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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2015)
OFF PAGE ONE TOTEM: Will eventually be presented Business as gift to Northern Cheyenne Nation Page 8A East Oregonian Continued from 1A ment, the Lummi are taking the totem pole 1,300 miles on a journey from Vancouver, British Columbia to southeast Montana, following the same route coal trains would take from the Powder River Basin to the West Coast. On Wednesday, the campaign made a stop in Boardman where Lighthouse Resources — formerly Ambre Energy North America — is ¿ghting to build a $242 million coal terminal on the Columbia River. Both tribal and non-tribal members attended the ceremony at Boardman Marina Park, not far from where the Coyote Island Terminal would be built at the Port of Morrow. “In a time of global warming, we can’t accept this any longer,” James said. “It’s tragic here in the Northwest, where hundreds of thousands of acres are burning and we’re suffering from droughts.” The totem pole will even- tually be presented as a gift to the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Montana at Otter Creek, the proposed site of a large coal mining expansion intended to serve the proposed Northwest export terminals. Other terminals have also been proposed at Cherry Point near Bellingham and in Longview, Washington. Tribes are afraid of the damage such projects would do to local rivers and aquifers, James said. He a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad report that states the coal dust that can escape from each car in a 156-car coal train. “When we do the math, we know it’s a horrendous amount of coal falling off the trains, getting into the land, water and air,” James said. The Coyote Island Terminal, part of the larger Morrow Paci¿c Project, would handle 8.8 million tons of coal per year at an enclosed facility. The proposal was awarded four separate permits from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, but failed to secure a remove-¿ll permit from the Department of State Lands, which ruled the terminal would interfere with tribal ¿shing rights. Lighthouse Resources has appealed the department’s decision, and a hearing is scheduled for December. The company has said the project would create 25-30 permanent jobs along with 2,000 construction jobs. A project spokeswoman could not be reached Wednesday. Members of the Yakama Nation, which already protested coal exports on the Columbia River in Boardman last year, hosted Wednesday’s ceremony at Marina Park, leading a drum circle and prayers. JoDe Goudy, Yakama Nation chairman, said they agreed to participate in order to help raise awareness and protect tribal resources for future generations. “The Yakama stand in unity with this effort,” Goudy said. “Indeed, we have not lost our way of who we are and where we come from.” The event also drew members of environmental organizations such as Columbia Riverkeeper. Executive Director Brett VandenHeuvel said the totem pole journey has been a great way to bring people together against the threat of coal and oil. “The threats we face are daunting,” VandenHeuvel said. “I’m hopeful that message is sinking in.” The totem pole itself remained on a truck and won’t be raised until it reaches its ¿nal destination. The sculpture weighs roughly 3,000 pounds, made from a red ceder log. The story it tells are about maintaining the tribes’ rela- tionship with the earth in a sustainable way, James said. “We learned our lesson when we were abusive to the earth. Now we know better,” he said. “We tell these stories through our art and our symbols to remind us to be respectful.” The totem pole journey will continue Thursday in Spokane and Friday in Missoula, Montana, before reaching the Northern Chey- enne Nation on Saturday. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonina.com or 541-966-0825. PENDLETON: With $481K from utility fee, city staff targeted 49 road segments for work Continued from 1A With $481,000 from a utility fee alone, city staff targeted 49 road segments for repair. If the city brought in $1 million from both a gas tax and a utility fee, that number jumps to 106. The number of roads addressed through the new revenue streams will prob- ably be slashed in subsequent drafts. Council members wanted “incidentals,” like engineering fees that can increase the cost of a project by 30 percent, to be included along with the cost of pave- ment preservation. That meant roads on the bottom of the list would be culled to account for the higher cost of each street. All of those ¿gures were rough estimates that cover two years of work. Public Works Director Bob Patterson said the list would be updated frequently and eventually expand to three years of planned repairs. With most of the details already hashed out for the utility fee, the city council will now have to formally pass it. In order to do that, City Attorney Nancy Kerns wrote in an email Wednesday that the council would need