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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 Parker accused of trying to run over men at marijuana grow By PHIL WRIGHT STAFF WRITER Former marijuana busi- ness owner and convicted felon Michael Alan Parker ended Wednesday night, Sept. 20, in Umatilla County Sheriff’s handcuffs, accused of assault at a Hermiston marijuana grow. The sheriff’s office re- ported deputies Jon Roberts and Travis Stark responded to a location on North High- way 395 near Hermiston for a report of a driving com- plaint and assault. County Undersheriff Jim Littlefield said the sheriff’s office would not provide a more specific address be- cause there is a marijuana grow operation at the loca- tion. The deputies found two men who claimed Parker, 57, was not welcome there but refused to leave. “The assault victims re- ported Parker started fight- ing with them and warned them that they would need guns to keep him away,” ac- cording to the sheriff’s state- ment. They claimed Parker got in his vehicle and tried to run over one of them, but hit a fence and became stuck. He ran away, the sheriff’s office reported, and the two victims left to call police. When they returned, they found several windows broken out of their motor homes and several damaged marijuana plants. Undersheriff Jim Little- field said the deputies found Parker at the scene and ar- rested him on the following: second-degree attempted assault, fourth-degree as- sault, two counts of first-de- gree criminal mischief, one of second degree criminal mischief, second-degree trespass and two counts of menacing. Deputies booked Parker into the county jail in Pend- leton late Wednesday, ac- cording to online jail roster. Littlefield said Parker soon bailed out. Circuit court re- cords show the district at- torney’s office has yet to file charges against Parker. The case remains under investi- gation. Parker is the former own- er of the Columbia Basin Compassion Center med- ical marijuana dispensa- ry. When reached Friday, Parker would not comment on the arrest but stressed it had nothing to do with High Desert Cannabis, 2003 S.W. Emigrant Ave. in Pendleton. He also asserted he has no interest in the business oth- er than buying his marijua- na there. He hung up twice during questions and did not answer a third call. The morning of his arrest, Parker was at the Pendleton Police Department. Police Chief Stuart Roberts said he was trying to demonstrate he had some authority over the High Desert Cannabis store. Parker’s daughter, Aimee Parker, co-owns High Desert with Michael Ekblad. Both live in Hermiston, according to state records. Police Chief Roberts said the two appear to be at odds. Roberts said Michael Parker came to his office Wednesday morning up- set when High Desert staff would not allow him into the store. Roberts said Park- er showed paperwork from his attorney, Will Perkinson — who also is the Pendleton municipal judge — intended for Aimee Parker to relin- quish some authority in the business and give her father a say in its operations. Parker said he was about to head down to the business and deal with the situation, according to Roberts, who said he advised Parker not to cause trouble. Roberts said he agreed with Parker’s request for an officer to ac- company him to the marijua- na store. “We were there on a kind of peacekeeping mission more than anything else,” Roberts said. Roberts said the officer at the scene called the local marijuana compliance agent for the Oregon Liquor Con- trol Commission, and the agent ruled Parker could not manage the store. Roberts said Parker was angry when he left. While he can’t manage the store, Roberts said he vetted Parker as an employ- ee. Parker has an extensive criminal history, Roberts said, but nothing in recent years that would disqualify him from working in a mari- juana retail business. Council eases residential lot rules By JADE McDOWELL STAFF WRITER Residential properties that have laid empty in Hermiston may come to life after the city relaxed resi- dential development stan- dards and approved a new infill properties program Monday. In response to a city council goal of encourag- ing more housing develop- ment, the city’s planning commission had two work- shops with members of the real estate community and wrote a set of amendments to the city’s code. City Planner Clint Spencer said one of the biggest problems facing developers in Herm- iston is the high cost of bare land, and one developer had commented that even being able to put one or two extra houses into a development often makes the difference to whether a project pencils out. “We want to help them recoup their investment,” he said. To do that, the city re- duced lot size requirements by 1,000 square feet, with the exception of lots for du- plexes in R-3 zones, which went from a minimum of 7,000 square feet to 6,500 square feet. Lot coverage HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS maximums were increased by 10 percent in each zone, with a single family dwell- ing in an R-1 zone now allowed to take up 40 per- cent of the lot instead of 30, plus another 10 percent for a porch, gazebo or patio. Front yard setbacks were also reduced. While ga- rages must still be 20 feet from the front of a property, other parts of the home can now come within 15 feet and covered porches can come within 10. Walden discusses immigration, cybersecurity in Hermiston stop By JADE McDOWELL STAFF WRITER The country’s immigra- tion system is a “byzantine mess” that Congress needs to fix, Rep. Greg Walden said Thursday at a Hermis- ton Rotary Club meeting. Walden advocated for a comprehensive legislative package featuring stronger border security, a better visa system, an overhaul of the legal immigration process and a permanent solution for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. “I’m actually glad the president put a hot rock in our pockets to get it done in the next six months,” he said, referring to Pres- ident Donald Trump’s de- cision to begin phasing out DACA. Walden said for a le- gal immigration system to work, a country must be able to control its bor- ders with a combination of tactics, including physical barriers and patrols. “You’re never going to have a wall across the whole thing,” he said. “That just doesn’t make sense.” Not all undocumented immigrants are walking across the Mexican bor- der, however. Walden said 45 percent of undocument- ed immigrants got into the country on a temporary visa, then overstayed that visa. There are tens of thousands of immigrants like that from Ireland alone, he said. “We have a broken visa system,” he said. There are plenty of questions that need an- swered in an immigra- tion overhaul. As tens of thousands of jobs in tech- nical fields go unfilled because companies can’t find qualified applicants, STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS U.S. Rep. Greg Walden speaks during a Hermiston Rotary luncheon on Thursday in Hermiston. Walden questioned wheth- er it makes sense to give so many of the country’s legal immigration spots to people chosen by lottery or based purely on a family connection. He also ques- tioned whether the country should be “booting out” young people who could be helping fill those skilled jobs. “What do you do with kids who, through no fault of their own, have been here since they were in diapers, and have been a good part of their commu- nity?” he asked. Another hot topic Walden took questions about Thursday was cyber- security. After North Ko- rea’s nuclear weapons, he said cyber warfare was the biggest threat to national security. Much of what is being done is classified, Walden said, but he could say that as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, after “every one of the briefings I go to, I feel a little bit better.” Cybersecurity in the private sector is more dif- ficult for Congress to deal with. Walden said Equi- fax CEO Richard Smith has been asked to testify in front of the Committee on Energy and Commerce STUDENT Outstanding savings on ALL remaining 2017 Toyotas OF THE WEEK Hannah Hair Senior - McLoughlin High School Proudly Sponsored By: Proudly Sponsored By: 0 % APR Financing 2017 Camry 0 % APR or $ 3, 3,000 for Hannah currently has a 4.0 Grade Point Average. Hannah is a member of Mac-Hi Leadership Class, Varsity Club and FFA. Hannah spends many hours doing community service in her community and school. 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