Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2015)
Pendleton student brings airsoft guns onto school bus 3A BMCC LOSES IN FINAL SECONDS WOMEN’S BBALL/1B 46/34 THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 139th Year, No. 75 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Most local schools beat state graduation rates In Morrow County and most of Uma- tilla County, however, rates are more in line with the national average. By JADE MCDOWELL and ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Oregon’s graduation rate increased slightly in 2014, but that may just be on paper. The rates released by the Oregon Department of Education this week re- ÀHFWDQHZ³FRKRUW´JUDGXDWLRQUDWHWKDW FRXQWVPRGL¿HGGLSORPDVDQGVWXGHQWV who met the requirements for a diploma DIWHUIRXU\HDUVEXWFKRVHWRVWD\D¿IWK to take community college classes on the state’s dime. The resulting bump in graduation rates, then, from 69 percent in 2013 to 72 percent in 2014 can be at least partial- ly attributed to the change. Oregon ranked 49th in the country in 2013, more than 10 percent below the national graduation rate of 80 percent. Morrow County Morrow County School District was well higher than the state average with an 83 percent graduation rate for the class of 2014, up from a 71 percent on- time graduation rate in 2013. Within the district, Irrigon High School was at 79 percent and 83 percent of Riverside Jr./ Sr. High School students earned a diplo- ma in four years. Heppner Jr./Sr. High School had the district’s highest graduation rate at 96 percent after only one of its 27 seniors did not graduate on time. Heppner head teacher Greg Grant said parent-teacher collaboration is key to getting students successfully through graduation. The district has revamped 2014 Graduation rates Athena-Weston: Echo: Helix: Hermiston: Ione: Milton-Freewater: Morrow County: Pendleton: Pilot Rock: Stanfi eld: Ukiah: Umatilla: 88% 95% 100% 68%* 88% 77%* 83% 72%* 96% 79% 100% 67% *Includes alternative school students its parent-teacher conferences to facili- tate more meeting time between teams of teachers and individual parents. See GRADUATION/6A EO fi le photo Weyekin Bill, Autum Barnes and Elexas Bearchum watch the fi nal graduates accept their diplomas during Pendleton’s 2014 graduation ceremony at the Pendle- ton Convention Center. Wyden warns rural counties being robbed By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Sen. Bill Hansell speaks about an attack ad levied against him by the Capitol Watch PAC during a meeting of the Milton-Free- water Tea Party Patriots. Tea Party hosts senator Hansell checks pulse of far right constituency after attack ad By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian An attack ad this month ac- cused Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athe- na, of not caring about the opin- ions of his District 29 constituents. The ad, which appeared in the East Oregonian and La Grande Observer, came from a former Oregon Representative Jeff Kro- pf, of Sublimity, who founded the ultra-conservative Capitol Watch PAC. The group attempted to skewer Hansell for supporting un- documented immigrants getting driver’s cards, Cover Oregon, the Columbia River Crossing project and a bill to release certain crimi- nal offenders early. On Wednesday night, Hansell JRWDFKDQFHWR¿QGRXWLIKLVGLV trict’s right wingers share Kropf’s views at a town hall hosted by the Milton-Freewater Tea Party Patri- ots. Larry Nye, who moderated the meeting and coordinates the Tea Party Patriots, said the session was planned long before the ad appeared. Hansell requested the opportunity to both listen to local opinions and speak about the up- coming legislative session. The 40-person crowd gathered at the Milton-Freewater Ameri- can Legion Hall included elected RI¿FLDOV7HD 3DUW\ PHPEHUV DQG others. Hansell told them he was in Myanmar when the ads published, serving as part of a three-man team training government lead- ers who are moving from military See HANSELL/6A Boston buried by two feet of snow BOSTON (AP) — Boston bounced back quickly Wednesday from the Blizzard of 2015, with subways, bus- es and trains up and running again the morning after the storm buried a swath of New England in 2 to 3 feet of snow. Many businesses reopened, as did Logan Airport, and homeowners, mo- torists and storekeepers dug out with grudging praise for the forecasters, who missed the mark in New York but got it right in New England. Chris Laudani, a Boston bartender, became an instant symbol of the city’s resilience for shoveling snow off the \HOORZDQGEOXH%RVWRQ0DUDWKRQ¿Q ish line on Boylston Street, where the 2013 terrorist bombing killed three people and wounded more than 260. AP Photo/The Hartford Courant, Mark Mirko ³)RUVRPHRQHWREUDYHWKHEOL]]DUG Joe Baton, left, and Austin Atlas clean a Mansfi eld sidewalk WRFOHDURXU¿QLVKOLQHIRUXVLV\HWDQ after a winter storm, Wednesday in Mansfi eld, Conn. The storm buried the Boston area in more than 2 feet of snow and See BLIZZARD/6A lashed it with howling winds that exceeded 70 mph. In 2014 Umatilla County lost out on more than $860,000 because Congress did not reauthorize the federal law that reimburses counties for a lack of timber harvest revenue from national forests. But on Tuesday, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, announced he is leading the charge for Congress to re- up the Secure Rural Schools and Com- munity Self-Determination Act that Congress let lapse, in hopes of restoring those dollars. ³<RXU FRXQWLHV DUH EHLQJ UREEHG´ is the headline of a letter Wyden sent WRIHOORZVHQDWRUVIROORZHGE\³'RQ¶W VWDQGRQWKHVLGHOLQHVDQGOHWLWKDSSHQ´ Wyden has been a strong backer of the law and in public forums has called it a promise the federal government made to counties. Oregon counties — like those in other Western states — came to rely on the annual payments. Umatilla County in April 2014 would have received $933,094 from the pro- gram. But with the lapse, it received just $72,008 under the Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act of 1908, which also helps make up the lack of revenue but at a far lower rate. Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock said the payment pro- gram is not too big of a deal here be- cause there is not much national forest within county lines. While more than $930,000 is serious money, Umatilla County has a total budget of about $61 million and a general fund around $25 million. But throughout Oregon and the West, Murdock said, the payments mat- ter. Morrow County would have re- ceived $177,667 from the program, and instead received $26,503 via the 1908 act. Payments to Umatilla and Morrow counties are small potatoes compared to Oregon’s timber-thick counties. Ac- cording to Wyden’s information, Lin- coln County lost $8.4 million, Grant County lost $9.1 million and Lake County missed out on $11.1 million. According to the U.S. Forest Ser- vice, Oregon would have received almost $68 million in 2014-15 if the program continued, by far the most of any state. California would have been second with more than $35.6 million. Wyden reported Oregon instead received almost $6.2 million, and FRXQWLHV DUH IDFHG ZLWK ³VODVKLQJ FULW ical budgets such as law enforcement, VFKRROVDQGURDGPDLQWHQDQFH´ Secure Rural Schools, or SRS, ex- pired in 2006, and Congress extended the act each year at a reduced level until the 2014 session, although the president’s 2015 budget supported a ¿YH\HDU SODQ WR HDVH FRXQWLHV RII WKH payments. Congress in 2008 approved a four- year, $3.3 billion extension of the act and Oregon counties received $740 million of that. ——— Contact Phil Wright at pwright@ea- storegonian.com or 541-966-0833.
