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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Community remembers victims at vigil By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer STAFF PHOTO BY GARY L. WEST Oficers from Hermiston and Umatilla police departments and Oregon State Police congregate near the corner of Madison Street and McFarland Avenue, Umatilla, where a man was taken into custody after a shooting Wednesday morning in Hermiston. Man arrested after shooting friend ‘over a girl’ Hermiston Herald address, according to A Hermiston man state court records, shot a childhood friend though Edmiston Wednesday, Aug. 24, said he now lives in “over a girl,” according Hermiston. to police, and he now Edmiston stated faces a charge of Hermiston police, second-degree assault. with the assistance of Eduardo Rodriguez the Umatilla Police Barriga, 23, was Department, took arrested in Umatilla Rodriguez Barriga soon after the into custody, Hermiston interviewed him, shooting. His and later booked victim, Daniel him into Umatilla Lemus Carranza, County Jail, 25, was treated Pendleton. and released at Officers served Good Shepherd a search warrant Barriga Medical Center, at Rodriguez Hermiston, with Barriga’s what police described Hermiston home at as a superficial gunshot 460 E. Pine Ave. wound to the leg. later Wednesday and Hermiston Police recovered a handgun, Chief Jason Edmiston Edmiston said, and a said officers around stolen shotgun from 8:15 a.m. responded a Umatilla County to the area of the 11th Sheriff’s Office case. Street Market, 425 N.W. He said the state police 11th St., Hermiston, crime lab would test the after a report of a man handgun to see if it was there with a gunshot from the shooting. wound. Edmiston said Edmiston said this the man was shot in the was not Rodriguez area of Elm Avenue and Barriga’s first arrest. N.W. Seventh Street, “Life is about near Butte Park, after a choices, and the dispute “over a girl.” decisions made today After the shooting, by those involved are Rodriguez Barriga frustrating,” Edmiston drove off and the said in a written victim tried to keep up statement. “At some with him in his own point, people need to vehicle through the take responsibility back streets near the for what they value. Butte while calling 9-1- Clearly the values of 1. Dispatch told him Mr. Rodriguez differ to stop following the from the overwhelming vehicle and he parked majority of people in at the convenience this community and we store where police and are going to ask that he medical personnel met be held accountable for up with him. his reckless actions.” Police around 9:25 The Umatilla County a.m. found Rodriguez Sheriff’s Office and Barriga and a female Oregon State Police outside a house at are assisting with the 1745 McFarland investigation. Umatilla Ave., Umatilla. A July County Fire District 1 9 citation Oregon responded to the market State Police gave to to transport the victim, Rodriguez Barriga for and the Umatilla County driving while suspended District Attorney’s shows that as his home Office is involved. Snifles and quiet sobs broke the stillness Wednes- day night at McKenzie Park as hundreds of people stood in a moment of silence for the victims of a Hermiston shooting that claimed three lives and left a fourth injured. Community members gathered in memory of the victims and in support of their grieving families, cast- ing a glow with candles, glowsticks and lashlights. They were there to honor James “JJ” Hurtado, 14, and Kenneth “Kenny” Valdez, who were killed Thursday, Aug. 18, and to support An- dria Bye, Hurtado’s moth- er who was injured in the shooting, and the family of Jason Huston, who shot the other three before turning the gun on himself. “May we as a city be known as a city that loves,” Pastor Terry Haight of Herm- iston Assembly of God de- clared, before praying for all those affected by the tragedy. Haight spoke of the Bibli- cal story of Job, who lost ev- erything he owned, his fam- ily and health. His friends responded irst with support but later with accusations of blame. “We as a community don’t want to make the same mistake,” Haight said. “We do not want to cast shame on anyone. We need to reach out and unconditionally love anyone who was closely af- fected.” Many of those who were closely affected were present at the park, including the Val- dez family and Bye. Teenag- ers who went to school with Hurtado or were coached by Valdez and Huston were present in force, wearing Hermiston wrestling gear or T-shirts honoring Hurtado. Three of his classmates — Janelle Almaguer, Sa- mantha Atilano and Aidan Villarreal — were selling the shirts as a way to raise money for Hurtado’s family. VISIT HERMISTONHERALD.COM TO VIEW PICTURES OF THIS EVENT The shirts showed pictures of Hurtado with what they said was his favorite saying: “Start unknown, inish un- forgettable.” “JJ was a really good friend of ours, and we want- ed to do it for his family,” Atilano said. “He was al- ways smiling, and always there for us.” Other friends of the vic- tims shared their memo- ries with the group after the moment of silence, eliciting smiles and tears in turn. One girl remembered how Hurtado would always show up to support his little sister at her dance compe- titions, and drew chuckles when she described how he lirted with the other girls on the team and told them they were pretty. A teacher in the school district