Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2015)
Page 8A East Oregonian OFF PAGE ONE SCHOOL: ‘We do not have a revenue problem; we have a commitment problem’ the budget is formulated over the next couple of months, able to earmark more from Peterson said school pro- the tax-supported general grams could be adversely fund with a rising economy. affected. “We do not have a revenue Local administrators problem; we have a commit- weren’t assuaged by the pos- ment problem,” Davis said. sibility of more money com- “When will it ever be enough ing through the May revenue to make that commitment?” forecast. Reached Tuesday after- According to Peterson noon, Umatilla School Dis- and Sipe, by the time schools trict Superintendent Heidi received the extra money, Sipe said she and her ad- districts would be left with ministration were already no time to recruit or rehire meeting to discuss potential teachers. budget cuts. The local district best Sipe said she will have poised to weather the budget to cut staff to meet the more is the Hermiston School Dis- than $650,000 in cuts the trict. district will have to make if Because of Hermiston’s it doesn’t get any more state expanding student popula- funding. tion, Superintendent Fred 8PDWLOOD VFKRRO RI¿FLDOV Maiocco said the district has have already cut program- enough funding to avoid staff ming to the bone and are now layoffs. MXVW WU\LQJ WR ¿QG D ZD\ WR Still, Maiocco called the meet the state’s minimum re- state budget “woefully in- quirement. adequate” while adding that “We’re hacking off decreased professional de- limbs,” she said. velopment and increased In Pendleton, Superin- class sizes could happen as a tendent Jon Peterson said result. his district would also be in As a member of the Ways “budget cutting mode.” and Means Committee, state :KLOH VSHFL¿F FXWV Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, wouldn’t be discussed until has already voted against the Continued from 1A proposed education budget. Hansell said he’ll vote against it again when it ar- ULYHVRQWKHVHQDWHÀRRUXQ- less the budget is raised to $7.5 million. The senator said he is a part of a “superminority” of Republicans in the Legisla- ture that have taken the un- usual route of proposing a larger education budget than their Democratic counter- parts. Hansell said Republicans are pushing for a larger bud- get because of the state’s re- cent woes in educational per- formance. “Oregon is in a world of hurt,” he said. The Oregon Education Association, the state’s larg- est teachers’ union, has not endorsed a dollar amount. But its president said law- makers should fund current operations before new ini- tiatives such as increased spending on early childhood education, reading skills, and school-to-work and high school completion programs. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. ENVIRONMENT: Republican-controlled House from 1990-2006 istered lobbyist for the group, said coalition members start- The environmental lobby ed to come up with annual does have several advan- lists of bills they could agree tages, including strength in upon called “priorities for a numbers and strong support healthy Oregon.” from Democratic lawmakers The environmental lob- this session. At least 55 regis- by’s top priorities today are tered lobbyists represent en- two bills they describe as vironmental interests in Ore- “coal to clean”: Senate Bill gon, and most are employees 477 and House Bill 2729. of the groups they represent Both would require utili- and do other work in addi- ties to stop generating or pur- tion to lobbying. In addition, chasing electricity from coal Splitt said there are pro-en- power plants by 2025. The vironment majorities in both Senate version would also chambers. require companies to replace Environmentalists did not coal power with electrici- always enjoy such a strong ty from sources “at least 90 position in Oregon. The Or- percent cleaner than coal-de- egon Conservation Network rived generating resources,” formed 20 years ago at a according to a legislative time when environmentalists summary. VSHQW D ORW RI WLPH ¿JKWLQJ Splitt said other priorities bills aimed at undermining this year include a bill to re- “good” legislation passed in quire private forestland own- the 1970s, Splitt said. Re- ers to provide notice to the publicans had control of the state and keep other records House from 1990 to 2006, of their use of pesticides, a and the Senate from 1994 to bill to appropriate money for 2002. the Oregon Department of “I think folks were feel- Fish and Wildlife to spend on ing pretty frustrated with bad conservation and legislation bills passing,” and decided to that would allow the state to create a coalition to focus on end a mandate to generate shared priorities, Splitt said. revenue from timber harvests “The group organized at the on some public forests. time pretty much played de- Environmental groups are fense.” also pushing for the passage A decade ago, the coali- of legislation that would pre- tion decided to stop playing serve or create incentives for defense and begin proposing a range of solar projects, from more new legislation. Rhett residential to utility scale fa- Lawrence, conservation di- cilities. Lawrence said solar