Saturday, January 17, 2015
OFF PAGE ONE
PENDLETON: Commission passed a SIPE: Hasn’t missed a State of the
grant to help cover cost of city permits
Page 10A
East Oregonian
Continued from 1A
businesses were set to open
this year, which could further
boost Main Street’s occupan-
cy rate.
But it wasn’t all good
news at Tuesday’s meeting.
May said that he noticed
that because so many busi-
Street in recent years, the
downtown area surrounding
Main has developed some
notable vacancies.
Even though Main Street
occupancy has grown from
7.8 percent since 2012, the
amount of open storefronts in
the Pendleton downtown area
as a whole has dropped from
84.6 percent to 84.4 percent
over that same period.
In fact, excluding Main
Street, downtown occupancy
has dropped from 88 percent
in 2012 to 84.9 percent.
This year could also help
the greater downtown area
grow in occupancy, with
Govinda’s Garden Restau-
rant and Community Bargain
Counter both slated to open
on Court Avenue.
Despite the small down-
shift in occupancy overall,
the commission responded to
May’s report positively.
Councilman Al Plute
praised Main Street’s de-
velopment for attracting
high-quality businesses and
not “antique stores and sec-
ond-hand shops.”
Councilman Neil Brown
suggested May add job data
to future reports to help the
public get a better idea of
the downtown area.
While May continues to
assist the city in developing
Pendleton’s downtown on
a volunteer basis, Charles
Denight will help the com-
mission as a part-time em-
ployee.
The commission intro-
duced Denight as the urban
renewal district associate
director, a position solely
dedicated to developing the
downtown area.
Although only in his sec-
said he planned to use his 40
grow the district.
Other topics discussed at
the meeting included:
• After receiving com-
plaints from downtown busi-
ness owners about the price
of city permits, the commis-
sion unanimously passed
a grant to help cover those
costs.
The Code Barrier Mitiga-
tion Assistance Grant will re-
imburse owners up to $2,000
for any person who intends
to renovate a downtown
building or occupy a previ-
ously uninhabited downtown
space.
The grant only applies to
downtown businesses and
To fund the code grant, the
commission moved $10,000
from the Façade Restoration
Grant Committee to provide
the new grant funding for six
months.
• While the urban renewal
district will start consider-
ing applications for the code
grant, three applicants for
Jumpstart loans were denied.
Top Shelf Restaurant, a
new business, and Govin-
da’s Garden and 40 Taps Bar,
were all denied loans.
All of the applications
Jumpstart Advisory Commit-
tee on Dec. 8. The committee
has the power to approve or
deny loans up to $20,000 and
opportunity, too,” Sipe re-
calls.
to the façade committee.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0836.
Continued from 1A
Continued from 1A
chain of command and com-
munication to the public.
Greg Hodgen is the co-
ordinator of the Neighbor-
hood Watch program for the
a dramatic message soon
shooting that warned some
200 Neighborhood Watch
-
out for a boxy white vehicle.
The message also stated the
suspects could be hiding on
farms, and urged members
not to approach them but to
call dispatch because “these
Rowan praised Hodgen
for his “100 percent volun-
teer” efforts that set up net-
as additional eyes and ears for
law enforcement, but said the
strong.
“We wanted to get infor-
mation out on the possible
suspect vehicle, but not to
on her mind was her con-
cern for talented rural stu-
dents who have less access
to science, technology, en-
gineering and math (STEM)
education than metro-area
students.
“I brought up to Sen.
the commission for any ap-
plication above that amount.
Because Top Shelf’s loan
application was for $20,000
the committee voted to deny
their application after re-
-
cial information.
With both businesses re-
questing above $20,000,
the committee also advised
to deny the applications for
Govinda’s Garden and 40
Taps.
The commission followed
suit and voted 7-0 to deny
both loans, with Council-
woman McKennon McDon-
ald abstaining.
• The commission also
unanimously approved nom-
inations for various commit-
tees.
Retired Pendleton School
District substitute teacher Su-
san Talbot was added to the
commission’s advisory com-
mittee while Loren Lindell
and Casey Severe, both own-
ers of their construction com-
SHOOTING: Investigation is not over
does not show signs consis-
tent with one vehicle forcing
another to stop, Rowan said.
