Visit Garner’s Sporting Goods
in Pendleton for one hat
CHERI JANKE
OF PILOT ROCK
LOG LOADER
DESTROYED
BY FIRE
FARM
CITY PRO
RODEO
RIETH/3A
SPORTS/1B
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2016
140th Year, No. 214
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
$2.7B hike
expected
for state
services
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Grillin’ and chillin’ at the fair
Karlos Oneal piles grilled veggies on a BBQ beef sandwich at the Piggly’s BBQ stand at the Umatilla County Fair on
Wednesday in Hermiston. For more on fair barbecue and the annual barbecue contest see page 8A.
SALEM — The cost to maintain
existing state services in the next two years
will climb by 14.3 percent, or $2.7 billion,
according to budget projections released
Wednesday.
The state faces an estimated budget
shortfall of $1.35 billion, according to the
report by the Legislative Fiscal Offi ce and
Department of Administrative Services.
Personnel and pensions, the state’s
increasing share of the cost of the Afford-
able Care Act, rising human services case-
loads and infl ation are driving the costs, the
report states.
The projected cost of maintaining state
services in 2017-19 is about $21.75 billion
compared with $19.03 billion in 2015-17.
Personnel costs alone are projected to
increase by 9 percent, according to the
report. That includes raises in collective
bargaining agreements and salary pack-
ages, health benefi ts and an increase in the
rate for the Public Employees Retirement
See SERVICES/8A
Lambs long for liberation,
while pigs plot to pilfer
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Fair animals keep owners
busy thwarting mischief
“I came in here, and a friend was in the
stall, and he jumped the fence and took off
running,” she said. “I made my friend go get
him.”
The fi rst project seeking to capitalize
on new mitigated irrigation water from the
Columbia River is taking shape, though its
success will ultimately hinge on whether
enough farmers buy into the plan.
It’s a complicated scenario with many
moving parts, but the basic framework
would allow patrons of the Westland
Irrigation District to buy additional water
supplies in order to grow more high-value
crops such as potatoes and onions.
A subscription agreement was recently
sent to district members, giving them the
choice to purchase available water from
the Columbia River at a rate of $1,800 per
acre-foot. Payments will be used to install
pipes and infrastructure needed to deliver
water from the river to the district south of
Echo. The subscription deadline is Sept. 1.
Patrons quizzed the Westland board
about the project’s cost, individual risks
and benefi ts at a special meeting Tuesday.
The district is trying to pounce on miti-
gated Columbia River water through the
Northeast Oregon Water Association as
part of a region-wide effort to boost agri-
culture in the basin.
Westland Irrigation District Manager
See ANIMALS/8A
See WATER/8A
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Blue the lamb seemed content to lay quietly
in his pen at the Umatilla County Fair on
Wednesday, but his owner wasn’t taking any
chances.
“He’s had a record of jumping,” Olivia
Warner, 15, said by way of explanation for the
latticework she had added over the top of the
three-foot-high pen. “I know he can at least
clear fi ve feet.”
Warner, a member
More inside
of the Pilot Rock FFA,
had been up since
Fair announces
5:15 that morning in
parade results
order to clean Blue’s
Page 8A
pen, feed him, bathe
him and put him in a
fabric sleeve that will keep him clean until his
turn in the spotlight during conformation on
Thursday. It’s all part of the life of an FFA or
4-H member who is showing an animal at the
fair — including keeping them from escaping.
Thanks to the lattice added over Blue’s pen,
he hasn’t escaped at the fair yet — but Warner
said he did have a habit of jumping the fence
at home.
Irrigation district
seeks buy-in for
water project
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Lattice fencing is used as a makeshift lid on a pair of lamb pens at the Umatilla
County Fair on Wednesday in Hermiston.
“He sticks around, though, because he
knows the pen is where food is, and water,”
she said.
Not everyone has been so lucky. Carly
Hoeft, 11, of Pilot Rock, watched her lamb
Lenny escape on Tuesday.
PENDLETON
For the love of rock
In 11th year, Rock & Roll Camp adds recording
By WILL DENNER
East Oregonian
Pendleton Center for the Arts
is vibrating this week with kids
congregating around music.
Nearing the end of lunchtime, a
band that calls themselves “Lamps
and Tables” warms up their instru-
ments to the tune of “The Pink
Panther Theme.” Upstairs, a gallery
of guitarists, bassists, drummers and
singers jam together. In a basement
nook, counselors and campers brain-
storm ideas during a rock journalism
course centered around drawing.
These are just a few of the sights
and sounds found around the center’s
See them perform
The Rock & Roll Camp XI
concert is Friday, 7 p.m. on
Main Street, between Emi-
grant and Frazier Avenue.
Rock & Roll Camp, now in its 11th
year. Teenagers come from near and
far, looking to carve out a niche in
a camp that offers many choices to
aspiring musicians and rock and roll
fans.
This year’s camp has 19 coun-
selors and 95 campers, according
to Pendleton Center for the Arts
See CAMP/8A
Staff photo by Will Denner
Lamps and Tables members Cody Sherman (drums), Hans Muller (bass),
Aaron Luke (saxophone) and Landon Thornburg (trumpet) practice at
Rock and Roll Camp. More photos online at www.eastoregonian.com