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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2015)
VALUABLE ASSET PREP SOFTBALL POWNEY GETS THING DONE AT ROCKY HEIGHTS HERMISTON SPLITS WITH REYNOLDS PAGE A3 SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 Local couple avoid new ‘police’ chief money scam A Hermiston couple saved themselves a few hundred dollars after they realized a call from the “police chief” was actual- ly a scam. Hermiston Police De- partment’s actual police chief Jason Edmiston said in an email that the cou- ple, who wish to remain anonymous, told him Thursday that they had spoken on the phone with a man claiming to be Ed- miston. According to a press release from Hermiston’s crime prevention offi- cer Erica Sandoval, the couple was targeted by a scam. First they received a call from a man who intro- duced himself as Walter Simmons of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. He told them they had won more than $600,000 from Publisher’s Clear- inghouse Sweepstakes but the money had been stolen while en route to them. Now the money had been recovered at the Mexican border, he said, and the couple would be SPORTS PAGE A8 YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER HERMISTONHERALD.COM Chief eying body camera legislation mined the HPD policies regarding when they will be required to turn them on. ³,VWLOOZDQWWRJLYHRI¿FHUVWKH discretion of when to turn it on and when not to,” he said. “I don’t want RI¿FHUV RXW KHUH UXQQLQJ DURXQG recording for 12 hours straight, 90 BY SEAN HART percent of mundane stuff. That’s HERMISTON HERALD going to be cost prohibitive.” As Hermiston Police Depart- Once the video is recorded, he ment prepares to implement new said, storing the data is an extra ERG\ FDPHUDV IRU SDWURO RI¿FHUV expense. Although data storage Chief Jason Edmiston is con- ZDVLQFOXGHGLQWKH¿YH cerned regulations being consid- year contract HPD recently signed ered by the state Legislature may with a camera manufacturer, the make other departments less likely annual costs included in that total to use them. increased each year as the amount Edmiston said, by the middle of data increases, he said. SEAN HART PHOTO RI$SULO+HUPLVWRQSDWURORI¿FHUV Edmiston said he anticipates will be required to wear new cam- +3'¶VSROLF\ZLOOUHTXLUHRI¿FHUV Hermiston Police Department’s new wearable cameras, manufactured by Taser, store video data throughout the day when turned on and upload the eras the department recently pur- data while charging in the dock. SEE CAMERAS/A16 chased, but he still has not deter- Edmiston worries HB 2571 could be too restrictive BECOMING JESUS SEE SCAM/A2 TODAY’S WEATHER Sunny High: 60º Low: 33º OUTLOOK • SUNDAY Cloudy High: 57º Low: 38º • MONDAY Mostly sunny High: 60º Low: 37º MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTOS Jesus, played by Ricardo Mendoza, 17, collapses of exhaustion on Good Friday during the Our Lady of Angels Catholic Parish’s production of Stations of the Cross. Stations of the Cross an emotional journey for young actors A complete weather forecast is featured on page A2. BY MAEGAN MURRAY HERMISTON HERALD Find the Hermiston Herald on Facebook and Twitter and join the conversation. FOR LOCAL BREAKING NEWS www.HermistonHerald.com Jesus, played by Ricardo Mendoza, 17, carries his cross on Good Friday during the Our Lady of Angels Catholic Parish’s production of Stations of the Cross. When Ricardo Mendoza took the stage for his role as Jesus in Our Lady of Angels Catholic Parish’s Stations of the Cross pro- duction Friday, he was ner- vous but prepared. Mendoza, 17, had spent the last 40 days physically and mentally training him- self for what he was about Hermiston to offer summer programs BY SEAN HART HERMISTON HERALD Hermiston Herald $1.00 © 2015 EO Media Group From a baseball clinic to kaya- king trips to educational summer camps, the Hermiston Parks and Recreation Department is offer- ing a variety of new summer pro- grams this year. Hermiston Recreation Super- visor Dan Earp said the summer events are always popular, and he anticipates the new offerings will be just as well received. “I’m excited about what we’re offering this year,” he said. “We’re always trying to offer new things. We’re always trying to keep the summer programs full. Because of such great support from the community and the staff that we have, we’re able to offer a lot of recreation opportunities during the summer. It keeps me very busy. Between the aquatic center and all the recreation programs, I am running around everywhere.” New this year is a trip to a youth baseball clinic before a Tri-Cities Dust Devils game July 19. Rec- ommended for children ages 4 through 14, participation in the two-hour clinic with Dust Devils players is free with a ticket to the game against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, and when purchased through Hermiston Parks and Recreation Department, the tick- ets cost only $8, which is less than a normal ticket. “I think the Dust Devils base- ball clinic will be a really popular SEE PROGRAMS/A2 to endure. Playing Jesus, he said, is more than an acting role. “I knew it was going to be a tough,” he said of playing one of the most famous men in history. “I tried not to think about the fact that I was going to get hit. I had to prepare myself mentally.” Although he wore a layer of protection, his skin still bore the signs of lashings from his peers in the realistic portrayal of what Jesus went through on his road to the cross. The members of the youth congregation who played Roman soldiers chastised him in character as he car- ried a cross standing nearly 12 feet tall as they dipped their whips into a bucket of fake blood and struck him SEE JESUS/A16 UHS students explore teaching, challenges in class BY MAEGAN MURRAY HERMISTON HERALD For as long as Umatilla High School senior Carla Ledesma can remember, she has always want- ed to be a teacher, but, more so, a mentor and staple in children’s lives. She said her desire to teach stems from not only wanting to make a positive difference in students’ educational careers, but also so she, as a Hispanic, can help other minority students overcome similar barriers that she dealt with in school. Ledesma said, as a Hispanic student, she and her peers have to overcome a variety of barriers that other students don’t. She said, from language barriers to cultural differences, there are many things that make it harder for Hispanic students to learn. “Adults avoid talking about it because they don’t want to of- fend people, but it is something that needs to be talked about,” she said. “We need to talk about it so kids are more aware of it.” So this year, when Umatilla High School started offering a new class called Intro to Educa- tion, which introduces students to teaching careers, as well as some of those issues that minorities face in education, Ledesma jumped at the chance. She said she knew that by exploring her future career while in high school, she would KDYH PRUH LQVLJKW LQWR WKH ¿HOG as well as better understanding of the issues that minorities face. Teacher John Malgesini said, in addition to covering the basics SEE CHALLENGES/A2