Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2017)
Tip of the hat to a group of bathroom remodelers OPINION/4A TRUMP PULLS U.S. OUT OF CLIMATE PACT COACH HAWKINS RETIRES WORLD/9A SPORTS/1B FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2017 141st Year, No. 164 TRANSPORTATION PACKAGE Your Weekend • • • June Cruisin car show Saturday in Pendleton Old Iron Show all weekend in Pendleton “The Little Mermaid Jr.” in Hermiston For times and places see Coming Events, 6A Catch a movie One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Taxes on gas, vehicles, bicycles to fund local street, port projects By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The 298-page transportation package released by the state prom- ises money for multiple projects in Eastern Oregon, but also extra taxes. The long-awaited House Bill 2017 was published online by the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation Preservation and Modernization on Wednesday. The 10-year plan would raise more than $8 billion for transpor- tation projects around the state. Revenue streams would include raising the statewide gas tax from 30 cents to 44 cents over 10 years, putting a 0.75 percent tax on all vehicle sales, a 0.1 percent payroll tax and a series of increases in vehicle registration fees over the next eight years based on a vehicle’s miles-per-gallon rating. One of the bill’s revenue streams is a three percent excise tax on sales of adult bicycles costing over $500. Scott Cimmiyotti, owner of Scott’s Cycle and Sports in Herm- iston, said he disagreed with the provision that only bicycles over $500 would be taxed. In the big cities where commuting to work by bicycle is more popular, commuters are likely paying $500 or more for a bicycle, he said. But in rural cities like Hermiston more expensive bicycles tend to be for mountain See TRANSPORTATION/10A HERMISTON Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP An Amazonian warrior princess leaves her island paradise to help end WWI in “Wonder Woman.” For showtime, Page 5A For review, Weekend EO Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun 77/53 80/54 69/46 Watch a game vs. Pilot Rock vs. North Douglas State Championship game Friday, 1 p.m., at Oregon State University BOARDMAN Fight over mega-dairy continues By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Construction is underway on the rodeo arena at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Thursday in Hermiston. EOTEC will hire manager By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Opponents of a 30,000- cow dairy farm in Morrow County are pressuring state regulators to change their minds on a recently approved water pollution permit for the facility, or risk taking the matter to court. A coalition of groups has fi led what’s known as a petition for reconsider- ation, asking the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Department of Environ- See DAIRY/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris The framework for the livestock barns is up as construction continues Thursday at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston. The Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center board will start recruiting a general manager after getting a consensus from the Hermiston City Council and Umatilla County Commission. The position will pay $70,000 to $85,000 per year and will supervise an administrative assistant and mainte- nance/operations position. “We need to get good management,” commissioner Larry Givens said. “It’s got to be done, and we need to do it as soon as possible.” The council and commission discussed the plan during a joint meeting Thursday night. The EOTEC board had previously asked the two partners in the project to approve a similar plan, but they asked for salary fi gures before they were willing to sign off on it. Byron Smith, EOTEC chair, said the Pendleton Convention Center’s new manager, Pat Beard, will make around $80,000. The manager for the TRAC facility in the Tri-Cities makes $84,000 to $113,000, while the Linn County Expo Center manager makes $71,000 to $90,000 per year. Smith said at $80,000 per year (plus $50,000 for the maintenance position and $40,000 for the administrative assistant) the city and council would each need to chip in $75,000 next year for operations, compared with $45,000 this year. He said that’s based on a conservative estimate for revenue so it could end up being less if, like this year, See EOTEC/10A PENDLETON Tonya’s House, teen girls crisis home, closes its doors Nonprofi t ran for 20 years By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Tonya’s House is no more. The Pendleton nonprofi t that gave a temporary home and foster care to teen girls in crisis closed its doors in May. Casey White-Zollman chairs the Tonya’s House board of directors. She said arriving at the decision to end the organization took months of conversations and a hard look at the books. “All expenses were increasing, but dona- tions were not,” she said. “As we looked down the road at our fi nancials, we didn’t see it improving.” The fi nal vote came about a week ago, she said, and was diffi cult. “There were tears, I can tell you that,” she said. See TONYA’S HOUSE/10A EO fi le photo Shawn MacGregor moved to Pendleton from Minne- sota to become director of Tonya’s House in 2016. The young women’s crisis center, the only of its kind in the area, closed this week for fi nancial reasons.
