Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON: Main Street storefronts up 3 percent from last year
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Occupancy of downtown storefronts is at a ive-year high according to a survey
released by the Pendleton Development Commission.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Paula Dirks, owner of the Pendleton Coffee Bean &
Bistro, grabs a slice of lime while making a ginger soda
Wednesday at her restaurant on Main Street.
by Pendleton City Councilor
Al Plute, closed less than
a year after opening while
Main Street mainstay Red’s
Clothing also shuttered its
doors.
Despite the hiccups, busi-
ness occupancy is trending
upward in Pendleton. Wood
is con¿dent the city can keep
it going.
Wood pointed to the revi-
talization of the Pendleton
Downtown Association as
a reason why Pendleton’s
downtown could continue to
sustain its high occupancy
rate. The commission has
taken steps to solidify
its relationship with the
nonpro¿t merchants asso-
ciation, folding some of its
members into the city’s goal
planning and subcommit-
tees.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
BROWN: Wants to expand the Of¿ce of Small Business Advocate
Continued from 1A
instead of six.
She is championing
House Speaker Tina Kotek’s
omnibus housing bill to
increase affordable housing
options around the state.
Brown said she plans to
use her executive power to
create a Council on Educator
Advancement. The council
will be responsible for
coordinating and promoting
leadership
development,
mentorship and best prac-
tices.
The governor gave no
timeline for establishing the
council and did not address
what relationship that council
would have to the Department
of Education and the Teacher
Standards and Practices
Commission, which licenses
teachers.
The
governor
also
repeated her plan to hire an
education innovation of¿cer
to improve the state’s high
school graduation rate and a
public records ombudsman to
help agencies respond more
ef¿ciently and consistently to
requests.
Her
other
priorities
include:
Expanding the Of¿ce of
Small Business Advocate to
help small businesses through
the labyrinth of government
red tape.
Creating a small business
advisory group to develop
recommendations to support
small businesses in accessing
capital and streamlining
agency processes.
Issuing an executive
order to force agencies to
adopt a public records policy.
Supporting legislation to
tighten deadlines for lobbyists
to disclose their clients to the
Oregon Government Ethics
Commission and to require
that information be posted
online within two days.
Launching a college
campus safety working
group.
Approving a request from
Umqua Community College
for funding to enhance safety
on campus in the wake of the
deadly shooting there Oct. 1.
Securing funding to
respond to drought and the
2015 wild¿re season.
House Republican Leader
Mike McLane, R-Powell
Butte, said Brown’s plan
ignores Oregon’s most
pressing troubles, including
the state’s PERS shortfall,
transportation infrastructure,
struggling rural communities
and an education system that
“ranks as one of the worst in
the nation.”
“New
bureaucratic
appointments and executive
orders won’t solve these
problems,” McLane said in
a statement. “One-party rule
has left our state with yester-
day’s ideas and status quo
policies. House Republicans
look forward to presenting
meaningful alternatives to
Democrats’ stale agenda in
the 2016 session.”
COAL: Chinese coal imports fell by 30 percent last year
Continued from 1A
Resources hopes to send 8.8
million tons of coal a year
to Asia through an enclosed
facility along the Columbia
River at the Port of Morrow
— part of the Morrow Paci¿c
Project.
Lighthouse President and
CEO Everett King said the
company serves customers
both at home and abroad.
“We pay millions in federal
and state taxes and royalties,
have long-term contractual
obligations to customers who
supply electricity to thousands
of consumers, and we support
hundreds of jobs in the local
community,” King said.
“We take this stewardship
seriously.”
King agreed with Secretary
of the Interior Sally Jewell,
who in her announcement last
week said coal will continue
to be an important domestic
energy source in the years
ahead.
Yet Oregon’s two largest
electric utilities, Portland
General Electric and Paci¿c
Power, have already agreed
with environmentalists to
phase coal out of their energy
mixes by 2030 while doubling
their renewable energy
mandate by 2040. The plan
will still require legislative
“Everybody assumed China’s demand
was going to keep rising forever.
That turned out to be wrong.”
— Clark Williams-Derry,
senior researcher with the Sightline Institute in Seattle
approval during this year’s
short session.
Meanwhile,
PGE
is
planning to run tests later this
year to see if the Boardman
Coal Plant can run entirely
on biofuels. Of¿cials have
agreed to close the Boardman
plant or convert it to another
source of fuel by 2020, as
opposed to installing costly
new emissions controls.
Despite those develop-
ments, Lighthouse remains
focused on the Northwest as
a gateway to Asian markets.
According to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration,
global trade of coal grew
dramatically between 2008
and 2013, with China and
India accounting for 98
percent of the increase.
