NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Friday, August 24, 2018
National study finds Oregon
big spender on teacher benefits
Boards Association drew
attention to the study earlier
this week, by emailing out a
link to an Education Week
article on it.
OSBA executive direc-
tor Jim Green said the study
can help explain the effect
of rising costs, including
the Public Employee Retire-
ment System, to voters and
lawmakers.
“It at least allows us to
say ‘part of that funding that
you gave us is going to pay
for a benefit that isn’t tied
to anybody currently work-
ing for the school district,’”
Green said. “I think it’s a
beneficial analysis for that.”
But the statewide teachers
union, the Oregon Education
Association, found the study
problematic.
OEA president John Lar-
son said the study hasn’t
been peer-reviewed and
represents a viewpoint
that doesn’t support public
schools.
“Corporate interests and
wealthy individuals con-
tinue to attack educators and
other hard-working public
servants by providing inac-
curate or incomplete infor-
mation about their benefits,”
Larson said in a statement
to OPB. “The Bellwether
report is no different.”
By ROB MANNING
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Benefits for current and
retired teachers get a bigger
share of education spend-
ing in Oregon than they
do almost anywhere else,
according to a new analysis
by Bellwether Education, a
national think tank.
The Bellwether study
found Oregon’s spending on
health insurance and pen-
sions for teachers has risen
much more quickly than the
national average. In 2005,
employee benefits accounted
for 19.2 percent of educa-
tion spending in Oregon. But
by 2014, the costs of bene-
fits such as health insurance
and teacher pensions were
consuming 26.3 percent of
spending on schools.
In 2014, only Alaska
spent a higher percentage
than Oregon on teacher ben-
efits, at 30.3 percent.
States as a whole have
seen costs eat up an increas-
ing share of school spend-
ing — but it’s happening at a
faster pace in Oregon than in
other states, the study found.
In 2005, the national aver-
age for benefit spending was
16.2 percent, rising to 19.5
percent in 2014.
The Oregon School
Larson instead pointed to
research from AARP show-
ing a wage gap between
teachers and professional
jobs in the private sector.
“We should be focused
on funding our schools prop-
erly, not on trying to contin-
ually chip away at the salary
and benefits of educators,
many of whom are barely
paying the bills as it is,” Lar-
son said.
Authors of the Bellwether
study acknowledge that part
of the math that makes Ore-
gon spending on teacher
benefits appear so high is
related to Oregon’s relative
low spending on teacher pay
and other instructional costs.
The study used infla-
tion-adjusted federal num-
bers from the National Cen-
ter for Education Statistics
to show that many Oregon
school districts saw declines
in funding as spending on
teacher benefits went up.
But at least one large Ore-
gon district questioned the
figures, saying they didn’t
match budget numbers at
the district. The Bellwether
spreadsheet calculated Bea-
verton had a 33.6 percent
drop in “total K-12 spend-
ing” from 2005 to 2014. But
Beaverton officials had dif-
ferent figures.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
Hazy, breezy and
cooler
Hazy sunshine
Hazy sun
Hazy sun
Sunny and
beautiful
76° 48°
76° 54°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
75° 53°
79° 53°
87° 62°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
79° 55°
80° 51°
80° 55°
84° 53°
OREGON FORECAST
90° 59°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
64/55
72/45
79/46
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
78/55
Lewiston
68/53
81/54
Astoria
66/54
Pullman
Yakima 79/49
69/49
79/51
Portland
Hermiston
72/55
The Dalles 80/51
Salem
Corvallis
72/46
La Grande
Yesterday
Normals
Records
75/43
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
75/46
73/40
76/46
Ontario
85/51
Caldwell
Burns
88°
64°
86°
56°
103° (1956) 41° (1938)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
75/48
0.00"
0.03"
0.15"
5.13"
6.65"
6.07"
WINDS (in mph)
84/51
77/33
0.00"
Trace
0.31"
6.49"
11.37"
8.26"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 73/40
73/49
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
76/48
75/53
88°
62°
86°
56°
109° (1894) 34° (1910)
Josephine County seeks
state help to curb illegal
marijuana operations
GRANTS PASS (AP) — A county
sheriff in southwest Oregon is asking for
money from the state to investigate illegal
marijuana operations, saying his depart-
ment lacks the resources to do so.
Josephine County Sheriff Dave Dan-
iel says he needs $648,000 to help fund
a team of detectives, The Daily Courier
newspaper of Grants Pass reports.
The county would pitch in $350,000
to help form the team, the newspaper
reported.
A bill passed by the Legislature this
year assists cities and counties with costs
incurred by law enforcement agencies in
addressing unlawful marijuana cultiva-
tion or distribution operations.
Recreational and medical marijuana
production and sales are legal in Oregon,
subject to licensing and regulation. Over-
production of legal marijuana has caused
prices to plummet, creating a greater
incentive for illegal marijuana operations
to proliferate, and for smuggling of prod-
uct to other states for bigger profits.
“Josephine County has been unable to
investigate or prosecute illegal marijuana
operations due to lack of resources,” the
sheriff told the state’s Criminal Justice
Commission in a 12-page grant applica-
tion submitted last week.
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
69/50
Aberdeen
73/50
77/54
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
70/55
AP photo
In this May 24, 2018, file photo, a marijuana plant is shown in Springfield, Ore.
A sheriff in southwest Oregon is asking for money from the state to investigate
illegal marijuana operations, saying his department lacks the resources to do so.
Today
Sat.
Boardman WSW 8-16
Pendleton WSW 10-20
Medford
79/50
WSW 6-12
W 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
77/40
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:06 a.m.
7:48 p.m.
7:11 p.m.
4:10 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Aug 26
Sep 2
Sep 9
Sep 16
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 108° in Needles, Calif. Low 27° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
BRIEFLY
Ex-youth pastor sentenced to
15 years on sex abuse charge
race from Mount Hood to Seaside on Fri-
day and Saturday.
MEDFORD (AP) — A former Medford
youth pastor who was punched in the face
midway through a court hearing has been
sentenced to more than 15 years in prison
on a sex abuse charge.
The Mail Tribune reports U.S. District
Court Judge Anne Aiken ruled Thursday
that Donald Courtney Biggs be considered
a “repeat and dangerous sex offender” for
secretly recording dozens of young women
and juvenile girls undressing in bathrooms
at multiple church events between at least
March 2013 through September of 2014.
Biggs was punched Wednesday at U.S.
District Court in Medford after admitting
earlier this year to taking a 14-year-old
girl on a church trip to Southern Califor-
nia with the intent to film her exiting the
shower. The assailant, who was not iden-
tified, was arrested on multiple charges,
including fourth-degree assault and disor-
derly conduct.
Biggs pleaded guilty in February to one
felony count of transporting with intent to
engage in criminal sexual activity. As part
of a plea deal, nine other transportation and
child pornography charges were dropped.
Mandatory evacuations over
Eastern Washington wildfire
Hood to Coast watching air
quality as race nears
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
cold front
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
www.eastoregonian.com
To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255
or go online to www.eastoregonian.com
and click on ‘Subscribe’
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and
postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
high
110s
low
SEASIDE (AP) — Organizers of the
annual Hood to Coast relay race are anx-
iously watching the air quality as the week-
end race approaches.
Dan Floyd, the race’s chief operating
officers, told The Daily Astorian on Thurs-
day that this is the first time he’s ever had
to consider smoky conditions during the
relay race.
He says conditions appear to be eas-
ing and the air should be much clearer by
the weekend, but organizers are reminding
runners they participate at their own risk.
Wildfires around the region have made
Pacific Northwest skies unusually smoky.
More than 19,000 people will join the
Subscriber services:
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Local home delivery Savings off cover price
EZPay
$14.50
41 percent
52 weeks
$173.67
41 percent
26 weeks
$91.86
38 percent
13 weeks
$47.77
36 percent
*EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge
Single copy price:
$1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday
Circulation:
541-966-0828
Daniel says illegal marijuana opera-
tions can hide as legal ones, and can go
undetected without a task force dedicated
to finding them.
Last month, authorities seized 82 mar-
ijuana plants, $85,000 in cash and sev-
eral guns from an unlicensed grow site
near the town of Merlin, the newspaper
reported.
Daniel said his department has han-
dled hundreds of marijuana-related calls
in the past two years, including 423 last
year and 223 calls so far this year.
County officials have identified nearly
300 marijuana grow properties with code
violations, including illegal camping,
sewage dumping, erosion problems, elec-
trical issues and unpermitted structures,
Daniel said.
The federal Drug Enforcement Admin-
istration has agreed to assign an agent to
work with the proposed team, Daniel said.
U.S. Attorney Billy Williams, who
oversees federal prosecutions in Oregon,
said earlier this year that the state has
“significant overproduction” and that he
would prioritize enforcement of overpro-
duction, interstate trafficking, organized
crime and cases involving underage mar-
ijuana use and environmental damage by
illicit pot farms.
ADVERTISING
Regional Publisher and Revenue Director:
Christopher Rush
541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com
Advertising Services: Grace Bubar
541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com
Multimedia Consultants:
• Kimberly Macias
541-278-2683 • kmacias@eastoregonian.com
• Jeanne Jewett
541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com
• Dayle Stinson
541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
• Angela Treadwell
541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com
• Audra Workman
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
TWISP, Wash. (AP) — Mandatory
evacuations have been ordered for a lightly
populated area of eastern Washington state
as a wildfire continued to spread.
The Okanogan County Emergency
Management agency on Thursday said
those living near the fire on Crescent
Mountain should immediately evacuate
toward the town of Twisp. The agency said
the evacuation order covered about 180
seasonal and full-time homes.
The fire was started July 29 by lightning
and has grown to about 58 square miles.
It was burning Thursday about nine
miles west of Twisp in the Okano-
gan-Wenatchee National Forest.
There are 342 firefighters on the blaze,
which is 34 percent contained.
Yakima settles with utility
over fire started by police
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A city in east-
ern Washington state has agreed to a settle-
ment with a power company after a large
fire started last year during a gun-shooting
training exercise for local police officers.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports the
Yakima City Council on Tuesday approved
a nearly $120,000 settlement with Pacific
Power Corp.
The city, which is not admitting fault,
will pay half, and its insurance will cover
the other half.
The fire burned nearly 5 square miles
between June 27 and June 30.
An investigation by the state Depart-
ment of Natural Resources concluded
that two officers who were target shooting
caused the fire.
One of the bullets from a live fire exer-
cise severed a power line owned by Pacific
Power Corp., causing it to fall to the ground
and start the fire.
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases:
call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at
541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
Business Office Manager: Janna Heimgartner
541-966-0822 • jheimgartner@eastoregonian.com
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com