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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2015)
Violent crime down, thefts up in Pendleton PIONEERS BEAT BAKER BULLDOGS WRESTLING/1B REGION/3A FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015 139th Year, No. 71 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Your Weekend • • • Melonville Comedy Festival in Hermiston Sunset Elementary book exchange Friday BMCC rodeo poker showdown Saturday For times and places see Coming Events, 6A For showtime, Page 5A Pendleton City Councilman Chuck Wood, center, poses a question about his concerns on the imple- mentation of the state’s recreational marijuana law during a listen- ing session put on by the OLCC on Thursday in Pendleton. For review, Weekend EO Staff photo by E.J. Harris Catch a movie AP Photo/Lionsgate Johnny Depp stars in the lackluster heist caper “Mortdecai.” Weekend Weather Fri Sat 43/41 55/43 Sun 57/36 Shooting reported in Hermiston East Oregonian At least one person was shot and others were pos- sibly injured about 10 p.m. Thursday night in Hermis- ton. Police and medics re- sponded to the Foxwood Apartments on SW 11th Street and W. Orchard Ave. where multiple gunshots were reported. According to scanner cal Center with a gunshot wound. Hermiston Police Capt. Travis Eynon was at the hospital but declined to comment. Police cordoned off a sec- tion of Victory Square Park, which abuts to the east of the apartment complex as part of the investigation. Oregon State Police were also on scene. Eynon said Chief Jason Edmiston would have more information Friday morning. Check www.eastoregonian. com for updates. Loud and clear Listening session hears this: keep marijuana away from minors By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Area residents told policymakers they do not want minors to have ac- cess to recreational marijuana and they want parents to handle educating chil- dren about the substance. The messages came out Thurs- day night at the Pendleton Conven- tion Center during the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s kickoff to de- the state’s recreational pot law voters 80 people attended the two-hour ses- sion to give feedback and learn about listening session earlier Thursday in Baker City and OLCC chairman Rob Patridge said eight more sessions are in the works. The crowd worked in small groups to list priorities it wants the OLCC to consider. Protecting children came up over and again, especially through See MARIJUANA/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris The OLCC Commission Chair Rob Patridge addresses an audi- ence of more than 80 people about the commission’s plan to create the rules for the sale of recreational marijuana during a listening session Thursday in Pendleton. PENDLETON St. Anthony cuts 3 jobs By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian By the end of January, St. Anthony Hospital’s parent company will have laid off 1,500 employees. They’ve al- ready let go of three in Pendleton. That amounts to about 1.7 percent of the company’s 90,500 workers. The 105 hospitals in 19 states, sustained a Lo truck s s o s South te tr Staff photo by E.J. Harris c A log truck spilled its load, partially blocking traffi c Thursday near the intersection of Southgate and Southwest Hailey Avenue in Pendleton. School Choice Week highlights education options By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian National School Choice Week kicks off this weekend, remind- ing parents that traditional public school isn’t their only option for their child’s education. “The goal of School Choice Week is really to shine a positive and uplifting spotlight on all the choices parents have,” National School Choice Week President Andrew Campanella said during a conference call with reporters across the country. He said the week-long event, which was recognized by a U.S. Senate resolution Tuesday, has been criticized as an attack on public schools. But he claims that isn’t the intent. “As long as a parent is happy, that’s a good thing,” he said. “If a parent is happy sending their child to a traditional public school, that’s great.” However, sometimes public family situation makes it hard to get a student to school between the aspects of the public school cur- riculum and culture clash with a the only public school in the area has dismal test scores. In those cases, Campanella not- ed 21st century parents have more options than ever before. Online classes in particular, he said, al- low even the most rural parents to “This is a workforce reduction across the entire scope of the compa- ny,” said Larry Blanc, communications director for St. Anthony Hospital. “We had to lay off three people.” Blanc said they were non-clinical employees who will receive severance employment. He said two of those af- fected in Pendleton have already se- cured new jobs. Workforce reduction is only part of the cost-cutting strategy, Blanc said. The health system will also reduce its use of consultants and decrease trav- look at options beyond just home- schooling and public schools. “School choice has grown ex- ponentially,” he said. For students in this part of the state, however, the options are still less numerous than they are for students in more urban settings. Of all the school choice op- tions listed by the National School Choice Week organization, here’s how local offerings compare: tightening is not unique to CHI. According to Becker’s Hospital Re- view, a hospital trade publication, nu- merous hospital and health systems an- nounced or carried out layoffs in 2014. CHI’s reduction was the largest, but 37 other hospitals and health systems also announced sizable cuts. The Cleveland Clinic cut several hundred positions and about 700 employees accepted re- Virtual Academies 285 employees in its second round of layoffs in 2014. CHI, based in Colorado, recently watched its credit rating drop a notch. About 85 students in Umatilla County are enrolled in the state’s largest online school, Oregon Connections Academy. In total there are nine virtual academies See SCHOOL/8A 188 medical transcriptionist jobs. Uni- ny Standard & Poor downgraded CHI’s rating from A+ to A. The CHI website reports company assets of $21.8 billion.
