Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current, November 06, 2019, Image 6

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Hermiston herald., November 06, 2019, Page 6, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TextNEWS A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019 Fatal crash blocks Highway 39 Man gets 7-plus years for domestic violence crimes HERMISTON HERALD A Stanﬁ eld man died Tuesday morning in a crash on Highway 395 just south of Hermiston. Dustin Scott, 48, died at the scene after being ejected from his truck. According to Herm- iston Police Department, Jose Ascencion Torres, 70, of Hermiston, was driv- ing a 2017 Subaru Legacy south on the highway when he attempted to turn left into a driveway across from Kelli Boulevard. He turned in front of Scott, who was northbound in a 1992 Chev- rolet truck. The vehicles collided at 7:25 a.m. and Scott’s truck rolled, ejecting him and injuring his 14-year-old pas- senger, who was wearing a seven felonies, including ﬁ rst-degree assault and attempted murder consti- tuting domestic violence. Dungan, 39, signed a plea deal on Oct. 18, admitting he was guilty of six crimes. The most serious was second-de- gree assault, which car- ries a mandatory min- imum sentence of ﬁ ve years, 10 months. State court records show Cir- cuit Judge Christopher Brauer sentenced Dungan to a total of seven-and-a- half years in prison for the assault and related crimes. Dungan is at the state’s intake center for new prison inmates at Coffee Creek Correctional Facil- ity, Wilsonville. HERMISTON HERALD Staﬀ photo by Jade McDowell A white truck sits upside-down after a crash south of Hermiston on Tuesday morning. seatbelt and not ejected. The child and Torres were both taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center and released later Tuesday. Ofﬁ cers arrived on scene and began performing CPR until they were relieved by Umatilla County Fire Dis- trict 1 EMS personnel. Scott was pronounced dead on scene. Trafﬁ c was blocked for several hours, with vehi- cles rerouted down Shan- non Way while investigators examined the scene. The crash is still under investi- gation, but speed or intoxi- cants did not appear to be a factor. Torres has been cited for careless driving. Jason Eugene Dun- gan of Hermiston is going to prison for more than seven years after pleading guilty to crimes of domes- tic violence. Hermiston police the night of Feb. 21 responded to a domestic disturbance on Northwest 13th Street and found a 47-year-old woman on the ground and suffering multiple injuries. An emergency aircraft ﬂ ew her to a Portland hospital. The ensuing investiga- tion resulted in Dungan’s arrest. The Umatilla County District Attorney’s Ofﬁ ce charged him with 12 counts — ﬁ ve misdemeanors and Operation Christmas Child opens the door to holiday joy National Collection Week is Nov. 18-25 NATIONAL COLLECTION WEEK New Hope Community Church, 1350 S. Highway 395, Hermiston •Monday, Nov. 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. •Tuesday, Nov. 19, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. & 5-7 p.m. •Wednesday, Nov. 20, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. •Thursday, Nov. 21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. & 5-7 p.m. •Friday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m •Saturday, Nov. 23, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m •Sunday, Nov. 24, 12-2 p.m. •Monday, Nov. 25, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m Contact: Paul or Barb Wattenburger at paulandbarbw@ gmail.com, 541-567-8650 or 541-626-3159. By TAMMY MALGESINI COMMUNITY EDITOR The warmth in Ernie Holmes’ voice readily reveals his passion about Operation Christmas Child. A member of the United Methodist Church, the Arlington man joyfully talks about the project that assists in spreading Christ- mas cheer around the globe. But even more import- ant, Holmes said Operation Christmas Child opens the door to share about the love of Jesus Christ. An outreach ministry of the international Chris- tian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, which is headed by Franklin Gra- ham, shoebox-sized boxes are ﬁ lled with toys, personal hygiene items, school sup- plies and other gifts. In addi- tion, people are encouraged to include a personal note of encouragement, a photo, Bible verses or faith-based messages. The boxes are then shipped to disadvan- taged children in war-torn and poverty-stricken nations Photo contributed by Barb Wattenburger Ernie Holmes delivers shoebox gifts collected by the United Methodist Church of Arlington as part of the 2018 Operation Christmas Child. National Collection Week for the faith-based outreach ministry is Nov. 18-25. around the world. Holmes said there are many worthy causes and charities to get involved with. He decided to help with this project because it includes an opportunity to share his faith. “One reason I got involved in this is we live out here in the sticks and we see all the needs going on in the world,” Holmes said. “I can’t go where the need is but I can do my part in it by sharing.” While Christmas is still seven weeks away, the proj- ect is a huge undertaking with a 2019 goal of pro- viding shoebox gifts to 11 million children. Last year, more than 10.6 million shoebox gifts were created worldwide, with more than 8.8 million distributed from the United States. Operation Christmas Child is launching National Collection Week Nov. 18-25. People can drop shoebox gifts off at local relay centers, including New Hope Community Church in Hermiston. From there, the boxes are taken to Bethel Church in Richland, Wash- ington, before heading to the West Coast Processing Cen- ter near Los Angeles. Barb Wattenburger, who along with her husband, Paul, are the local drop-off location leaders, said