She also had a gun, he
said, and “it is not out of the
realm of possibility” that she
shot her own car. But the
sheriff cautioned it was too
-
out ballistic analysis from the
Oregon State Police Forensic
Services Division. Sheriff’s
detectives sent that evidence
Monday to the crime lab, he
said, and there is no telling
-
ceive the analysis.
The incident also revealed
Continued from 1A
steering Sipe’s school dis-
trict toward several grant
opportunities,
including
state, NASA and J.C. Pen-
ney grants to seed robotics
programs.
-
ley’s encouragement and
-
ics team was born,” Sipe
said. “Since that time, our
staff and community have
a STEM launching pad for
students.”
much praise on Sipe and her
community.
team is a home-grown Or-
egon success story to be
incredibly proud of, and
-
tilla’s success by bringing
Superintendent Heidi Sipe
in a news release. “One of
the biggest challenges our
country faces today is how
getting a strong STEM ed-
ucation that will prepare
them for the global econ-
middle-class jobs here in
thrilled that she’ll be here in
the Capitol as the President
these and many other chal-
lenges.”
Since beginning in 2012,
has grown from nine mem-
bers to 42. The team made
year.
The idea of attending a
-
son is surreal for Sipe. She
hasn’t missed one since her
middle-school social stud-
ies teacher convinced her to
watch.
“Mr. Maxwell told all
of us in his seventh-grade
class that it’s important as
citizens to watch the State
year. Since that year, I ha-
ven’t missed,” Sipe said.
“The opportunity to go in
person — I’m overwhelmed
by it.”
She only wishes she
staff.
“It doesn’t seem fair that
only I will go,” she said.
Sipe’s husband, Kyle,
and two children, Caden
and Cameron, 18 and 15,
-
ington, D.C. But Kyle,
who co-coaches the high
school’s robotics team, and
House Chamber with Hei-
di. They’ll have to search
the gallery for her face on
their hotel room television
screen. During their time at
the Capitol, the family will
explore the city together.
Sipe will attend a dinner
address, which Obama will
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
KINDERGARTEN: 75 percent of parents
“I’ve been around con-
struction long enough to
-
thorne Elementary building
isn’t ready to go, what’s
he said. “I’m just concerned
that we might be better off
and maybe even next year
during the construction
project.”
In an interview follow-
ing the conclusion of the
meeting, Peterson said the
to be determined, although
-
garten students is a possibil-
ity.
In a recent online survey
on the district’s website, 75
percent of parents want-
ed school to start before
The projects related to
the $55 million bond were
not a serious part of previ-
ous public discussions of
the school calendar.
After the bond was
passed by voters in 2013,
the district prioritized the
Pendleton Early Learning
Center in order to meet a
state mandate that requires
all school districts to offer
2015-2016 school year.
The center will house all
-
tilla Morrow Head Start and
other early childhood ser-
vices.
Krumbein provided a
rare dissenting vote to the
5-1 motion to approve the
calendar, with Vice Chair
Greg Galloway absent.
After the meeting, Peter-
are a fairly standard part of
school district construction
projects.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A Pendleton Police officer investigates a vehicle that
was the target of a reported shooting last week on Air-
port Road in Pendleton.
“I think we’ve ad-
dressed that over
the last week,
making sure that
information is vet-
ted through chain
of command.”
— Terry Rowan,
Umatilla County Sheriff
the level that it went to the
Neighborhood Watch,” Row-
our system.”
Rowan said he, under-
on-duty supervisor should
have reviewed the message
sensitive information from
spoiling an investigation.
-
ing sure that information is
vetted through chain of com-
mand,” Rowan said.
Rowan also did not call the
report of the shooting a hoax,
which is how Hodgen de-
scribed the incident Monday.
Rowan was out of town
Monday through Thursday,
attending a law enforcement
convention in Seaside where
marijuana was a major topic.
the volunteer would call the
shooting a hoax.
“It was certainly noth-
ing that we said in-house,”
Rowan said. “We never used
that terminology, I guess you
could say.”
Rowan also said he did
turns out to be the case, and
stressed the investigation is
not over.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0833.
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