to enact an ordinance to create the policy and pass a resolution to institute the $5-per-month fee. Given the prolonged procedural requirements for passing an ordinance, the council might not be able to vote on the utility fee until October, especially considering the council will only meet once in September, because of the Round-Up. The council has not reached a consensus on when a gas tax or the utility fee would go into effect. One proposal left on the cutting room Àoor was to create a new utility fee to cover the costs of powering street lights. Patterson said it would cost an additional $2.10 per month to fund street lights. The $195,000 the city spends on street lights currently comes out of the street fund. Councilman Chuck Wood said the addition of a utility fee for street lights might be too much for taxpayers, on the heels of a utility fee for roads and upcoming water and sewer rate increases and the possibility of an additional gas tax. “We’re going to poison the well if we try to do everything at the same time,” he said. Councilman John Brenne disagreed. “I would argue that we don’t want to burden the taxpayer too much, but I don’t think another $2.10, if they understand what we’re doing and what we’re using it for, is asking for too much,” he said. Despite Brenne’s protest, the other council members could only muster mild enthusiasm at best for a street light fee and agreed to consider it at a later date. Councilman Al Plute, Councilwoman Jane Hill and Mayor Phillip Houk were absent from the work session. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. Thursday, August 27, 2015 HERMISTON owners get tips for pursuing contracts By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Small business owners in Hermiston got tips for landing a contract with large organizations on Wednesday at the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce’s Business to Business luncheon. Kerry Bass, the small business manager for Paci¿c Northwest National Labo- ratory, told attendees that about 56.5 percent of the approximately $400 million the Richland, Washing- ton-based labs spent in 2014 was with small businesses, many of them from the area. “We really do like working with local vendors,” she said. She encouraged business owners who offer services from computer software to consulting services to pursue such contracts. Paci¿c Northwest National Laboratory works with the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, private companies and a variety of government entities to “put discovery into action.” The laboratory’s 4,300 staff work on projects ranging from improving the country’s ability to screen incoming cargo ships for nuclear materials to devel- oping alternative fuels from plant materials. Bass said any business owner interested in pursing contracts with the govern- ment or with entities like PNNL who work closely with the government should keep an updated pro¿le on the System for Award Management at www.sam. gov, which is required for anyone selling anything to the government that costs more than $30,000. “If you’re not on there some people will pass you over even if you are the low bid,” she said. Bass also gave advice that would work for small business owners pursuing contracts with PNNL or other similar entities. Do your research before you contact them, she said, and register online if there is a place to do so. Don’t send out mass emails, be careful not to make assumptions about addressing an email to a Mr. or Ms., and if you’re told that nothing is available at the moment check in about every three months to remind the recruiter that you’re still interested. “Sometimes it’s quick, but more often than not it takes a while,” Bass said. “... Sometimes it’s all about timing. If you contact me I might not have something for you right away.” She said it’s also important to write out a clear, concise “ability statement” that can be understood by someone like herself who isn’t well versed in the jargon for a very speci¿c technical project. Paired with that, business owners should have a well-polished 30-second “elevator pitch” that they can trot out every time they’re in a position to network with someone new. Bass said during her morning at the Northwest Supply Chain conference in Hermiston, which was also hosted by the chamber on Wednesday, she encoun- tered several local business owners who could provide services or goods she had put out a request for proposals for, so “it’s been really helpful for me to be here.” ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. Umatilla-Morrow County health surveys in the mail East Oregonian From September- November 2015, the Umatilla-Morrow County Community Health Partnership will begin its survey of Morrow and Umatilla County residents as part of a community health assessment process. Your Community Health Partners, including Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, are working closely with the Hospital Council of NW Ohio and researchers at the University of Toledo to conduct the survey. Over the next two months, more than 2,400 Umatilla-Morrow County residents 18 years and older will be randomly selected to participate in this survey. Residents who are randomly selected are urged to complete and return the survey. The anonymous survey asks participants to answer questions about general health, risk and protective health factors, and access to health care. These answers will create a snapshot of the overall health of Umatilla- Morrow County residents. The results will guide many public and private agencies in their program planning over the next several years by identifying key health problems. The ¿nal community health assessment report will be published in the spring 201. For more information contact Rod Harwood of St. Anthony Hospital at 541-278-3239 or via email rharwood@chiwest.com. Or call Lindsey Watchman, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center at 541-278-7560 or email lindseywatchman@ yellowhawk.org. *AFTER $289 ROGERS DISCOUNT AND $500 REBATE PROVIDED BY TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. 3YR/12,000 MILE YEAR LEASE. PLUS TTD. ON APPROVED CREDIT. STK# 15T447. SCHOOL: District will likely have to purchase modular classrooms before next school year Continued from 1A of 1,500 students, he said. Superintendent Fred Maiocco said he was pleased with the new district of¿ce and that it has already improved collaboration and synergy. “I’m most pleased for our students that we could pull adults out of permanent space, so students could have permanent space and not be put into portable class- rooms,” he said. “Secondly, I’m really pleased to be able to pull disparate functions and operations from across the district for the ¿rst time ever into one location.” He said the district would likely have to purchase modular classrooms before the next school year to accommodate the growth. He said the district is already looking into what to buy and where to place them. “I think the biggest chal- lenge our community faces with regard to the school district is how to handle this continued growth,” he said. “The long-term question is how do we address that growing student enrollment with the challenges of limited capacity at each one of our schools.” Smith said, despite the added challenges of relocating district staff to *AFTER $2,181 ROGERS DISCOUNT AND $750 REBATE PROVIDED BY TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. 3YR/12,000 MILE YEAR LEASE. PLUS TTD. ON APPROVED CREDIT. STK# 15T354. *AFTER $1,260 ROGERS DISCOUNT PROVIDED BY TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. 3YR/12,000 MILE YEAR LEASE. PLUS TTD. ON APPROVED CREDIT. STK# 15T464. USED VEHICLES Staff photo by Sean Hart Kaeden Cragun, left, meets his new kindergarten teacher, Barb Leque, at an open house Monday at West Park Elementary School in Hermiston. make room for students, he is excited for the upcoming school year. He said students may see some changes this year. Elementary school students will have enhanced technology opportuni- ties, he said, with grades three through ¿ve having one-to-one access to devices in the classroom. Opportunities for high school students are expanding as well. Smith said more dual credit, enhanced placement and online learning opportunities will be available this year. He said an additional art teacher has been hired to offer a digital arts program for students wishing to study ¿lm making and video editing. The Columbia Basin Student Homebuilder Program will be back again this year, he said, and students have already broken ground on the second house. Maiocco said the district is also trying to partner with parents this year to stress the importance of student attendance. “Every day matters,” he said. “If a student is not on track in September in ¿rst grade, they are likely not on track to be at grade level in reading at grade three,” he said. “They’re more likely to become a chronic absentee than to be on track for reading in grade three.” 2015 TOYOTA TUNDRA DOUBLE CAB 4X4 RMX PKG $ 2014 TOYOTA COROLLA S PLUS 36,900 STK #15T414A $ 19,500 STK #15T393A 2013 TOYOTA RAV4 LIMITED 4X4, LEATHER, SUN ROOF 2009 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER AWD $ 27,900 STK #15T405A $ 21,900 STK #15T434A 2013 TOYOTA TACOMA SR5 ACCESS CAB $ 2003 TOYOTA MR SPYDER CONVERTIBLE 23,900 STK #15T361A $ 21,900 STK #15T352B 2012 TOYOTA TACOMA 4X4 $ TRD SPORT 2015 TOYOTA PRIUS C TWO HYBRID 50 MPG! 31,900 STK #15T438A $ 19,500 STK #15T205A ON APPROVED CREDIT. MUST FINANCE THROUGH TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES. NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED. 36 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $16.66 FOR EACH $1,000 BORROWED. ALL PRICES AND PAYMENTS REPRESENTED DO NOT INCLUDE DEALER DOC FEE OF $150, STATE TITLE, OR STATE TAX. DOES NOT INCLUDE THE MILITARY OR COLLEGE REBATE. SEE DEALER FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED. OFFERS VALID THROUGH 08/31/15.
