Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2017)
Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Thursday, September 14, 2017 Bentz: State should prioritize revenue, PERS reform By PARIS ACHEN and CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton Round-Up Queen Kendra Torrey leads her court around the arena during Wednesday’s opening run-in. WISHES: Araya will also participate in the Children’s Rodeo Continued from 1A The accident left Araya with brain damage that confi ned her to a wheelchair, but it did nothing to dampen her spirit. Her family calls her “Araya Sunshine,” and says that she’s almost always in a celebratory mood. The Nixyaawii sixth grader can often be heard claiming it’s her birthday. She’s a big fan of rodeo culture, but more than the horses or hats, “she loves the people,” her father said. Her sister Miracle, 8, said Araya says hello to everyone she sees. And Trevor Brazile might be her new best friend. The cowboy helps the Children’s Western Wish Foundation every chance he gets, he said. For the visit with Araya, he brought along his seven-year-old daughter, Style. “It’s rewarding to see you can take someone’s mind off what they’re going through, even if it’s just for a little while,” he said. “It’s humbling to know you can make that Staff photo by E.J. Harris Araya Edmiston, 11, of Pendleton is all smiles as she meets Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, on Wednesday in Pendleton. kind of difference.” On behalf of the foun- dation, Brazile gifted Araya with enough gear to complete a genuine cowgirl get-up: a special silver belt buckle, a sash embroidered with the title “Princess Araya” and a hat decorated with the signatures of all 17 Round-Up Directors, plus a sparkling tiara. She also received a cowboy-themed Bible inscribed with a hand- written note from Clyde and Elsie Frost, whose son died in a 1989 bull riding accident at Wyoming’s Cheyenne Fron- tier Days Rodeo. The founder of the Chil- dren’s Western Wish Foun- dation, Glee Nett, lives in Cheyenne, Wyo., but travels the country granting wishes. She bought a new car three months ago and has already put more than 10,000 miles on it. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. “Things like this show the good in our western heritage and our rodeo family,” she said. “It’s a wonderful family to belong to.” The foundation also paid for the Edminstons to attend the Round-Up’s Kick-off concert, though Araya’s sensi- tivity to loud noises prohibited them from staying for all of Gary Allan’s performance. Araya will also participate in Thursday’s Children’s Rodeo, something that she looks forward to every year, her father said. Another wish-granting foundation, Western Wishes, will treat Kallen Shuster to a visit with some of his favorite cowboys on Friday. The fi ve- year-old boy from Ontario suffers from Follicular Bronchiolitis, an auto-im- mune disease that makes him dependent on an oxygen tank. ——— Contact Emily Olson at eolson@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0809 HISTORY: Parking lot construction uncovered human remains Continued from 1A round but escaped, only for the law to catch up with him later, landing him eight years in the Oregon State Peniten- tiary. Maddock was shot in the face and lived. Hart was shot and killed, becoming the fi rst offi cer to die on duty in Oregon. The EO did not hold back its opinion of Vaughn in describing his fall that after- noon in 1893: “the man who appears to have nine lives ... had at last been the victim of his own recklessness.” Building on the dead Blue Mountain Commu- nity College moved to its location on the west end of Pendleton’s North Hill in 1965. Campus construction continued over the course of a decade, and not without hitches. Grey Elliott taught writing, literature and fi lm at the college. During the construction of the parking lot behind what’s now the Bob Clapp Theatre in Pioneer Hall, he said workers uncovered human remains in Staff photo by E.J. Harris Only two streets in Pendleton retain their original names, Main and Court, all of the other streets names were changed in the 1930s. Jeff Davis Street is now Southeast 11th Street. old coffi ns. “I actually packed a couple of skulls down to the biology lab,” Elliott said. “Covered in real white hair — it was kind of creepy.” Bob Jenson, another BMCC professor at the time and former state represen- tative from Pendleton, said the discovery caused quite the fuss. No one knew where the remains came from, and Elliott said there was concern the work unearthed an Indian grave site, so construction stopped. He also said the skulls presented their own mystery — there were holes in them. The county coroner, Dr. Paul Knowels, examined the skulls, Elliot said, and deter- mined the holes were from trepanation or trepanning — the process of drilling holes into the skull to treat certain diseases or relieve cranial pressure. Elliott said rather than Indian remains, these likely were from earlier days of the Eastern Oregon State Hospital, the insane asylum Oregon opened in 1913 on 450 acres below the college. The state from 1983-85 converted the hospital into the Eastern Oregon Correc- tional Institution, the medi- um-security mens prison. Elliott nor Jenson said they knew what happened to the coffi ns or their dreary contents. Town of confusion Finding your way through Pendleton was not always as easy as now (and it’s still not always easy). Pendleton had only named streets in its early days and no numbered streets. Street names also lacked directions, such as northwest or south- east. Frostad said Pendleton’s fi rst street names came arose from the fi rst property owner on the block or noted areas of importance. Railroad Street, for example — now Southwest Frazer Avenue — was next to the railroad yard. Water Street, now a portion of Byers Avenue, ran parallel to the south side of the Umatilla River. To get anywhere, she said, people had to know where Webb Street met College Street, a situation that even in a small town could be frustrating. That changed after the city built its airport in 1930. Frostad said city leaders recognized the town’s road system was messy, so they alphabetized street names and added numbered streets, along with directions, to create a grid pattern. Only two streets have kept their original names over Pend- leton’s 149 years, she said, Main Street and Court (then street, now avenue) because that is where the courthouse is located. The changeover also brought new designations to the handful of streets bearing the names of Confederate Civil War leaders, including Jeff Davis Street, Beauregard Street and Stonewall Jackson Street. JOHN DAY — A prominent legislator who helped shepherd a massive transportation package through the Legislature earlier this year is meeting resistance from leadership on his calls to prioritize budget and tax reform. “Spending reform, tax reform and (public pension reform) are in another world of complexity as compared to the transpor- tation package,” said Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, in a meeting with the Pamplin Media/EO Media Capital Bureau Wednesday, Sept. 13. “We should be starting now.” His comments came hours after a coalition called Priority Oregon announced it had fi led an initiative petition to make state and local public agen- cies use excess revenues to pay down unfunded obligations of the Public Employees Retirement System. The state faces poten- tially dramatic shortfalls for Medicaid and PERS in the next two years. Instead, Gov. Kate Brown and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, want to focus on passing a “cap-and-invest” carbon program in the 35-day legislative session early next year. The program would set a limit on the amount of carbon a busi- ness could emit and put a price on any excess. It would yield an estimated $700 million per year in revenue to invest in projects to slow climate change. “If they pass cap and invest to pull $700 million a year out of our economy, are we going to go back a short year later and say we want another $2 billion to address PERS?” Bentz said. “How much can our economy stand?” Bentz and three other lawmakers — Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene; Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas; and Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton — convened in late August to discuss a format for pursuing revenue and spending reform. The Ontario lawmaker said he approached Brown and Kotek about pursuing reform ideas now. “What I have been told is wait until March,” Bentz said. Hass agreed that “cap and invest” policy should wait until 2019, when instead of 35 days, lawmakers have more than fi ve months to pass laws. (The Oregon Legislature convenes for the shorter session in even years and the longer session in odd years.) “Policies of that magni- tude should be dealt with in the long session, and the short session should be to add changes that require prompt attention,” Hass said. “I think it is fair to say we can start a process to look at that, but I think it is something we should pick up in 2019,” he added. There are a few reasons why leadership may want to delay an overhaul of the state’s interconnected budget, public pension system and tax structure. For one thing, it’s unclear what Congress may reform health care and tax policies that affect the state budget. There’s talk that Medicaid funding for states could move to a block grant format, Bentz said. That potentiality and any changes to tax policy, such as policies surrounding deductions, could affect the amount of revenue Oregon brings in.