rector for the Oregon chapter energy “still needs a little bit of the Sierra Club and a reg- of a hand in the next step in Continued from 1A putting it on a level playing ¿HOGZLWKIRVVLOIXHO´ Splitt said environmental groups also want money for public transit to be included in any funding package for street maintenance and other transportation projects. The outlook for that package is unclear, since Republicans stopped participating in talks after Democrats passed the low-carbon fuel bill. Some groups lobbying on the coal power bills and other environmental issues are not strictly environmental groups. Bob Jenks, executive di- rector of the Citizens Utility Board of Oregon, said the group supports the coal legis- lation because governments will eventually regulate car- bon emissions and ratepayers could save money if utilities begin to more aggressively reduce carbon now. Wednesday, April 1, 2015 GEM: Old roof comes off in June +DQVHOOKDGKLV¿UVWGDWHDW the Gem, is nostalgic about some of the smaller projects the old theater where he saw using grants and money do- “King Kong” and munched nated by community mem- popcorn. He remembers bers, said board member Sam Dugger keeping the young Pambrun. They replaced an moviegoers in line. outside brick wall, gutted “He policed the place,” the theater and replaced Pambrun said. “He didn’t the saloon’s façade. Now, yell, but if you were mak- with a $400,000 infusion, ing noise, he would crook they can forge ahead with KLV¿QJHUDW\RX´ the really big-ticket items Nostalgia, though, will VXFK DV UHSODFLQJ WKH ÀDW only get you so far. There’s leak-prone roof and mov- also hours of study, discus- ing a wall 30 feet out to sion and planning — not to DFFRPPRGDWH D VWDJH À\ mention the sweat and sore space and dressing rooms. muscles from physical la- In late 2013, the Ford Fam- bor. McIntyre, who teaches ily Foundation awarded a music at Weston-McEwen $200,000 matching grant High School, orchestrates to the group. In March, the the action. M.J. Murdock Charitable “Rob — he’s the one Trust provided the needed who makes things happen,” $200,000 match. Pambrun said. Pambrun, who like The new theater will Continued from 1A include touches of the old. Sixty original balcony seats were removed and restored. An art deco clock advertis- ing Folsom Funeral Home will go back on the wall. The original project equip- ment will be on display. %XW¿UVWWKHUH¶VDORWRI work to be done. The old roof will come off in June. Volunteers, McIntyre said, are welcome. “We’re looking for mus- cle,” he said. To view drawings of the future Gem and learn more, go to www.gemtheater.org. The group continues to raise funds through the sale of pavers engraved with up to 50 characters for $125. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. FREEDOM: Wants to clarify law by end of the week Continued from 1A Last week, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the state Religious Freedom Resto- ration Act, giving height- ened protections to busi- nesses and individuals who object on religious grounds to providing certain ser- vices. The law triggered a swift and intense backlash from gay rights supporters, businesses such as Apple, and some states, which barred government-funded travel to Indiana. Critics of the law say the intent is to discriminate against gays. They fear, for example, that caterers, ÀRULVWV SKRWRJUDSKHUV DQG bakers with religious ob- jections to same-sex mar- riage will be allowed to refuse to do business with gay couples. Supporters of the law say it will only give religious objectors a chance to bring their case before a judge. On Tuesday, Pence said he wants the Legislature to present him a bill by the end of the week clarify- ing that the new law does not allow discrimination against gays. Pence said he does not believe lawmakers intended “to create a license to dis- criminate.” But he added: “I can appreciate that that’s become the perception, not just here in Indiana but all across the country.” Douglas Laycock, a constitutional scholar at the University of Virginia Law School who helped win passage of the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Resto- ration Act, said no one has ever successfully used such laws to override nondis- crimination statutes. He ex- pressed frustration that gay rights advocates seem to be ignoring this in their attack on the Indiana law. CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT CLASS Oregon - Utah - Valid 35 States PENDLETON Red Lion - 304 SE Nye Ave. April 2 nd • 1:00 pm or 6:00 pm Walk-Ins Welcome! OR/Utah: (Valid in WA) $80.00 or Oregon only: $45 www.FirearmTrainingNW.com • FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com 360-921-2071 THEY KNOW what’s going on in state government Mom has always been so patient, but now when I ask her questions she gets angry. IT’S NOT LIKE HER. Isn’t it time YOU did? O regon Ca pita l In sider is con cise origin a l reportin g on sta te govern m en t a ctivity, people a n d tren ds delivered w eek ly via e-m a il FREE THREE-WEEK sample subscription OregonCapitalInsider.com • 844-297-8634 WE CAN HELP. Call us with questions about aging and Alzheimer’s. 1-855-ORE-ADRC HelpForAlz.org OREGON DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAM
