54/42
FEDS PAUSE
BEAVER
KILLINGS
17 DEAD IN
CALIFORNIA
MUDSLIDES
NORTHWEST/2A
NATION/6A
THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018
142nd Year, No. 61
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PENDLETON
Neil Brown
Neil Brown
won’t seek
third term
Three other incumbents
have filed for re-election
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
government agencies can be a slow and diffi cult
process.
“I was really excited about that aspect of the
executive order,” he said. “If we can streamline
Pendleton City Council presi-
dent Neil Brown said Wednesday
he won’t seek re-election in
2018.
“I think two terms is appro-
priate,” Brown said. “I think we
need some new blood.”
He said now that he is
semi-retired and downsizing his
business, NWB Sales, he is dedi-
cating more of his time toward
traveling.
Brown encouraged residents
of Ward 3, which includes McKay
C r e e k ,
Southgate
“I think we
and Tutuilla
Road,
to
need some
jump into
the
race new blood.”
to replace — Neil Brown,
him. Brown
Pendleton City
said
he
Council
president
has talked
with some
people about the prospect, but
he’s “shooting blanks” so far.
The other three council
incumbents whose seats are up
for election — John Brenne in
Ward 1, McKennon McDonald
in Ward 2 and Jake Cambier
in an at-large position — have
fi led their campaign paperwork,
according to city recorder Andrea
Denton.
No challengers have yet fi led.
The deadline is March 6.
Brown was a former Pend-
leton planning commissioner
who ran unopposed to win his
fi rst term in 2010, turning in his
fi ling paperwork just minutes
before the deadline. Brown did
not face any opposition in 2014
either, easily winning a second
term.
While Brown is leaving, the
council’s newest incumbent is
See INTERNET/8A
See COUNCIL/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Lineman C.J. Christensen with Eastern Oregon Telecom works on moving an internet cable line on Wednesday in Umatilla.
Trump executive orders
aim to bring broadband
to rural America
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
and GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
During his speech Monday at the American
Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nash-
ville, Tenn., President Donald Trump signed two
executive orders aimed at improving broadband
internet access to rural America.
The fi rst order is aimed at easing the process
to put private broadband infrastructure on federal
property, and the second is a memorandum
directing the Interior Department to work on
a plan to increase access to their facilities for
broadband deployment.
More than 34 million Americans are without
access to affordable, reliable broadband service,
said Zachary Cikanek, a national spokesman for
Connect Americans Now, a coalition launched
Jan. 2. Of those, 23.4 million live in rural
communities.
“This gap is something we think we can
bridge in the next fi ve years if we roll out the
right combination of technology,” Cikanek said.
Roughly 16 percent of Oregon’s population
lives in rural areas, according to the USDA
Economic Research Service.
Digital divide
Joe Franell, CEO of Eastern Oregon Telecom,
said he was pleased at the prospect of being able
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President Donald Trump, surrounded by politicians, holds up a signed executive order
and a memorandum on rural broadband access at the American Farm Bureau Feder-
ation’s Annual Convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center on
Monday in Nashville, Tenn.
to deal with government entities more quickly
when trying to install fi ber access in rural areas.
“One big barrier is that anyone building any
infrastructure struggles to get a permit on federal
land,” he said. He noted that locally, getting a
permit is fairly routine, but dealing with federal
Governor Brown releases priorities for short session
Gun control, PERS reform
among top concerns
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown’s priorities for the
2018 legislative session
include efforts to pay down
the state’s public pension
liability and tighten restric-
tions on gun ownership.
Brown, who is running
for reelection in November,
released fi ve proposals
Wednesday, ahead of the
short session that begins Feb. 5 and
will last up to 35 days.
Here are the governor’s proposals:
• Gun control: This proposal lays
out a previously voiced desire of the
governor to close the “Boyfriend
Loophole” by modifying state law to
bar people convicted of misdemeanor
stalking and/or domestic violence
from purchasing a fi rearm.
The bill would also make sure that
the “appropriate authorities”
are notifi ed when someone
who is prohibited by law
from buying a fi rearm tries
to buy one, and have the
state track information
about those cases to learn
where the reporting system
can be improved.
• Affordable housing:
The proposal would allow
the state to temporarily
waive fees and education require-
ments (in favor of training experience
“on the job”) for construction profes-
See PRIORITIES/8A
File photo
Gov. Kate Brown has released fi ve proposals ahead of next month’s
short session of the Oregon Legislature.