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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2015)
Craigen guilty of explosives crimes REGION/3A BUCK TRACK CLASSIC TRACK & FIELD/1B FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 139th Year, No. 111 Your Weekend • • • WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON Gov. Brown in the house Pendleton leaders talk housing at first leg of governor’s visit Night at the Children’s Museum in Pendleton Concordia University Wind Ensemble Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Banquet Catch a movie AP Photo/Lionsgate Series: Insurgent.” hour. Young estimated Keystone employees could put $650 per 2QKHU¿UVWWULSWR3HQGOHWRQ month toward housing, a num- since becoming governor, Kate ber too low for many develop- Brown started her tour in the ers to consider funding a proj- most inauspicious of places — ect. The combination of lower the crowded living room of a wages combined with stagnant model home. Surrounded by members development has led to a hous- of the business community, ing market with aging stock and Brown heard testimonials and high prices. That means many of Pend- took notes about the lack of local housing at the Pendleton leton’s top employers bring Heights development Thursday. workers from out of town. Young said roughly half of Tom Young, Pendleton city councilman and Keystone RV Keystone employees live out- ¿QDQFH PDQDJHU VDLG WKH side Pendleton while Hill Meat employees who work at Key- See BROWN/3A stone earn an average of $16 an By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian For times and places see Coming Events, 5A The second fi lm in a young adult dystopian fi ction franchise, “The Divergent One dollar Staff photo by E.J. Harris Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, center, jokes with Pendleton Mayor Phil Houk, left, as Hill Meat CEO Jim Cheney looks on during the governor’s meeting with representatives of the business community Thursday in Pendleton. For showtime, Page 5A For review, Weekend EO Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 69/48 62/36 68/43 Bill gives schools reprieve from test’s impact By PETER WONG Capital Bureau SALEM — Results from a new standardized test for Oregon students will not be used this year in compiling school report cards or teach- er evaluations under a bill that has cleared the Oregon House. House Bill 2680, which imposes a one-year delay, went to the Senate on a 48-9 House vote Thursday. The test, known as Smart- er Balanced Assessment, will be administered to stu- dents this year as part of the Common Core academic standards that Oregon and 42 other states have adopted. Oregon and 17 other states are in a consortium develop- ing the test. Last year, 4.2 See TEST/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Wildhorse Casino CEO Gary George has held that position since the tribes took over operations of the casino in 1999. Wildhorse lets it ride CEO looks back on 20 years of growth, sees future expansion As the men looked down at the pastoral scene, WKH\ZHUHGLVFRQFHUWHG$FFRUGLQJWR*HRUJHWKH\ said, “What did we get into? Where are all the peo- :LOGKRUVH &KLHI ([HFXWLYH 2I¿FHU *DU\ ple going to come from?” They needn’t have worried. Twenty years lat- *HRUJHWHOOVWKHVWRU\RIVHYHUDOJDPLQJH[HFXWLYHV ZKRÀHZRYHUWKHUHVHUYDWLRQDERXW\HDUVDJR HUWKHIDFLOLW\KDVPRUSKHGIURPDKXPEOH¿YH to get an aerial view of the site of the future casino. wide trailer into a destination resort with a 10-sto- 7KHLU$WODQWLF&LW\EDVHGFRPSDQ\&DSLWDO*DP ry hotel, golf course, RV park, cineplex and seven ing, would build and manage the operation for the restaurants. The decision to start a gaming operation on trib- ¿UVW¿YH\HDUV By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian al land wasn’t much of a gamble, at least for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser- YDWLRQVDLG*HRUJHZKRZDVWKHWULEH¶VH[HFXWLYH GLUHFWRULQWKRVHGD\V&DSLWDO*DPLQJZDVZLOOLQJ WR¿QDQFHFRQVWUXFWDQGPDQDJHWKHIDFLOLW\DQG pay the tribe $60,000 a month for use of the land. ³,WZDVDZLQGIDOO´*HRUJHVDLG³5HJDUGOHVV of how well the casino did, it was a no-lose situa- See WILDHORSE/3A Wyden asks for more public comment time for B2H By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Yesterday was the last day for public comment on the Draft En- vironmental Impact Statement for the Boardman to Hemingway trans- mission line project, but Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon asked that the comment period be extended. The Democrat sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management Wednesday expressing concern that 90 days had not been enough time for those affected to study the issue and weigh in. “Most disturbing, on a trip through Eastern Oregon last weekend, it became abundantly clear that community members had many unanswered questions,” Wyden wrote, “including whether Ida- ho Power had made the Wyden case for needing the trans- mission line and whether Oregon communities would experience any HFRQRPLF EHQH¿W RU RQO\ bear the costs of a large structure transecting their properties.” The proposed trans- mission line would stretch from Boardman to just outside Boise, potentially FURVVLQJ IDUPODQG LQ ¿YH Eastern Oregon counties. More than 20 local farm- ers showed up at a Feb- ruary public hearing to voice their opposition. Wyden’s letter stated he appreci- ates the bureau’s efforts to conduct the DEIS process in a timely man- ner, and he understands the bureau ZLOOFRQWLQXHWRZRUNZLWKWKH¿YH Oregon counties after the comment period closes, but he doesn’t believe “this represents an adequate sub- stitute for the public comment pro- cess.” “My position, however, is that all parties — BLM, Idaho Power and See WYDEN/10A
