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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2015)
Page 8A East Oregonian MARIJUANA: Roberts said he has seen more pot-related DUII arrests on that to make a difference? I don’t know.” in November 2016. Councilman Al Plute There is a drawback if said banning recreational the city decides to opt out of marijuana sales would cost any of the four recreational the city money because of a marijuana retail categories product that’s already being — producer, processor, bought and sold on the black wholesaler and retailer. If market. just one of those categories “The bulk of the state, are banned by the council or regardless of what Eastern voters, the city wouldn’t be Oregon voted, the state voted able to impose a tax of up to go forward with that,” he to 3 percent of local sales or said. “So if ... we block it, have access to the state tax we don’t get the money for revenue sharing system. the problems we’re going to Councilman Chuck Wood have anyway.” said medical marijuana Roberts said he has seen an wouldn’t be taxed under increase in marijuana-related House Bill 3400. DUII arrests in the month Some councilors were recreational marijuana has skeptical that taxes derived been legal. Roberts said one from recreational marijuana of his concerns was the local would be enough to cover drug task force would lose the potential increased cost the $130,000 it gets from the of public safety from mari- federal government because juana-related crimes. of Measure 91’s passage. Police Chief Stuart City Attorney Nancy Roberts said he was unsure Kerns suggested the council how much funding it would wait to take action until after take to address the issue. the League of Oregon Cities “We operate with a staff releases a guide to the new level, for the most part, marijuana laws later this that’s minimally adequate,” month. Roberts said. “Any dollars ——— are precious as far as I’m Contact Antonio Sierra at concerned. But is there asierra@eastoregonian.com HQRXJK IRU VXI¿FLHQW UHWXUQ or 541-966-0836. Continued from 1A FAITH: Committee provides volunteers to staff a number of city and school projects Continued from 1A sensitive about separation of church and state, avoiding proselytizing and sticking to nonreligious projects like neighborhood clean-ups. But the faith of the seven committee members — which includes city councilman Rod Hardin and leaders of various local denominations — inevitably shines through. Most of Fraley’s stories about the work of the committee include the words “and then he said he would pray about it and get back to me.” Fraley said he understands that some people are very sensitive about any connec- tion between church and state, but he thinks having a committee of leaders from the faith-based community plays a valuable role in passing city information on to local congregations while also allowing the city to tap into a demographic that tends to include a high number of ready and willing volunteers. “It’s a place to touch base, where before there was no connecting point,” he said. The committee has provided the volunteers to staff a number of city and school projects, including the city’s free recycling day in April. In one of its ongoing projects, each local school was “adopted” by a local congregation. Fraley said his congregation adopted Desert View Elementary, where the church provides volunteers for events and occasionally brings treats for the staff. “We reach out to the teachers there to one, let them know we care, two, let them know we’re not there to proselytize and three, let them know they can call on us when they need anything,” he said. The committee’s latest project is called Family Promise. During Tuesday’s committee meeting Pastor James Lafolette of Oasis Vineyard explained that joining the national Family Promise program would provide the committee an opportunity to match trained volunteer mentors with families that are homeless or in similarly disadvantaged positions. “What we’re proposing is a mentoring program, where “I think the longterm implications are incredibly promising for our community.” — Craig Fraley, chair of the Faith-Based Advisory Committee we would take them by the hand and walk them through how to become more self-re- liant,” Lafolette said. “... We want to help individuals and families become independent, self-sustaining members of the community.” The committee was hoping to hire a coordinator, paid for by seed money the city recently promised the committee, by the end of July, but won’t be ready for at least another month. Lafolette said the coordinator would help train volunteers on connecting families with resources and recognizing the line between helping and enabling. Families would be in the program, which will likely begin in the spring, for about a year before ideally being able to carry on without it. Lafollete also shared information about getting F QRQSUR¿W VWDWXV IRU the program and said that Dave Hughes of Martha’s +RXVHKDGRIIHUHGIUHHRI¿FH space for the Family Promise coordinator. Fraley said he is “abso- lutely jazzed” about Family Promise. “This has so much poten- tial for the community of Hermiston if we do it right,” he said. He said forming connec- tions with Hermiston School District during his work on the Faith-Based Advisory Committee has really opened his eyes to the number of families in the community struggling with poverty and dysfunction. He said focusing on getting some of those families into a more stable position in the community is his top priority for the Faith-Based Advisory Committee right now. “I think the longterm implications are incredibly promising for our commu- nity,” he said. