WWII plane
takes fl ight
BMCC BRINGS HOME
FIRST NATIONAL TITLE
WOMEN’S RODEO/1B
NORTHWEST/2A
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TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015
139th Year, No. 178
WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
One dollar
PENDLETON
Demolition in the works
as bill awaits signature
Cost is $1.2 million to destroy BMRC, training center
East Oregonian
Despite not yet having Gov. Kate Brown’s
signature on a bill transferring the land from
the state to Pendleton, the Oregon Department
of Administrative Services is moving ahead
with demolition plans for the Blue Mountain
Recovery Center and the Eastern Oregon
Training Center.
Spokesman Matt Shelby said DAS has
already selected a demolition company, which
will start abating the properties on June 29.
Abatement will run through the following
six to seven weeks followed by salvaging and
demolition, with the property ready to turn
over to the city by the end of October.
The project was awarded to 3 Kings Envi-
ronmental of Battle Ground, Washington, for
more than $1.2 million, which is slightly above
the $1 million the Legislature appropriated for
the project.
“That’s just something we’re going to have
to manage within the DAS budget,” Shelby
said.
Passage of the land transfer bill has long
been considered a formality, allowing DAS to
start planning for the demolitions months ago.
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available land could attract new businesses
and housing developments and create as many
as 80 jobs. The BMRC is near the Eastern
Oregon Correctional Institution on the south
side of Westgate and the training center land is
on the north side of the road.
The land will be handed over to the city on
Jan. 1, 2016.
Air Nuestel
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Taylor Neustel, 17, catches air Sunday at the Rudy Rada Skatepark in Pendle-
ton. Neustel landed rubber-side down.
Democrats
propose
tax hikes
Estimated to raise nearly
$50 million in new revenue
over the next two-years
By JONATHAN J. COOPER
Associated Press
orate. Despite the turmoil, however, she
dreamed of completing college.
To Sacco, the diploma she received
this month from Blue Mountain
Community College is more than
paper, ink and a faux leather cover
— it is evidence the human spirit can
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offered compassion and a hand up.
SALEM — Democrats in the state
House on Monday proposed raising a
variety of taxes — on premium cigars,
certain businesses and some individual
taxpayers — and using the money to
extend expiring tax credits that help
people with low incomes.
The chairman of the House Revenue
Committee said the committee should
take up the bill
on Tuesday and
“If this is
decide whether
to forward it to
constitutional,
the full House.
M o s t that part of the
Oregon
tax constitution has
credits are set to
no meaning.”
expire every six
years, giving
l a w m a k e r s — Rep. John Davis,
a chance to R-Wilsonville, serves on
the revenue panel
decide period-
ically whether
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dropped. The Democratic bill would
continue a variety of credits, most of
them aimed at helping working families,
children and people with disabilities. The
Earned-Income Tax Credit, a popular
option for people who work for low
wages, would be expanded so more
people qualify.
“We’re trying to do good policy, with
See GRADUATE/8A
See TAXES/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Carlin Sacoo, 26, camped in this grove of trees during her fi rst months of attending Blue Mountain Community
College. Sacco overcame homelessness and other challenges to earn a two-year transfer degree.
Homeless, not hopeless
Student earns degree at BMCC while living in tent near campus
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
While most college students drove
home after class, Carlin Sacco stowed
her books in a locker and hiked to a tent
hidden in a grove of trees.
After graduating from Blue Moun-
tain Community College this month,
Sacco stood near the bank of the
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lessness early in her college experience.
She camped on the woodsy patch
of ground near the college, sleeping
under the arched branches of a maple
tree and listened to the sounds of cars
roaring down Interstate 84. Sometimes
she awoke in a puddle of rain that had
seeped through rips in the tent.
The 26-year-old admits that her path
to homeless was partly due to poor life
choices on which she isn’t eager to elab-
PENDLETON
Neighbors pitch in to
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One home destroyed
on Ponderosa Lane
East Oregonian
Photo contributed by Chelsea Pace
Matthew Raz sprays water on a fi re behind his neighbors’ house Satur-
day before the Pendleton Fire Department arrived.
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afternoon.
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tigating the cause of the two-story
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Reservation. Tribal Fire Chief Rob
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house at 69818 Ponderosa Lane in
the Poverty Flats area at 1:44 p.m.
Although the house was a total
loss, the homeowner got out safely
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received mutual aid from Pend-
leton Fire and Emergency Services,
Pilot Rock Rural Fire Protection
District, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Oregon Department
of Transportation.
About an hour earlier and 18
miles away, neighbors pitched
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spreading to a nearby house on
Broadlane Avenue in Pendleton.
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See FIRE/3A