The Hermiston City Council at its meeting Jan. 30, 2025, passed a supplemental budget of $6.7 million.

CORVALLIS — One Umatilla resident suffered serious injuries and another is dead from a crash Saturday, May 11, in Benton County.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reported deputies at 11:02 a.m. May 11 responded to a two-vehicle double fatality crash on Highway 20, approximately 4 miles west of Blodgett.

Investigators determined 46-year-old Jessmyn Rae Allen, of Umatilla, was westbound on Highway 20 in a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek when she crossed the center line and collided with 52-year-old Elizabeth Lillian O’Neill, of Tidewater, traveling eastbound in a 2020 Ford Fusion.

O’Neill died at the scene as well as a passenger of the Subaru, 23-year-old Isaiah Aguilar, of Umatilla.

Allen suffered life-threatening injuries, and an emergency helicopter flew her to the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis. Ambulances took four other patients to the same hospital.

Highway 20 was closed for approximately four hours while investigators processed the scene.

Numerous emergency agencies responded to the crash and assisted. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office Crash Team continues to investigate the crash.

HERMISTON — A traffic stop Monday morning, May 20, in Hermiston led to a passenger fighting and injuring an Oregon State Police trooper before landing in the Umatilla County Jail.

Oregon State Police reported a trooper at 6:50 a.m. at West Cherry Avenue and Northwest Spruce Street stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. OSP tried to identify one of the passengers because he was not wearing a seat belt, but the passenger gave false information about his identity.

He bolted from the car, according to OSP. The trooper chased after him and a fight ensued.

“During the altercation, the suspect injured the trooper,” state police reported.

The suspect fled onto nearby private property and kicked in the door of an outbuilding to get inside.

Police later caught Moses Jermaine Dubose, 39, of Umatilla and arrested him on warrants as well as a slew of counts: giving false information to a police officer, identity theft, assault of a public safety officer, resisting arrest, second-degree escape, first-degree criminal mischief, second-degree criminal trespass and second-degree burglary.

As of May 21, Dubose remains in the county jail in Pendleton.

State police did not report the extent of the trooper’s injury.

HERMISTON — The city of Hermiston is developing a Safety Action Plan to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on the city’s transportation system.

The plan is being developed now through winter of 2025.

Funded by a federal grant, this safety action plan will:

• Bring together an advisory committee to help guide the plan’s development.

• Set a goal to aim for zero fatal and serious injury crashes.

• Understand current trends, policies, and needs.

• Gather community input.

• Develop safety strategies and an implementation plan.

• Establish and track performance measures to monitor safety over time.

Residents are a key part of this Safety Action Plan. Residents can learn more about the project and provide feedback through May 28 at an ongoing online open house. Comments are invited on existing concerns about transportation safety in Hermiston and identifying possible locations and ideas for improvements.

The public also can submit comments at any time to the Hermiston Planning Department at planning@hermiston.gov or by mail to 180 NE Second St., Suite 211, Hermiston, OR, 97838.

HERMISTON — A Hermiston man is in the Umatilla County Jail on several domestic violence related counts, including strangulation and sexual assault.

Hermiston police Wednesday evening, May 8, arrested Cesar Macias Delatorre, 47, in relation to a May 1 attack on an adult in his household, according to state court records. The Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office on May 9 brought eight preliminary charges against Delatorre: one count each of unlawful use of a weapon and menacing and two counts each of strangulation, fourth-degree assault and second-degree sexual abuse.

The menacing and one of the assault charges are misdemeanors, the rest are felonies. All the counts constitute domestic violence.

Circuit Judge Jon Lieuallen set bail for Delatorre at $100,000 and set May 16 for a probable cause hearing in the case.

Court records also show Delatorre has a conviction in 2022 case in Umatilla County for domestic violence crimes of harassment, strangulation and fourth-degree assault. Lieuallen also was the judge in that case and sentenced Delatorre to 18 months in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections, plus two years of post-prison supervision.

— Hermiston Herald, Northeast Oregon Now