Friday, May 6, 2011

East Bend ... or East LA?

From our local TV news Web site today:

Dozens of police cars swarmed the side parking lot at the east Bend Safeway Thursday evening after a call on two possibly drunk men soon led to an officer drawing her gun on five people who refused to get out of a car. Three were arrested -- two on theft or drug charges, all three for parole or probation violations.

The incident began shortly after 6 p.m. at the Safeway on Highway 20 at NE 27th St., said Sgt. Nick Parker.A female officer responded to a report of two suspicious men in the parking lot, described as acting "very unusual," "talking weird" and possibly intoxicated, Parker said. The caller told dispatchers the men got into a car parked in the lot and were leaving.

When the officer arrived, she learned of a reported fight in the bottle return area on the east side of the store, by 27th Street, Parker said. The two men were described as similar to the earlier call of two suspicious men, one of them having a cane, he said.

The officer spotted the car on the east side of the store, with four people inside, Parker said. Another man was running from the bottle return area to the car, apparently to avoid police contact, Parker said.The officer confronted the people in the car, ordering them out with their hands up.

When none of them would do so, and not knowing if anyone was armed, she was forced to draw her gun and held all five at gunpoint until backup arrived, called to the "high risk" stop.

"Small-town charm"? "Quiet little village nestled in the Cascades"?

Maybe once. Not now. And not ever again.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad, just sad. Can't speak for others but I'm generally on my toes when it comes to parking lots. If something BAD is going to happen, chances are it's going to happen 'there'.

They're not just places to 'park' any more and haven't been for sometime. As an experiment, next time the wife goes into the store, just hang outside or in your car and you'll obeserve all KINDS of suspicious behavior.

Mother's Day ( weather-wise ) here in the Valley was a -total- BUST! Saturday sure wasn't anything to write home about and Sunday was just the pits. We were at the in-laws by 4:00pm and you could see this squall line approaching! ( It didn't disappoint )

Caged up inside for yet another celebration. The only encouraging part is, lots of people are finally coming to grips w/ the reality that our weather sucks. Once Oregon is vacated, real estate collapses and we get a handle on our pub. employee benefits/gold-plated retirements ( and the tax burden that comes in tow ) it will be time to "re-discover Oregon". Sometime around 2050.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Mother's Day ( weather-wise ) here in the Valley was a -total- BUST! Saturday sure wasn't anything to write home about and Sunday was just the pits."

In Bend as well. High recorded at my place was 48, low 36, with intermittent rain and graupel showers. We almost bagged our plans to go our for dinner, but ended up going anyway; turned out dinner was hardly worth the effort. We went to the Pine Tavern, once one of Bend's premier restaurants. The quality and diversity of its food has, sadly, gone downhill. I don't think we'll be back.

Anonymous said...

"We almost bagged our plans to go our for dinner, but ended up going anyway;"

As I've said, crappy weather is EXPENSIVE! We often go out for dinner simply for a change of view? Same BS weather, but viewed at a different angle and... you don't have to clean up. Normally what little 'buzz' you two got out of the momentary distraction has worn off by the time you get to the car.

I believe the highest temp. I saw here in Mt. Angel/Silverton was around 59. Although it was very brief before heading back down to the low 50's and even 40's before sunset. To be fair, the entire West has been sucking sh!t this Spring.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"To be fair, the entire West has been sucking sh!t this Spring."

Indeed it has, just as it did last spring. Our local daily paper published a graphic of April temperatures today. The thermometer got above 70 on just one day -- April 1, when it hit 71. Average high for the month was 56.2, which was 5.3 degrees below average. (Of course an average high of 57.9 for April ain't all that great in the first place.)

Anonymous said...

"Indeed it has, just as it did last spring."

Last Spring I was willing to play the... Icelandic Volcano.., 'Theory' card? This Spring? Just flat sucks, what more can be said.

Of late, I've come to the opinion that if this pattern simply continues. Not greatly worsens, accelerates, takes a head-long plunge into the abyss! Simply 'continues', we'll have to offer Dividend Checks like they do in Alaska just to get people to come/stay here!

Be honest, don't most Oregonians feel we're 'due' something for putting UP w/ this cr@p? KATU really contradicted themselves by saying this last batch was La Nina-related. Like I thought you guys said it would be over by now? Hmm...

H. Bruce Miller said...

Past two springs have been colder than usual -- but spring in Oregon ALWAYS sucks. Or at least it has as long as I've lived here.

Anonymous said...

"but spring in Oregon ALWAYS sucks"

Much of the driving force for my seeking the perfect design for The Ultimate Outdoor Room!

If you've seen what they show on HGTV, disappointed doesn't go far enough. Here in OR you'd probably be looking at something more like an atrium type design.

Look, even if I DO manage to land the perfect property, w/ a near perfect climate to "rainbird" off to, I'll still want a great design for the time that I'm STUCK here! Anyone w/ a line on those types of links, I'd love to see them!

