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WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016
140th Year, No. 188
PENDLETON
Mayor
defers on
marijuana
referral
Kovach begins work as new Pendleton superintendent
East Oregonian
Pendleton Mayor Phillip
Houk deferred the referral
of three marijuana sales
ballot measures at a meeting
Tuesday night.
In order to go on the
November ballot, the city
must approve a series of reso-
lutions and ordinances.
Houk said he wasn’t
comfortable with the city
council taking action because
the ordinances weren’t adver-
tised on the council’s agenda.
The proposed ballot ques-
tions ask voters to consider
repealing a ban on medical
and recreational marijuana
sales and assessing a 3 percent
tax on recreational marijuana.
The council’s next meeting
is scheduled for July 19, and
Aug. 19 is the fi nal day the
city can fi le the referral with
the Oregon Secretary of State.
The council did take action
on a bid from McCormack
Construction to build hangars
at the airport, unanimously
approving a $966,000 bid,
which covers the construction
of the hangars, one of which
will include offi ce space.
The cost of the hangars
is covered by a $1.1 million
loan and grant package from
the Oregon Infrastructure
Finance Authority.
Airport Manager Steve
Chrisman suggested building
three hangars for an extra
$200,000 at city expense, but
City Manager Robb Corbett
recommended against it
because the city’s community
development fund had already
committed money elsewhere.
The council also unani-
mously approved a $588,373
bid from Pioneer Asphalt,
which covers street overlay
projects at Southwest 16th
Street, Southwest 19th Street,
Southeast Third Street,
Southwest Olsen Avenue,
Southwest Perkins Avenue,
Southeast Goodwin Avenue
and Southeast 17th Street.
DAVE O’GORMAN
OF HERMISTON
Enjoy a free pass to the Heritage
Station Museum in Pendleton
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Brown,
Pierce
agree to
debate
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Andy Kovach, who started as superintendent of the Pendleton School District this week, leans
against a brick wall Tuesday near the entry to Lincoln School, which is being renovated into district
offi ces.
New schools boss sets
path for coming year
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Andy Kovach will be expected
to hit the ground running.
The new Pendleton School
District superintendent discussed
a new set of board goals and the
things he expects to achieve within
the fi rst 100 days of his tenure at a
school board meeting Tuesday.
He discussed a draft of new
goals for the 2016-2017 school
year, which included generalized
goals like fostering a positive
“I have three promises. I want to tell the truth, I
want to make decisions based on what’s best for
kids and I want to keep an eye on the budget.”
— Andy Kovach, Pendleton School District Superintendent
school climate and continuing
the district’s focus on cultural
competency but also more measur-
able goals like decreasing the
number of chronic absentees by
10 percent, increasing dual credit
course participation by at least 5
percent and raising SAT and ACT
participation by 10 percent.
Kovach hailed the board’s set as
both ambitious and achievable.
“There had to be something
measurable in there,” he said.
Kovach is no stranger to stoking
See KOVACH/8A
Gov. Kate Brown and GOP
gubernatorial nominee Bud Pierce
have agreed to their fi rst debate for
the race for the state’s top post.
The debate, hosted by the Oregon
Territory Chapter of the Society
of Professional
Journalists,
is
scheduled
for
Sept. 24 in Bend.
The
debate
will focus solely
on issues facing
Oregon’s
rural
residents.
“The Oregon Brown
Territory
SPJ
believes it is
important to have
an honest and
open exchange
at the highest
levels about the
state’s future in
rural areas,” said
Oregon SPJ Pres- Pierce
ident Samantha
Swindler. “With more than a month
between this debate and election day,
we hope the issues raised will help give
voters enough time to learn where the
two major candidates stand on a range
of rural issues, from the environment
to education to the economy.”
Oregon SPJ will host the debate
in partnership with the East Orego-
nian, KTVZ-TV and Jefferson
Public Radio. The Oregon SPJ
Board sought those particular media
partners because they serve rural
Oregon, Swindler said.
The hour-long debate will be a
moderator-panelist format in front
of a live audience. Candidates may
give a 90-second open statement and
a 90-second closing statement. They
will fi eld questions from the panel
made up of rural journalists. Candi-
dates will have 60 seconds to respond,
with a 30-second rebuttal period.
The exact location has yet to be
fi nalized.
The announcement follows
controversy over Brown’s decision
to skip a July 22 debate sponsored by
the Oregon Newspaper Publishers
Association. That debate has tradi-
tionally served as the fi rst debate
of the campaign. No other guber-
natorial incumbent has declined to
appear in the debate since it began
30 years ago, according to ONPA.
Brown has said she plans to
participate in at least three debates,
starting no sooner than Sept. 1, and
will consider more on a case-by-case
basis. Pierce has called for a minimum
of six debates.
Fireworks, wind spark fi res across region
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Daniel Wattenburger
Fireworks from Hermiston’s annual Fourth of
July celebration started a grass fi re Monday at
the Hermiston Butte.
Fireworks on the Fourth of
July are meant to invoke the
“rockets’ red glare” spoken of
in our national anthem, but on
Monday night they also forced
plenty of people to spend the
holiday under the orange glow
of a fi re.
One of the most visible
fi res of the night was on the
Hermiston Butte, where falling
embers from the city-sponsored
fi reworks show lit up the south
side of the distinctive landmark.
The rest of the fi reworks
were set off as planned despite
the blaze, but Umatilla Fire
District 1 Chief Scott Stanton
said the department was on the
butte for about two hours total.
Photo by Jacque DeAngelo
A fi re burns Monday on Pendleton’s South Hill.
They had intentionally
burned the north side of the
butte a few days earlier, but
Stanton said they didn’t do the
south side because as far as he
could remember that side had
See FIRE/8A