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East Oregonian
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School performance ratings released;
original plan to wait until after election
ents and teachers.
“It shouldn’t take the threat
of the Governor losing her elec-
tion for her to do the right thing,”
Buehler’s official campaign Twit-
ter account posted Wednesday.
“Oregonians and especially our
students and parents, deserve bet-
ter than this. Help is on the way
in 13 days.”
School districts have had the
annual ranking data since Oct. 4
and had been told they could prepare pub-
lic statements about their results for release
Oct. 25.
But in recent days, the newspaper
reported, they were told by state education
officials that the data would go public after
the election.
Gill, the ODE director, said Wednesday
that the data was ready but that a change-
over in federal testing mandates meant it
needed to be presented in a new way.
He added that although the numbers
were ready for release, education officials
hadn’t finished creating resources and sup-
ports that struggling districts could use to
interpret and improve on their performance.
The new federal reporting standards
also don’t allow for Oregon’s unique opt-
out law, which allows students to choose
not to take standardized tests. That means
that schools where many students opted out
will appear to be struggling when they may
not be, he said, and the state needed to fig-
ure out how to address that discrepancy.
He decided to delay the release of the
reports on his own and informed Brown’s
office, but did not speak with Brown her-
self about it.
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Gov. Kate
Brown ordered the public release
of annual school performance rat-
ings Wednesday after the state’s
biggest newspaper reported that a
Brown appointee had delayed the
release of the statistical rankings
until after the high-stakes guber- Gill
natorial election Nov. 6.
Brown is in a tight race with Republi-
can challenger Rep. Knute Buehler, who
has made statewide education funding and
reform among his top campaign issues.
Oregon ranks third-worst in statewide
four-year graduation rates and the issue
is a sensitive one for voters, who already
have their ballots in front of them under
the state’s vote-by-mail system. Brown is
one of two Democratic female governors
nationwide and a narrow race in this nor-
mally blue state has attracted attention well
beyond Oregon’s borders.
Brown did not appear at a hastily called
news conference in downtown Portland,
but instead sent Department of Education
Director Colt Gill to address the reporting
by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“We should all remember that at the end
of the day, this data is not about an elec-
tion or politics. It’s about improving our
schools,” Brown said in a statement. “My
top priority as Governor is to give Oregon’s
students the tools they need to succeed.”
Buehler seized on the newspaper report
and Gill’s subsequent news conference and
said Brown was putting her re-election bid
over the needs of the state’s children, par-
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Mostly cloudy and
comfortable
Spotty afternoon
showers
Pleasant with
clouds and sun
Times of clouds
and sun
Breezy with clouds
and sun
66° 50°
65° 44°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
62° 39°
58° 42°
57° 38°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
65° 47°
68° 41°
63° 39°
57° 44°
OREGON FORECAST
60° 39°
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
58/54
61/48
59/44
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
67/54
Lewiston
58/54
66/50
Astoria
59/54
Pullman
Yakima 58/46
57/53
64/50
Portland
Hermiston
61/54
The Dalles 65/47
Salem
65/51
64/47
Bend
67/52
67/47
Ontario
67/43
Caldwell
Burns
62°
49°
62°
37°
78° (1937) 20° (2002)
PRECIPITATION
John Day
67/49
Contributed photo
Terry and Sharon Smith.
people stay on the 80- to 100-acre prop-
erty in the Laycock Creek area that they
bought in the mid-1990s, according to
Sharon’s sister Cathy Hinshaw, who lives
in Hawaii.
The Smiths first met in junior high
school while growing up in Springfield,
Hinshaw said. Over the years the cou-
ple operated restaurants, second-hand
stores, a clothing business in Bali, Indo-
nesia, and seasonally at farmers markets
in Washington.
The Smiths never had children and
were always working and keeping busy.
Hinshaw recalled them serving food at
homeless shelters on Thanksgiving and
Christmas.
“Terry would give you the shirt off his
back,” she said, adding that he always
picked up hitchhikers.
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office took
the lead in the investigation of the miss-
ing couple from the very beginning, with
assistance from state police and the FBI.
On Aug. 2, Palmer reported that his office
and the FBI had made some contacts in
the case and conducted numerous inter-
views. On Sept. 5, Palmer announced that
the case was being treated as a homicide.
“Terry would give you the shirt off his back,” she
said, adding that he always picked up hitchhikers.
— Cathy Hinshaw, Sharon Smith’s sister
Corrections
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If
you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
0.00"
1.14"
0.49"
6.29"
7.80"
7.05"
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
73/44
William F. Bell, M.D.
WINDS (in mph)
66/43
65/31
0.00"
1.39"
0.79"
7.91"
13.70"
9.73"
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
Eugene
Two breakthroughs in the case of the
missing couple whose house burned in
Grant County were announced Wednes-
day by the sheriff’s
office.
Sheriff
Glenn
Palmer
announced
that the Oregon State
Medical
Examiner
notified his office
Oct. 22 that samples
of human tissue sub-
mitted for DNA test-
ing had been partially
Palmer
analyzed. The sam-
ples, from remains found in the burned
out residence on Nan’s Rock Road, tested
conclusively to be those of Terry Smith.
The sheriff’s office also received confir-
mation from the Boise Police Department
in Boise, Idaho, that the pickup truck
belonging to Terry and Sharon Smith was
located over the weekend.
Further testing is underway on tissue
samples and dental records submitted to
the State Medical Examiner’s Office in
an attempt to locate and identify Sharon
Smith, Palmer said in the press release.
The sheriff’s office is jointly inves-
tigating the case with the Hilo Police
Department in Hawaii County, Oregon
State Police, Boise Police and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, Palmer said.
Both in their 60s, Terry and Sharon
Smith were considered a “sociable” cou-
ple by friends and family members, so
their disappearance following the fire at
their home in the hills south of Mount Ver-
non was always suspect. The disappear-
ance of their silver 2006 Toyota Tacoma
added to the mystery.
By the time first responders arrived at
the cabin on Nan’s Rock Road in the early
morning hours of July 18, the remodeled
rural cabin was completely burned and the
metal roof had collapsed over the ruins.
The Smiths divided their time between
a home in Hawaii and the cabin in East-
ern Oregon, where Terry often fished and
hunted. The Smiths were known to let
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
65/53
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
TEMP.
Pendleton 63/46
65/52
Corvallis
By RICHARD HANNERS
EO Media Group
HERMISTON
Enterprise
66/50
62/49
59°
45°
60°
38°
82° (1933) 19° (1919)
Remains found in cabin
belong to missing man
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
58/52
Aberdeen
56/48
54/45
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
58/53
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Fri.
SW 3-6
WSW 4-8
WSW 7-14
WSW 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
69/36
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:25 a.m.
5:53 p.m.
6:57 p.m.
8:16 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
Oct 31
Nov 7
Nov 15
Nov 22
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 96° in Thermal, Calif. Low 8° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
TAKING NEW PATIENTS
Orthopedics Clinic
3001 St. Anthony Way
Suite #125
Pendleton, OR 97801
541-966-0535
www.sahpendleton.org
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
EDUCATION:
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of Medicine
BOARD CERTIFICATION:
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of Orthopedics
INSURANCE ACCEPTED:
Most major insurances, Medicare,
Medicaid
SPECIAL SERVICES:
Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
St. Anthony Clinic
3001 St. Anthony Way
Pendleton, Oregon
www.sahpendleton.org
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
cold front
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