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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2017)
TRUMP PLEDGES TO END POLITICAL LIMITS ON CHURCHES NIXYAAWII BEATS ECHO IN OVERTIME FAITH/7A SPORTS/1B Protests erupt in Romania WORLD/8A FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017 141st Year, No. 79 Your Weekend • • Brown signs orders to thwart Trump immigration policies By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Quilts of Valor National Sew Day in Pendleton Ugandan Kids Choir Concert at BMCC For times and places see Coming Events, 5A Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group 29/25 44/34 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD 40/32 Gov. Kate Brown announced efforts to resist the Trump administration’s executive order temporarily barring refugees and visa holders for several pre- dominantly Muslim countries. SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order Thursday barring the use of any state resources to enforce federal immigration policy and called on the state Attorney General’s Offi ce to sue the Trump adminis- tration over the president’s executive order on immigra- tion. “The president’s recent executive orders that divide and discriminate do not refl ect the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution or the principles we stand for as Oregonians or Americans,” Brown told reporters Thursday. “I want to make it very clear that here in Oregon, where thou- sands have fought for and demanded equality, where millions have put down roots and become integral to our economy and to our culture; we will not retreat.” The governor said her order was a response to Trump’s temporary ban on refugees and visa holders from several predominantly Muslim countries, but also a proactive step in anticipa- More inside Iranian infant needs visa waiver for heart surgery in Portland Page 2A tion of further action by the Trump administration. “We are hearing rumors of the fact that the federal government may consider creating a Muslim registry,” Brown said. “This would forbid our state agencies and our state agency workers from participating in that.” See BROWN/8A Watch a game ARLINGTON vs. Cash for trash The Dalles vs. Hermiston Friday, 7 p.m., at Hermiston Sheriff’s partners skeptical of pitch for new dispatcher 30-year Metro garbage contract will soon expire By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian “One of the things I love about being on the school board is using policy and being able to infl uence people — whether it’s teachers, parents or the children themselves.” For nearly 30 years, trash day in Portland has meant payday in rural Gilliam County. A fl eet of 50 garbage trucks arrives every day from the big city to a remote, wind- swept plateau south of Arlington, home of Waste Management’s Columbia Ridge Landfi ll and Recycling Center. The 12,00-acre dump employs 90 people — roughly 5 percent of the county’s population — and kicks in millions of dollars annually to local coffers. The landfi ll faces an uncertain future, however, as Portland now considers different alternatives for disposing of its solid waste. If that happens, it may cost jobs and signif- icant revenue for Gilliam County, which uses host fees from Columbia Ridge to help pay for things like roads, small business loans and tax rebates for homeowners. Portland’s trash is regulated by Metro, an independently elected regional government that also runs the Oregon Zoo, Portland Expo Center and an array of city parks. When Waste Manage- ment opened Columbia Ridge in 1990, it secured 90 percent of all garbage Metro collects — up to half a million tons annu- ally. That contract is set to expire in 2019. Paul Ehinger, director of solid waste operations for Metro, said the council is weighing whether to continue its relationship with Columbia Ridge, or go in a different direction. “It’s a matter of what are the best choices we can make,” Ehinger said. The Columbia Ridge — Debbie McBee, chair of the Pendleton school board See LANDFILL/3A By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan wants to hire another dispatcher for his department’s busy 9-1-1 and communications center. But the multiple agencies that contract for dispatch services are not keen on paying for it. The communication center had nine dispatchers in 2000, and they handled 9,468 emergency calls and 82,490 non-emergency calls, according to data from Lt. Kathy Lieuallen, the sheriff’s communications commander. That’s an average of about 10,217 calls per dispatcher per year. The sheriff’s offi ce now employs 17 dispatchers, and in 2016 they fi elded 29,606 emergency and 125,955 non-emergency See DISPATCH/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton School Board member Debbie McBee, left, goes over scholarship possibilities with senior Kristelle Isidro at the ASPIRE program on Thursday at Pendleton High School. GET ON BOARD Statewide campaign aims to get more people to run for school boards East Oregonian Each year, hundreds of volunteers from across the state raise their hands to coach, mentor, teach and campaign for their commu- nity’s schools. But when it comes to volunteering for Oregon’s school boards, fewer hands get raised. According to the Oregon School Board Association, nearly three-quarters of the seats for school boards, education service districts and community college boards were uncontested during the last round of board elections in 2015. While the majority of these races drew at least one person, 8 percent of the seats drew no candidates at all. That year marked the lowest number of school board candidates in a decade. The grim statistics spurred the association to launch a campaign to recruit more candidates to participate in the upcoming school board elections in May, spokesman Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton School Board member Michelle Monkman helps senior William Royer fi ll out paperwork for college Thursday at the ASPIRE program at Pendleton High School. Alex Pulaski said. The association doesn’t have any data as to why people aren’t interested in these seats, a problem espe- cially acute in rural Oregon, but Pulaski said Oregonians might not know enough about how schools boards affect education policy to take the plunge. The association’s “Get on Board” campaign will attempt to reverse the trend by holding webinars on Feb. 9 and Feb. 15 that will explain the responsibilities of See SCHOOL/8A