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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2018)
AUDIT CITES FLAWS IN BULLET TRAIN PROJECT SEAHAWKS DEFEAT PACKERS SPORTS/1B NATION/6A FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2018 143rd Year, No. 23 Your Weekend • • • One dollar WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON A look back at the 1977 Buckaroos Truss move delays bridge project Altrusa Bazaar, Pendle- ton Convention Center “Robin Hood,” Hermis- ton Conference Center Hermiston Mudfest at EOTEC For times and places see Coming Events, 6A Weekend Weather Fri 48/32 Sat 42/26 Sun Removal is complicated by size of structures 43/26 By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Watch a game been back since then,” former wide receiver Steve Nirschl said. “We had great fans back then. Going to football games on a Friday night was the thing to do. I still go to the More than a year into the construction of Pendle- ton’s Eighth Street Bridge replacement project, large remains of the old bridge are still at the site. The project’s contrac- tor — OBEC Consulting Engineers — has torn down the 109-year-old trusses and placed them flat on the bridge service, but they hav- en’t been moved off the location yet. The trusses were origi- nally slated to be moved to a nearby city storage yard in the last week of September or the first week of October, but Public Works Director Bob Patterson now expects the trusses will be trans- ported in early December. Patterson said the delays have been the result of the project’s timing. OBEC was initially focused on doing some work in the Umatilla River before the water work win- dow ended in October, Pat- terson said. The contractor has used the ensuing time after October ended consid- ering the logistics of how to move the structures. Patterson said current plans involve moving the trusses in two halves from Eighth Street to the city’s yard at 1501 S.E. Byers Ave. The most direct route would only span a half mile, but Patterson said the trusses’ 24-foot by 60-foot size means crews will have to transport the structures along the much wider Court Avenue and Court Place before bringing them to the yard. OBEC has incentive to move the old trusses sooner rather than later. Patterson said the contractor wants to install the bridge’s new trusses over the winter, but it won’t have the space to position the cranes to install the structures until the old trusses are removed. While the old trusses haven’t been moved, Pat- terson said bridge work- ers have done work around them, constructing tempo- rary scaffolding towers that will support the beams as they’re being installed and doing concrete work around the bridge. Patterson said the con- tractor hasn’t commit- ted to a firm date on mov- ing the trusses, but it will be required to give the city a one-week notice and obtain a permit from the Oregon Department of Transpor- tation before starting the See 1977/8A See BRIDGE/8A Pendleton vs. Thurston Saturday, 5:30 p.m., at Hill- sboro Stadium, Hillsboro Additional $1 billion expected in state budget By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Taxpayers and lottery patrons are pour- ing millions of extra dollars into state coffers. By the end of the current budget cycle, state econo- mists say, the state will tuck $1 billion more into its trea- sury than forecast 18 months ago. That comes on top of the $21 billion the state already expected to collect. While it’s not clear what lawmakers may do with that extra sum, it’s likely that a large share will go back to taxpayers in the form of “kicker” payments. Oregon law requires the state to give some per- sonal income tax money back when state economists underestimate personal income tax collections by more than 2 percent. If current predictions hold, the median taxpayer would get $174 back when filing personal income taxes in 2020. Collectively, Ore- See DOLLARS/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Members of the Pendleton Buckaroos’ semifinals team in the 1977 state football playoffs (top) Steve Nirschl, left, Dave Stuvland, (middle) David James, left, Mark Temple, (bottom) Craig Christianson, left, and Jon Peterson pose for a photo with the Don Requa statue in Brownfield Park in Pendleton. GLORY DAYS Players from Pendleton’s last semifinal team relive playoffs By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian T he last time the Pendleton High School football team was still playing this late in the season, “Star Wars” was domi- nating movie screens. The first one. “Roots” had transformed the TV miniseries, Atari was the latest rage, and a Corvette Stingray would run you $10,000 or less. It’s been 41 years since Pend- leton last played in the state semi- finals. A time when Coach Don Requa walked the sidelines, and his Bucks were looking to reach their first state championship game. There were 5,500 fans in the stands at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds on Nov. 18, 1977, and the temperature was in the 20s at kickoff. Pendleton dropped a 13-7 game to Medford that night as the Black Tornado scored eight unanswered points in the second half to advance to the Class AAA state title game against Churchill, which ended in a 7-7 tie. The Bucks are back in the state EO file photo Running back Mark Temple is helped off the field after spraining his ankle in the Buckaroos’ loss to Medford in their 1977 semifinal foot- ball game. semifinals for the first time since that night 41 years ago. Pendleton will play Thurston at 5:30 p.m. Sat- urday at Hillsboro Stadium. The game falls one day shy of being exactly 41 years. “I’m surprised they haven’t