A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016
COMMUNITY • FROM PAGE A1
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
SUNDAY, JAN. 3
2:49 p.m. - Umatilla police received
a report of a dog tied to a backpack
in the middle of the road at Columbia
Boulevard and Covina Court, Umatilla.
SATURDAY, JAN. 2
10:59 a.m. - A caller from Space Age
Fuel, Hermiston, used a racial slur in
describing a semi driver wearing a blue
turban as angry. A dispatcher asked the
caller how he could tell the man was
angry. The caller said he was 54 years
old and worked in customer service
most of his life and you could tell by the
way the man walked and glared. He
also said he called after the man left.
10:59 a.m. - Umatilla police
received a call of someone throwing
beer bottles out the window of an
older green Ford Escort at Umatilla
River Road and Bonney Lane.
2:31 p.m. - A man told law enforce-
ment his ex-employee pushed him,
refused to leave property on Cooney
Lane, Hermiston, and threatened to use
a crowbar to hit him. The caller said he
would wait for contact.
banging continued but she could not
see anyone.
FRIDAY, JAN. 1
12:19 a.m. - A prowler tapped on
the back window of a woman’s resi-
dence on Third Street, Umatilla. Police
did not find anyone slinking around.
2:35 a.m. - A woman told police
she put her Chihuahua out at Columbia
Crest Apartment, Umatilla, and saw a
stocky male in dark pants and a dark
hooded sweatshirt messing with a
silver car and pickup. The dog chased
the male, who took off down Third
Street toward Brownell Avenue. Police
did not find the suspect.
5:06 p.m. - A man told Umatilla
police his girlfriend was “acting crazy”
and had a knife.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 30
9:21 a.m. - A caller at Winebarger
Welding & Irrigation, Stanfield, report-
ed the theft of four Chevrolet six-hole,
white rim tires from the back of a cart
in the last two days.
12:21 p.m. - A Umatilla man told
police his wife’s son pushed him out
of the house and has locked himself
inside the house with his mother, and
she wants the son out.
6:15 p.m. - A Boardman woman
reported her brother got out of 30 days
in a rehabilitation center and during
the last two days he drank at least two
gallons of vodka and is taking Prozac
and other psych medications.
THURSDAY, DEC. 31
3:48 a.m. - A Stanfield woman
reported banging outside her home on
West Furnish Avenue, and when she
opened her door there was a male’s
hat on her doorstep. She said the
TUESDAY, DEC. 29
•The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office
responded to a 9:44 a.m. report of an
older white Ford Crown Victoria parked
outside a Heppner residence because
a caller said the driver threatened her
before and she was concerned for her
safety.
•A Umatilla resident on Pomono
Drive told police at 10:10 a.m. her
ex-boyfriend may have snuck around
her home during the night and threw
something at her parents’ car.
•A caller at 1:32 p.m. asked law
enforcement to check on a female who
said she was walking barefoot and
without a coat from Umatilla to Irrigon
while hiding from a male. The Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office was not able to
find her.
•A caller at 8:15 p.m. told the Uma-
tilla County Sheriff’s Office a male sent
death threats via text and phone calls.
MONDAY, DEC. 28
•A woman at about 11:15 a.m. tied
a small dog to the top of a trash can at
McNary Market, 205 Willamette Ave.,
Umatilla, then went inside the store.
A person then picked up the dog so it
would not hang itself and called for law
enforcement.
ARRESTS, CITATIONS
•Hermiston police arrested Felix
Mendoza-Carrollo, 24, of Hermiston,
for fourth-degree assault.
•Oregon State Police arrested
Onorio Jaime Ibarra, 26, of Hermis-
ton, on two misdemeanor warrants
and one felony warrant and for
first-degree burglary, possession of
methamphetamine and fourth-de-
gree assault.
•Umatilla police arrested Rodney
Dean Cearns, 24, for felony domestic
violence assault, second-degree
disorderly conduct, resisting
arrest, harassment, misdemeanor
fourth-degree assault, recklessly
endangering a child and second-de-
gree animal abuse.
•Hermiston police arrested
Lucio Guararo Ochoa, 18, no address
provided, for attempt to flee police
in a vehicle and driving under the
influence of intoxicants.
•Hermiston police arrested
Rhyan James Baney, 27, of Hermis-
ton, for possession of the following:
a stolen vehicle, methamphetamine
and a controlled substance.
Pursuit offers ‘life-
changing’ inspiration
BUILD:
continued from Page A1
ing rooms, or restaurants,”
Mayor David Drotzmann
said in a statement accom-
panying the report. “The
problem is that none of
those are catalyst-type de-
velopments; well now is
the time for an entrepre-
neur to take advantage of
a game-changing oppor-
tunity.”
In 2013, Drotzmann
put together a Hotel Task
Force to work on increas-
ing Hermiston’s hotel ca-
pacity after reports that
during sports tournaments
people were driving to
Pendleton to spend the
night because everywhere
in Hermiston was full.
The task force found that
Hermiston’s hotel occupan-
cy rates were at about 66
percent, which was 8 per-
cent higher than the state
average and almost 19 per-
cent higher than the aver-
age for Eastern Oregon.
After local business-
man Mitch Myers sold the
Hermiston Avenue prop-
erty to InnSight Man-
agement, the city agreed
to pay up to $50,000 to
move a sewer line run-
ning down the property
and also offered $40,000
in facade grant money
in exchange for the ho-
tel developer to greatly
increase the amount of
brickwork on the outside
of the building.
