WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021
HermistonHerald.com
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Robbery suspect out of prison on compassionate release
By PHIL WRIGHT
Hermiston Herald
The man Hermiston police
arrested Friday, Dec. 17, following
a bank robbery was out of federal
prison on compassionate release.
Cliff ord Uptegrove, 58, of
Yakima, remains in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton, on charges
of fi rst-degree robbery, fi rst-degree
theft and felony fl eeing and unlaw-
ful use of a weapon. State court
records show Circuit Judge Chris-
topher Brauer on Dec. 20 set Upte-
grove’s bail at $1 million.
The robbery occurred Dec. 17
just before 3 p.m. at Umpqua Bank,
450 N. First St., Hermiston, accord-
ing to Hermiston police Chief Jason
Edmiston.
He said preliminary information
showed that moments after the rob-
bery, a Umatilla County sheriff ’s dep-
uty spotted the suspect in a vehicle
in the area of Northwest Geer Road
west of Home Depot. That led to a
vehicle chase on Theater Lane and
eventually to Northeast Harley Lane.
The deputy tried to stop the suspect,
but he took off driving again.
Hermiston police took the lead
in the chase, Edmiston said, and
police video shows the suspect pulled
over, and to prevent him from fl ee-
ing again, a Hermiston offi cer in a
pickup parked against the driver’s
door and pinned him in.
“They they took him out at gun-
point,” Edmiston said.
While no one was injured in the
robbery, according to Edmiston, it
was an “incredibly traumatic situa-
tion for the employees at the bank.”
Records show Uptegrove has a
history of robbing banks.
The United States Attorney’s
Offi ce for the Western District of
Washington in 2005 issued a press
release about Uptegrove, then 41,
going to federal prison for more than
20 years plus fi ve years probation
Bring on the snow!
after he pleaded guilty to armed bank
robbery and using a fi rearm during
a crime of violence.
According to the press release,
police caught Uptegrove in March
2004 after a robbery at the River-
view Community Bank in Hazel Dell,
Washington, and during questioning
he admitted to nine robberies of credit
unions from 2001-04, including
twice hitting the Kennewick Com-
See Robbery, Page A9
Demand
for holiday
decorations
increases at
secondhand
stores
By ALEX WITTWER and ERICK PETERSON
EO Media Group
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
John Putnam leaps to destroy a snowball Monday, Dec. 20, 2021, at Sunset Elementary School in Hermiston.
All aboard!
The Christmas Express
unites locals to bring food,
toys to those in need
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Volunteers wrapped pres-
ents and packed food boxes
Wednesday, Dec. 15, at the
Hermiston Community Center,
for the Christmas Express.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said the
annual drive to provide goods
for needy families gath-
ered enough food, toys and
more to provide for 500 fam-
ilies. Schools, social services
and churches were among the
groups that identifi ed the fam-
ilies. Each food box weighed
nearly 100 pounds and con-
tained a turkey, potatoes and
onions.
The
Hermiston
Police
Department was the orga-
INSIDE
nizing group, but the depart-
ment’s chief was not taking all
the credit.
“Donations came from
everywhere,” Edmiston said,
and the canned food donations
from local schools was “huge
this year.”
Traditional donors included
the Walchli family (both sides
— John and Skip), the Troy
Betz family, the Alan Cleaver
family, and several clubs —
Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions and
Altrusa. The program usu-
ally costs $15,000-$18,000,
he said, and has received
$14,776.44 in donations.
Volunteers used to be “his-
torically limited to the police
department,” Edmiston said,
but other groups joined in
recent years. Nowadays, the
eff ort to collect and pack goods
is city-wide, with government
offi cials, fi refi ghters and fam-
ily members all helping.
See Express, Page A9
A3 Shooting death in Hermiston
Nickolas L. Oatley/Contributed Photo
Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 Chief Scott Stanton, center,
volunteers Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, with Richard Cearns, left, the
division chief of emergency medical services and training for the
district, and his wife, Whitney Cearns, at the Christmas Express in at
the Hermiston Community Center.
A6 Snowfall hits Eastern Oregon
Locals decorating for Christmas are fi nd-
ing more of what they need this year at sec-
ondhand stores.
Local thrift stores are seeing an uptick in
Christmas shoppers, especially new ones, as
supply chain issues dim prospects for arti-
fi cial trees, decorations and lighting at big
box retail stores.
Over at the Hermiston Goodwill store on
Monday, Dec. 20, there was a small inven-
tory of Christmas decorations. Some of the
goods were mixed in with other items —
a wreath, for example, sat between a weed
wacker and an empty golf club bag. Also,
ornaments, stockings, plastic holly and more
were organized on shelves and in bins. Seven
artifi cial trees stood near the door.
Standing behind a register, a Goodwill
employee said the store has been busy sell-
ing such items. Over at The Salvation Army
Store & Donation Center, Pendleton, a vol-
unteer picked up the phone to say the same
thing. It is busy, she said, and the store seemed
to have fewer Christmas decorations than in
years past.
Open Dec. 18 and 19, the Outreach Thrift
Store is closed throughout the remainder of
the year. However, Carolyn Clemons, a store
director, said she had been carrying Christ-
mas decorations.
“We’ve had everything from trees to orna-
ments, Santas, snowmen and more,” she said.
She said decorations sold “very well,” and
sales for the decorations made up half of her
sales in recent weeks. Thanks in part to the
sale of Christmas decorations, the store was
able to pay its rent after only two weeks of
being open, Clemons said. She reported being
happy about this success, because the store
benefi ts the Outreach Food Pantry.
“The amount of people buying Christmas
(decorations) has been a lot bigger in the sec-
ondhand stores this year,” said Randi Stauff er,
a manager at People Helping People, 2635
Bearco Loop, La Grande. “The cool thing
about secondhand stores is you’re able to fi nd
that vintage Christmas, that antique Christ-
mas and that retro Christmas.”
The secondhand store’s warehouse has
aisles and boxes full of ornaments and Christ-
mas supplies, including retro-looking bulbs
and ornaments. A discerning eye might catch
a personalized snowman ornament engraved
with the name John in its base, or a red bulb
decoration emblazoned with a family photo
from decades past.
Walmarts in La Grande and Pendle-
ton were out of artifi cial trees on Dec. 16.
Christmas lights and decorations that once
lined the shelves in Pendleton also took a
tremendous hit, with very little supplies
remaining. Pendleton, however, had some
A7 Local Christians explain their
meaning for the season
See Decorations, Page A9
A8 Heppner banker enshrined
into Hall of Fame