the local goal is to collect 2,019 shoebox gifts. The Arlington United Methodist Church, she said, ordered 300 boxes this year. Over a handful of years, the church averaged 18 donations before deliver- ing 164 last year. Wattenburger said the response is amazing when people become really pas- sionate about the project — her husband included. While she said Paul has been sup- portive and helped over the years, he really got on board when he found out Opera- tion Christmas Child is more than just dropping off a box of gifts and that’s it. “He used to think it was a cute little project … then he learned about the fol- low-up,” Barb said. Recipients of shoebox gifts are invited to partici- pate in The Greatest Jour- ney. The discipleship pro- gram features a 12-lesson course that includes Bible stories, scripture memori- zation and how to follow Christ in their daily lives. Shoebox gifts can include small toys, clothing, stuffed animals, toothbrushes, soap and washcloths. Prohibited items are anything that is breakable or liquid as well as toothpaste, aerosol cans, war-themed toys, food, snacks, drink mixes, medi- cations and vitamins. Anyone can contribute a box for Operation Christmas Child. For uniformity in pack- aging and distribution, items must be placed into a shoe- box-sized container. Also, a $9 per box donation is requested to assist with pro- cessing fees, shipping costs and providing gospel mate- rials that are written in the child’s language. More information, including gift guidelines, an option to track your shoe- box and an opportunity to virtually “Build a Box” is available at www.samari- tanspurse.org/occ. Senate committees allocate funding to beneﬁ t Eastern Oregon By KATY NESBITT FOR THE HERMISTON HERALD The U.S. Senate’s 2020 appropriation bill approved last week includes ben- eﬁ ts for Eastern Orego- nians, from increased wild- ﬁ re spending to expanded barge service on the Colum- bia River. Last week, four of the 12 Senate committees approved budgets for the U.S. govern- ment’s ﬁ scal year 2020 bud- get. A press release from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore- gon, said the Senate’s Inte- rior bill includes $1.394 bil- lion for ﬁ re suppression, primarily managed by fed- eral agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fiscal year 2020 is also the ﬁ rst year that the bipar- tisan “ﬁ re-borrowing ﬁ x,” authored by Merkley and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, comes into effect, resulting in $2.25 billion in additional funds available for ﬁ re sup- pression and other priorities within the Interior Depart- ment’s bill. “This bill invests in both recovery and preven- tion efforts to save our for- ests, our communities, and our farms, ranches and other businesses from devastating losses,” said Merkley, who serves on the Senate Appro- priations Committee. To beneﬁ t the Columbia River Basin Restoration Pro- gram, the Interior Appropri- ations bill gives the Environ- mental Protection Agency $1.2 million to grant money to business owners, farmers, ranchers, local governments and others in the Columbia Basin to clean up and reduce toxins for a healthier basin. The Interior funding also includes $500 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program that funds services for rural communi- ties, including public safety, social services, transporta- tion and housing. Around 11% of lands in Morrow County and 9% in Umatilla County are publicly owned and federally managed. The Port of Morrow will see some of the $7 million included in the Transpor- PET OF THE W EEK Henry is a sweet boy who is under a year old. No cats or goats as he tries to chase them. He is good with other dogs and people and possibly other farm animals. Needs a tall fence. Does not do well yet on hard floors, but can run fast when outside so needs very secure fence. HENRY Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA Small and Large Animal Care Mon: 8-6 Tue - Fri: 8-5 Sat: 8-12 Emergency Service 541.567.1138 MEET 80489 Hwy 395 N Hermiston www.oregontrailvet.com PLACE YOUR AD HERE! Contact Audra at 541.564.4538 Today! If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application. If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838 tation, Housing and Urban Development Appropri- ations bill for the Marine Highways Program that sup- ports the nation’s water- way transportation system. According to the Port of Morrow’s website, port-re- lated businesses employ 8,452 people and provides an economic output of $2.77 billion. More than $500 mil- lion of that total is labor income, $118 million goes to local and state tax revenue payments and $142 million is paid out for federal taxes. “The barge expansion would create family wage jobs in the region, reduce transportation costs, and alleviate highway and rail congestion,” said Ryan Neal, executive director of the Port of Morrow. A healthier basin bene- ﬁ ts humans as well as strug- gling salmon populations. The Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill provides $56 million to sup- port the Mitchell Act, a pro- gram that funds ﬁ sh hatcher- ies, and the Paciﬁ c Salmon Treaty that provides the framework for the U.S. and Canada to jointly conserve and manage Paciﬁ c salmon. The Paciﬁ c Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund received $65 million to address declining Paciﬁ c salmon and steelhead populations. The agriculture bill includes a $35 million increase for the Watershed and Flood Prevention Oper- ations that supports irri- gation districts in need of improving water efﬁ ciency and conservation or other- wise improve ﬁ sh and wild- life habitat. �r� �� l �� Girls’ �i�� Wed. Nov 6th. ��s�� • 5:00 �� 2:00 - 4:00 - 7:00 �� ri�� l�� l�r �� l�� i�ls �� ls� PRIZES! Bring someone new and earn an extra discount!