THE SENTINEL REACHES 9 OUT OF 10 ADULTS IN GOLDENDALE
Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2022
Vol. 143 No. 2
$1.00
UMPQUA BANK WEBSITE
COMMUNITY IMPACT: Mike and Jennifer Kallio lost $106,000 in a bank wire fraud on their account at Umpqua Bank. Now the entire community, perhaps even the county, could feel the ripple effects of that loss.
Kallios’ loss could impact community LOU MARZELES EDITOR Jennifer and Mike Kallio lost $106,000 last month in a wire fraud perpetrated against their business accounts at Umpqua Bank. The bank says the loss was incurred by a hack into the Kallios’ computer. The Kallios say their computer was forensically examined and determined to be free of any hack, virus, or malware. Umpqua says it is cooperating with law enforcement to attempt recovery of the Kallios’ money, which is the full extent of what it says it can do. The Kallios say the loss of their funds will necessarily have an impact on Goldendale and Klickitat County. “We continue to be discouraged and dismayed by Umpqua’s response,” Jennifer says. “Once again, they are making unjustified claims about how the fraud happened. They continue to blame our devices and ourselves for being scammed, none of which is true. Umpqua Bank continues to take zero responsibility for sending $106,000 out of our account, completely unauthorized by us.” Umpqua Vice President of Corporate Communications and PR Kurt Heath responds, “We understand it can be difficult to accept a situation like this with a significant loss of funds. Howev-
Sheriff responds to proposed bill on cougar hunting LOU MARZELES EDITOR A bill proposed for the new Washington legislative session that began Monday takes aim at Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer, and Songer has responded to it with a statement. Washington Senate Bill 5613 aims to restrict the use of dogs to hunt black bears, cougars, or bobcats. The bill’s sponsors, Sen. Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim) and Sen. Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island), expressed concern over the use of dogs by Songer’s department and posse members for use in the hunting of cougars. Introducing the bill, Van De Wege said, “The motivation comes from the Klickitat County sheriff. I’m interested in, and Christine Rolfes is interested in, doing something that addresses Klickitat County. In my opinion, he is hunting down cougars that are not a problem.” Monday Songer responded to
er, in this case, the facts are very clear: the fraud occurred because an intruder gained access to the Kallios’ device that had been authorized on their account. We’ve worked with the Kallios and with law enforcement to recover as much as possible. We’ll continue to work with law enforcement on any related investigation.” Jennifer Kallio contends Umpqua’s assertion that the bank is working with them and trying to help is untrue. “We have not heard from Umpqua Bank since December 17, 2021, when, in fact, we reached out to them,” she says, “specifically [Regional Manager] Terri Browning to inquire about the letter they mailed to us.” That letter stated a total of $1,032.36 was recovered from the fraudulent account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, to which the fraudulent wire transfer was sent. Those recovered funds were returned to the Kallios. “It was confirmed in our phone call that this $1,032.36 is all that Umpqua Bank is willing to return to us. We have not heard from Umpqua since,” Jennifer says. The Kallios say they heard a bizarre admission from an Umpqua representative that the fraudster’s target account at JP Morgan Chase had better security systems than Umpqua. Jennifer says an Umpqua officer told her on November 10, “It was fortunate that
See Fraud page B1
ARCADIAOUTFITTING.COM
SINGLED OUT: Klickitat County is the specific target of a new proposed bill in the Washington Legislature. It wants to restrict hunting of cougars by dogs. Sheriff Bob Songer issued a statement opposing the proposed bill. the proposed bill, saying, “Senate Bill 5613 is a misinformed attempt to limit the ability of county sheriffs to protect lives and property... The bill is specifically targeting the Klickitat County Sheriff. “Apparently, the senators did not bother with any research to form their opinion,” Songer continued. “Since starting the program, the sheriff’s office has removed 26 cougars. Before then, [Washington Department of] Fish and Wildlife was killing cougars at about the same rate, Department Game Division Manager Anis Aoude said. ‘It’s not that much higher than removals we have done in the past,’ he said. “Fish and Wildlife Captain Jeff Wickersham said the sheriff has removed some cougars that the department would not have removed. On the other hand, Fish and Wildlife might have removed cougars the sheriff’s office did not, he said. ‘Prior to the sheriff engaging in this work in 2019, my staff in the area was quite active in these type of removals,’ he said. ‘I don’t think [26 cougars] is too far off from where we might have been given the same circumstances.’” Van De Wege has said that while he was reluctant to take
See Cougars page B1
CONTRIBUTED: KPUD
CRUSHING WEATHER: Heavy, wet snow last week knocked out power to parts of the county, hitting utility poles such as this one (above). Below, KPUD crews worked non-stop to get power back on.
