WHERE
TO EAT THIS
THANKSGIVING
55/38
SEAHAWKS
WITHOUT
SHERMAN
REGION/3A
SPORTS/1B
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017
142nd Year, No. 21
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Offi cials
seek state
help for
businesses
hurt by fi re
PENDLETON
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Guests move through a pizza buffet at Washington Elementary during a family night for American Indian students and their
families on Tuesday in Pendleton. The Pendleton School District received improved marks in a 2016 survey of their American
Indian student population.
Culture & community
Tribal students give good grades on district’s cultural responsiveness
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Following years of sustained
efforts to improve the outcomes
of its Native American popu-
lation, the Pendleton School
District recently received high
marks from its American Indian
students.
At the Pendleton School
Board’s annual meeting on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation
Monday, Julie Smith, the
district’s director of special
programs, shared the results of a
student survey conducted by the
University of Oregon.
During spring 2016, the
university surveyed 178 eighth,
10th and 12th-grade students
and asked them questions about
their feelings toward their
teachers, schools and cultural
identities.
Of the students interviewed,
16 identifi ed as American
Indian/Native Alaskan while an
additional 13 students identifi ed
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Matt Yoshioka, director of Curriculum, Instruction &
Assessment for the Pendleton School District, speaks with
Keirsen Spencer, 12, Brad Spencer and Karter Spencer, 7,
during family night Tuesday at Washington Elementary.
as American Indian/Native
Alaskan and another ethnicity.
A total of 14 percent of respon-
dents were either full or partially
American Indian and include
members the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
“Native students who partic-
ipated in the survey felt overall
positive about their school envi-
ronment,” the study concludes.
“Their average ratings of each
survey domain were around the
scale’s midpoint, meaning that
tended to “somewhat agree” that
the academic and instructional
supports provided by their
teachers were culturally respon-
sive, that they were proud of and
felt connected to their cultural
identity, and that the school had
good relationships with their
families and communities.”
But some of the statistics
provided by the survey showed
that the district has more work
to do.
One in four American Indian
students felt that none of their
teachers knew about their
cultural backgrounds, and three
of every four multi-ethnic Native
American students said the same.
Thirty percent of American
Indian students felt that neither
their education or their curric-
ulum understood their culture.
Thirty-eight percent said their
See SCHOOL/8A
“The majority of students felt the school welcomed their family and community, but that
teachers did not always reach out to their family members to invite them to the school.”
— Julie Smith, Pendleton School District’s director of special programs
SALEM — This summer’s harsh fi re
season left behind economic damages that
Oregon offi cials and members of the busi-
ness community are still trying to quantify.
Although the state is still researching
the extent of the impact, economic devel-
opment offi cials want to ask the Legislature
in the upcoming short legislative session
for funds for low-interest loans for small
businesses affected by wildfi res, perhaps
triggered by an offi cial disaster declaration
by the governor.
Reduced revenues and cash fl ow for
businesses due to disruptive wildfi res this
summer could impact their credit ratings
and their access to capital, Jason Lewis-
Berry, director of Regional Solutions and
jobs and economy policy adviser to Gov.
Kate Brown, told legislators on Tuesday.
The state’s employment department said
late last month that the fi res didn’t impact
the unemployment rate statewide, but
certain regions suffered higher job losses in
September.
About 600 more leisure and hospitality
jobs in Central Oregon, the Columbia River
Gorge and southwest Oregon were cut in
September than is typical, according to the
Oregon Employment Department.
Lewis-Berry said the state is still
collecting data on lodging tax receipts and
See FIRE/8A
Bellinger wins
re-election to
Westland board
East Oregonian
Incumbent Jack Bellinger defeated
challenger Ray Vogt in a tight election for
a seat on the Westland Irrigation District
Board of Directors.
According to unoffi cial results Tuesday
night, Bellinger received 107 votes and
Vogt received 95. The Westland board of
directors will meet at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov.
20 at the district offi ce, 77096 Highway
207 in Echo, to canvass the election and
offi cially announce the winner.
Bellinger is the owner of Bellinger
Farms and has been a member of the
district since 2001.
In the last year, members of the irriga-
tion district have sued Westland, claiming
they are being cheated out of their senior
water rights. The litigation prompted
Westland to abandon the Central Project in
May, which would have secured mitigated
water supplies for the district from the
Columbia River.
HERMISTON
UCFD celebrates success, plans for future after fi rst year
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston fi refi ghter/paramedic Carry Munro, right, gives a
chemical weapons incident training on Tuesday at the main sta-
tion in Hermiston.
In the 18 months since voters
approved a bond to merge the Hermiston
and Stanfi eld fi re districts, the resulting
Umatilla County Fire District 1 has seen
swift changes. But with the exception of
minor growing pains, Fire Chief Scott
Stanton said the transition has been
smooth.
“There have been very few bumps
in the road,” Stanton said. “There were
no surprises on my radar. We put in a lot
of groundwork and labor, and mitigated
any possible pitfalls that could happen
from this.”
So successful has the new district
been that they were awarded the “Oregon
Fire District of the Year” award last week
at the Oregon Fire District Association
conference.
Stanton attributed the award to several
changes they implemented shortly after
forming the new district.
“The biggest deal was getting the
second station staffed, fi nally,” he said.
“We’ve already seen lives saved and fi res
put out that wouldn’t have otherwise.”
The second station, at East Punkin
Center and Diagonal roads, has been
around for 31 years, but was never been
staffed full-time until March 2017.
The district has hired six people to
staff the station.
Stanton said he was also proud of the
community paramedic program, which
the district began in June in conjunction
with Good Shepherd Medical Center’s
ConneXions program, which connects
people with community health resources.
The program allows paramedics to
See UCFD/8A