MARK BURROWS OF PENDLETON Visit Elite Guns & Bows in Pendleton for a free hat SPECIAL VISITORS White House considers expanding military draft to include women NATION/7A REGION/3A FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 141st Year, No. 34 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend Brown proposes cuts, tax hikes Governor’s plan maintains spending for K-12 education and tuition assistance • • • Hermiston Christmas Concert Friday night Pilot Rock Winterphest Saturday at 10 a.m. Saturday Spin-In at Pendleton arts center For times and places see Coming Events, 6A Weekend Weather Fri 47/41 Sat 51/42 Sun 46/29 Watch a game vs. By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Gov. Kate Brown Thursday proposed a 2017-19 budget that cuts spending across most areas in state government, while keeping whole K-12 education and programs assisting low-income students with college tuition. The $20.8 billion budget plan uses a potpourri of cuts and tax increases to fi ll in a $1.7 billion state revenue hole, caused largely by increases in negotiated salaries and benefi ts and a loss of federal funding for subsidizing health insurance for low-income residents. “I present this budget as a short- term solution,” Brown said. “It is the starting place for a broader conver- sation about how best to align our resources with our shared values and vision to move Oregon forward.” She unveiled her budget proposal at an event Thursday in her ceremo- nial offi ce at the Capitol. Brown proposed funding to main- tain existing services at the K-12 level, while boosting allocations for two college tuition assistance programs — the Oregon Opportu- nity Grant and Oregon Promise. Despite Brown’s claim that the plan would maintain K-12 funding, the Oregon School Boards Associ- ation issued a statement saying the proposal falls short by about $500 million “of what schools are telling us they need just to maintain current services.” The budget for higher education will remain fl at despite increases in costs for existing services, which could mean colleges and universities will have to consider program cuts or tuition hikes. Brown’s budget plan also preserves the number of clients who receive subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Anna Reed/Statesman-Journal via AP Gov. Kate Brown speaks about her proposed 2017-2019 budget at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Thursday. Act. Proposed cuts are less severe than the 10 to 15 percent across-the-board reductions Brown had predicted before the Nov. 8 election. State agencies face cuts averaging 4.2 percent, but the cuts vary according to the agency. Education at the K-12 level faces no cuts, while health care could sustain 16 to 25 percent reductions in general fund revenue, said George Naughton, chief fi nancial offi cer at See BUDGET/10A Hermiston vs. Wilsonville HERMISTON Dec. 2, 7 p.m., Hermiston Dawghouse ‘Tis the season to light the tree HERMISTON Farm Fair talks stock By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Grazing livestock respon- sibly is not only a necessity for ranchers, but can be a plus for the environment when it comes to managing increasingly large wildfi res on the open range. That was the thrust of two presentations given Thursday during the newly revived livestock seminar at the 43rd annual Hermiston Farm Fair, which focused on how livestock can be used for ecological, as well as economic, benefi t. Eva Strand, assistant professor at the University of Idaho, led the fi rst half-hour talk where she outlined how grazing cattle in some cases can reduce the amount of dead grassy fuel that catches and spreads massive fi res — such as the Buzzard Complex in 2014 that scorched more than 395,000 acres southeast of Burns. “It’s not the silver bullet, but (grazing) can be helpful at times,” Strand said. Of course, grazing is nothing new on rangeland. But overall, Strand said the See GRAZING/10A By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Five thousand LED Christmas lights and one Santa Claus brought hundreds of people to downtown Hermiston on Thursday for the kickoff of the Winter Festival. The lights were draped around a 32 foot spruce tree, surrounded by food vendors, a cookie decorating booth, a fi re and a stage featuring the sounds of Hermiston-grown brass band BBPD. “Isn’t this a great event?” mayor David Drotzmann asked the crowd to cheers. “How awesome is this?” He said the city was excited to bring life and vitality to the downtown area during the holiday season. The Parks and Recreation Department put up a tree and light show last year, but after its inaugural run, Drot- zmann said, they listened to feedback that it needed to be more impressive. “This year we made sure to put more lights,” he said. The festival area, located on the corner of Main Street and Southeast Second Street, will feature a light show and live music each Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening starting at 6 p.m. until Christmas. The tree was donated by Larry and Marjorie Davidson, whom Drotz- Staff photo by E.J. Harris Five thousand LED Christmas lights illuminate the 32-foot tall spruce tree that is the centerpiece of the Winter Festival in Hermiston. mann invited up to share the story of how Larry fi rst found it as a sapling in the Blue Mountains before bringing it with him as he moved from Milton-Free- water to Pendleton to Hermiston. “I’ll be honest with you, I miss it,” Larry said. But he said he was glad the community could fi nd good use for it. “Thank you for sharing a piece of your life with us,” Drotzmann responded. After Drotzmann’s remarks came a visit from Santa, who came in on a fi re truck and settled in to greet a long line of youngsters after the offi cial tree lighting. Jamie Littrell said she braved the cold so that her children could see Santa and the tree, and she liked what the city had done with the street. “The tree looks really good,” she said. Will and Courtney Keeler also brought their family See WINTER/10A “Isn’t this a great event? How awesome is this?” — Dave Drotzmann, Hermiston mayor PENDLETON Students get crash course in careers By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Excecutive sous chef Jose Gutierrez talks about running the large kitchen at Wildhorse Resort & Casino to a group of Pendleton High School students during a career day tour of the facility Tuesday in Mission. Instead of selling themselves to prospective employers, Pendleton School District students found some employers selling their companies and their industries to them. During a tour of Cayuse Technol- ogies for the district’s career day on Thursday, Mark Jones, the compa- ny’s executive vice president of delivery, asked how many students were interested in working for the tech support business. Jones started querying the students who raised their hands about why they would want to work there, and a few responded that they were interested in the programming aspect of the career fi eld or the career’s generous benefi ts package. Led by CEO Billy Nerenberg, several company employees told the students that tribally-owned Cayuse Technologies separated itself from other tech companies because of its community-mindedness and its commitment to developing its employees, experience or not. See CAREERS/6A