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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2017)
100/68 WOMAN INJURED IN COLLISION A PHS LEGEND RETURNS Rainbow Gathering begins to disperse after July 4 peak REGION/3A SPORTS/1B NORTHWEST/2A THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017 141st Year, No. 188 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Transportation package gets green light $30 million earmarked for projects in Umatilla, Morrow counties By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The House of Representatives passed a $5.3 billion statewide transportation package Wednesday, 39-to-20. The bipartisan yes votes exceeded the 36 that are constitutionally required to enact new taxes. The package now heads to the Senate in the waning days of the legislative session, which must end by July 10, according to the Oregon Constitution. However, lawmakers signaled concerns that the package could face a voter referral. In another bill, they added a provision to bump up any vote by the electorate on the transportation package to May instead of the general November election. The 10-year plan includes hikes in the gas tax, regis- tration and title fees and new taxes on payroll, new vehicle purchases and bicy- cles priced more than $200. The package also calls for congestion-priced tolling at some of Portland’s bottle- necks. The package includes $30 million earmarked for proj- ects in Umatilla and Morrow counties, and would also result in thousands of extra fuel tax dollars for local cities and counties each year to spend as they see fi t on road maintenance. Hermiston is expected to get an additional $448,000 on average per year and Umatilla County is expected to get $1.5 million extra per year, according to a news release from the offi ce of Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner). Smith, who sat on the Joint Committee on Transportation Preservation and Modernization, called Wednesday a “day of elation” during debate of the bill on the house fl oor. “I am a fi rm believer that See TRANSPORTATION/8A EO fi le photo The city of Hermiston will get $4.5 million to overhaul North First Place, including new traffi c signals at Orchard and Highland avenues. HERMISTON Good Shepherd hopes purchase of Gifford Medical helps recruit docs Rural areas struggle to attract primary care providers By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Briana Spencer of Pendleton gets help with her loom from instructor Anita Hathale of Mexican Hat, Utah, during a Navajo rug weaving workshop at Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts on Friday outside of Mission. Navajo rug workshop comes to Crow’s Shadow By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian Childhood memories came fl ooding back to Marlene Stevenson during last week’s Navajo rug weaving workshop at Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts. Stevenson, who lives in Mission and works at Tamást- slikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, was born and raised Navajo in northwest New Mexico. She fondly remembers summers home from boarding school helping her mother weave rugs using the wool from their own fl ock of several hundred sheep. “It’s in the blood,” Stevenson said as she practiced weaving a colorful diamond pattern Friday in the Crow’s Shadow gallery. The workshop, taught by fellow Navajo artist and weaver Anita Hathale, was the perfect refresher course for Stevenson after 15 years away from the loom. While Stevenson does teach beading classes as part of her job at Tamástslikt, she admits she has not kept up as See RUG/8A “It makes me happy to see a diverse people learning how to weave. It’s my art, and a gift from my parents. I just want to share it with the world.” — Anita Hathale, Navajo artist, workshop instructor Good Shepherd Medical Center will soon acquire longtime Hermiston practice Gifford Medical Center. It will add three doctors and three nurse practitioners, increasing its total count to 11 primary care providers. But Hermiston continues to see a need for health care providers, a problem it shares with many rural communities. “One challenge we face here is recruiting,” said Nick Bejarano, Good Shepherd’s director of marketing and communications. Bejarano said this year Good Shep- herd conducted a phone survey and focus groups with 486 community members. It found a real desire from residents for more primary care providers in the area. Attracting medical professionals to rural areas has long been a challenge, said Dr. Doug Flaiz of Family Health Associ- ates. That practice has eight primary care providers. Flaiz said he is starting his 43rd year there. “I enjoy working here,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of recruiting over the years, with some success and some failure. At times it’s very diffi cult.” Flaiz said one thing that’s frustrated him is that graduates at the nearest medical schools, Oregon Health and Sciences University, don’t seem to want to work in rural Oregon. “It’s disappointing to me that OHSU has had less than a handful of grads come here in the time I’ve worked here,” he said. “They seem to want to practice within fi ve miles of I-5.” Bejarano said once doctors arrive See HEALTH/8A PENDLETON Lawsuit leads to auction of John Murray Building By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by Tim Trainor The John Murray Building, built in 1912 and formerly Pendleton High School and a middle school, will go to auction Aug. 10. The John Murray Building in Pendleton is heading to the auction block so real estate broker Kalvin Garton and his wife Silva can pay off more than $1 million in debt. The Gartons agreed in August 2008 to a $950,000 loan at 7 percent interest to Gale and Pat McClintock of Pendleton for the John Murray Building, 200 S.E. Haily Ave., and a nearby lot at 626 S.E. Second St. The Gartons failed to pay a minimum of $6,325 a month from November 2015 through February 2016, according to the lawsuit the McClintocks fi led in February 2016 in Umatilla County Circuit Court. They sought $857,129 from the Gartons, plus the interest, attorney fees and court costs, and asked the court to foreclose on the properties and have the sheriff sell them at auction. The McClintocks prevailed in that quest June 7, when Circuit Judge Erin Landis signed the general judgment of foreclosure fi nding the Gartons defaulted on the deal and owe more than $877,000 in principal, almost $83,500 in interest, another $60,000 more for attorney’s fees, and nearly $3,500 in court costs. The total, according to court order for the sale, comes to $1,026,232. See BUILDING/8A
