Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS Judge Daniel Hill to be promoted to Brigadier General By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer Col. Daniel J. Hill of Hermiston will soon be Brig- adier General Hill after a promotion as Assistant to the Chief Counsel of the National Guard Bureau. Hill, a Umatilla County circuit court judge, will serve as an advisor to the Judge Ad- vocate General of the Army and assistant to the National Guard Bureau’s Chief Coun- sel starting June 1. Hill has been serving as State Judge Advocate, the top legal position in the Oregon National Guard, since 2015. He said he will be able to fulfill his new national posi- tion part-time from Hermis- ton while continuing to serve as a circuit court judge. On occasions that the National Guard job does require travel, the Oregon Judicial Depart- ment will provide someone to fill in during Hill’s absence so that the work of the court is not disrupted. As assistant to the Chief Counsel, Hill said his job duties will include being a liaison between various parts of the Guard’s legal system and interactions with the Active Component and the U.S. Army Reserve, working on Judge Ad- vocate management policy, supervision and rating of National Guard military judg- es, reviewing profes- sional misconduct complaints and other Hill military law matters. “It’s kind of a facilitator role,” he said. Hill said he will be the first person to fill the position in its current form, so it is “going to be kind of interesting to see what I get handed.” General Michael L. Sten- cel, The Adjutant General for Oregon, stated in an email an- nouncing the promotion that Hill is an example of a “true citizen-soldier.” “Col. Hill’s selection is a testament not only to his performance in the Oregon National Guard, but also to his proven abilities and years of service as a circuit court judge in Umatilla County,” Stencel wrote. A news release from the 6th District Circuit Court congrat- ulated Hill and called the new position and rank a “well-deserved promotion.” Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Balmer con- gratulated Hill as well. “That is a great honor, but if your service in the National Guard is anything like your service in OJD, not a surprise at all!” he wrote. “We are proud of you and wish you every success in your new duties.” Hill said the promotion is a “good career capstone” and he looks forward to the challenge. “I think it’s going to be a change of pace, looking at the world differently, from a higher policy level,” he said. “... I’m looking forward to the different perspective.” Hill graduated from Herm- iston High School, obtained an associate degree from Blue Mountain Community Col- lege, a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and a law degree from Willamette University. He also earned a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in 2014. He went into active duty for the Army as a first lieu- tenant with the Judge Ad- vocate General’s Corps in 1987 and joined the National Guard in 1991, deployed to New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina relief in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2006, with both deployments as the Task Force Staff Judge Advocate. Hill is also currently the presiding judge for Oregon’s Sixth Judicial District in Umatilla and Morrow coun- ties. EOTEC vandalized over weekend Hermiston police report- ed that the Eastern Oregon Trade and Events Center was vandalized over the weekend. No suspects have been identified as vandals caused about $2,950 of damage to property and equipment. Police received a call from EOTEC vice-chair- man Dan Dorran on April 30 around 11 a.m., reporting that someone had flipped an aluminum bleacher against a fence and climbed into a secure storage lot belong- ing to the Umatilla County Fair. While inside the lot, the vandal(s) started a John Deere Gator and tore up the gravel in the storage lot. They caused $1,800 worth of damage at the lot, about $750 worth of damage to the bleachers and $400 worth of damage to the Gator. Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston said no cameras are in the area, so the police do not yet have a way to identify the suspect. Man arrested in Hermiston after shooting incidents Hermiston Police have arrested Cesar C. Jimenez, 26, at a coordinated high-risk traffic stop Monday at North First Place in Hermiston. Jimenez was taken into custody for his involvement in an incident this weekend. According to police, at about 3:45 p.m. April 29, Jimenez, a Pendleton resident, arrived at a home in the 600 block of West Standard Avenue bran- dishing a rifle. He got in a verbal al- tercation with a former girlfriend, and then allegedly fired several rounds into the front and back tires of a 1998 Honda Accord, which had four peo- ple in it. The vehicle’s occupants, one adult and three children, were unin- jured. Jimenez was lodged in the Umatil- la County Jail on charges of felon in possession of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon, recklessly endangering and criminal mischief. Jimenez is also believed to have been responsible for an incident in Morrow County the same day, which left one man in the hospital with gun- shot wounds. “We believe Mr. Jimenez is re- sponsible for a rash of criminal activ- ity that took place this weekend,” said Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmis- ton. “Because of the seriousness of the potential crimes involved, our de- tectives engaged in proactive surveil- lance of Mr. Jimenez and were able to locate him in a neighboring communi- ty. Our detectives followed a vehicle Mr. Jimenez was in and coordinated a traffic stop