described Valdez’s work with a program to help students stay out of gangs and other trouble, calling him the “MVP volunteer.” “Ken is a teddy bear,” he said. “His heart is so, so gentle and the kids gravitated toward him.” Another woman, a nurs- ing student of Bye’s at Blue Mountain Community Col- lege, told the group how Bye would always start class with a funny story about her chil- dren, including Hurtado. “You made it so that he was our kid, too,” she told Bye. After the remembrances, a long line of people came up and hugged Bye. When the night was over, organizer Bonnie Grifith said she was surprised and grateful to see such a large turnout to honor her former classmate Valdez and the others. “He was a nice guy. The sweetest guy,” she said through tears. “I never heard anyone say anything bad about him.” Transit committee will help plan free city bus system By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The irst meeting of Hermiston’s new Tran- sit Planning Committee is Sept. 13. The temporary commit- tee has been created to help plan for a free ixed-route public bus system through the city. Kayak Public Transit, operated by the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, already runs between 17 cities, stopping in two Hermiston locations. The tribes have agreed to expand that ser- vice to include a bus that runs a ixed loop around Hermiston during the day in exchange for funding from the city. Assistant city manager Mark Morgan said the cost to the city will greatly de- pend on how many stops the bus makes and the hours it runs. “It’s a system that is rel- atively scalable,” he said. Creating a recommen- dation for the city coun- cil about that scale will be city councilors Rod Hardin and Doug Primmer, Dean Fialka of the city planning commission, Juli Gregory of Good Shepherd Health Care System, Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmis- ton representing the Herm- iston Chamber of Com- merce board, Kristi Avery of Eastern Oregon Support Services Brokerage and Barb Martin and Jennifer Roberts representing the general public. Morgan, J.D. Tovey of the CTUIR and Laura Slater of the Or- egon Department of Trans- portation will participate in the meetings in a staff capacity. Morgan said the com- mittee’s irst meeting will be mostly discussing back- ground information on the city’s current public trans- portation, the current Kay- ak Public Transit program, the costs and funding avail- able. Committee members will also be asked to mark on a map where they think the most important places will be for the bus to stop. He said the city has had “pretty good luck” with on- line surveys and will like- ly put out a public survey about potential bus stops as well. During the committee’s second meeting sometime in October members can give feedback on a route put together by the tribes based on the results of the survey and committee members’ input. They will then take a tour of the proposed route and look for potential prob- lems with buses pulling out or with pedestrian safety. Morgan said a third meeting to study an updat- ed proposal and inalize costs will likely take place in time for the committee to give a recommendation to the city council during its November 14 meeting. If the council approves the proposal at that meeting it will give Kayak Public Transit the time it needs to hire bus drivers and make other arrangements to be- gin the bus route on Jan. 2, 2017. Morgan said it will not replace the city’s $2 taxi ticket program for senior and disabled residents, which will continue to be available. The committee will meet Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 180 N.E. Second St. BABYSITTING BASICS For babysitters ages 10-15. Learn childcare techniques, children's developmental stages and what to expect, basic first aid and infant and child CPR. $35, includes lunch & all class materials. 9:00am - 3:00pm Sept. 10, Oct. 8 or Nov. 5 Must pre-register and pre-pay, call 541-667-3509 LIVING WELL WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS Find positive and practical ways to deal with chronic health issues and make a step-by- step plan to improve your health. Six weekly classes. FREE but please pre-register. Starts Oct. 11 3:00 - 5:00pm Call 541-667-3509 to pre-register FREE HELP WITH MEDICARE: The Hermiston SHIBA (Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance) Office has certified volunteers to help you with Medicare questions. Call 541-667-3507 to schedule an appointment. HEALTHY FRIDAYS FREE health screenings & health coaching: Blood pressure checks, weigh-ins, body mass index, cholesterol and glucose. For best results, fast for 8-10 hours prior to blood draw. WHAT ENERGY SAVINGS AWAIT YOUR HOME? LET’S FIND OUT. Start by doing a free online Home Energy Review from Energy Trust of Oregon. You’ll get customized energy-saving recommendations and learn all kinds of ways to get more from your energy. Plus Energy Trust can help you with cash incentives and inding a trade ally contractor for your home energy project. First & Third Friday of each month 9:30 - 11:30am GSMC Conference Center 7 (by Education Dept) Information or to register call (541) 667-3509 or email healthinfo@gshealth.org www.gshealth.org + Get more from your energy. Visit www.energytrust.org/start or call us at 1.866.368.7878. Serving customers of Portland General Electric, Paciic Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas.