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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2018)
Page 4A East Oregonian Friday, August 31, 2018 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor Founded October 16, 1875 Tip of the hat, kick in the pants A tip of the hat to Taylor Ann Skramstad and Meredith Moore, statewide rodeo royalty from one of the smallest towns in Umatilla County. Both young women hail from Umapine, an off-the-beaten-path unincorporated community west of Milton-Freewater. But they earned the statewide honors of Miss Rodeo Oregon and Miss Teen Rodeo Oregon. To earn the titles, Skramstad and Moore had to show their knowledge and skill in rodeo and horsemanship as well as their poise in an interview. They’re expected to be ambassadors to the sport of rodeo, as well as their hometown. We bemoaned the negative power of a poor civic representation last week, and are quick to applaud young people when they’re willing to proudly fly the banner of Eastern Oregon. We wish these young women well on that endeavor. A tip of the hat to the Pendleton City Council for delaying its decision on making a deal with a developer for a new hotel at the airport. If we’ve learned anything from the city’s dealings with Makad Corp., it’s that there’s no need to rush. Three years ago the company approached Pendleton about building a data center at the Airport Road industrial park and it’s still a work in progress. The newest plan from the company to build a hotel in the airport parking lot went before the city council earlier this month, and there’s no reason to sign on with questions still unanswered. There would be obvious benefits to having an airport hotel. There’s no denying it is becoming a hub of activity with increased testing at the Pendleton UAS Range, and travelers into and out of Pendleton on the improved air service with Boutique Airlines could use a place to spend the night between EO file photo Makad Corp. has proposed a deal to build a hotel at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton. flights. But there’s also the obvious question of why the city should tie its own fortunes to the success of a private enterprise, and how, exactly, the repayment would work. It’s common practice for cities to provide incentives for development, and Pendleton should be business-friendly. Setting up a lease payment based on gross revenue, however, is an unnecessarily convoluted way to return the city’s investment. It’s not a good precedent. We’re also not keen on the verbal agreement to build a parking lot or the fuzzy math that councilors questioned. Ultimately, the decision is the council’s but one the city will have to live with long after its members move on. We’re glad they’re taking the time to do the math and ask hard questions. OTHER VIEWS Taxpayer dollars heaped on SoloPower problem The Bend Bulletin T OTHER VIEWS S. Korea and U.S. must work together The Japan News D iplomatic maneuvering has been intensifying between the United States, which is calling for denuclearization, and North Korea, which is trying to stall proceedings. To make progress on the nuclear issue, it is imperative for the international community, including China and South Korea, to maintain pressure by enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang. U.S. President Donald Trump has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his planned visit to North Korea. Trump also said, “At this time ... I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The bilateral negotiations have deadlocked because the North ramped up its tactic of giving priority to its calls for the lifting of sanctions and security guarantees for its regime while delaying denuclearization. The International Atomic and Energy Agency has compiled a report, confirming that the North has been proceeding with nuclear development programs, including the continued operation of nuclear-related facilities in Yongbyon in North Korea’s northwestern region. This is a move that runs counter to a commitment for the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” which was made by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, during his June summit with Trump, and thus cannot be overlooked. Pyongyang should proceed with formulating a road map for its abandonment of nuclear weapons while standing at the start line for denuclearization by reporting all its nuclear arms and development programs. North Korea, which gives weight to obtaining U.S. guarantees of security for its Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. regime, has been persistently calling for an early declaration of the end of the Korean War. The United States has already made a concession of canceling its joint military exercises with South Korea. Washington should not comply with the North’s demand for a declaration of the war’s end as long as it does not take any concrete action toward denuclearization. ... ... A matter of concern is that South Korean President Moon Jae In leans toward promoting exchange and cooperation with the North. It has been agreed by the two Koreas that Moon will visit Pyongyang in September to confer with Kim. Emphasizing that the development of the South-North relations is the only driving force for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Moon has disclosed his intention to hold within this year a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a railway and a highway linking the two Koreas. The Moon administration is expediting efforts to open a South-North joint liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea. By establishing a close relationship between the two Koreas, Moon likely has the ulterior motive of bolstering the South’s position as a mediator between the United States and North Korea. If cooperation with the North is pushed ahead with no progress seen in denuclearization, it may cause disarray in the U.S.-South Korea relationship. Moon should be aware that as things stand now, there is a limit to the progress that can be made in relations with the North. Seoul has prosecuted South Korean firms for smuggling North Korean coal, an item banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions. The action came about when allegations of smuggling were highlighted by a Security Council expert panel on sanctions. oday’s lesson: How to squander taxpayer money. Start with a cause that looks good. Use public money to pick winners and losers. Add in questionable oversight. And wait. Oregon’s Department of Energy helped create a textbook case, highlighted recently by a new state audit and an article in The Oregonian. Legislators created a small-scale energy loan program to “finance fixed- rate, secured loans for the development of energy conservation, renewable energy and recycling projects within Oregon.” There’s your good cause. Enter SoloPower. It was going to make better solar panels. They were lighter and thinner. It was going to create some 450 good-paying jobs in Oregon in north Portland. The state of Oregon backed the concept. The state Energy Department loaned the company $10 million in 2011. Business Oregon gave it $20 million in tax credits. There were another $197 million in federal tax credits. Portland chipped in too, agreeing to cover half the debt to the state if SoloPower created the jobs. There were reasons to think it would all come together. The company had access to millions to invest in a factory and did so. There’s the picking of the winner. What could possibly go wrong? The product was untested. It was not a proven market. There’s some questionable oversight. It all came crashing down. The panels turned out to be more expensive than other panels. They did not sell well enough. The company shut down the factory in 2013. Soon after, all the government entities were scrambling to get their money back. Multnomah County was looking to seize SoloPower’s equipment for delinquent taxes. Portland was on the hook for its $5 million to the state. It will be paying that off until October 2020. Then in July 2017, the state Department of Energy heaped on some more financial misery. SoloPower asked the department for money to cover its rent for a couple months. The department had already declared SoloPower in default. It gave SoloPower $641,835 for rent, anyway. It was not a quick or casual decision. It took months of discussion. But a new state audit shows the state department got no collateral. It chose to believe verbal assurances that some injection of capital would revive SoloPower. Go ahead and call that stupid. There’s some more questionable oversight. SoloPower now appears to be dead. All the government entities were scrambling to get their money back. YOUR VIEWS Remembering John McCain There were so many of our Indian peo- ple who went to Congress on behalf of the ancestors, with regards to repatria- tion of Indian remains, from 1960-1990. During these precarious times, a few sena- tors began to architect provisions for a new act. They were the late Daniel K. Inouye and now the late John McCain. There were numerous letters and hearings of Indian people down through the early decades, but one letter struck a chord, a letter from an elder in Hawaii. The letter laid ground for what was to be represented in the Act, stating the importance of remains, objects and culture. In November of 1990, the Native Amer- ican Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was entered into law. This law included the protection of human remains, funerary/sacred objects and cul- tural patrimony. The Indian people needed leverage to help all Indian nations revive their sacred objects. The decades since have enabled the Indian tribes to repatriate numerous items, and over one year ago, rebury the Ancient One, where a new bill was introduced. John McCain probably didn’t realize the impact he made when he supported repatriation, but it was huge and very rele- vant to our Indian rites-of-passage and the burial practices of our Indian people. His tracks will soon be washed away by the rain, but to us Indian people he will not be soon forgotten. From now on he will have become Una-Kuu-ii-Wa-Cha, legend. When we heard of his passing, my father fell into a deep silence and I wept. Lona Pond Pendleton The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.