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
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HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Chief eying body camera legislation
mined the HPD policies regarding
when they will be required to turn
them on.
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discretion of when to turn it on and
when not to,” he said. “I don’t want
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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
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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
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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
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BREAKING NEWS
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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
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as well as better understanding of
the issues that minorities face.
Teacher John Malgesini said,
in addition to covering the basics
SEE CHALLENGES/A2
