Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2017)
WIND POWER SHUT OFF REGION/3A WHEN WE ENTERED WWI LIFESTYLES/1C Staff photo by E.J. Harris Little leaguers run a gauntlet of high fi ves from the Pendleton High School baseball and softball teams during the grand entry opening ceremony for Pendleton Little League at Ken Melton Little League Park on Friday in Pendleton. This year there are more than 400 boys and girls competing in Pendleton on 36 baseball and softball teams. The Pendleton Little League parade starts at 9 a.m. Saturday on Main Street with games starting at 11 a.m. at Ken Melton Park. HERMISTON SPLITS DOUBLE HEADER SPORTS/1B WEEKEND, APRIL 8-9, 2017 141st Year, No. 125 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON Chamber plan relies on ‘spirit of cooperation’ Chamber would move from conference center, be paired with museum downtown By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Drug Court graduate Michelle DeBord stares out the window of her Pendleton home while refl ecting on the day her husband died from a prescription drug overdose. According to DeBord, it was her husband’s death that began her downward spiral into heroin addiction and problems with the law. Pendleton woman emphasizes humanity behind recently cut program By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Michelle DeBord rifl es through a binder stuffed with homework assignments and personal papers to fi nd a dozen photo- graphs illustrating her troubled past. Each picture tells the story of a woman struggling with addiction and the sudden death of her husband. They reveal numerous trips to rehab and lost custody of her two oldest children. Her eyes well with tears as she confronts the painful memories. DeBord, 39, is a heroin addict. “A little piece of heaven on Earth,” she described the drug this week. For years, it was the only way she felt she could get out of bed, but came at a price. “I became a slave to it,” DeBord said. “It was always about getting more.” Now two years clean, DeBord insists her saving grace was Umatilla County Drug Court. When 13 other inpatient treat- ment centers failed, drug court succeeded. Through the program, DeBord said she learned how to take accountability for her actions and responsibility for her future. With drug court set to be eliminated June 30 due to a half million dollar budget shortfall, DeBord is putting herself front See DRUG COURT/12A Local educators mixed about 40-40-20 getting 86ed Graduation goal a good initiative, but ‘impossible to achieve’ By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Oregon schools have had several years to work toward the state’s “40-40-20” graduation goal, but as the Legislature considers scrapping the goal entirely, local education leaders have mixed feelings about it. One of former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s signature education initiatives, 40-40-20 was estab- diploma. Now less than halfway to the self-im- posed deadline, a group of legislators has lished by the Legisla- submitted a bill that ture in 2011 with the would put 40-40-20 goal of graduating 100 on the chopping block. percent of Oregon’s The bill’s chief sponsor, students by 2025. The state Rep. Paul Evans, ratios are derived from Mulvihill D-Salem, argues that the post-graduation the goal isn’t realistic, expectations set by the according to The Oregonian. state — 40 percent of Oregonians InterMoutain Education with a bachelor’s degree, 40 Service District superintendent percent with an associate’s degree or professional certifi cate and Mark Mulvihill was a member 20 percent with a high school See SCHOOL/8A Management of the Hermiston Confer- ence Center will be the main topic of discus- sion during Monday’s city council meeting. A new plan being presented for the coun- cil’s approval Monday night would end the city’s practice of contracting management of the center out to the Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Commerce. Instead, the city’s parks and recreation department would take over operations beginning in 2018 and the department’s offi ces — now housed in the basement of city hall — would be relocated to the current chamber offi ces in the confer- ence center. As part of the change, the city would offer the chamber offi ce space in the former Carnegie Library on Gladys Avenue, “The city’s which is currently remodeled. capacity and being The city hopes to needs have eventually turn the main level of the changed historic building and bringing into a museum and visitors’ center. that opera- “The city’s capacity and needs tion (of the have changed and bringing that conference operation (of the center) under conference center) the Parks & the Parks & under Recreation Depart- Recreation ment makes a lot of according Department sense,” to a memo in the makes a lot council’s agenda packet. “However, of sense.” it is anticipated that our spirit of — Memo in the city cooperation with council’s agenda packet the Chamber can continue to be leveraged to help revitalize the downtown area by relocating their offi ces into one of the few historic buildings in the downtown core and beginning to work together toward transforming it into a legitimate attraction.” A news release sent out by the chamber Wednesday merely stated that the chamber will be “looking at” moving to a “new location downtown.” If the chamber takes the city up on its offer, it would be located in the basement of the Carnegie Library, which includes offi ces, a reception area and a conference room. The upstairs currently holds the city’s building department, which would be moved into city hall where the parks and recreation offi ces are currently located. While assistant city manager Mark See HERMISTON/8A