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastoregonian. com or 541-564-4536. Friday, August 7, 2015 OFF PAGE ONE JAPAN: Group will depart from Oregon August 18 Continued from 1A host families. The relationship between the two cities started in 1998 when they began hosting each other’s exchange students. Pendleton took a break in 2011 after a magni- tude 9 earthquake unleashed a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people and damaged a nuclear facility in the Fukushima Prefecture where Minamisoma is located. A contingent of six Pendleton students returned recently from Minamisoma with stories to tell. For those, be sure to read next week’s story in the East Oregonian. On the Japanese students’ ¿UVW GD\ LQ WKH 5RXQG8S City, the Pendleton police hosted them at the depart- ment’s training range near the airport. Besides shooting a Taser gun, the students ZDWFKHG FDQLQH RI¿FHU -RQ Lehman put a drug-de- tecting dog named Lucy through her paces. They REVHUYHG RI¿FHUV WUDLQLQJ in a use-of-force scenario. They shot a beanbag gun. They learned how to use D EDWRQ ¿UVW SUDFWLFLQJ RQ a rubber dummy named “Bob” and then facing 2I¿FHU -' /DPEHUW ZKR wore a padded body suit. The students attacked him one by one. One of the girls, apologized before she commenced. “I’m sorry,” she told Lambert. “I’m sorry.” The contingent from the )DU(DVWVSHQWWKH¿UVWSDUWRI the morning at the Pendleton Woolen Mills. They donned headphones and walked into the world of weaving. The hum of high-speed looms enveloped them as guide Lacie Schilling described Staff photo by E.J. Harris Ena Kanazawa, an exchange student from Pendleton’s sister city of Minamisoma, Japan, uses a foam baton to strike a practice dummy while learning about police tactics at the Pendleton Police Department’s firing range on Thursday in Pendleton. what they were seeing as they followed the process from wool to yarn to blanket. Schilling stopped every few sentences to let the group’s leader and translator, Tak Haneda, paraphrase what she had just said. At 11 a.m., the students trooped into the Pendleton City Hall for a formal welcome by city councilors. On the way in, most stopped in the hallway near the City Council Chambers to look at a framed letter from Mina- misoma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai and the formal sister city agreement. In the chambers, City Councilor McKennon McDonald read a letter of welcome from Hiroshi Furusawa, of the Consul *HQHUDO &RQVXODU 2I¿FH of Japan in Portland. He advised them to express appreciation for “this precious opportunity” and said “people from Oregon ZHUH VRPH RI WKH ¿UVW people to go to the Tohoku (region where Minamisoma is located) area after the earthquake and tsunami four years ago to volunteer and offer support.” After statements of welcome, the teens introduced themselves, one by one. One of them, 16-year-old Akari Yamazaki, said, “I’m very happy. I love Pendleton.” City Councilor Jane Hill alluded to the somber anniversary of the U.S. dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, 70 years ago to the day. She said she preferred to remember another anniver- sary - 20 years ago when WKH ¿UVW IRUPDO FRQWLQJHQW from Pendleton, that year’s Round-Up Court, visited Minamisoma. This year, Pendleton students delivered a gift to Minamisoma leaders of a crystal vase bearing the Round-Up logo. On Thursday, Haneda bestowed Minamisoma’s gift to Pend- leton, a carving of a samurai horseman. 7KH ¿UVW GD\ DOVR included lunch and video games at Big John’s Pizza, ride-alongs with Pendleton SROLFHRI¿FHUVDFRROGULQN DWWKH*UHDW3DFL¿FDVWUROO down Main Street with historian Keith May, a visit to the Pendleton Center for WKH$UWVDQGVHO¿HVZLWKWKH “Sisters in Spirit” statue. In the coming days, the group will visit Walla Walla, stay in cabins at the Bar M Ranch and explore more of Pendleton. Before their Aug. 18 departure, they will visit Multnomah Falls, the Nike World Headquarter and the Oregon Zoo. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. DEBATE: Bush defended his call for path to legal immigration Continued from 1A of the contenders standing alongside him clamored for their piece of the spotlight without engaging him directly. They quarreled over immigration, terrorism and gay marriage, each casting himself as the strongest to take on Democratic front- runner Hillary Rodham Clinton. They also assailed President Barack Obama and his nuclear deal with Iran. The closest former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a favorite of the party’s moderate, establishment wing, came to tangling with Trump was a gentle critique of the businessman’s over-the-top rhetoric. “Mr. Trump’s language is divisive,” Bush said. “We’re not going to win by doing what Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do every day — dividing the country.” On immigration, one of the main topics of the night, Bush defended his call for a path to legal status for some of the people living in the U.S. illegally, an unpopular position among some Repub- lican voters who equate legal status with amnesty. Trump in particular has pushed the issue of immigra- tion throughout the summer, drawing