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143rd Year, No. 73
REGONIAN
JANUARY 26-27, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
PSU STUDY
NEWEST ‘SIN’
PITCHES IN
Speeds,
crashes
are rising
on local
highways
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
Nearly two years after speed limits
were increased on highways in central
and Eastern Oregon, a state-funded anal-
ysis shows that serious wrecks on those
roads have gone up at a faster rate than
places where the limit was unchanged.
Using four years of data on crashes
across state highways and automatic traf-
fi c recorders to measure speeds, the Ore-
gon Department of Transportation and
Portland State University found that fatal
crashes went up by 36 percent on high-
ways raised to 70 miles per hour and rose
67 percent on roads that were increased
to 65 miles per hour.
The Oregon Legislature voted to
raise the speed limit on Interstate 84
from Ontario to The Dalles, Inter-
state 82 in Umatilla County, and High-
way 95 in southeastern Oregon from 65
miles per hour to 70. Sections of High-
way 395, Highway 97, and Highway 20
jumped from 55 to 65. The bill received
bipartisan support in both chambers of
the Legislature, was signed into law by
Gov. Kate Brown and ODOT made the
changes in March 2016.
Portland State’s study looked at the
year following the speed limit increases,
comparing it to data from the three years
prior.
Chris Monsere, a PSU professor and
the chair of the university’s civil and envi-
ronmental engineering department, said
he previously collaborated with ODOT
on two different reviews on the literature
surrounding speed limit increases.
Monsere and researchers Sirisha
Kothuri and Jason Anderson found that
speeding increased once the speed limits
were relaxed.
In 70 mile per hour zones, vehicles
traveling faster than 75 went up by 12
percent while drivers going past 85 went
up by nearly 1 percent. In the 65 mile per
hour zones, the most signifi cant jump
was in the percentage of vehicles going
Staff photos by E.J. Harris
Sin tax revenue collected by the city of Pendleton for marijuana topped that of taxes collected for both alcohol and cigarettes
combined.
Marijuana revenue tops Pendleton’s tax
allocations, but future is unknown
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
T
ax revenue Pendleton
received for marijuana
in 2018 exceeded what it
received for liquor and
cigarettes.
City Manager Robb Corbett
recalled the early estimates leading
up to recreational marijuana sales
in Pendleton showed the city would
make about $25,000. That zoomed
to $200,000. Now the city is receiv-
ing about $300,000 a year, he said,
but he remains cautious about the tax
stream.
“The concern I have about reve-
nue from marijuana is how it’s going
to level off,” he said. “Is this a blip
because it’s new?”
The city received $269,218 in 2017-
18 from liquor revenue, according to
the Oregon Liquor Control Commis-
sion, and about $20,000 in state ciga-
“THE CONCERN
I HAVE ABOUT
REVENUE FROM
MARIJUANA IS
HOW IT’S GOING
TO LEVEL OFF. IS
THIS A BLIP BECAUSE
IT’S NEW?”
Robb Corbett, city manager
rette taxes, per the city’s 2018 budget.
Corbett said tax revenue from those
vices is long established and reliable
enough for the city to budget with.
Marijuana is delivering the cash now,
but Corbett explained plenty of forces
could eat into the revenue.
Tourism is an increasing part of
Pendleton’s economic picture, and
Pendleton is the only town in Mor-
row, Umatilla and Union counties
that allows recreational marijuana
sales. But other Eastern Oregon com-
munities could change that, and Cor-
bett said La Grande is tossing around
the idea. If stores open there, buyers
would not make the trip to Pendleton,
and the city would lose some revenue.
Oregon shares marijuana tax rev-
enue with cities that allow recre-
ational sales, and the law allows local
governments to tack on their own 3
percent tax, which Pendleton does.
According to the Oregon Department
of Revenue, the state in 2018 distrib-
uted more than $14.4 million in pot
revenue to cites and counties. Cor-
bett said more communities allow-
ing retail pot sales also could mean
each one receives a smaller share of
the total.
See Pot, Page A12
See Study, Page A12
Shutdown may have impact on local meal programs
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
President Donald Trump agreed on Friday to
temporarily end the federal government shut-
down, reopening the government through Feb.
15.
It’s good news for the nearly 800,000 fur-
loughed federal workers who were not working or
receiving pay during the shutdown, but depend-
ing on what happens next, local people and pro-
grams could still be affected.
Area school districts rely on grants from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fund
food programs for low-income students.
Most said they were covered for the next few
weeks, but if a shutdown lasts beyond next month,
they’ll be more concerned.
“We’re really watching the February dead-
lines,” Umatilla School District Superinten-
dent Heidi Sipe said. “Currently, we’re not see-
ing an impact on child nutrition; however, if the
shutdown continues past February, we may have
some struggles.”
According to a press release from the Oregon
Department of Education Child Nutrition Pro-
grams, the ODE will continue processing and
paying for claims for federal assistance on food
programs throughout March 2019. The press
release stated that USDA, which contracts with
vendors to ship food products to school, would
See Shutdown, Page A12
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What does that mean for you?
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