Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
CINEMA: The movie
theater closed July 2015
Continued from 1A
commissioned report, would
keep short response times
because of its proximity
to the intersection of Main
Street and Dorion Avenue.
“You couldn’t ask for a
better site,” Ciraulo said.
Saying the Pendleton
economy wasn’t large
enough to support a movie
theater, Pendleton Cinema
owner Bruce Humphrey
closed the theater in July
2015 and sold it to Goodwill,
which had prior success in
turning the old Hermiston
Cinema building into a thrift
store and distribution center.
Despite posting signs
advertising its impending
arrival and a projected
opening date in the irst
quarter of 2016, a Goodwill
store has yet to open.
While Goodwill’s course
reversal could still have
some beneit for Pendleton,
Ciraulo said any decisions
regarding a new ire station
still are in the public’s
hands when a ire bond is
presented to voters on the
November ballot.
The ire station will
continue to host meetings to
discuss the pros and cons of
each site and solicit public
input.
The remaining meetings
will be held on July 1 at 9
a.m. July 6 at 7 p.m. and
July 8 at 9 a.m.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra
at asierra@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0836.
POLICE: Cannot afford fees to
bring in extra law enforcement
Continued from 1A
on light duty in six weeks
and maybe back to patrol
by late October. Roberts
said Hubel is a go-getter
and even injured is helping
with investigations from a
desk.
New
oficers
are
coming on, Roberts said,
but not in time to police
events this month. Cass
Clark is in ield training
and could go solo in
August. Curtis Hanson
starts July 1 and has been
through the Oregon Public
Safety Academy’s police
training but also needs
to inish ield work. And
Travis McMasters and Joe
Toepfer start July 11 and
go to academy until Dec. 9.
Unionized staff of the
Pendleton City Police
Association made a deal
to skip pay raises if the
department hired a 24th
oficer. Roberts said that
now will not come to
fruition until the spring of
2017.
Even when the depart-
ment gets back to full staff,
Roberts said the push to
add destination events to
Pendleton is a concern, and
the upcoming music fest, a
irst in Pendleton, presents
its own set of challenges.
Festival
promoters
Doug Corey and Andy
McAnally brought on John
Trumbo, former Umatilla
County sheriff, to oversee
security at the event, which
takes place at the Pend-
leton Round-Up Grounds
and uses the nearby Pend-
leton Convention Center
for camping and parking.
Corey said Trumbo is a
good it because he was
security director of the
Round-Up for years and
knows the facility.
Trumbo will have four
assistants, Corey said, and
Rovers Security, which
has worked as Round-Up
security for years, will
check bags and monitor
entrances and exits. The
festival also has a contract
with the city ire depart-
ment to provide emergency
medical services if that
need arises.
“We’re taking it very
seriously,” Corey said,
because the idea is to
provide a fun but safe event.
He did not give ticket sales
numbers but estimated
there will be 14,000 people
in attendance and plenty of
seats still available.
Roberts said Pendleton
police also will have a
presence at the event with
two teams in uniforms
and a third team in “soft
uniforms,” typically causal
clothes but with a top that
displays “police.”
Uniformed teams will
start at entry points, but
the event opens at 4:30
p.m. and goes until 11:30
that night. Once the bulk
of people are inside the
venue, he said, one team
will cover certain areas
and will work with medical
personnel to make sure
they can get to people who
need help. The team in the
soft uniforms will roam
the area to keep an eye out
for possible problems and
trouble.
Maintaining emergency
communications is another
concern. Roberts said
Pendleton police helped at
the Gentleman of the Road
music festival last August
“We’re taking it
very seriously.”
— Doug Corey,
festival promoter
in Walla Walla. The
event used technology to
block the transmission of
streaming video so people
could not broadcast live
performances. But Roberts
said that dampening tech
also interfered with police
communications. Roberts
said his department is
working with the Zac
Brown Band security team
and will have an oficer
with that team to ensure
communications.
Crowd control after the
show at night is the greater
safety issue, though, as
people are going to spill
onto Southwest Court
Avenue. Roberts said the
Oregon Department of
Transportation gave the
OK for police to close
Court from the west side of
the 10th Street intersection
to 12th Street just before
the end of the show.
“I can’t even ascertain
how many personnel we’ll
need to be there to control
the low,” he said. “I’m
totally uneasy with the
darkness aspect ... We’re
bound to have some close
calls.”
Roberts also admitted
all of this planning and
police presence could
amount to “overkill,” but
“this is kind of our irst
barbecue for this type of
event ... and there are a
lot of things we can learn
from.”
Pendleton
during
Round-Up brings in law
enforcement from around
the region, but Roberts
said that is not happening
for the music fest or
other events this summer
because the city does not
have the money. Some
cities have event fees to
help cover those costs.
Roberts said he is not in
favor of tacking on fees for
police services because it
carries negative connota-
tions. At the same time, he
said, the department has
only so much money in its
budget and the events do
not pay the police tab.