“We wanted to make
sure it kind of tied into
downtown,” Morgan said.
The grant money came
from the city’s urban re-
newal district, which
freezes the amount of
property tax revenue
taxing districts get from
downtown for 20 years,
then skims off the ex-
tra money generated by
rising property values
and re-invests it into the
downtown district.
Morgan said the city
conservatively estimated
the district would gen-
erate $2.5 million over
the 20-year period, but
the new hotel will like-
ly push that number up
to somewhere around $4
million. Now that ground
has officially broken on
the project, Morgan said
the next fiscal year’s bud-
get will probably include
the money to get start-
ed on building a “festi-
val street” along Second
Street in front of city hall
and the former Roemarks
building.
“We didn’t want to
count our chickens before
they hatched,” Morgan
said.
The festival street will
host large events like the
city’s annual Cinco de
Mayo celebration, but
Morgan said the urban
renewal agency has also
set aside $100,000 to cre-
ate new events. He said
large events can actually
•A Boardman man at 11:20 a.m.
told the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office
he wanted to file a theft report after
he let someone he knows borrow his
car under the promise of returning it
Sunday, but the person has not. The
Morrow County Sheriff’s Office called
this a civil problem.
•A Hermiston-area caller at 11:58
a.m. reported her neighbor’s dog on
East Columbia Lane is digging under
the fence and will charge her if it enters
the yard.
•A male at 4 p.m. told Umatilla po-
lice his mother hit him with a slingshot
by the bridge on Stephens and Tucker
avenues, Umatilla.
•The Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office at 7:39 p.m. received an
anonymous report of possible animal
cruelty or a puppy mill operating on
East Second Street, Hermiston.
By TAMMY MALGESINI
Community Editor
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
A “for sale” sign sits in the window of the former Roemarks building in downtown Hermiston,
one of the sSaFes the Fit\ is hoSing to see Àlled b\ a new business soon
disrupt traffic to down-
town businesses, so many
of the events will likely
be smaller “passive pro-
gramming” like live mu-
sic on certain nights of
the week or the nightly
holiday light show that
had its first run in De-
cember.
Not included in the cur-
rent iteration of the city’s
business-recruitment
packet is the Dec. 28 de-
cision by the city council
to locate the new $2 mil-
lion senior center down-
town on Ridgeway Ave-
nue behind the Hermiston
Public Library, which is
also expected to increase
foot traffic downtown.
Shannon Snyder, own-
er of Defining Details
on Main Street, said the
city’s efforts to help re-
vitalize downtown seem
to have already paid off
in increased shoppers at
her business over the last
year, particularly on the
night of the tree-lighting
ceremony in December.
“That was a good
night,” she said. “We saw
lots of people.”
She said she’s glad
to hear the city is trying
to use the new hotel to
recruit new businesses
downtown, and she be-
lieves the hotel will be
successful in drawing
new businesses in. She
said she hopes to see more
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retail, coffee shops and
restaurants since those
seem to foster the most
foot traffic. She also ex-
pects the hotel to increase
the number of customers
for downtown shops.
“I hope people mosey
on down and find some of
our cute stores,” she said.
Nationally-recognized
speaker Robby Dawkins
and Vladimir Savchuk,
a dynamic youth pastor
from Pasco, are special
guests for a two-day
faith-based conference in
Hermiston.
Pursuit
Conference
2016 also features music
and fellowship. The event
brings people from across
the Paci¿c Northwest to
worship and be inspired
to spread the word about
Jesus.
In its third year, Pur-
suit was founded by
Clayton Haight, worship
pastor at Hermiston As-
sembly of God Church,
and Brad and Brittany
Saddler, who attended
Hermiston School of Ur-
ban Missions Bible Col-
lege & Theological Sem-
inary.
“Over the past three
years, we have seen
1,500-plus attend this
life-changing event and
we believe this year is
going to be bigger and
better than ever,” Haight
said.
Pursuit is Friday, Jan.
15 at 7 p.m. and Saturday,
Jan. 16, with sessions at
10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7
p.m. at the church, 730
E. Hurlburt Ave., Herm-
iston.
Dawkins is a ¿fth gen-
eration pastor who was
born to missionary par-
ents in Japan. Dawkins
and wife, Angie, live in
Illinois.
The charismatic pastor
was called to the minis-
try before he even had a
driver license, starting
a children’s ministry at
the age of 12, according
to his biography at www.
robbydawkins.com. His
parents say that as a tod-
dler, he told people he
would grow up to be a
missionary.
“Robby Dawkins is a
really big deal,” said Ja-
cob Looper, college ad-
visor at Hermiston SUM.
“People don’t want to
miss this, it’s an all-
around great event.”
Savchuk, youth pastor
at the Good News Church
in Pasco, also will speak.
He works with the Hun-
gry Generation ministry.
Looper said Savchuk is
a dynamic speaker that
leads many kids to Christ.
Haight invites every-
one to the all-ages event,
including followers of
Jesus and those who are
simply curious about who
God is.
There is no charge to
attend and people are en-
couraged to “come as you
are.”
“The school promotes
and funds the event,”
Looper said. “It’s really
to reach out to our com-
munity to have a confer-
ence that is multi-genera-
tional.”
For more information
about the conference, call
the church at 541-567-
5831.