WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3
LOCAL NEWS
Teen arraigned for Boardman shooting death
By PHIL WRIGHT
Staff Writer
David Alexander Alvarez,
17, faces charges of murder
and two counts of unlawful
use of a weapon for a Sun-
day, Sept. 11, shooting death
in Boardman.
Alvarez turned himself
into law enforcement Mon-
day night, Sept. 12, in Wash-
ington state, according to
Boardman Police Chief Rick
Stokoe, and is in the juve-
nile jail at the Northern Or-
egon Regional Correctional
Facilities, The Dalles. The
state arraigned him Wednes-
day afternoon, Sept. 14, for
shooting and killing Evencio
Salas Birrueta, 27, of Irri-
gon.
Alvarez was to appear
via video from the jail, with
Morrow County District At-
torney Justin Nelson in court
in Heppner and defense at-
torney Dean Gushwa in the
Hermiston courtroom of
Circuit Judge Eva Temple.
However, the video feed to
Hermiston malfunctioned.
Nelson said while the ar-
raignment was oficial, Tem-
ple wanted another hearing
Thursday morning when she
would preside in court in
Heppner to allow Alvarez to
see his attorney.
Records show Gushwa
entered not guilty pleas for
his client on the two weap-
ons charges and reserved
entering any plea on the
murder charge. Temple set
bail for Alvarez at $2 mil-
lion.
His next hearing is sched-
uled for today and Temple
set Oct. 6 for him to enter his
plea on the murder charge as
IN BRIEF
B2B lunch features drawing
well as for a bail hearing.
The shooting occurred
Sept. 11 around 9 p.m. at the
Wilson Road Mobile Home
Park, 600 Wilson Road,
Boardman. Police arrived
and found Salas shot in the
“shoulder area of the arm,”
according to Stokoe. Police
tried to save Salas, but he
died.
The case remains an ac-
tive investigation. Boardman
police asked anyone with
information regarding the
shooting to contact the de-
partment at 541-481-6071.
Those attending the upcoming B2B Lun-
cheon will have an opportunity to win a smoker.
The Hermiston Chamber of Commerce B2B
Luncheon will include introduction of Emma
Porricolo, the city’s 2016-17 community place-
ment participant through the RARE (Resource
Assistance for Rural Environments) Ameri-
Corps program. She will work in developing
and advancing downtown district events and
programs.
The no-host luncheon is Tuesday, Sept. 27 at
11:45 a.m. at the Hermiston Conference Center,
415 S. Highway 395. The meal, provided by Ix-
tapa, is $10 for members and $13 for non-mem-
bers. Be sure to bring a business card to enter in
the drawing for the smoker.
For more information or to RSVP for the
luncheon, contact 541-567-6151 or kelly@
hermistonchamber.com.
Hermiston police to carry specialized irst aid kits
Hermiston police will now
be more prepared to offer irst
aid in a crisis thanks to their
new irst aid kits.
The kits, which oficers
will carry in their patrol cars,
include chest seals, tourni-
quets, pressure bandages
and QuickClot gauze to be
used for life-threatening trau-
ma such as gunshots, stab
wounds and injuries from ex-
plosions.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said in a
press release that in the
event of a large-scale event,
such as a mass shooting,
police often assist medical
personnel. The kits will help
them be prepared to admin-
ister aid.
The kits were paid for
by a $4,432 grant from the
Wildhorse Foundation and
officers received additional
training on the items con-
Forum addresses Measure 97
tained in the kit.
“This grant greatly en-
hances our community’s pre-
paredness,” Edmiston said.
“The Wildhorse Foundation
continues to be incredibly
generous with numerous en-
tities in the Umatilla County
region.”
The public is invited to a forum discussing
Ballot Measure No. 97.
The measure increases the corporate mini-
mum tax when sales exceed $25 million, said
Toni Lampkin of the League of Women Voters
of West Umatilla County. Money raised through
the measure is earmarked for education, health-
care and senior services.
Representatives from A Better Oregon and
No on 97: Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales will
provide a presentation Tuesday, Sept. 27 from
6:30-8:30 p.m. in Room 134 at the Eastern Or-
egon Higher Education Center, 975 S.E. Co-
lumbia Drive, Hermiston. The event includes a
question and answer session.
For more information, contact Lampkin at
541-449-1311 or tonilampkin@hotmail.com.
Smith pitches bond to fund retirement plan
Proposal could
cover shortfall in
PERS system
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
As Oregonians talk bud-
gets and the economy, the
Public Employees Retire-
ment System has become the
$22 billion elephant in the
room with no easy answer in
sight.
The system currently has
about 71 cents in assets for
every dollar it owes, creating
a $21.8 billion debt for the
state. Schools, cities and oth-
er public employers are al-
ready struggling to pay their
share, and the latest report
from the system’s actuary
shows those employers will
be asked to ind an extra $885
million in their budgets next
biennium — a 44 percent
increase from the $2 billion
they’re currently paying.
There are a few solutions
proposed that will help chip
away at the numbers, but no
magic get-out-of-debt-free
card. As a result, Rep. Greg
Smith, R-Heppner, is looking
into what it would take for
the state to reinance with a
pension obligation bond that
would not erase the debt, but
would provide certainty for
employers as they budget
each year.
“The state of Oregon is
going to pay this bill,” Smith
told the East Oregonian’s
editorial board Wednesday.
“We’re not going to declare
bankruptcy and it’s not going
to go away.”
He compared it to dealing
with household debt when a
family has gotten in over its
head. They should work to
cut back their monthly ex-
penses and look for ways to
earn extra money, but while
they do that it can also be
helpful to reinance or get a
debt consolidation loan the
pays off all of their credit
cards, medical bills, vehicle
mortgages and other debts,
replacing it with a single
monthly payment that is easi-
er to keep track of.
A pension obligation bond
would be similar, giving
school districts, ire depart-
ments, cities and other public
employers a more predictable
yearly payment for the bonds
instead of the recent trend of
unexpectedly large jumps in
employer contributions as the
unfunded liability grows.
Smith said after looking
into the option it seems like
the best course would be a
10-year bond, at which point
the state would re-assess the
data and issue a second bond
for the next 10 years. A third,
shorter bond would likely be
necessary after that.
The Legislative Fiscal Of-
ice released a report over the
summer discussing the state’s
previous decision in 2003 to
issue 25-year pension obliga-
tion bonds for $2 billion of
the unfunded PERS liability.
The report shows that
for the irst 12 years of the
25-year bond, the state has
seen an estimated savings
of $471.2 million compared
to the original projection of
$335.5 million, making it “i-
nancially beneicial” so far.
However, the report also
cautions that most of the sav-
ings came from before the
2008 recession and could
end up being outweighed by
future poor market perfor-
mance.
EOCI and TRCI to hold recruiting event
Information about working in the correc-
tions system will be available at a joint re-
cruiting event for Two Rivers Correctional
Institution and Eastern Oregon Correctional
Institution.
The event is Saturday, Oct. 8 from 7 a.m. to 9
p.m. at the Blue Mountain Community College
Science Building at 2411 NW Carden Ave. in
Pendleton.
Attendees will be offered a tour of EOCI and
receive assistance with the online application
and schedule for the REACT test for correc-
tional oficers, which has a $35 fee. To attend,
a valid photo identiication (driver’s license,
military ID or passport) is needed. Cell phones
and smart watches cannot be taken inside the
facility, and attendees may not wear clothing
that is blue (including denim), camoulage or
suggestive.
For more information call 503-930-2462 or
visit odocjobs.com.
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