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TRUMP VISITS POLAND WORLD/6A
NORTHWEST/2A
FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2017
141st Year, No. 189
Your Weekend
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WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wildhorse plans $85M expansion
Additions include second hotel tower, bowling alley and parking garage
Confederated Umatilla
Journal
•
•
•
Cool Rides Car Show,
Funfest in Hermiston
Pendleton Community
Flea Market, Saturday
Athena Caledonian
Games all weekend
For times and places
see Coming Events, 5A
Weekend Weather
Fri
Sat
Sun
98/60
96/63
93/63
MISSION — With the
intent to re-invent itself,
Wildhorse Resort & Casino
is adding a second 11-story
hotel tower, a 32-lane
bowling alley, four more
screens in the cineplex and
fi ve new restaurants.
Those amenities and
more are expected to be
completed by the summer of
2020.
On June 5, the Board
of Trustees
for
the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation
authorized a team to begin
exploring fi nancing for
a loan not to exceed $85
million.
Gary George, CEO at
Wildhorse, said banks have
indicated willingness to
loan up to $137 million.
However, based on what the
resort currently is earning,
the number was reduced to
$85 million to ensure there
would be no impact to the
current distribution to tribal
members.
George said he believes
the Phase II expansion is a
“very solid project that will
generate additional discre-
tionary revenue” for the
CTUIR and its programs.
Further, he said, based on
the feasibility study, it will
increase allocations (divi-
dends) for current and future
CTUIR tribal members or,
as George calls them, share-
holders.
The
expansion
is
expected to create at least
100 new jobs, which would
bring the total employment
up to 860 during peak
summer months. Even in
the slower winter months
the number of employees
would be around 760 to 800,
George said.
Here’s a list of some of
the main expansion items:
Hotel
Although another tower
See WILDHORSE/8A
Hospital
offi cials try
to keep up
with policy
changes
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
President
Trump
acknowledged at a meeting
of the nation’s governors in
February that health care is
complicated.
“It’s an unbelievably
complex subject,” Trump
said. “Nobody knew health
care could be so complicated.”
Two local health care
leaders, Harry Geller and
Dennis Burke, dispute the
latter statement. The two
hospital administrators are
enmeshed daily in the intrica-
cies of delivering health care
and dealing with government
involvement in it. Geller is
president at Pendleton’s St.
Anthony Hospital and Burke
is president and CEO at Good
Shepherd Medical Center in
Hermiston.
The men sat down with
the East Oregonian editorial
board this week to chat about
a U.S. health care system in
fl ux and how ongoing health
care reform affects hospitals.
They said passage of the
Affordable Care Act in 2010
brought positive change to
hospitals, at least in the begin-
ning. Thousands more people
had access to insurance
through Medicaid expansion
and the insurance exchanges.
Hospitals began to see fewer
uninsured people coming into
See HOSPITAL/2A
Flipping over the heat
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Adam Urbina, 9, of Pendleton is all
smiles as he performs a backfl ip
off a diving board Thursday at the
Pendleton Family Aquatic Center.
New laws hit the books as legislature winds down
Facebooking while
driving will be
illegal in October
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Another
legislative
session is almost in the
books, and with it comes
hundreds of new laws.
Many of the more than
850 bills passed won’t
have a noticeable impact
on the average citizen’s
day-to-day life, but others
could result in a stranger
smashing in your car
window or fi nally having
to learn how to pump your
own gas.
Starting October 1,
it could also result in a
$2,000 fi ne for checking
sports scores on your phone
while driving. Previously it
was only illegal to text and
drive, but House Bill 2597
outlaws all hands-on use of
a mobile electronic device
while driving, including
but not limited to posting
on social media, taking
photos, inputting a desti-
nation on GPS or scrolling
through a playlist on your
phone. The maximum fi ne
for violations is $2,000,
and third-time offenders
will be charged with a
misdemeanor instead of a
traffi c violation.
Before the legislature
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
House Bill 2746 passed in April increased the deposit on cans and bottles from
fi ve cents to 10 cents.
adjourns on Monday, here
is a small sampling of other
new rules that might affect
you:
In your vehicle
• For everyone who
wishes they could pump
their own gas in Oregon,
House Bill 2482 allows
self-service fueling at gas
stations 24 hours a day in
counties with a population
of less than 40,000 east
of Multnomah County,
including Morrow County,
starting January 1. Stations
with a retail space such
as a mini-mart must still
provide an employee able
to dispense fuel between
the hours of 6 a.m. and 6
p.m.
• If you spot a toddler or
pet locked in a dangerously
hot car with no parent in
sight, House Bill 2732
allows you to break into a
car to remove them if the
person acts in good faith
believing that the child
or animal is in immediate
danger. The person must
have fi rst confi rmed that
the doors were all locked,
proceeded to do the least
amount of damage needed
and called law enforcement
as soon as “reasonably
practical.” The bill took
effect immediately upon
passage.
• It’s not just police cars
you’ll be required to move
over for starting on Jan.
1. Senate Bill 34 requires
drivers on roads with more
than one lane in the same
direction to move to a lane
non-adjacent to any vehicle
pulled over with hazard
lights fl ashing, fl ares set
out or other indications of
distress. If there is only one
lane, passing drivers must
slow down by at least fi ve
miles per hour instead.
• If you get into a crash,
Senate Bill 35, effective
immediately,
increases
the threshold for reporting
motor vehicle crashes to
law enforcement from
$1,500 to $2,500 worth of
damage. The legislature
also passed House Bill
2403, requiring drivers to
exchange insurance infor-
mation after all crashes. If
leaving a note for a vehicle
owner who is not present,
the note must include the
insurance carrier and policy
number.
• Anyone who fancies
themselves an amateur
detective will have to
forgo the old “Tracking
device on the car” trick.
Senate Bill 483 makes
it illegal to attach a GPS
device to a person’s vehicle
without their knowledge.
The misdemeanor offense
becomes a felony if the
perpetrator has previously
been convicted of stalking
or has a restraining order
against them. It does not
apply to law enforcement.
At school
• Students in Oregon
will be learning more about
the historical contribu-
tions of social and ethnic
minorities — including
women, people of color,
immigrants, people with
See LAWS/8A