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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2017)
INSIDE: DETENTIONS SPIKE, BORDER ARRESTS FALL WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW 35/21 NATION/7A WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017 142nd Year, No. 35 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Deadline set for Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument decision Litigation will resume Jan. 15 unless Trump administration resolves dispute By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI EO Media Group The Trump administration has agreed to resume litiga- tion over the expansion of Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument on Jan. 15 unless the dispute is resolved beforehand. The monument’s size was increased from about 66,000 acres to 114,000 acres by the Obama administration in early 2017, spurring several lawsuits against the proclamation. When the Trump adminis- tration decided to reconsider the expansion, those lawsuits were stayed by a federal judge pending the potential reduction of the monument’s boundaries. Roughly six months later, two plaintiffs — the Asso- ciation of O&C Counties and the American Forest Resource Council — have grown impatient with the delay. The groups recently attempted to revive the active litigation of their lawsuits but have now agreed to the Jan. 15 deadline as long as the Trump administration seeks no further postponements. The American Forest See MONUMENT/8A Courtesy of Bob Wick/BLM A large basaltic spire known as Pilot Rock is seen in the distance in this 2015 photo taken in Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument near Ashland. PENDLETON Baker County DA to oversee shooting probe due to ‘confl ict’ East Oregonian Photo contributed by Disability Rights Oregon Isolation is a common experience for youth at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility, The Dalles, according to a new report from Disability Rights Oregon. NORCOR’s director maintains youth there do not suffer inhumane treatment. YOUTH IN ISOLATION Juvenile correctional facility accused of inhumane methods By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Disability Rights Oregon in a new report accused the juvenile jail in The Dalles of skirting Oregon law and using inhumane means to punish youth. The director of the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility admitted the juvenile detention center can improve, but said in no way is the treatment there inhumane. Disability Rights is the feder- ally designated Protection and Advocacy System for Oregonians with disabilities, which grants the organization the authority to inspect jails and other facilities that care for or confi ne people with disabilities. Disability Rights More online For a copy of Disability Rights Oregon’s report and NORCOR’s response visit eastoregonian.com attorney Sarah Radcliffe visited the NORCOR juvenile jail on three occasions between June and September and interviewed 23 youth there, some who told her about long stays in isolation with little or no meaningful human contact, including youth who were suicidal. “I was just really shocked by the conditions,” she said. “Kids are getting disciplined for normal See NORCOR/8A The investigation into the shooting of a man Nov. 29 by a Pendleton police offi cer is now in the hands of Baker County District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff. Umatilla County District Attorney Dan Primus, who had been leading the investigation, said Tuesday that his offi ce has a “confl ict” and would no longer be involved. The nature of the confl ict was not detailed in the press release. Oregon State Police continue to investigate. Six days after the shooting, the identities of the people involved have yet to be released. The Umatilla County DA’s offi ce issued a short statement Monday morning saying it expected to release more information by the end of the day, but in the evening Primus said that would not take place. When reached Tuesday, Shirtcliff said he had just received the details of the case and would be prepared to brief the media Wednesday morning. According to Pendleton police chief Stuart Roberts, a Pendleton offi cer shot the man, who had a pistol, about 8:45 p.m. on Nov. 29 near the intersection of Southwest 20th Street and Court Avenue. Roberts said the suspect had been involved in a confrontation in the nearby Walmart parking lot, before running from police and not obeying verbal commands. Witnesses at the scene said they heard multiple shots. No offi cers were injured. The suspect was even- tually taken to Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, where he is recovering from a gunshot wound. Rising retirement costs placing pressure on college tuition By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon’s public universities are devoting a growing share of spending to retirement costs, a trend that factors into rising college tuition. Between the 2017 and 2018 fi scal years, public employee retirement costs for the state’s public univer- sities grew by 19.6 percent, according to the Oregon Council of Presidents. That brings the total amount that universities will devote to retirement costs in the 2018 fi scal year to $166 million, or nearly 10 percent of the universities’ total education and general expenditures. The annual amount universities pay toward the state’s Public Employees Retirement System as a share of overall payroll is expected to continue to rise in the next several budget cycles as well. PERS is faced with obli- gations to retirees that exceed the system’s current assets by about $25.3 billion. Most employee benefi ts are generated by investing, and the system’s funded liability tanked when the stock market took a tumble starting in 2008. So public employers started having to See TUITION/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Frosted foothills A weekend cold weather system leaves a fresh layer of snow covering the foothills of the Blue Mountains on Monday east of Pendleton.