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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2016)
BUCKS BEAT DAWGS WHERE DO WE GO FROM IOWA? 6A SPORTS/1B 46/35 Bundy strikes dei ant tone from behind bars NW/2A WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2016 140th Year, No. 78 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Health group seeks to make tobacco illegal under age 21 By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Tyler Coates, Tori Doten, Conrad Thompson and Davis Carter of South Salem High School appeared at the Capitol Tuesday to support raising Oregon’s legal age for tobacco to 21. SALEM — A coalition of 20 health organizations has launched a campaign to combat a sobering trend: About seven kids every day become new smokers in Oregon. The coalition wants state lawmakers to raise the legal age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21 in an effort to keep it out of high schools. The Institute of Medicine projects that law change would reduce smoking by about 25 percent among 15- to 17-year-olds. Hawaii in December 2015 became the ¿ rst state to pass such a law, and the idea is gaining traction in more than 100 municipalities around the country, from New York City to Kansas City, Mo. California and New Jersey had similar proposals in its legislatures earlier this year. In Oregon, a couple of lawmakers have already tried to pitch the idea. Most recently, Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Beaverton, moved legislation in 2015. The bill stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee as other issues took priority. “I would love for Oregon to follow in Hawaii’s footsteps and be one of the earliest adopters of raising the legal age for tobacco to 21,” Steiner Hayward said. “I think raising the legal age to 21 is See TOBACCO/8A UMATILLA Council increases pay for senior staff By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian #YoungmanOnEllen Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Hermiston High School student section dawns pink #YoungmanOnEllen shirts in support of the Pendleton teacher during the Bulldogs’ 67-57 loss to Pendleton during the boy’s matchup Tuesday in Hermiston. Spanish teacher Kathryn Youngman, who is i ghting her third bout with cancer, taught previously in Hermiston. Bob Ward participated in his last city council meeting as Umatilla’s city manager on Tuesday. Public works director Russ Pelleberg will step into the role before the next meeting. Ward told the council that it had been a privilege to serve the city and said much of the credit for what had been accomplished during his tenure was due to city staff. “It has been a collaborative effort,” he said. In October the city council voted to end Ward’s contract a year early, transitioning to a new city manager on March 1, 2016 instead of March 2017. Ward said on Tuesday that he will stay on in an advisory capacity until July 1, at which point the city will buy out the compensation portion — but not bene¿ ts — of the remaining seven months of his contract. Instead of simply replacing Ward with a new city manager, the council’s See UMATILLA/8A PENDLETON PILOT ROCK Councilors back Plute City to hire Caldera as police chief By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Several Pendleton city councilors spoke out against tKe recall petition ¿ led against Councilor Al Plute at a meeting Tuesday. At the end of the meeting, during the council comment portion, Councilor Neil More inside Councilman Young will not seek reelection Page 3A Brown offered his rebuke of the recall. “There’s going to be signatures or an offer of a piece of paper for people to sign on behalf of the recall for Mr. Plute,” he said. “If that opportunity comes before you, please decline. Also, if you have friends or neigh- bors that say, ‘Hey, this is a good time to get back at the council’ ... please sway them to decline. This is unfounded, the basis for the recall ... I want to say I am backing Mr. Plute to the end.” A few councilors voiced their agreement with Brown, including Councilor Becky Marks. “Even though we don’t always agree, I have always have been interested (with Plute’s) point of view,” she said. “He’s really made me stop and think about the positions that I take and why I’m taking them ... he’s a good man and his heart is in Pendleton and that’s what See PLUTE/8A Hits snag on improvements to wastewater lagoons By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian You won’t be able to call Bill Caldera a Pendleton police lieutenant for much longer. Soon he will be chief of police of Pilot Rock. Pilot Rock City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to hire Caldera as its new police chief. The move is dependent on the veteran of¿ cer passing a back- ground check, and Caldera retiring from Pendleton police. To that end, city council Caldera directed staff to enter into negotiations with Caldera to draft a contract, which the council will have to approve. Caldera started his police career in 1979 as a reserve deputy in Wheeler County. Four years later, he took a full time deputy spot with the Morrow County Sheriff’s Of¿ ce and then landed with Pendleton police in 1987. He has been in Pendleton ever since, and has been the department’s lieutenant for the last six years. The council recently ended the mandate that Pilot Rock of¿ cers live Staff photo by E.J. Harris The City of Pilot Rock is in the process of upgrading its sewage treatment system but has hit snags with getting the Department of Environmental Quality to approve their proposals. in the city limits. That helped open the door to Caldera. Caldera has been in charge of the Pendleton Police Department’s accreditation requirements. The trait and skills will come in handy in Pilot Rock. The hamlet near Pendleton has spent more than a year trying to hire a full time police chief and still is trying to hiring one more of¿ cer. And the council, staff and citi- zens at the meeting congratulated Pilot Rock’s newest of¿ cer, Daniel Badal, for gradating from Oregon’s basic police academy. Badal is now completing ¿ eld training. In other council news, Pilot Rock hit a snag on its plan to improve its wastewater lagoons. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality rejected the city’s proposals, citing concerns about the city’s primary lagoon leaking into Birch Creek, which is about 25 feet away. The state environmental regulator told the city in a Dec. 30 letter it needs to surround See PILOT ROCK/8A
