E O
AST
REGONIAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017
Barrel racers warm up their hors-
es on the grass infi eld before the
start of slack on Monday at the
Pendleton
Round-Up.
The
rodeo begins Wednesday.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
141st Year, No. 236
Economists
tackle pot,
struggle to
get handle
on young
industry
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon
state economists are
crunching numbers on a
product that in many other
states remains illegal —
marijuana.
Under House Bill 3470,
passed this legislative
session, state economists
have been asked to project
future tax revenues from
pot. Meanwhile, the state’s
employment department
is trying to get a better
sense of how many people
are employed in the
burgeoning legal cannabis
industry.
In Oregon, sales of
recreational
marijuana
are taxed at 17 percent of
the retail sale price. Cities
and counties can tack on a
“local option” tax of up to
3 percent.
Late last month, state
economists projected that
the state will bring in
net marijuana revenues
of about $142 million in
the next two years, but
the very short history of
legal marijuana and other
factors complicate fore-
casting.
“Currently the outlook
for recreational marijuana
sales and tax collections
remains highly uncertain,”
state economists wrote in
a quarterly report issued in
See MARIJUANA/9A
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Ready for the crowds
Vendors bank on
fans making trek,
even as I-84 closed
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The closure of Interstate
84’s eastbound lanes in the
Columbia River Gorge due to
wildfi re seems to be having
little effect on the Pendleton
Round-Up.
Horse trailers and recre-
ational vehicles are fi lling
camping areas, and street
parking Monday afternoon
near the Round-Up Grounds
was scarce. But vendor Alvin
Johnson said the crowds
Saturday were smaller than
in previous years, and he had
no doubt air quality was to
blame.
“We book these spots a
year in advance, so we kind
of have to be here to sell
our stuff,” Johnson said.
“We’re really dependent on
customers getting here from
the bigger areas.”
Johnson sells American
Indian jewelry and pottery
at the corner of Southwest
Court Avenue and 10th
Street. He said he traveled
from Ashland through Bend
and came into town Friday,
and the wildfi re smoke
fi lled air the whole way. The
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation’s website shows 45
miles of I-84 remain closed
from Troutdale to Hood
River. According to Oregon
Public Broadcasting, the
eastbound lanes will remain
closed for at least a week
See CROWDS/10A
HERMISTON
Board hears
opposition to
graduation
move, stalls
on decision
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Alvin Johnson, a third-generation Navajo silversmith from Ashland,
didn’t have any trouble getting to Pendleton with his jewelry, but
he worries that Portland travelers will decide not to make the trip
because of smoke and detours.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Diane Bishop, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, waits patiently for custom-
ers at her hat booth near the Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo grounds.
Bishop isn’t too worried about smoke keeping customers away, but
her fi rst view of Pendleton from Cabbage Hill last week — a lake of
smoke — gave her pause. The smoke has since cleared.
Hermiston will have to wait at least
another month to fi nd out where its high
school’s 2018 graduation will be, after a
surprise motion at Monday night’s school
board meeting led the board to postpone
the decision until October.
The board voted 5-2 to revisit discus-
sion of a new graduation venue at their
October meeting, using the next few
weeks to gather more input and look at
other options. Mark Gomolski and Karen
Sherman voted against postponing the
decision.
The board released an agenda last
week, stating that Interim Superintendent
Tricia Mooney would recommend the
board approve a motion to hold Hermiston
High School’s June 2018 graduation at the
Toyota Center in Kennewick, then revisit
local venues for graduation in 2019. Board
members had discussed the possibility
at two previous meetings and issued a
community survey. Several local options
had also been discussed, including using
the high school’s Kennison Field or the
new EOTEC rodeo arena.
But as the motion was introduced at
Monday night’s meeting, board member
Jason Middleton introduced another.
“I’d like to allow the district more
time to look at different options in regard
to keeping it local, and revisit this in
October,” he said.
The motion was seconded by Dave
See GRADUATION/10A
PENDLETON
Cross country team taps into goofy side at
Kyle Burnside Dress-Up Parade Fun Run
Annual event raises scholarship funds in memory of late runner
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Jedi knights and Sith lords.
Ghosts and Ghostbusters. The
Tyrannosaurus rex and whoever
believed they could control the
beast.
They were natural adver-
saries, so of course they ran
together Saturday morning
through a mile-and-a half of
Pendleton streets, part of the
annual Kyle Burnside Dress-Up
Parade Fun Run.
This year’s event came close
to shutting down. Smoke from
regional forest fi res dropped
air quality most of the week
and prompted schools to cut or
reschedule outside activities.
More inside
Photos from Saturday’s
Dress-Up Parade, the
unoffi cial kick-off for
Round-Up week. Page 3A
Nicole Stewart, the track and
cross country coach for Pend-
leton High School, said readings
Saturday morning showed the
air quality improved enough to
hold the run.
Some 60 of the high school’s
70 cross country and track team
participated, she said, along
with several students from the
Sunridge Middle School and the
Nixyaawii Community School,
Pendleton. Groups came as
Disney princesses and patriotic
Americans, while individuals
dressed as a hurricane, a Viking,
even a rooster. Few came as
superheroes.
Stewart admitted she was
a bit concerned the teen in the
T. rex get-up representing the
Jurassic Park franchise might
have diffi culty breathing and
probably would not run so much
as shuffl e.
A handful of adults also
entered,
including
Fred
Robinson Jr., animal doctor at
Riverside Veterinary Clinic. He
dressed as a surgeon.
Students sold $10 tickets all
week, Stewart said, for a raffl e
of an $80 package at Wildhorse
See FUN RUN/10A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Ben Bradley, a track coach at Pendleton High
School, slows down a moment from running
the Kyle Burnside Dress-Up Parade Fun Run to
play a few licks on his guitar.