Cops also could not
write more tickets to pad
the department’s bottom
line.
Roy Blaine, the trial
court administrator for the
local circuit court, said in
general the jurisdiction
that writes a trafic ticket
gets a portion of the ine
and the state gets a portion.
Pendleton inance director
Linda Carter said the city
anticipates $385,000 in
revenue from ines and
forfeitures for 2016-17,
and while that ends up
in the general fund, the
city uses the stream for
the municipal court, not
the $4.34 million police
department.
Police
departments
often work a balancing act
between ensuring public
safety, avoiding oficer
burnout, counting pennies,
and
working
within
the parameters of labor
agreements. For Pendleton
police this year, that act is
going to be a tough one to
balance.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
WAGE: Starts with 25-cent increase on Friday
Continued from 1A
Pendleton Howard Johnson
hotel with her husband.
Together they employ four
people at the motel and one
person at Govinda’s Garden,
an Indian restaurant attached
to the building. Many of the
workers start at minimum
wage with bumps in pay as
they gain in experience and
cash bonuses for good work.
Das worries that customers
would stop staying at their
motel if they increased their
nightly rates.
Even though the set of
minimum wage increases
enacted by the legislature
March 2 and going into effect
Friday was a compromise,
meant to ward off campaigns
to establish a statewide $15
per hour minimum wage, the
resulting law is still a sore
spot for the local business
community.
The Oregon Legislature
divided the state into three
tiers, each one raising the
current $9.25 per hour
minimum wage at different
rates.
Eastern Oregon falls in
the lowest tier, which was
speciically created for rural
counties.
The wage increase starts
innocuously enough — a
25-cent jump starting Friday
— but it continues to go up
by 50 cents each year through
2022.
From 2023 on, rural
Oregon’s minimum wage
will be $1 below the state’s
middle tier, which increases
on an as-needed basis based
on the consumer price index.
The actual number of
employees who beneit from
the pay bump is unknown,
said Nick Beleiciks, state
economist with the Employ-
ment Department. Minimum
wage workers who receive
tips may not on paper appear
to be minimum wage workers
because of that extra income,
Beleiciks said.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Josh Herron of Helix throws a couple of beef patties on a grill while working at
Short Stop Mini Mart and Deli on Wednesday in Pendleton.
But those costs still
materialize for employers.
Tips in Oregon don’t count
toward the wages owed to an
employee, but employees are
required to report any money
they receive on the job as
income for tax purposes.
Business concerns about
the new minimum wage
rate extends beyond higher
priced goods. The additional
cost comes at a time when
employers also are adjusting
to new paid sick leave
requirements and facing
the potential of a corporate
tax increase under Initiative
Petition 28, which voters will
consider in the November
general election.
Junki Yoshida of Port-
land-based Yoshida Food
International said he will cut
many temporary positions
in his company to offset the
cost of the wage increases.
He said he also is looking at
ways to pare down beneits.
“It is hurting those
people,” Yoshida said of
the people who would lose
jobs. In lieu of the temporary
workers, he is asking his
better-paid staff to increase
production.
Dave’s Chevron owner
Toni Walters, who also
expects to increase her retail
items as wages rise, said she
pays most of her employees
well above minimum wage.
While she may not have to
worry about clearing the new
wage loor, Walters said her
more experienced workers
will probably start requesting
higher wages to put distance
between themselves and the
minimum wage.
Das said it’s dificult to
ind good workers willing
to clean rooms. As the
minimum wage continues to
rise over the next few years,
she said she’ll start looking to
states with lower minimum
wages to recruit qualiied
employees worthy of higher
pay.
Das understood the need
for a fair wage but wondered
how the new minimum wage
system would incentive hard
work or career advancement.
“You just can’t pay people
more money and expect them
to change their mindset,” she
said.
The new law has some
complications for employers
who have itinerant employees
working in multiple regions.
Generally,
employers
have to pay employees the
regional rate in which an
employee works more than
50 percent of the time, but
if an employee works in
more than two regions, the
employer has to track that
employee’s time spent in
each region and pay different
wages according to the
amount of time spent in each
region.
The Bureau of Labor and
Industries has scheduled a
series of seminars to help
employers comply with the
new law.
Enforcement of the law
will be mostly complaint
based, said Charlie Burr,
a spokesman for Labor
Commissioner Brad Avakian.
———
The EO Media Group
Capital Bureau contributed
to this story. Contact Antonio
Sierra at asierra@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-966-0836.
ROUND-UP: Arena will also boast a new outdoor bar
Continued from 1A
Round-Up
Association
Board hope to attract foodies
with a hunger for a novel
experience. Along the way,
they hope to transform the
guests into rodeo aicionados.
The idea arose months ago
as the board considered what
to do with a section of dete-
riorating grandstands. The
seating needed renovation,
so the board cast about for a
creative way to reconigure.