Anonymous said...

Total suckation walking into work this morning. Full winter coat w/ collar up. Shivering.

One thing we -haven't- addressed is the Cumulative Effect of Suckation. Saying "Well I'm a lot older than YOU... and this weather seems to agree with 'me' just fine?"

It doesn't hold water. If you've lived here but a handful of years you haven't had the full 'benefit' yet. Regardless of age. This may sound a little out there, but if you were Mr/Ms Fitness and all health conscious for years and years, I really DO believe you could take up casual drug abuse after a certain age ( have a rather good TIME of it ) and still notice few if any ill-effects!

If you took up speed or blow at age 70, by the time you developed complications from your recreational abuse ( HELL, you'd be having health issues ANYWAY! ) Just thought I'd throw that out there. Not that I'm advocating it, illustrative purposes only:

Anonymous said...

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Month/Day/Year
DOC Total Inmates W/ICE Holds
DOC Inmates W/ICE Holds # Increase or (Decrease) from Previous Year
DOC Inmates W/ICE Holds % Increase or (Decrease) from Previous Year

Jan. 1, 2008
1,027
————
————

Jan. 1, 2009
1,136
109
10.61%

Jan. 1, 2010
1,220
84
7.39%

Jan. 1, 2011
1,254
34
2.79%

Total
227
22.10%



We all owe Sheriff Larry Blanton a big thank you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bend Immigrant Rights Group Claims Profiling

Sheriff Larry Blanton Fires Back: 'I Don't Deport Anybody'

By Mackenzie Wilson, KTVZ.COM

POSTED: 3:56 pm PDT May 9, 2011
UPDATED: 5:27 pm PDT May 9, 2011

BEND, Ore. -- "I don't deport anybody -- that's (federal) immigration (officials)," said Deschutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton.

Sheriff Larry Blanton fired back at allegations that local law enforcement racially profile illegal immigrants, leading to deportation.

Immigrants' rights groups rallied Monday in Bend, giving local authorities petitions with hundreds of signatures, calling for compassion.

The heart of the debate: When should law enforcement report illegal immigrants to federal; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE?

"People are being deported for non-criminal offenses like broken taillights and things like that," said Greg Delgado, an immigrant family advocate.

The sheriff told NewsChannel 21 his records show otherwise.

"I don't think assault, DUII, false report to a police officer, delivery of controlled substance, methamphetamine, rape in the first degree, sodomy and sex abuse are minor offenses," Blanton said.

Last year, nearly 6,000 people were booked into the Deschutes County Jail. More than 100 of them were placed on ICE detainers, meaning they didn't have proper identification or proof they were who they said they were.

The sheriff's records showed that last year, 74 of those held for ICE faced felony charges, including 15 for methamphetamine delivery, seven for meth possession and four each for aggravated theft, marijuana manufacture and possession, first-degree attempted abuse and frequenting a place where drugs are kept or sold.

"If they've committed a criminal offense, then they should be reported to ICE," Delgado said. "The way they're doing it now is, as soon as they pull them over, they're running them through ICE."

Blanton said running someone's name through ICE is the same for anyone.

"Regardless of your ethnicity, color of skin, we ask where you're from," Blanton said. "If you say you're from Russia or, 'I'm from out of the country' -- it doesn't have to just be Hispanic -- we try to make sure of a couple of things; that you are who you say you are, and that you're here legally."

Supporters of Immigrant Family Advocates did a study of ICE detainees at the Deschutes County Jail from 2007 to 2010. Their research shows more than 600 people were held on ICE detainers over the three years.

They said that number jumps significantly when you add up families whose lives are also put on hold.

"You're breaking families apart and separating them," said Immigrant Family Advocate Gerardo Zuniga. "That's just inhumane."






( Kind of like 'this'? ) Oy vey!

Anonymous said...

Again, this is why I don't mind pulling my hair out not only doing exhaustive weather/climate research but also a street-by-street analysis of my target community.

And maybe this is the time to bring it up. When one reaches a point in life where they're shopping for their ret. home, is wanting to be surrounded by like-minded people necessarily raaacist? Mindful, I said like minded, not like-skinned!

But let's be honest, 6,000 arrests for a town that size is a LOT! That's over 16 a day. And of course, the attendant sympathizers. If this is really supposed to be about kicking back and enjoying your remaining years.., Who.Needs.This?

If this is what you wanted, you could have stayed in____. My question is, if all those Polish Chicagoans flocked to... St. Pete FL all those years ago, would it be 'wrong' today? 'They' sure seemed happy? Just asking!

Anonymous said...

nothing like white trash bottle bums to spruce up the neighborhoods

what's really great is when they clean out their cars by dumping all their garbage in the parking lots

what's even better is when they turn their cars into rolling meth labs