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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2017
Safety, alleviating poverty at top of DHS list
Spending plan
‘disappointing’
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon Depart-
ment of Human Services
Director Clyde Saiki says leg-
islators face “tough choices”
in the next six months as they
consider where to cut back on
programs for children, seniors
and people with disabilities.
The heads of the legisla-
tive budget-writing commit-
tee, Joint Ways and Means,
released a preliminary spend-
ing plan Thursday.
The spending plan — what
legislators called a “frame-
work” — calls for about $2.9
billion in spending on human
services for the next budget
cycle.
That’s an increase from the
agency’s most recent biennial
budget of $2.7 billion, but state
Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tuala-
tin, and Rep.
Nancy Nathan-
son,
D-Eu-
gene, said that
the $2.9 bil-
lion amount is
actually nearly Clyde Saiki
9 percent less
than what the department
needs to maintain the current
level of services.
The plan accounts for a
$1.8 billion shortfall in state
funds legislators say is needed
to maintain service levels
across state government.
Cost increases can be
attributed to wage and benefit
growth for state employees as
well as adjustments for popu-
lation growth and inflation.
On Friday, Saiki said that
from where he stands, that
spending plan was not “very
surprising, but disappointing.”
The Department of Human
Services, which has a range of
responsibilities from admin-
istering nutritional support to
poor families to overseeing the
state’s foster care system, makes
“The top two priorities
are really about safety
for children and other
vulnerable populations, all
the people we serve. The
second priority is lifting
people out of poverty.”
Clyde Saiki
director, state Department of Human Services
up a significant chunk of the
state general fund every year.
Saiki said that as the agen-
cy’s budget goes through the
legislative process, the agency
would be focused on safety
and alleviating poverty, which
he said align with Gov. Kate
Brown’s own preferences.
He also noted that the budget
framework presented by leg-
islators was merely the begin-
ning of the process.
“The top two priorities are
really about safety for children
and other vulnerable popula-
tions, all the people we serve,”
Saiki told a meeting of service
providers and recipients in
Salem on Friday. “The second
priority is lifting people out of
poverty.”
In the past year, the depart-
ment has been under the
microscope after reports of
abuse and systemic problems
in state foster care.
The agency hired a new
Philomath School District says
football hazing dates to 2010
Highlighted
after Warrenton
incident last July
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Hazing at
Philomath High School hap-
pened for years before it came
under scrutiny following an
incident last summer at a foot-
ball training camp in Warren-
ton, according to the school
district’s attorney.
Philomath School Dis-
trict lawyer Paul Dakopolos
said there is evidence of haz-
ing incidents involving the
school’s football team, wres-
tling team and boys’ basketball
team dating to at least 2010,
The Corvallis Gazette-Times
reported.
The information came from
an investigation conducted by
Dakopolos’ office after the dis-
covery of a hazing incident at a
football training camp at Camp
Rilea last July. A 22-year-old
former volunteer coach has
entered a no contest plea to
charges in the incident.
Prosecutors have said that
the coach failed to protect the
students. Eleven freshmen had
intimate parts of their bodies
targeted.
Dakopolos said his investi-
gator interviewed eight current
students, two former students,
a parent of a former student,
all varsity football coaches at
the training camp, a junior var-
sity football coach and coaches
of other sports. However, most
alleged victims and the alleged
perpetrator declined to be
interviewed by the investiga-
tor, Dakopolos said.
The investigation found
that all the junior varsity
coaches and the head coach
were aware of the inappro-
priate physical contact during
the training camp, Dakopolos
said.
The victims were scared
during the incidents and
some said they did not report
the hazing because coaches
were in the room when some
of it happened, according to
Dakopolos.
School coaches have
reported hazing in the past, but
the administration did not pass
the information as required by
law to law enforcement or the
state Department of Human
Services, Dakopolos said.
“The failure to discipline
student athletes and coaches
involved in incidents of hazing
has created a misperception
that the behavior is accept-
able,” he said.
The school district plans
to take several actions to pre-
vent future hazing, accord-
ing to Superintendent Melissa
Goff, including more training
for coaches, addressing hazing
at parental information meet-
ings and adding anti-bullying
and anti-hazing training to the
school’s curriculum.
Washington faces deadline on REAL ID
Requirements
are for security
By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Last
month, signs started pop-
ping up at airports nationwide
warning travelers that unless
their driver’s licenses are from
states already in compliance
with federal identification
requirements or states with a
limited extension, they’ll need
additional documentation to
board domestic flights starting
in January 2018.
With that looming deadline,
lawmakers in Washington state
are trying to bring the state into
compliance with the REAL ID
Act, a 2005 federal law that
requires state driver’s licenses
and ID cards to have security
enhancements and be issued to
people who can prove they’re
legally in the United States.
Washington is the only
state in the country that does
not require proof of legal pres-
ence in the U.S. to get a stan-
dard state driver’s license or
ID. However, the state already
offers, but does not mandate,
enhanced driver’s licenses and
IDs that require proof of U.S.
citizenship and are valid under
the federal law.
The state’s Senate and
House transportation com-
mittees held separate hearings
Thursday on bills that have
been introduced seeking to
bring the state into compliance
with REAL ID.
Just 25 states and the Dis-
trict of Columbia are cur-
rently in compliance with the
law, according to the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security’s
website.