via radio with marked Hermiston PD units,” Edmiston said. He said on Monday afternoon, Jimenez was still being interviewed by detectives. Umatilla Police Department, the Umatilla and Morrow County sher- iff’s offices all assisted with the inci- dent. Third student-built home nearly completed Hermiston School Dis- trict students have almost finished their third home through the Columbia Ba- sin Student Homebuilders program and are preparing it for sale. Located in the Field- stone Crossing cul-de-sac at 875 S.W. Angus Court, it is listed at $379,000. The public is invited to a grand opening of the home, called Fieldstone No. 3, on Friday, June 9, from 1 to 6 p.m. The students will host the view- ing along with American West Properties Hermiston. Curt Berger, the student home builder director, en- couraged the community to come and admire the stu- dents’ work. “Our students are excit- ed for the opportunity to show the completed home,” he said. “They have done a tremendous amount of ,, -& work.” The structure is the third of 11 homes that will be built by the group of stu- dents. The home has four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a three- car garage. It also has many amenities including a security system, a sur- round-sound speaker sys- tem, an outdoor kitchen and a gas fireplace. It also has a fully landscaped and fenced yard. Anyone interested in scheduling a tour can call 541-564-0888. STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL Equipment runs along the railroad tracks through downtown Hermiston during Union Pacific Railroad’s continuing maintenence operations. Efforts to reach Union Pacific’s media relations department but has not yet been provided information about the project or how long it will last. EOTEC ‘wall of honor’ approved By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The wall recognizing donors and contributors to the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center will be 40 feet long and 6 feet tall, the board decid- ed on Friday. “It’s a huge recogni- tion of our community and how they stepped up,” fundraising commit- tee member Nate Rivera told the board. The design he present- ed required 30 feet to fit all of the plaques, but board members agreed they needed to add an ex- tra 10 feet to keep space available for donors to fu- ture phases of the project. The wall will be locat- ed outdoors and plaques will be manufactured by the same company that did the donor wall at Hermiston’s Kenni- son Field. Rivera said the event center, barns and rodeo arena will also include a plaque listing contractors and subcon- tractors who worked on them. The wall design Rivera presented listed members of the EOTEC board, city council and county commission from when construction of the event center began, but board members said former board members like Chet Prior and Dennis Doherty also deserved recog- nition. They also dou- bled-checked with Rivera that there was recognition for people like Rep. Greg Smith, who helped bring millions of dollars of state funds to the project, and George Anderson, who provided pro bono legal work and wrote the very first donation check EO- TEC cashed. During Friday’s meet- ing contractors Carl Hen- don of Hendon Construc- tion and John Eckhardt of Knerr Construction said work continues to move along on the proj- ect. Board member Dan Dorran said he has fun spotting new things that have gone in every time he visits the site. Hermiston finance director Amy Palmer reported that 51 events have been held at EOTEC from the beginning of the fiscal year through the end of March, generating $43,800 in event reve- nue, and events planned through the rest of the year should bring that total to $69,400. Event expenses have come in at $9,300 so far, she said, “so there’s a fair amount of profit there.” During a city council meeting Monday, an- swering a previous re- quest from city council- ors, Palmer said the city has contributed about $2 million so far to EOTEC in the form of in-kind expenses, starting with a donation of land valued at $1 million and including infrastructure and staff time. The EOTEC board ap- proved a $5,000 grant to the Umatilla County Fair on Friday for marketing purposes, using Tourism Promotion Assessment funds gathered from the hoteliers. Vijay Patel, who represents the hote- liers on the board, sug- gested that the board ask hoteliers to provide an es- timate after the 2017 fair of how many rooms were filled as a direct result of the event. BUTTE CHALLENGE %&'()*(*+ ! "##$ STUDENT OF THE WEEK Cameron Sipe Senior - Umatilla High School Umatilla High School is nominating Cameron Sipe for our student of the week. Cameron is one of the hardest working kids I have ever met. Cameron takes pride in being involved in a variety of activities at our high school. She is the Senior Project Manager for our World Qualifying Robotics Team, on the Executive Council for our National Honor Society, been in leadership roles for our Key Club and STLT club, and also a member of our cross country team. She will graduate in June as our valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA and at the same time graduate with her AAOT degree. She will attend Whitman University in the fall and will major in Psychology and Spanish. Proudly Sponsored By: Proudly Sponsored By: SATURDAY , MAY 6 , 2017 5K Run, 5K Walk, 10K Run, Kid's Butte Scoot All races begin & end at Hermiston's Butte Park DRAWINGS • FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY Online registration & race information at WWW.BUTTECHALLENGE.COM All proceeds benefi t THE HERMISTON CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! 1411 6th Street, Umatilla, OR • 541-922-3001