During that time, Light-
house worked to develop
Morrow Paci¿c and Millen-
nium Bulk Terminals in
Longview, Washington, as a
way to reach those potentially
lucrative markets. In partic-
ular, China imported 341
million tons of coal in 2013,
up from 45 million tons in
2008.
But China imported less
coal in 2014, and Clark
Williams-Derry,
senior
researcher with the Sightline
Institute in Seattle — which
opposes coal exports —
predicts the coal bubble may
have burst.
Williams-Derry
said
Chinese coal imports fell by
30 percent last year, due to
a combination of policy and
economic changes within the
country. Basically, Williams-
Derry said the Chinese
government is reacting to
pollution within their cities,
while the economy gradually
shifts away from heavy
industry. India, on the other
hand, appears focused on
developing its own domestic
coal supply, he said.
The price of coal peaked
at $132 per ton in 2011,
Williams-Derry said, which
led to a ramp up in global
production. By 2019, a
Àooded market could drop
prices as low as $43 per ton.
Unless the market dramati-
cally rebounds, he said North-
west export projects will
struggle just to break even.
“Right now, there is no
way for a company to make
money by shipping coal to
Asia,” Williams-Derry said.
“Everybody assumed China’s
demand was going to keep
rising forever. That turned out
to be wrong.”
Lighthouse declined to
comment further on Asian
demand for coal, only saying
it remains committed to devel-
oping export facilities. Data
from the Energy Information
Administration still reÀects a
bolstered market compared to
a decade ago, said a company
spokeswoman.
The biggest immediate
hurdle for Morrow Paci¿c
remains securing a remove-
¿ll permit from the Oregon
Department of State Lands to
build a dock at the Columbia
River. The permit was denied
in 2014, with the agency
ruling it would interfere with
historic tribal ¿sheries.
An appeals hearing was
scheduled for December, but
has since been pushed back to
Sept. 27-Oct. 6 in Salem.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0825.
APP: Will provide place to anonymously report bullying, harassment
Continued from 1A
emergency exits and more
general resources such as
instructions on performing
CPR or spotting signs of
depression in a teenager.
The district can use the app
to send instant noti¿cations
straight to parents’ phones
about everything from snow
days to lockdowns and
evacuations.
There is also a place
to anonymously report
bullying, harassment and
PENDLETON
Sushi restaurant
to open within
two months
Continued from 1A
resulted in a much more
attractive and economically
inviting location in which to
do business.”
Taking over for former
commission chairman Keith
May, Wood and Associate
Director Charles Denight
conducted this year’s survey.
Both Main Street and the
downtown area saw a net
increase from the previous
year.
Eighty¿ve percent of
¿rstÀoor storefronts on
Main Street were occupied,
a 3 percent increase from the
year before and a 10 percent
increase from ¿ve years ago,
Gains in the downtown
area were more modest,
rising to 88 percent from 85
percent ¿ve years ago.
Main Street bene¿ted
from several new stores,
including Echo Bike &
Board and Rolling Stone
Bakery.
One of those new busi-
nesses, Pendleton Coffee
Bean & Bistro, made a
return to Main.
The Pendleton Coffee
Bean was originally located
in the Fraternal Order of
Eagles building at 428 S.
Main St. until 2007, when a
¿re gutted the building.
Owner Paula Dirks said
the Jump Start loan only
paid for a small part of the
funding needed to open the
new location, but it helped.
Some storefronts were
completely wiped out in
2015, however.
Giorgio’s Cucina Italiano,
an Italian restaurant owned
Thursday, January 21, 2016
threats. District commu-
nications manager Briana
Cortaberria said the district
has had a tip line in the
past, but the app’s reporting
mechanism should provide
an even better layer of
anonymity and hopefully
provide some “solid leads”
for the district to follow up
on.
For staff members or
¿rst responders with higher
levels of clearance, the
app also provides more
secure information such
as passwords and maps of
every utility shutoff valve
in a school. Cortaberria
said police, ¿re¿ghters and
paramedics should be able
to use their phones to pull
up any information they
need when responding to
a crisis without having to
track down someone from
the district and ask.
“We try our best to be
good stewards and give them
the information they need
because they are certainly
there for us,” she said.
Detailed instructions and
QR codes for downloading
the app can be found at
school of¿ces or the district
of¿ces. To download the
app, search for SchoolDude
CrisisManager
in
the
phone’s app store, tap on
“Client Plans,” search for
“Hermiston School District
8” and use the password
“HSD” to download.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Dormant for well over
a year, December brought
signs of life to the building
at 210 S.W. 17th Street:
Momiji Sushi and Hibatchi.