“It gave us an opportunity
to think about reaching out
to people who are looking
for a high-end experience,”
Thomas said. “We decided
to create a space with tables,
tablecloths and wait staff and
to invite a celebrity chef from
Portland.”
They asked Chef Max
Germano, of Portland’s
TeSoAria restaurant.
“The Portland food scene
is really huge,” Thomas said.
“Chef Max Germano is a
rising star.”
Thomas got a taste of
Germano’s talent earlier this
month, before Portland’s
Rose Festival Grand Floral
Parade. Thomas, Corey
Neistadt (publicity director
on the Happy Canyon board)
and royalty from Round-Up
and Happy Canyon courts
Contributed photo
Executive chef Max Germano, of the trendy TeSoAria
Winery Tasting Room, will go on a road trip to Pendle-
ton in September for a four-day stint at the Round-Up
as celebrity chef in the new 1910 Room.
traveled to TeSoAria and
did on-air interviews with
KPTV weatherman Andy
Carson during the morning
television program “Good
Morning Oregon.”
During
ive-minute
segments each half hour, they
chatted about such topics
as the new 1910 Room, the
rodeo’s storied history and
the upcoming centennial of
the Happy Canyon Night
Show. In addition, Germano
made some of the dishes he
will serve at the Round-Up
and paired them with wines.
“Chef Germano prepared
several dishes on the air,”
Thomas said. “He made a
Caprese salad to start and
then prepared some pork
chops. They were out of this
world.”
Neistadt said he especially
drooled over Germano’s
version of S’mores, which
incorporate bruleed fresh
marshmallow, house-made
graham cracker and dark
chocolate.
“He infused the chocolate
with some kind of chili
pepper,” Neistadt said. “It
had a little kick.”
Neistadt
described
Germano, a Boise native, as
“a down-to-earth guy.”
“He’s not the guy in Hell’s
Kitchen,” Neistadt said.
“He’s going to it in well in
September in Pendleton.”
Germano has a special
affection for Italian, French,
Asian and classic southern
American cuisine. The chef
left a comfortable job in the
inancial industry to pursue
his culinary career and
worked his way up the ladder
from prep cook.
In September, he will head
to Pendleton for his four-day
stint at the 1910 Room.
Packages are available for
the bar area, dining section
and two private suites.
Next door to the 1910
room, regularly ticketed
spectators will ind a new
outdoor bar called the
Loading Chute. Thomas
said the bar, located under
the scoreboard near a chute
that is no longer used,
offers trackside viewing for
spectators wanting to get a
good view of barrel racers
rounding their third and inal
barrel.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810
GOODWILL: Deposit likely to increase to 10 cents in future
Continued from 1A
with cans and bottles, then
drop them off at the center
24 hours a day. Staff will
sort the containers for them
and add the money to the
person’s BottleDrop card.
Money on the card can
be redeemed for cash or
can be used to purchase
groceries at participating
stores (including Safeway)
that will honor the voucher
at a 20 percent increase.
Bertges
said
stores
that participate will stop
collecting bottles and cans at
their own locations and start
sending customers to the
bottle drop center instead.
“I always encourage
people to come give it a try,”
she said. “Change is always
hard, but what we’re inding
with our other 16 centers is
that once people come once,
they love it.”
People may have an extra
incentive to use the center
next year, as refunds are
likely to double from a nickel
to a dime per container.
Oregon’s Bottle Bill,
created in 1971, was the irst
of its kind in the U.S., and
required a 5-cent deposit on
most plastic and aluminum
beverage containers. That
deposit is refundable when
the container is returned to a
retailer.
The 2011 Legislature
added the provision that if the
statewide return rate is below
80 percent for two consec-
utive years, the deposit and
refund will double to 10
cents per container no sooner
than April 1, 2017.
According to the Bend
Bulletin, the return rates were
around 70 percent in 2012,
2013 and 2014, compared to
90 percent when the legisla-
tion was irst implemented.
The Oregon Liquor
Control Commission, which
oversees the program, will
meet on July 22 and deter-
mine the 2015 return rate.
“We think the (deposit)
increase is likely. We’re
expecting it to probably go
up,” Bertges told the Bulletin
last week. “And we expect
this to increase return rates.”
Bertges said the Herm-
iston center is expected to
open on Aug. 26 at 740 West
Hermiston Avenue and will
hire six to seven employees.
The Oregon Beverage
Recycling
Cooperative
is a corporation made up
of beverage distributors,
and is not funded by any
taxpayer money. Containers
collected by the cooperative
at recycling centers and from
grocery stores are all recy-
cled at one of eight centers
around Oregon, keeping 138
million pounds of plastic,
aluminum and glass out of
landills each year. For more
information visit www.obrc.
com.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Enjoy the
Jazz sounds of
Brass Fire
July 2nd, 2016
7 pm - 10 pm • No Cover
In the Red Lion Lounge
304 SE Nye
Pendleton
541-276-6111