Klickitat PUD restores power on last outage Klickitat PUD restored power to the final customers on Sunday, January 9, from outages that began early on January 2. Heavy snow, ice, rain and wind all contributed to major outages. Accumulated snow and ice, along with soft ground underneath, led to severe access issues and slowed restoration efforts. “It’s been a wild few weeks of winter weather,” said Jim Smith, Klickitat PUD manager. “I want to thank our customers for the positive notes and support for our crews, and all the staff who have been supporting them, while they have worked on storm repairs over the last eight days. I would also like to thank the many county, city, emergency management, and law enforcement employees that helped us.” Outages started over the Christmas holidays as Klickitat County got its first major snow storm of the season. At
first, crews were able to respond quickly and get power restored. During the week of January 2-9, KPUD had between 1,000 to 2,000 of its 13,000 customers without power. At the height of the outages, there were about 4,000 customers without power for a sixhour stretch on Friday. Some areas were repaired, and then lost power again as additional snow and ice bent and broke more trees. Many of those customers were without power for three days, and about 50 customers were without power for six days. “We know this is a long time without power, which means no heat, and can mean no water as well,” said Smith. “It is tough on those working to restore power as well, because they cannot get
to everyone right away. They struggle to go home to try and get a few hours of sleep when customers are still without power, but no one can function for days without sleep, especially with the dangerous nature of the work they do and the difficult conditions they face.” Restoring power takes more than just the crews. Other PUD employees were clearing snow, patrolling power lines, switching power in the substations, delivering food, repairing broken vehicles, delivering materials, answering phones, scheduling and making difficult decisions on where crews would work next. In making those decisions, the PUD looks at the size for each outage area, how long they have
See KPUD page B1
Mosbrucker: new bill on drive-by murders would put public at further risk Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, ranking Republican on the House Public Safety Committee, expressed serious concerns in the last week of December about a new bill that would reduce penalties for murder resulting from drive-by shootings in Washington state. House Bill 1692 would eliminate drive-by shooting as an aggravating factor in a first-degree murder case, under RCW 10.95.020. In most cases, life imprisonment is the most severe penalty imposed in Washington state. The bill also would apply retroactively and provide for the vacation of previous convictions for aggravated first-degree murder and resentencing for first-de-
gree murder without the penalty associated with the aggravating factor. The measure was prefiled on Friday, Dec. 23 for introduction in the 2022 legislative session. Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, issued this statement regarding the legislation: “Violent crime is on the rise in our communities, in part, because law enforcement officers do not believe under new laws passed by the Legislature earlier this year that they have the authority to detain or pursue individuals, for whom they reasonably suspect have committed criminal acts. It was reported during the summer that at least nine drive-by shootings in the Yakima area this year have left
a trail of injuries, deaths and traumatized neighborhoods. This horrific crime is happening more and more across our state, taking the lives of innocent victims, destroying their families, and leaving neighborhoods and communities in fear. “This bill would remove an important tool from prosecutors. And just as concerning, it would re-open past convictions so that violent criminals would have their sentences reduced. “What about the victims and their families? Where is their justice in this bill? Where is our compassion for them? “This legislation does nothing to make Washington safer and, in fact, would put the public at further risk to violent crimes.”