Washington,
Minnesota
and Missouri are the only three
states that are not compliant
with the law and don’t have
an extension from the federal
government, meaning millions
of residents who currently
have standard driver’s licenses
now need additional ID for
access to some military bases
and federal facilities. They’ll
eventually be required to show
AP Photo
Looming deadline for Washington state to comply with
federal REAL ID law.
additional documentation for
air travel unless the Legisla-
ture acts.
Two other states — Maine
and Montana — are also not in
compliance and have a grace
period that will make them
subject to enforcement start-
ing on Jan. 30. On Thursday,
Pennsylvania and Kentucky —
which had originally been sub-
ject to the Jan. 30 compliance
date — were given a limited
extension through June 6, join-
ing a handful of other states
with limited extensions until
that date. Eighteen other states
and territories have extensions
until Oct. 10.
In addition to the measures
introduced in Washington,
Maine, Minnesota, Missouri,
Oklahoma, Oregon, and South
Carolina all have introduced
bills related to REAL ID com-
pliance this year, according
to the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
The proposed bills in
Washington state would create
a two-tiered licensing system
that would keep the current
enhanced license and would
create a standard state license
that would be marked indicat-
ing it is not valid for federal
purposes.
child welfare director, Lena
Alhusseini, who started work
in November. The department
is expected to release a unified
Child Welfare improvement
plan before the legislative ses-
sion begins Feb. 1.
It was unclear, on the first
day of Donald Trump’s presi-
dency, what support would be
like from the federal govern-
ment for antipoverty programs
the department administers.
Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families, for exam-
ple, is distributed in the form
of a block grant from the fed-
eral government and is imple-
mented by states.
In addition, for some pro-
grams, if the state makes cuts
to its own funding for some-
thing, that can also mean the
loss of matching funds from
the federal government.
At Friday’s meeting, ser-
vice providers and recipi-
ents also expressed concerns
about the effects of the pos-
sible repeal of the Affordable
Care Act.
Human services officials
have laid out a number of
options for areas where antic-
ipated spending could be cut
back — 15 percent, or more
than $486 million in general
fund money, in potential cuts.
Those options include
reducing funding for personal
services, eliminating a live-in
care program, and eliminat-
ing quality care incentive pay-
ments for providers of child-
care to kids who receive
government subsidies.
Although those options are
on the table as legislators start
crafting the state budget, Saiki
said he would advocate for
increased child welfare staff
and for rate increases for peo-
ple working directly with peo-
ple receiving services; for fos-
ter parents; and for groups
providing behavioral rehabili-
tation services for children and
teens.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Company hopes to
build pot-friendly
RV park in Medford
Associated Press
MEDFORD — An Ore-
gon company wants to
build a pot-friendly RV
park.
A company that sup-
plies warehouse space for
marijuana growers is eye-
ing property near Lake Sel-
mac in Josephine County.
The park will be called
Smoke on the Water, Grow
Condos Chief Executive
Officer Wayne Zallen said.
If the project moves for-
ward, the company hopes
to expand with camp-
grounds in other marijua-
na-friendly states. The RV
parks would include tent
camping and a pot dispen-
sary, he said.
The company already
has a 15,000-square-foot
facility in Eagle Point,
where it offers for lease or
sale indoor grow spaces,
which are all occupied.
The company is also work-
ing toward building a
48,000-square-foot com-
mercial marijuana process-
ing facility in Eugene.
The project, called Nug-
getville, was submitted to
Eugene in December. The
40-page plan shows blue-
prints for four warehouses
on a 2.65-acre site on
industrial property.
“Eugene rolled out the
red carpet,” Zallen said.
The city made staff avail-
able to provide feedback on
proposed drafts, he said.
Grow Condos in pro-
motional materials said
the four buildings could
hold more than 30 grow-
ers. The industrial spaces
would be sold at $150,000
to $175,000 each.
“It’s
all
coming
together,” Zallen said of the
company’s various plans.
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Celebration of
Kim (Kyong S) Fuhrmann’s
Beautiful Life
Teri and I would like to invite everyone who
knew Kim of Kim’s Kitchen, to join us in
sharing memories and celebration of Kim’s
beautiful life. We especially hope her many
caregivers will attend. We include every
shopkeeper, waitress and cab driver who
took the time and effort to ensure her safety
and well-being. We thank you. If you have
stories you want to share, there will be open
mic during the celebration for you to share.
If you cannot make it to the event or don’t
feel inclined to share your story in front of
the group, please write the story and email
them to kimskitchenastoria@gmail.com. I will either read them or
post them at the Celebration Service for all to hear. Teri and I look
forward to seeing old friends who knew Kim along with new friends
Teri and I have yet to meet.
January 28th 1 to 4pm
Pier 39 (Hanthorn Cannery) Banquet Room
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR!
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WEDNESDAYS
60 & OVER EAT FOR HALF PRICE ALL DAY
CHECK OUT OUR
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6 DAILY SOUP & LUNCH SPECIALS
MON: TOMATO BASIL & TRIPLE GRILLED CHEESE
TUE: MINESTRONE & 1/2 REUBEN
WED: BEEF BARLEY & 1/2 PATTY MELT
THU: POTATO LEEK SOUP & FRENCH DIP
FRI:
CHICKEN TORTILLA & FISH TACOS
OUR SOUPS ARE, OF COURSE, HOMEMADE
OPEN DAILY AT 11AM
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