Co-owner Hanbin Wang
said he expects Momiji to
open within the next two
months as crews ¿nish
renovating the building and
installing equipment.
Having lived in a market
saturated with sushi restau-
rants in Seattle, Momiji’s
owners decided to relocate
to Pendleton because of its
lack of Japanese cuisine.
Although this is the
owners’ ¿rst foray into
operating a restaurant and
they are unsure of how
receptive
Pendletonians
will be to sushi, Wang said
they are con¿dent about
their cooking.
“We’re not worried
about food quality,” he
said.
In addition to sushi,
Wang said Momiji will
also offer Teppanyaki-style
cooked dishes and a
full-service bar.
Momiji
represents
another step in the slow but
sure expansion of Pend-
leton world cuisine besides
the usual ethnic fare like
Mexican and Chinese food;
the restaurant that preceded
Momiji at the building near
Melanie Square was Casa
Fiesta Mexican Restaurant.
Govinda’s Garden was
doubly peculiar to the
Pendleton restaurant scene
in that it served Indian
cuisine and was primarily
vegetarian, but it opened
to good reviews when it
opened in February. While
a Monday post on the
restaurant’s Facebook page
states Govinda’s Garden
will be closing temporarily,
the owners said the eatery
will reopen in March after
they return from a trip to
India.
Pendleton has supported
a Thai restaurant on-and-off
for several years, with
its latest iteration, Thai
Crystal, operating since
2012.
In many cases, these
restaurants
replaced
eateries that offered more
traditional American fare
like steak and burgers.
ECHO
Authorities investigating
mysterious truck ¿re
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Echo ¿re¿ghters found
a Dodge pickup truck
engulfed in Àames along
the side of Rieth Road
Tuesday night, near the old
Cunningham Sheep Ranch.
The cause of the ¿re
and whereabouts of the
occupants, however, remain
a mystery.
Echo Fire Chief Delbert
Gehrke was the ¿rst to
arrive on scene shortly after
10 p.m., where he located
the vehicle but no one
who could explain what
happened.
“The occupants of the
vehicle were not around,”
Gehrke said. “We don’t
know where those people
went.”
Gehrke said the truck
was left on the side of the
road, partially blocking
the westbound lane though
facing eastbound. It did not
look like it had been in a
crash, he said.
Initial reports indicate
neighbors heard an explo-
sion before seeing a big ¿re
near the Umatilla River.
Gehrke said the cause is still
unknown.
“We don’t know how
(the truck) got there, or
how it caught on ¿re. It’s a
strange one,” he said.
Umatilla
County
Undersheriff Jim /ittle¿eld
said they found nothing
suspicious inside the burned
vehicle. Deputies tracked
the owner to a residence
in Stan¿eld, but have not
been able to contact him
as of Wednesday morning.
Authorities are continuing
to investigate.
“There’s not a whole lot
to go on right now,” Little-
¿eld said.
The truck was destroyed
in the ¿re.
Alx Radford to share about living trans
PENDLETON — Alx
Radford will share personal
experiences about his life as
a transgender male of color.
Sponsored by PFLAG
(Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and
Gays). Pendleton, Living
Trans is Tuesday at 7 p.m.
at Pendleton Center for
the Arts, 214 N. Main St.
The event is free and open
to the public.
A
Umatilla
tribal
member who lives in
Pendleton, Radford began
transitioning his gender
from female to male this
past summer. Radford
believes knowledge leads
to a point of reference for
acceptance and shares his
personal experience as part
of the education process.
The 10 Commandments
Exodus 20:1-17
#1 v1-3 God spoke... saying: I am the Lord your God...You
shall have no other gods before me.
#2 v4 You shall not make for yourself any graven image or
any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in
the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You
shall not bow yourself down to them nor serve them, for I the
Lord you God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of
those who hate me 6 and showing mercy to thousands of those
who love me and keep my commandments.
#3 v7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in
vain, for the Lord will not hold those guiltless who take His
name in vain.
#4 v8 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 9 Six days
shall you labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is
the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it , you shall not do any
work: You nor your son nor your daughter, your servant nor
your maid, nor your cattle, nor your visitor + who is within your
gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
#5 v12 Honor your father and your mother so that your days
may be long upon the land which the Lord your God has given
to you.
#6 v13 You shall not murder + .
#7 v14 You shall not commit adultery.
#8 v15 You shall not steal.
#9 v16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
#10 v17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house and you
shall not covet your neighbor’s wife nor his manservant nor
his maidservant nor his ox nor his ass nor any thing that is
your neighbor’s.
Paid Advertising