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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2016)
90/57 FUNFEST REVS UP SATURDAY FIREWORKS RETURN TO THE FOURTH Pendleton headed to championship HERMISTON/3A PENDLETON/3A LITTLE LEAGUE/1B THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016 140th Year, No. 184 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON PENDLETON Goodwill opts out of store, willing to sell to fi re station By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian While Goodwill is taking Pendleton Cinema off its list as a future development, the Pend- leton Fire Department is putting it on theirs. Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo said the board for Goodwill Industries of the Columbia recently voted to abandon plans to convert the former movie theater into a thrift store and collection center, but is now interested in selling the property to the city to build a new fi re station. Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Executive Director Ken Gosney was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Ciraulo said the Pendleton Cinema site will be added to a list of other potential fi re station locations currently being discussed by the city if it can pass a bond. Other options include Til Taylor Park, the Pendleton Grain Growers building and the old St. Anthony Hospital site. Although the city would have to demolish Pendleton Cinema to build the fi re station, Ciraulo said it would be cheaper than building at the St. Anthony site because there would be no need to create a new street. Additionally, the fi re depart- ment would get use of the whole block at 215 S.W. Second St. and, in accordance with a See CINEMA/8A Local businesses prepare for minimum wage increase Staff photo by Kathy Aney Only bare soil remains after a section of old seating was removed recently to make room for two new venues at the Pendleton Round-Up: the 1910 Room and a standing-only bar called the Loading Chute. Round-Up cooks up foodie experience Rodeo invites Portland chef to help attract, entertain fans BY KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Josh Herron of Helix grabs an order of jo-jos from a hot case for a customer while working at the Short Stop Mini Mart and Deli on Wednesday in Pendleton. The price of doing business By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian As Oregon’s minimum wage rises over the next several years, local businesses have a message for rural residents — expect higher prices for goods and services. Although the low-end of the labor pool stands to see more money in their paychecks, the owners and managers of three Pendleton businesses said customers will have to subsidize “You just can’t pay people more money and expect them to change their mindset.” — Andrea Das, co-owner of Pendleton Howard Johnson the increase. The Short Stop Mini Mart and Deli, 2012 NW Carden Ave., employs eight people — about half of them make minimum wage. Short Stop general manager Shawn Bosworth said he expects to raise the prices of his goods 10-20 percent over the duration of the minimum wage increase to accommodate a more expen- sive payroll. Bosworth doesn’t anticipate the price increase will scare away customers — a 20 percent increase on a $2 bottle of soda will raise the bill by 40 cents — More inside Minimum wage hike will help some, hurt some OPINION/4A but it will still have a tangible effect. But not every business has confi dence that a price increase will leave their business unscathed. Andrea Das co-owns the See WAGE/8A Goodwill to become bottle drop center Police force faces new event season down fi ve offi cers can count them by hand. A third option is to open a BottleDrop account. Participants can purchase BottleDrop bags for 15 cents apiece, fi ll them July will put Pendleton police to the test. The department is down fi ve offi cers and facing the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest the weekend of July 16 and Pendleton Bike Week four days later. Police Chief Stuart Roberts said right now, ensuring each shift has three offi cers on duty is a struggle. “We can handle being two down,” Roberts said. “But fi ve is catastrophic.” Bill Caldera and Glenn Hamby, long- time members of the department, retired this year. Josh Roberts, no relation to the chief, left last year to work for the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce, which offers hiring bonuses. One of the department’s newest offi cers resigned during fi eld training when he “could not demonstrate or master certain skills,” the chief said, and offi cer Drew Hubel took a fall during recent training and broke a bone in his shoulder. Hubel had surgery this week, could be See GOODWILL/8A See POLICE/8A By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Staff photo by Jade McDowell Work trucks outside the former Goodwill building in Hermis- ton signal the start of renovations that will turn the building into a beverage container recycling center. “They’re similar to what you see at the grocery store, but newer and much faster,” she said. For people who have fewer than 50 containers, or have containers that are too damaged to go through the machines, staff PENDLETON By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian HERMISTON The former Goodwill building in Hermiston is being recycled into a center that collects cans and bottles. The center, run by the Oregon Beverage Recycling Coopera- tive, will offer a clean, indoor, staffed option for people to redeem their beverage containers for deposits. Cherilyn Bertges, public rela- tions and outreach manager for OBRC, said people will be able to feed up to 350 containers per person per day through “reverse vending machines” that take all three types of containers with an Oregon deposit. The Pendleton Round-Up is reaching out to a new fan base — foodies. During this year’s four-day rodeo, a regional chef will prepare western-inspired dishes in an upscale dining venue called the 1910 Room. Foodies can watch rodeo action from a private suite while feasting on such dishes as pork chops smothered in Pendleton Whisky barbecue sauce. The foodie experience won’t come cheap. The most expensive of the four packages, a private suite for 20 guests, costs $4,000 per day. In order to make space for the 1910 Room, named after the fi rst year of the Round-Up, Publicity Director Randy Thomas said the rodeo removed the southeast end of the grandstands and will replace it with the high-end viewing venue nestled inside tents. Thomas and other directors on the See ROUND-UP/8A
