HERMISTON GIRLS
BEAT PENDLETON
SOCCER/1B
57/48
HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS/6A
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015
140th Year, No. 9
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
Split vote
postpones
pot decision
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
NINE SEATS ON THE LINE
Tribal members will choose from 26 candidates in CTUIR election
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The most competitive set of political races in
Eastern Oregon won’t be in any city, county or
district this year.
Instead, 2015’s most contested election will
be for the nine seats on the Board of Trustees, the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation’s governing body.
When tribal members go to the polls Nov. 17,
they will have 26 candidates on their ballot — four
candidates for chairman, two for vice-chairman,
two for treasurer, ¿ ve for secretary and 13 for three
at-large seats.
While governing a tribe is unique in its cultural
and structural aspects, some of the issues candidates
are discussing share similarities with non-tribal
communities across the country, including
economic development, education and affordable
housing.
Board of Trustees member Justin Quaempts is
an incumbent seeking another two-year term in
tribal government.
Having completed his ¿ rst term in of¿ ce,
Quaempts wrote in an email that even though the
job could be challenging at times, the board accom-
plished a lot over the past two years.
“We have raised the CTUIR scholarship amount,
increased elder stipends, dedicated a million dollars
to a new education center, created an innovative
CTUIR “Day Labor” program that is thriving,
devoted money towards developing an organiza-
An ordinance that would defer the question of
marijuana dispensaries to the voters in Hermiston
was stalled on Monday after two councilors voted
no on a second reading.
The vote must be unanimous for an ordinance
to be passed during the same council meeting
when it is ¿ rst read.
Councilor John Kirwan made a motion to send
the ban on commercial
marijuana activity to the
voters after pointing out More inside:
that in Pendleton one city
councilor was estimating Milton-Freewater
may allow medical
the city would bring in marijuana sales
less than $6,000 in tax Page 3A
revenue from allowing
it, while another calcu-
lated more than $100,000 a year. He said putting
the issue on the November 2016 ballot would
give the voters time to study those questions for
themselves and come to a conclusion.
“This is a time we don’t have to make a deci-
sion,” he said.
Councilor Rod Hardin disagreed, however,
saying he was willing to make a stand against
marijuana dispensaries after Hermiston voters
rejected marijuana legalization last year. Coun-
cilor Doug Smith also voted against the ordinance,
See MARIJUANA/10A
HERMISTON
Making room for
the student boom
Deputy Superintendent recommends
five more modular classrooms
By SEAN HART
East Oregonian
See CTUIR/10A
Board of Trustees candidates
CHAIRMAN
Elwood Patawa
Gary Burke*
Kat Brigham
Stuart Harris
VICE-CHAIRMAN
Jeremy Wolf
Leo Stewart*
TREASURER
Aaron Hines*
Rosenda Shippentower
SECRETARY
David Close
Lawanda Bronson
Leila Spencer
Roberta Wilson
Shawna M. Gavin
AT-LARGE
Aaron Ashley
Armand Minthorn*
David Wolf Jr.
Ellen Taylor
Jim Marsh
Justin Quaempts*
Les Minthorn
Lisa Ganuelas
Louisa Allman
Michael R. Johnson
Mitch Pond
Scott Minthorn
Woodrow Star*
* denotes incumbent
More Hermiston students will likely be learning
in modular classrooms next year.
To accommodate enrollment growth, Herm-
iston School District Deputy Superintendent Wade
Smith recommended that the district procure four
or ¿ ve additional portable buildings at the school
board work session Monday.
His recommendation, which will likely be
approved in the consent agenda at the Nov. 9
board meeting, was to purchase one two-class-
room modular with bathrooms for Desert View
Elementary School and to rent three two-class-
room modulars without bathrooms for Hermiston
High School. He also said the district may need to
rent another modular with one or two rooms for
Sunset Elementary School as well, depending on
À uctuation in this year’s enrollment.
The modular for Desert View would match
three existing modulars already there. Smith
said with the extra modular, the school can
accommodate four classes per grade level, and any
additional students would have to be transported to
other schools with more capacity. He said the unit
See CLASSROOMS/10A
Students take 100-plus required tests through 12th grade
Some districts wait 2-4 months to get state results
By JENNIFER C. KERR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Students,
parents and teachers have long
lamented the hours that kids
spend taking standardized tests,
especially since the introduction
of the Common Core academic
standards. But just how much time
each year?
A. Between 10-15 hours.
B. Between 20-25 hours.
C. Between 30-35 hours.
The correct answer is “B,”
according to a comprehensive
study of 66 of the nation’s big-city
school districts by the Council
of the Great City Schools. It said
testing amounts to about 2.3
percent of classroom time for
“Learning is about
so much more than
just fi lling in the
right bubble.”
— President Barack Obama
the average 8th-grader in public
school. Between pre-K and 12th
grade, students took about 112
mandatory standardized exams. It
said testing amounts to 2.3 percent
of classroom time for the average
8th-grader.
The study analyzed the time
spent actually taking the tests,
but it did not include the hours
See TESTS/10A
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki,File
In this 2014 fi le photo, students at a summer reading academy at Buchanan
elementary school work in the computer lab at the school in Oklahoma
City.