baker is the birth-
place of the founder of Air-
stream trailers. From Baker
the group made its way to
LaGrande, jumped off the
freeway onto the scenic
highway, and then took the
steps ensured that the
schools serve all of their
students well, using their
performance on the math
and reading parts of their
state proficiency tests and
their graduation rates as
the benchmarks. For those
schools that made it past
the first three steps, a fourth
step assessed the degree
to which schools prepare
students for college-level
work.
Ellis awarded
Assistant Coach of
the Year
Janelle Ellis was
awarded the Oregon As-
sistant Coach of the Year
award at the Oregon Ath-
letic Coaches Association
(OACA) banquet held at
the Club Level in Autzen
Stadium on May 19. The
banquet was attended by
335 coaches and family
members.
Ellis has been a vol-
unteer coach and assistant
coach in Heppner for the
past fifteen years. She has
assisted in softball and
volleyball and was noted
by Petra Payne as a tire-
less volunteer who holds
student athletes to the high-
est values. She works with
students and teaching staff
to help each player achieve
their goals on the field and
in the classroom.
Greg Grant, Athletic
Director, noted that Janelle
is legendary in her attention
to detail and ability to guide
a group toward a task. “I
would trust Janelle to run
my football practice,” said
Grant.
According to a spokes-
Janelle Ellis was named
Assistant Coach of the Year.
person, many great things
were said in her nomination
letters. One said, “Why did
we nominate her? Because
she’s awesome.” Another
said, “She challenges me
to be a better coach.” And
another, “Janelle is an intel-
ligent, organized, compas-
sionate and knowledgeable
coach. Janelle encourages
and supports the athletes
to meet the high standards
that are set for the Heppner
Mustang softball program.”
Ellis was accompanied
to the banquet by her hus-
band, Jon, and her parents,
Jerry and Carmen Healy.
Commissioners
opposed to assault
weapons ban
John and Carol Dion of Portland said they enjoyed seeing lo-
cal places of interest while camping in their Airstream trailer
at the park above the lake in Heppner. -Photo by David Sykes
‘back way” into Heppner
by way of Ukiah. “That
was a beautiful drive,” the
Dions said.
After arriving in Hep-
pner Sunday evening, the
group started Monday
morning being treated to
a “wonderful breakfast”
by Alvin Liu and crew at
the Gateway Restaurant in
Heppner before moving on
to tours of both the Mor-
row County Museum and
Agriculture Museum in
Heppner. John and Carol
commented on what a good
museum there is in Hep-
pner. “You have a great
collection of items and they
are very well displayed,”
Carol said. They were also
HJSHS named as a best high
school by US News
Heppner Jr/Sr High
School was recently named
as one of the best high
schools by US News and
World Reports. HJSHS
earned a bronze medal
when they were recognized
in the national rankings on
their performance on state-
required tests and how well
they prepare students for
college.
A four-step process
determined the best high
schools. The first three
ed the assistance of the
Oregon State Police SWAT
team out of Portland and
they arrived on scene. Af-
ter the four-hour standoff,
Ahumada was taken into
custody without further
incident.
Ahumada is being held
on a no bail parole violation
warrant at this time. The
investigation is continu-
ing and further charges are
pending.
According to US News
statistics, the student body
makeup is 61 percent male
and 39 percent female with
the total minority enroll-
ment being 10 percent.
Other stats show a total
enrollment of 155 students
and a 13:1 student-teacher
ratio. The school showed a
96 percent graduation rate,
65 percent mathematics
proficiency and 87 percent
reading proficiency.
given a tour of the historic
courthouse by Leann Rea
who they said was very
knowledgeable and “we
enjoyed that.”
The Airstream group
has an Oregon chapter
through which Sorte orga-
nized this trip, but there is
also an international group
that will be meeting at the
state fairgrounds in Salem
this year. Heppner was the
last stop on this particular
tour for the group, but they
do organize others during
the year. Sorte urged any-
one interested in Airstreams
and the group to visit their
web site at: oregonunit.
wbcci.net.
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By David Sykes
A ballot measure re-
stricting gun ownership for
Oregonians, and set for a
vote in the November elec-
tion, has drawn opposition
from the Morrow County
Commissioners.
An initiative that would
criminalize the possession
of certain kinds of firearms
and magazines with more
than a 10-round capacity,
and a companion measure
that requires gun owners
to secure firearms with a
trigger or cable lock or be
in a locked container when
not being carried, both got
a unanimous thumbs down
from all three commission-
ers at their meeting last
week.
“My father brought
back a carbine from the
Korean war and that would
have to be handed over,”
commissioner Jim Doherty
said in expressing his oppo-
sition to the proposed law.
We need to weigh in and
say enough is enough. Just
have people comply with
the laws we already have on
the books,” he said.
Commissioner Don
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Russell also opposed to the
measure. “Anyone that has
a semi-automatic would be
in danger (of being charged
with a felony),” he said. “I
have a Ruger that would
fall under this and having
it would make me a crimi-
nal,” Russell pointed out.
The commissioners
also cited the number of
laws also on the books re-
garding firearms that if fully
enforced would achieve the
same result. The law will
make law abiding citizens
potential felons overnight
with only 120 days to report
and/or surrender the fire-
arms. The Second Amend-
ment of the Constitution of
the United States, and the
Oregon Constitution both
protect citizens’ right to
bear arms.
The commission voted
3-0 to pass the follow-
ing resolution: The com-
missioners are opposed to
the Oregon ban on certain
firearms and magazines
with more than a 10-round
capacity and the firearm
storage, control, transfer
and reporting initiative.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net