PENDLETON
DRIVES PAST
ST. HELENS
U.S. MISCALCULATES
BENEFIT OF BETTER
TRAIN BRAKES
SPORTS, B1
NORTHWEST, A2
E O
AST
143rd year, No. 47
REGONIAN
Friday, december 21, 2018
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Your Weekend
• Pancakes with Santa,
Hermiston
• Christmas pageant,
Pendleton
• Christmas Eve Service,
Milton-Freewater
FOR TIMES AND LOCATIONS
CHECK COMING EVENTS, A5
Weekend Weather
FRI
SAT
SUN
44/29
44/37
50/38
Farm bill
signed
without
SNAP
controls
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Inmate Luis Gonzalez uses a saw to cut foam into squares for a couch sectional in the wood shop on Monday at Two Rivers Correctional
Institution in Umatilla.
Products of the system
Prison program turns
inmate labor into
revenue, savings
By JULIET LINDERMAN
Associated Press
WaSHiNGTON — The
Trump administration is set-
ting out to do what this year’s
farm bill didn’t: tighten work
requirements for millions of
americans who receive federal
food assistance.
The U.S. department of
agriculture on Thursday pro-
posed a rule that would restrict
the ability of states to exempt
work-eligible adults from hav-
ing to obtain steady employ-
ment to receive food stamps.
The move comes the same
day that President donald
Trump signed an $867 billion
farm bill that reauthorized agri-
culture and conservation pro-
grams while leaving the Sup-
plemental Nutrition assistance
Program, which serves roughly
40 million americans, virtually
untouched.
Passage of the farm bill fol-
lowed months of tense nego-
tiations over House efforts
to significantly tighten work
requirements and the Senate’s
refusal to accept the provisions.
currently,
able-bodied
See Bill, Page A8
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
or Pendleton city officials,
the deal from Oregon cor-
rections enterprises was too
good to pass up.
in the midst of building a new
fire station on Southeast Court
avenue, a team was tasked with
ordering new furnishings for the
$9 million facility.
Working with a budget of
$202,500, Pendleton firefighter
robert Wolf said he looked at
some other vendors, but Oce
was the clear choice because
of its low price and quality of
furniture.
The fire department was able
to order desks, tables, cabinets,
lockers, bed frames and other
F
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Inmate Jeff Lumpkin removes interior wooden framing for a chair cut
on a programable CNC, computer numerical control, wood router in the
wood shop Monday at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla.
furnishings for $138,996. The
furniture will all be customized
to fit within the specifications
of the new station and the fire
department can use the cost sav-
ings for other purchases for the
new station.
Public Works director bob
Patterson was succinct in his
appraisal of the contract.
“it was a damn good price,”
he said.
most of the furniture will be
made in Umatilla, but Oregon
corrections enterprises isn’t a
typical vendor.
Prison labor and work train-
ing programs have existed in
state correctional institutions
for more than a century, but two
ballot measures in the 1990s set
the wheels in motion to create
Oce.
Oregon voters passed mea-
sure 17 in 1994, establishing a
law that required prisoners to
work or be educated 40 hours
per week. but Oce wasn’t
started until measure 68 was
passed in 1999, which forbid
prison labor from competing
with certain private enterprises.
Oce is a semi-indepen-
dent state agency that reports
to the director of the Oregon
See Economy, Page A8
NO JOb TOO SmaLL
Winter brings more
demand for temporary
employment
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Low unemployment numbers
in Oregon and around the nation
can mean a change of pace for
those that help others find work —
employment and staffing agencies.
according to the bureau of
Labor Statistics, Oregon’s unem-
ployment rate was 3.8 percent as
of October 2018, about the same as
the national rate.
Temp services in agricultural
areas like Hermiston are affected
somewhat by those rates, but their
activity tends to be more cyclical.
Kristin connell, manager at
express employment Profession-
als in Hermiston, said low unem-
ployment rates have stemmed the
flow of people using their services
to find jobs compared to the num-
bers they saw about four years ago.
but she said their business
tends to depend more seasonal job
trends, specific to the economy of
eastern Oregon.
during summer and fall, they
tend to see more employers look-
ing to fill positions than they have
available employees, especially in
agricultural jobs. In winter, when
harvest season ends, few places are
hiring and there tend to be more
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
See Jobs, Page A8
Maintenance supervisor David Pichcuskie sprays a homemade gopher
repellant while working Thursday at the Castle Rock Apartments in Boardman.
CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family Clinic is recognized
as a Patient -Centered Primary Care Home.
What does that mean for you?
• Better-coordinated care.
• Healthcare providers who will help connect you
• Listening to your concerns and answering with the care you need in a safe and timely way.
• Healthcare providers who play an active role in
questions.
your health.
• After-hours nurse consultation.
844.724.8632
3001 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton
WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG
Mon through Thurs, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. • Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Sat and Sun, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are preferred.