criticism for saying Mexican immigrants are rapists. He said Thursday that he had been told that by border patrol agents, and he took credit for immigration being an issue in the campaign. Trump’s blunt style was in line with the approach he’s taken to his campaign throughout the summer, appealing to voters frustrated with career politicians and perplexing his rivals. He HQWHUHGWKH¿UVWGHEDWHOHDGLQJ WKHSROOVLQD¿HOG¿OOHGZLWK governors and senators. Seventeen Republicans FACT CHECK GOP candidates veer from the truth in 1st debate WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the claims in the Cleveland debate and how they compare with the facts: DONALD TRUMP: “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be talking about illegal immigration.” THE FACTS: Republicans have been talking about immigration for at least 30 years, including former President George : %XVK DQG WKH 5HSXEOLFDQ ¿HOG LQ WKH 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. In 2013, an immigration overhaul seeking to address illegal immigration passed the Senate with strong Republican support, although the House never took it up. And Republican debate about immigration has RQO\ LQWHQVL¿HG LQ WKH ZDNH RI 3UHVLGHQW Barack Obama’s sweeping executive action shielding from deportation millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally. JEB BUSH, on his goal of 4 percent economic growth: “We can do this.” THE FACTS: Most economists say the U.S. under any president is unlikely to grow consistently at even close to 4 percent, ODUJHO\GXHWRWKHGLI¿FXOW\RIRYHUFRPLQJ decades-long trends. Current forecasts put growth averaging half the rate of Bush’s goal. To grow the economy faster, the country must either add PRUHZRUNHUVRULQFUHDVHWKHLUHI¿FLHQF\VR their time on the job generates more income. The retirement of the baby boom generation will shrink the number of workers in the economy, making a huge increase of new employees unlikely. Only four of the 16 presidential terms since World War II have experienced annual economic growth averaging more than 4 SHUFHQWDIWHULQÀDWLRQDFFRUGLQJWRUHVHDUFK published last year by Princeton University economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson. are seeking the party’s nomination, but only 10 were invited by debate host Fox News to participate in the main event based on their showing in recent polls. The remaining seven were rele- gated to a pre-debate forum. On stage in his home state, Ohio Gov. John Kasich BUSH: “You get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something that doesn’t suppress wages and kill jobs.” THE FACTS: According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate was 9.9 percent in March 2010, when Obama signed the Affordable Care Act. In June of this year, it had fallen to 5.3 percent. The economy has added more than 12 million jobs since March 2010. While the health care law doesn’t seem to have had a major impact on jobs, some lesser consequences are likely. The &RQJUHVVLRQDO %XGJHW 2I¿FH SURMHFWHG that having government subsidized health insurance will prompt some people to leave the labor market, since they can get coverage without a job. And although Republicans may be able to repeal Obama’s law, it’s unclear if and how they would replace it. The party has yet to rally behind a plan of its own, partly because of internal ideological differences. Some Republicans say it would be the 2016 presidential nominee’s job to forge a consensus. TRUMP: “We’re giving them (Iran) $150 billion plus” in sanctions relief under the nuclear deal. THE FACTS: That might be an exag- geration. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said Iran has $100 billion in foreign reserves that it’s been unable to access. After sanctions relief, Treasury estimates that Iran will be able to freely access about half of that $100 billion. He said more than $20 billion is inaccessible because it is committed to projects with China and tens of billions of other restricted funds are in non-performing loans to Iran’s energy and banking sector. VRXJKWWRUDLVHKLVSUR¿OHE\ striking an optimistic tone on the economy, saying all Americans need an opportunity to “share in this great American dream.” He said that while he favored traditional marriage, he had recently attended a same-sex wedding and would support his children if they were gay. A raucous crowd cheered the candidates on throughout the debate in Cleveland, the same city where Republicans will nominate their general election candidate next summer. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. ANNOUNCEMENT .... ANNOUNCEMENT Smiley RV Sales proudly announces that two longtime service techs are taking over the RV repair and parts/ accessory store. The new business name is K and K RV Center Music John Macbeth & Nick Berg on the Lawn Mandi Miller & FRIDAY, AUG. 7 SATURDAY, AUG. 8 Margaret Mayer 6:00-9:00 PM H AMLEY S TEAK H ouse & S aloon COURT & MAIN, PENDLETON • 541.278.1100 Kirk McDonald and Keith Jenkins bring a combined 35 years of experience with them. This change-over will be in August 2015. Come in and say hi to Kirk, Keith and Roxane, who will be running the parts store. They will gladly help you with any of your RV needs. Same location, same faces, same great service- -just a new name! 541-938-6562, voice mail 509-586-4140 Smiley RV Sales will still be open, doing late- model RV sales & consignments. 1-800-338-6562, smileyrv@gmail.com
