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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2016)
68/42 LEADERS ASK FOR BAN ON OIL TRAINS BUCKAROO HITS STRIDE IN CINCINNATI NORTHWEST/2A BASEBALL/1B THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2016 140th Year, No. 174 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Proposed $6B tax brings political battle IP28 would place 2.5 percent tax on corporations with $25M in sales By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Opponents and supporters of a proposed $6 billion tax on Oregon sales are preparing for a knockdown, drag-out fi ght before the measure comes to voters in November. “This is probably the biggest political fi ght we’ll see in decades,” Oregon Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Alison Hart said. The proposal, known as IP28, will place a 2.5 percent tax on Class C corporation sales over $25 million in Oregon. An analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Offi ce estimates the tax will raise approximately $6 billion for state services each biennium but also increase the cost of living for Oregonians. Hart visited with a handful of Hermiston Chamber of Commerce members on Wednesday, asking them to spread the word of the potential harm if IP28 is approved by voters. “It will hurt our entire economy,” she said. “Oregon is too small of a state to absorb a $6 billion tax increase.” Supporters of the measure — backed by public employee unions — disagree. They point out that only an estimated 1,051 companies in Oregon will see their taxes raised. A Better Oregon, which collected enough signatures to place the measure on the November ballot, says it will force large national corporations that do business in Oregon to pay their “fair share” to help struggling local Sherwood Heights and Washington schools come down schools and seniors. According to their website, less than one percent of Oregon busi- nesses will see their taxes raised, and more than 85 percent of the tax will be paid by corporations with more than $100 million in Oregon sales. “Companies like Bank of America, Comcast, Wal-Mart and Monsanto make hundreds of millions of dollars from the business See TAX/8A State fi nalizes new minimum wage rules By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Indus- tries fi nalized new minimum wage rules Wednesday, requiring employers to pay a regional rate based on where the employee works more than 50 percent of the time. The rules are a compromise between a proposal favored by labor groups and requests by business groups to base the rate on where the employer is located. “I appreciate that both industry associa- tions and minimum wage advocates stepped up to advise our agency’s rulemaking process,” said Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian in a statement. “As Oregon raises its minimum wage for more than a hundred thousand workers next month, we hope that the rules will provide fairness to workers and employers alike.” See WAGE/8A PENDLETON Staff photo by Kathy Aney An excavator operator from 3 Kings Environmental chewed away the old Sherwood Heights Elementary School on Wednesday morning. Across town, it was the same scene at Washington Elementary School. The demolition will last 2-3 weeks. On the ground are rooftop ventilation units put aside for salvage. Demolition & nostalgia By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Chris Demianew watched the demo- lition of Sherwood Heights Elementary School on Wednesday morning with a distant look in his eyes. Two excavators chomped into the old school with clamshell buckets that grabbed and smashed whatever came into their grasp. The excavators attacked the gym, but eventually will chew their way around the building in a circular fashion. The demolition will last for about two months at Sherwood and also across town at the old Washington Elementary School. The loud demolition noises didn’t seem to phase Demianew, who stood on the sidewalk, remembering his years at the school. “My entire family went here,” he said. “My fi ve brothers and sisters. My two children.” Demianew, 40, can still recall learning square dancing in the cafeteria and playing four-square on the cement play area out back. He remembers Principal Joseph Daley, who contributed to Demi- anew’s own desire to become a teacher. “My connection to teaching started in this very building,” he said. “Mr. Daley was a kind man who expected kids to do their best.” Daley became the fi rst principal at Sherwood in 1954 and remained there until he retired in 1986. As Demianew mused, Project Manager Greg Ponder of Kirby Nagelhout Construction greeted him and chatted See SCHOOLS/8A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Inside Sherwood Heights Elementary School are hundreds of notes left by stu- dents, teachers and others who wanted to say goodbye. Council hazy on marijuana ballot questions By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian It has been six months since the Pendleton City Council agreed to refer marijuana sales to the ballot, but exactly what voters will decide is still up in the air. The members of the council met for a workshop Tuesday to discuss how to write the ballot measure for November, but could not reach a consensus. While the council previously discussed asking voters three questions — whether to legalize recreational marijuana, whether to legalize medical marijuana and whether to assess a 3 percent tax on the revenue — City Attorney Nancy Kerns advised against this approach. “My logic is that statute says that if you have any kind of ban, you can’t have a tax,” See MARIJUANA/8A Hydropower proposed at McKay Dam Project calls for 1.9-MW generator and powerhouse By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian A fi fth-generation Pendletonian is considering seasonal hydroelectricity at McKay Dam. Bill Hampton, a registered professional engineer, has proposed installing a relatively small 1.9-mega- watt generator and powerhouse at the dam, located about six miles south of Pendleton. Hampton’s company, Houtama Hydropower LLC, fi led preliminary permitting documents on June 9 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and studies are now underway to determine if the project would be environmentally and economically feasible. It is at least the third time someone has looked into producing hydro power at McKay Dam, which has historically provided irrigation water for downstream farms and ranches along the Umatilla River. The Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the dam fi ve miles up McKay Creek, part of a 1,837-acre wildlife refuge. Hampton said McKay is one of a number of irrigation dams across the country that are not being used to their full potential. “The water is going through the dam anyway,” he said. “Instead of having the water run through a valve, you have it run through a turbine. ... It has minimal impacts on the environment.” See DAM/8A EO fi le photo A Pendleton engineering company has proposed generating 1.9 megawatts of hydroelectricity at McKay Dam.
