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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2016)
INMATES BLAZERS RESTORE BEAT BICYCLES BOSTON REGION/3A STEVE MYREN RETIRES BASKETBALL/1B REGION/3A FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016 140th Year, No. 120 Your Weekend Four Imnaha wolves killed other wolf packs in the state. ODFW wolf coordinator Russ Morgan said the four wolves The Oregon Department included an aging alpha male, of Fish & Wildlife shot and OR-4, and an alpha female, killed four Imnaha Pack wolves OR-39, that had limped with a LQYROYHG LQ ¿YH FRQ¿UPHG OLYH back leg injury for the past couple years. The male was nearly 10 stock attacks in the past month. The “lethal take” order, years old, which Morgan said is adamantly opposed by a key “very old for a wolf in the wild.” Morgan said it’s possible conservation group, involves a Wallowa County pack with a the male’s age and the female’s long history of attacks on cattle disability caused the wolves to Courtesy photo/ODFW This May 2011 photo shows Imnaha and sheep and an equally signif- turn on livestock instead of deer pack alpha male OR-4 LFDQWLQÀXHQFHRQWKHJURZWKRI and elk. Two younger wolves, By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Bureau • • • Family fi shing event at McNary Channel Ponds Youngman fun run/walk fundraiser, Saturday Umatilla County Trivia Games in Pendleton For times and places see Coming Events, 6A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 72/47 71/46 69/46 March Madness Final 4 See WOLVES/8A Hermiston School District copes with growing enrollment Planning for 2017 bond to finance high school expansion North Carolina Syracuse • Saturday, 5:49 p.m. (TBS) By JENNIFER COLTON East Oregonian PORTLAND (AP) — Oregon’s public universities are asking for $100 million more from the state than they have received in the past. The Oregonian reports that the total request for $765 million for general operations during the 2017-19 biennium is in a continued effort to dig the seven institutions out of problems caused by two decades of reduced state funding. Last summer, lawmakers approved $665 million in general support for the universities, a 27 percent increase over the 2013-15 biennium The request comes more than a year before the Legislature will consider the 2017-19 budget. 8QLYHUVLW\ RI¿FLDOV VD\ the $100 million increase would help keep tuition increases under 5 percent each year. The Higher Education Coordinating Commission will discuss the budget request at an April 13 meeting. possibly yearlings, were believed to be traveling with them. The four appear to have split off from the rest of the Imnaha Pack, which numbered at least eight at the end of 2015. According to a press release from ODFW, the animals were killed Thursday on private property. ODFW spokeswoman 0LFKHOOH 'HQQHK\ FRQ¿UPHG the wolves were shot from a helicopter. More students than space Villanova Oklahoma • Saturday, 3:09 p.m. (TBS) Oregon universities request $100 million more from state One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD The story of Hermiston schools has been one of increasing growth. From a district of 300 students in 1932 to the district’s current enrollment of 5,500, Herm- iston’s student growth has trended upward for almost a century. With that comes a cycle of growing pains. “Everyone wants to ‘solve’ the problem, but this is something Hermiston is going to continue to struggle with,” Deputy Superin- tendent Wade Smith said Thursday. “We’re always trying to keep up. You can’t keep up with the growth. At this growth rate, you’d have to be building a new school HYHU\¿YH\HDUV´ Overcrowding has been an issue for the Hermiston area since 1908, according to a document written by then Hermiston School District Superintendent Armand Larive in 1952. At multiple times — including 1942, 1952, 1980, 1989 and 1997 — enrollment has increased by more than 150 students in a single year. In the past 15 years, Hermiston has only seen one year — 2011 — where enrollment did not increase. That year, the Umatilla Chemical Depot closed and the recession hit. The next year, the district again continued its upward trend. See HERMISTON/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris New modular units are being installed in a section of the parking lot Thursday at Hermiston High School. Enrollment at Hermiston and Pendleton 6,000 students Annual enrollment for grades K-12 Hermiston Pendleton 5,501: Up 47.8% from 1997 3,721 4 3,647 2,998: Down 17.8% from 1997 Source: Oregon Dept. of Education Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group 2 1997 ’99 ’01 ’03 ’05 ’07 enrollment in 1999 at 3,721 before seeing a steady decline over the next decade While Pendleton has and a half. These aren’t raw totals experienced some growth since the turn of this century, — the department uses its youth population has not. a metric called weighted The Pendleton School average daily membership District enrolls 2,998 to gauge student population. students according to the The metric gives greater Oregon Department of weight to students under (GXFDWLRQ WKH ¿UVW WLPH LQ special programs like 35 years that the district has English language learners dipped below 3,000. See PENDLETON/8A The district hit peak By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian 5 3 Pendleton enrollment continues to decline ’09 ’11 ’13 2015 UMATILLA New solar station prepares UEC to grow Named after employees who died in car crash By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Umatilla Electric Cooperative now has the largest consumer-owned solar project in the state with their 1.3 megawatt solar array outside of Umatilla. The sun shined through the clouds Wednesday morning as Umatilla Electric Cooperative showcased its new $2.5 million solar energy station east of Umatilla. The system, which came online Feb. 8, features 3,952 solar panels generating 1.3 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough juice for 112 all-electric homes, making it the largest consumer-owned solar project in the state. UEC decided to name the facility after Bill Tolles and LaFawn “Fonnie” Moyer, two former employees who died in a car crash in 1971 while driving back from a data processing orientation in Portland. Tolles Moyer Moyer was 45; Tolles was 28. Moyer’s daughter, Pam Moyer- Martin, began working with UEC in 1975 and has spent more than 40 years with the co-op. She was on hand for Wednesday’s gathering at the Moyer-Tolles Solar Station, which is located along Highway 730 See SOLAR/8A
