19-year-old Baker City man jailed after hit-and-run

BAKER CITY — A Baker City man was jailed after he allegedly crashed his car into another vehicle early Saturday morning, March 20, and then drove away.

Josiah Arenas, 19, is charged with felony hit and run, reckless driving and three counts of recklessly endangering another person. The incident happened about 2:01 a.m. at Auburn Avenue and Oak Street, according to a press release from the Baker City Police Department.

A woman told police that she was driving, with her two minor children in the car, when another vehicle crashed into her car and then drove away.

The driver and one of her children sustained minor injuries, and her car had to be towed.

Police identified Arenas as a suspect “with community help along with anonymous reports,” according to the press release.

About 7:45 p.m. Saturday, police found a silver 2008 Chevrolet Impala that is connected to Arenas and that had crash damage consistent with the collision earlier that day.

Police interviewed Arenas at his home about 8 p.m. Saturday. Officers recognized him as a man who had walked past the accident scene during the investigation, according to the press release.

Arenas admitted to being the other driver, the release stated, and police arrested him at 8:08 p.m.

13 inmates test positive at Umatilla County Jail

PENDLETON — Thirteen inmates at the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan.

The outbreak began when two inmates from the same housing unit tested positive on Tuesday, March 16, the same day the jail had begun offering the first COVID-19 vaccines to inmates, Rowan said.

In response to the positive tests, the jail tested the rest of the inmates in the housing unit where the two tested positive, which holds about 20 people. By the end of the week, 11 more tests came back positive. The jail placed the housing unit under quarantine, Rowan said. But the 13 inmates who tested positive have shown “no symptoms whatsoever,” he said.

Rowan said the jail has been following a variety of safety protocols to ensure the infection doesn’t continue to spread, including keeping the quarantined inmates in a unit where ventilation does not reach the rest of the jail. Inmates on quarantine also are allowed out of their cells only by themselves to ensure they don’t pass on the virus.

The inmates who tested positive will be released from quarantine on Friday, March 25, Rowan said.

Rowan added the jail has maintained health and safety protocols to try to avoid case spikes. Temperature checks and screening are conducted before people can enter the jail. The facility has also halved the number of people allowed in housing units of 40 people, Rowan said.

Gov. Kate Brown announced in February the state’s jail inmates would be offered the vaccine. Rowan said the jail offered the vaccine to 160 inmates but only 17 accepted.

Rowan said he wasn’t sure why inmates largely did not accept the vaccine. He added the jail offered the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine because the jail population “can change by 30 people in a day,” making it difficult for health officials to offer second doses two weeks later.

Wallowa County Commissioners give $10K to four groups

ENTERPRISE — Four charitable groups received $10,000 each recently from Wallowa County.

The county board of commissioners on Wednesday, March 17, awarded funds from video lottery proceeds to the Ag Resource Foundation, the Enterprise Elks, the Enterprise Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Broncs & Bulls.

Commissioner Todd Nash, himself a rancher, explained the reason the Ag Resource Foundation was included. He said the foundation came out of the Wallowa County Stockgrowers as a charitable nonprofit so it could provide ag-related scholarships.

Commissioner Susan Roberts discussed the other three groups.

“When you look at it, the Ag Resources Foundation from the Stockgrowers gives out a lot of scholarships, the Elks do that, the VFW does that and the Broncs & Bulls works with the other two entities to provide more funding for that,” Roberts said. “These four entities would, for Wallowa County, probably bring in tourism that we use to … fill our transient room tax, so it helps our bottom line. I think we have the funding and I really would like to help these four entities.”

Commissioner John Hillock said the four suffered from the pandemic.

“All these groups were adversely affected by the pandemic,” he said. “Some of the other groups had the right type of organization.”

— EO Media Group