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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2015)
County pot study group gets answers from state UMATILLA GIRLS BEAT RIVERSIDE BASKETBALL/1B REGION/3A FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015 139th Year, No. 66 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend • • • HERMISTON Crime down in 2014 Cabin Fever concert Sunday in Hermiston Night at the Children’s Museum on Friday Hermiston Relay for life kickoff event Saturday Shoplifter threats increase number of robberies For times and places see Coming Events, 5A By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Catch a movie AP Photo/The Weinstein Company Sweet family fun in the big screen adaptation of “Paddington.” For showtime, Page 5A For review, Weekend EO Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 51/34 43/40 52/39 Immigrants can now get Mexican birth United States By AMY TAXIN Associated Press SANTA ANA, Calif. — For Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally and hoping to stay in the country under President Barack Obama’s new immigration policy, things just got one step sim- pler. On Thursday, the Mex- ican government began is- citizens at its consulates in the United States. That will make it a little easier for Mexicans hoping to obtain U.S. work permits, driver’s licenses and protec- tion from deportation. Up until now, Mexico re- quired its citizens to get birth those living in this country had to ask friends and rela- tives back home to retrieve the paperwork. See IMMIGRANTS/10A One dollar Staff photo by E.J. Harris Sophomore diesel mechanic student Brandon Norland of Mount Vernon works on the electrical system for a Dodge 318 engine for a class project Thursday during a lab period at the BMCC campus in Pendleton. COLLEGE WON’T PAY FOR ITSELF BMCC president revels in recognition, but dubious of Oregon’s proposal By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Community colleges are feeling the love in recent days. President Barack Obama last week pitched the idea of tuition-free com- munity college for Americans who are willing to work hard. One state, Ten- nessee, already offers free community college and others, including Oregon, are considering similar legislation. Hollywood actor and community col- lege graduate Tom Hanks applauded the notion in his op-ed Wednesday in the New York Times, saying commu- nity college “made me who I am.” All of this hoopla makes Blue Mountain Community College Presi- dent Camille Preus and other commu- “We appreciate the recognition of what community colleges bring to the county, the state and the nation,” Preus said. “And we’re enjoying the Staff photo by E.J. Harris Sophomore diesel mechanic Jaylin Throob of Glenwood, Wash., works on replacing the air intake boot on his truck during a lab period Thursday on the BMCC campus in Pendleton. spotlight.” With his remarks, she said, Obama sity. “Gone is the day when the high school diploma gave you the skill to get you that good-paying job,” Preus said. “Essentially, the president is moving to make community college free because there’s an acknowledg- ment that everybody needs it and that it takes more than a high school diplo- ma.” She likened the sea change to the World War II era when people real- ized the necessity of a high school education to secure a middle-class in- come. As the nation realized the need See COLLEGE/10A “Essentially, the president is moving to make community college free because there’s an acknowledgment that everybody needs it ...” — Camille Preus, Blue Mountain Community College president Preus Hermiston’s crime rate took a plunge in 2014 accord- ing to end-of-year statistics released by the Hermiston Police Department. Of the eight index crimes the department is required to report to the FBI, Hermiston saw 523 incidents in 2014 compared to 801 in 2013. The number was also a notable departure from Hermiston’s average of 869 crimes a year since 2005, when the city’s population was about 2,500 less than it is now. “Your police department ... has been extremely busy staying on top of some of the trends we were and have been seeing crime-wise,” Hermis- ton police chief Jason Edmis- ton wrote in an open letter to residents. Not all the news was good. Violent crime — en- compassed by homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — was up from last year. Police dealt with 24 vi- olent crimes last year, an in- crease of eight from the year better than the nine-year av- erage of 42. Much of that increase was due to robberies, which dou- bled from seven in 2013 to 14 in 2014. Edmiston said the trend was “on the surface extremely alarming,” but did note that six of the incidents were shoplifting incidents that were automatically ele- vated to robberies when the suspect threatened or used force in an attempt to escape. Two more robberies involved stolen drugs. “With the passage of Mea- sure 91 (legalizing marijuana in Oregon) I anticipate we will experience even higher robbery rates in the coming years due to this very thing: one person robbing another of a controlled substance,” Edmiston said. He said the department may also see an increase in reported burglaries next year relating to stolen marijuana. There were no homicides in 2014, and two rapes. In both cases the victim and per- See CRIME/10A Ousted commissioner doesn’t regret coal dock opposition By PETER WONG Capital Bureau SALEM — The former chairwoman of the Oregon Transportation Commission says she has no apologies for her opposition to $2 million in state money for a coal-loading dock project — a vote that prompted Gov. John Kitzhaber to remove her last week. Catherine Mater of Corvallis, who led the commission for just seven months, made her remarks Thursday at a hearing by the com- mission. The commission is reconsidering the project for a share of $4 million in grants for nonhighway transportation projects un- der Connect Oregon. Atop the short list recommended by a re- view panel last week is $2 million for ren- ovation of Berth 2 at the Port of St. Helens near Clatskanie on the Columbia River. The port’s original request was to have been matched by $3 million from Ambre Energy, the Australian company proposing to ship coal via the Northwest to Asia. But Mater and two other commission members rejected that project on a 3-2 vote Aug. 22. project is an all-purpose dock for ocean-go- ing ships, proposes to put up the $3 million match itself. The four remaining commission mem- bers will decide the grants at their next meet- ing Feb. 19 in Keizer. Kitzhaber has said he opposes coal ex- his transportation adviser — say the dock project should stand on its own merits. Also in support of the project is Sen. Betsy See COAL/10A Peter Wong/Pamplin Media Group Catherine Mater, ousted this week from her post as chairwoman of the Oregon Transportation Commis- sion, talks with Commissioner Dave Lohman after a commission hearing Thursday in Salem.
