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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2016)
REGIS 53, STANFIELD 14 TITLE HOPES DASHED TONY CASTER OF ADAMS Visit Elite Guns & Bows in Pendleton for a free hat Stanfi eld quarterback Dylan Grogan looks the pass over the Regis defensive line in the Tigers’ loss to the Rams in the state 2A state championship game Saturday at Kennison Field in Hermiston. For more on the game, see Page 1B. 46/35 Staff photo by E.J. Harris TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2016 141st Year, No. 31 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON School board considers $104M bond Would expand high school, build new elementary schools By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian At a meeting Monday at Herm- iston High School, superintendent Fred Maiocco told a small group of residents why the school was considering a $104 million bond proposal for the May ballot just eight years after voters approved a $69.9 million bond. For the district, the proof was in the population. Since 2008, Hermiston’s student enrollment has grown by 600 students, exceeding even the most aggressive projection in a growth forecast calculated by Portland State University. Hermiston High School bore the brunt of that growth and is now nearing its 1,600-student capacity. To boost the high school’s capacity to 2,000 students, the Snow-covered Blues ODFW task force will seek tax hikes to pay for conservation By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — A task force created to fi nd ways to raise revenue for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life Monday will recommend two tax increases to add $86 million to the department’s budget. The next challenge will be selling them to the Oregon Legislature. The agency, which has a biennial budget of about $370 million, is looking for more money for conservation programs, maintenance and outreach. It gets about a third of its revenue from hunting and fi shing license fees, and the remainder from state and federal sources. After evaluating dozens of options to raise revenue, the task force recommends an income tax surcharge and a surcharge on beverages at the wholesale level. Task force members acknowledged Monday that See ODFW/10A district would use the bond to expand the commons area, add a science and career technical education wing to the north of the building, and make other additions. Maiocco said the district would probably consider building a second high school once high school enrollment approached 2,400, but that would not come under serious consideration for another 15-20 years. The current bond package also includes new elementary schools at Rocky Heights, Highland Hills and on the district’s Theater Lane property, upgrades Maiocco said will replace aging and unsafe facil- See SCHOOL/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A cold weather front left a fresh layer of snow dusting the foothills of the Blue Mountains on Monday east of Pendleton. More snow may be on the way for the upper elevations as another cold front moves into the area dropping tempera- tures and bringing precipitation, according to the National Weather Service. HERMISTON City council sells land to Ranch & Home By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The Hermiston City Council sold a small piece of land to Ranch & Home owner George Dress on Monday night, bringing a planned Hermiston location for the retailer one step closer to reality. The .43 acres of property is next to the city’s municipal well #6 and adjacent to the proposed Ranch & Home site on South Highway 395 between Hermiston Foods and the Wal-Mart Distribution Center. City manager Byron Smith said city staff and engineers “didn’t see a longterm need” for the property, which is outside the fence line around the well. Smith said the extra space would give the Ranch & Home developers additional space for delivery trucks to maneuver around the back of the store, improving traffi c fl ow. Jeff Dress, one of Ranch & Home’s co-owners, testifi ed in favor of the reso- lution to declare the land surplus and sell it. “We’ve been massaging the site plan, as Byron knows, quite a bit, and this would help,” he said. The price of $6,565 matches the per-acre price that Ranch & Home paid See COUNCIL/10A
