INMATES BLAZERS
RESTORE BEAT
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STEVE
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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