Hermiston cleans up DAWGS LOSE IN EXTRA INNINGS BASEBALL/1B 64/39 REGION/3A WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015 139th Year, No. 139 WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar PENDLETON Police, airport get boost in budget Property tax revenue falls short of projections By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Teacher Brianna Conlon plays with four-month-old Oliver (last name withheld), on Monday at the Pioneer Relief Nursery in Pendleton. Relief nursery grapples with funding shortfall Children overcome lives of uncertainty, stress and poverty By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Barb Ceniga worries about money — that’s part of her job as executive director of the Pioneer Relief Nursery in Pendleton. The worry ratcheted up a notch, however, when Ceniga learned last month that the nursery wouldn’t receive expected funds from United Way in 2015. Support for United Way has eroded over the past several years DQGWKHQXUVHU\ZDVRQHRI¿YHRUJDQL]DWLRQV to have funding requests rejected. The local United Way campaign raised about $137,000 this year, compared with $353,000 in 2005. “We expected to get $10,000 from United Way in a grant,” Ceniga said. “We’ll still get $1,300 in pledges, but it leaves a hole. We QHHGWR¿QGUHSODFHPHQWIXQGV´ The center provides respite care and therapeutic early learning for kids at risk for abuse and neglect. “These children live in toxic stress,” Ceniga said. “They live in uncertainty. Many of them experience dire poverty.” Parents are in survival mode, battered by unemployment, drug addiction, domestic violence or other stressors. Their children, Benefi t concert What: Dakota Brown and Luke Basile Where: Pendleton Center for the Arts When: Thursday, April 30, 6:30-9 p.m. How much: $40 for music, light dinner and one pour of wine or beer. Proceeds go to Pioneer Relief Nursery. immersed in the upheaval, pay a steep price. “Most of the children have reduced language ability,” Ceniga said. “They come with hostility. They are withdrawn.” Over time, she said, they learn to share, trust, make choices and form bonds with other children. The instructors, trained as See NURSERY/8A State considers gun bill targeting domestic abusers By SHEILA V KUMAR Associated Press SALEM — Advocates of gun control often say states that have expanded background checks have far fewer women gunned down by their domestic partners. Now, lawmakers in Oregon are targeting convicted domestic abusers directly with legislation making it harder for WKHPWRNHHSWKHLU¿UHDUPV Under the bill, Oregon law enforcing it and no current Oregon statute matching the federal version, said bill sponsor Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, a Democrat from Gresham. — Ellen Rosenblum, state Attorney General The measure closes that gap and brings Oregon in line with 19 other states that have passed HQIRUFHPHQW RI¿FLDOV ZRXOG after a hearing. KDYHWKHDXWKRULW\WRFRQ¿VFDWH There is a federal law prohib- similar bills, she said. The bill’s backers say women WKH¿UHDUPVRISHRSOHFRQYLFWHG iting certain domestic-violence of a misdemeanor crime of offenders adjudicated by the are more likely to be killed if domestic violence against an FRXUWVIURPSRVVHVVLQJD¿UHDUP their abuser owns a gun. Of the intimate partner or subject to a But there are only 14 federal See VIOLENCE/8A restraining order that was upheld agents in the state capable of “Research shows that domestic abusers who possess guns tend to use them as part of their pattern of abuse.” Despite being hot topics for city council discussion, the major development in Pend- leton’s 2015-2016 proposed budget wasn’t related to streets or the airport’s unmanned aerial systems range. Instead, parts of the $53.2 million budget ZLOO SURYLGH D VLJQL¿FDQW ERRVW WR SXEOLF safety. At a meeting Tuesday morning, the city’s budget committee reviewed the general fund, which covers police, emergency services and many other city departments. Though the general fund will see a decrease from $15.7 million last year to $15.4 million, small increases were made to the police and emergency services budget to accommodate hiring four new personnel. 2QH QHZ RI¿FHU ZLOO EH DGGHG WR WKH ranks of the Pendleton Police Department. According to the budget, the position was agreed upon during negotiations with the police union in 2013 and will be the ¿UVWVZRUQSRVLWLRQDGGHGWRWKHGHSDUWPHQW since the late 1960s. See PENDLETON/8A MILTON-FREEWATER Gun club a go to grow By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Umatilla County Board of Commis- sioners approved changes in local land use laws that would allow gun clubs to expand IDFLOLWLHVIRU¿UHDUPVWUDLQLQJ7KH(QG5RG & Gun Club of Milton-Freewater has been waiting for this since last year. The approval came during a land use hearing Tuesday morning at the Umatilla County Courthouse, Pendleton, and it follows the county planning commission’s unanimous vote Thursday night in favor of amending the county code. County planning director Tamra Mabbott LQDPHPRH[SODLQHGWKHDPHQGPHQW¿OOVLQ a blank because the county code “does not expressly permit nor does it prohibit expan- VLRQ RI ¿UHDUPV WUDLQLQJ IDFLOLWLHV´ 7KH “code conundrum,” Mabbott wrote, came to light when property owners neighboring the See GUN CLUB/8A BOARDMAN Controlled burn gets away from city crews By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian )LUH¿JKWHUV UDFHG WR FRQWDLQ D ¿YHDFUHEOD]H7XHVGD\DIWHUQRRQ in Boardman after a controlled burn got away from city employees. Boardman Fire Chief Marc Rogelstad said the Public Works Department was burning tumble- weeds at North Main Street and Marina Drive when winds picked XSDQGVSUHDGWKHÀDPHVLQWRGU\ cheatgrass and sage brush. 7KH ¿UH SXVKHG QRUWKHDVW ² away from downtown — before it was surrounded by crews from Boardman and Irrigon. No build- ings were damaged and no one was hurt. City workers had taken safety precautions before burning, Rogel- stad said, but were caught unpre- pared by the wind that picked up to about 10-15 mph. “The wind picked up and carried it into the sagebrush, and away it went,” he said. Additional water trucks were brought in from the Port of Morrow and Dodge Logging Company to Staff photo by E.J. Harris KHOS FDWFK WKH ¿UH 3XEOLF ZRUNV Firefi ghters work to douse a fi ve-acre fi re Tuesday afternoon in Boardman also remained on scene to assist after a controlled burn got away from city employees. ¿UH¿JKWHUV