Pam Rutherford got a text on her lunch break on Sunday, June 4 that broke her heart. It was her niece, asking her if she’d moved the new above ground pool – a 4-foot by 16-foot round pool, still in its box. Rutherford hadn’t moved it, and she knew it had been stolen. She appealed to the Chronicle to publicize the theft. “I don’t know what to say. Someone that can steal from little kids — 4-year-olds — is heartbreaking. I’ll never be able to afford another pool like that for years,” Rutherford said.
A police interview with the senior pastor of First Christian Church showed that church officials had “expressed concerns” about the behavior of a youth leader who was eventually convicted of sexually abusing teen girls. Michael Cele Stephens, 20, was sentenced to 15 years in prison early this year for sexually abusing six teen girls. He met his victims through the church youth group and 4-H.
Two juveniles arrested last week for spraying graffiti on multiple properties and burglary were re-arrested on more burglary and graffiti charges last Friday night, according to The Dalles Police Department.
A man was struck and killed by an eastbound train early Saturday morning and The Dalles City Police are awaiting toxicology reports to see if he was under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.
