NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Oregon business group
tries to overturn new $1
billion tax for schools
Capital Press Photo
tral on the tax after winning
several concessions.
Oregon Manufacturers
and Commerce filed the
An Oregon business ballot referral Thursday.
group will attempt to over- Shaun Jillions, a lobbyist
turn the new tax approved who heads the group, said
by the Legislature this before filing the measure
month to provide
that he was confi-
dent he could raise
an extra $1 billion a
the money needed
year for schools.
to qualify for the
Oregon Manu-
facturers and Com-
ballot and make the
merce, a business
case for eliminating
lobby representing
the tax.
about 15 compa-
The
plan
Jillions
nies, needs to gather
approved by the
nearly 75,000 signatures Legislature places a 0.57%
from voters to put the issue levy on sales by businesses
on the November 2020 gen- with revenue of more than
eral election ballot. If the $1 million a year. Unlike
signature-gathering effort is many a gross receipts tax,
successful, the tax created it does allow businesses to
by House Bill 3427 will be deduct a portion of their
held in abeyance until that costs. The legislation also
election.
exempts sales of food,
Gov. Kate Brown and health care and gasoline.
Democratic leaders of
Economists say the tax
the Legislature have long ultimately would be borne
expected opponents to try in some fashions by busi-
to overturn the tax. One of ness owners, their workers
the big questions is whether and consumers.
“This impacts very, very
this group has the ability to
mount a vigorous campaign. small businesses. A million
The state’s largest business dollars in gross sales is not
lobby, Oregon Business and a large business at all,” Jil-
Industry, agreed to stay neu- lions said.
By JEFF MAPES
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
At 297 miles, the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad is the longest short-line freight rail
system in Washington.
Farmers celebrate $5.6
million grant to rehab rail
Authority have worked with
the state Department of Trans-
portation to recover three rail
lines that are at various stages
of disrepair and neglect, said
Paul Katovich, CEO of High-
Line Grain Growers.
“If you slow the trains
down enough, you can get
across almost everything,
but you lose a lot of the effi-
ciency,” Katovich said. “We’re
basically trying to make up
for that lack of infrastructure
investment over the past few
decades and get caught back
up.”
According to the Wash-
ington State Department of
Transportation, the condition
of the system has continued to
degrade over the last 10 years.
Traffic doubled between 2007
and 2012, but operator rev-
enue and state funding have
not been sufficient to hold
conditions at the level they
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
A $5.7 million federal
grant will help rehabilitate an
aging rail line used by farm-
ers in Eastern Washington.
HighLine Grain Growers,
Pacific Northwest Farmers
Cooperative and Northwest
Grain Growers plan to wel-
come the BUILD grant with
a ceremony at 10 a.m. May 28
at the HighLine Grain Grow-
ers shuttle loading facility in
Cheney, Wash.
At 297 miles, the Palouse
River and Coulee City Rail-
road is the longest short-line
freight rail system in Wash-
ington. It serves Grant, Lin-
coln, Adams, Spokane and
Whitman counties.
Officials and members of
Congress are slated to attend
the ceremony.
Farmers and PCC Rail
were in 2003.
A majority of the timber
bridges on the system are
within five to 15 years of the
end of their useful design life.
About 90 miles of rail on the
system will likely need to be
replaced in the next 10 to 20
years.
WSDOT estimated in 2015
the total cost of the project
would be $58 million.
Katovich expects the bulk
of rehabilitation work under
the federal grant to occur in
2020.
He said work will continue
on the rest of the system.
He credits those involved
in the process for work-
ing to protect and improve a
system created by previous
generations.
“We’re here as stewards of
this platform to make sure it’s
here for those generations that
follow us,” Katovich said.
BRIEFLY
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Mostly sunny and
very warm
Mostly sunny and
very warm
Mostly sunny and
breezy
Sunny and
beautiful
Beautiful with
partial sunshine
87° 59°
88° 59°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
81° 51°
79° 53°
81° 52°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
94° 61°
94° 62°
87° 55°
84° 58°
86° 55°
OREGON FORECAST
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
65/50
82/56
91/59
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
88/63
Lewiston
74/53
95/61
Astoria
63/52
Pullman
Yakima 93/57
77/50
88/60
Portland
Hermiston
80/57
The Dalles 94/61
Salem
Corvallis
80/53
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
80/54
Eugene
Bend
80/52
81/51
Ontario
86/59
Caldwell
Burns
KENNEWICK, Wash.
(AP) — A former Oregon
prison guard has been sen-
tenced to 10 years in Wash-
ington state prison for sexu-
ally abusing a teenage girl.
The Tri-City Herald
reports Roy “Dave” Farber
was sentenced Thursday
in Benton County Superior
Court on charges of sex-
ual exploitation of a minor,
child molestation and com-
municating with a minor
for immoral purposes.
Prosecutor Anita Petra
says Farber used his con-
nection to the girl’s family
to groom and manipulate
the child for his own sex-
ual gain.
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
88/58
0.00"
0.54"
1.12"
4.42"
4.96"
5.11"
WINDS (in mph)
82/56
77/50
Former prison
guard sentenced
for sex abuse
She says he gave the
middle school student a
cellphone and love letters
and asked for nude pictures
of her.
Farber will have three
years of supervision follow-
ing his release from prison.
He was fired from the
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution in Umatilla,
Oregon after charges were
filed against him last year.
$7,500 reward in
killing of wolf
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)
— A conservation group is
offering a $7,500 reward
for information that leads
to a conviction in the death
of a gray wolf in northeast-
ern Washington state.
Conservation
North-
west says the female wolf
was illegally killed last
weekend off Highway 20
near the Little Pend Oreille
National Wildlife Refuge,
near the territory of the
Dirty Shirt wolf pack.
Spokesman Chase Gun-
nell says regardless of how
people feel about wolves,
illegally killing them is
never an acceptable action.
Through an agree-
ment with the Washing-
ton Department of Fish
and Wildlife, Conservation
Northwest offers standing
rewards for those who pro-
vide information that leads
to a poaching conviction.
The wolf killed was
wearing a tracking collar,
and the body was recov-
ered on May 27. Anyone
with information should
contact the state agency.
PRECIPITATION
John Day
79/51
88°
54°
76°
51°
100° (1986) 35° (1928)
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
80/51
0.00"
1.52"
1.40"
9.28"
6.07"
6.51"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 77/51
80/53
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
87/59
89/60
83°
53°
74°
50°
100° (1986) 34° (1916)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
77/53
Aberdeen
85/59
90/61
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
77/55
He said he worries that
many businesses will have
difficulty passing on the tax.
Our Oregon, an advo-
cacy organization that rep-
resents unions and other
liberal groups, denounced
the attempt to overturn the
tax in a written statement:
“We stand ready to fiercely
defend this unprecedented
investment in Oregon stu-
dents. Strong schools that
create opportunities for
every student — whether
black, brown, or white —
are not just a smart invest-
ment, they are an Oregon
value.”
If the tax is overturned
by voters, legislators would
face an additional bud-
get hole because the reve-
nue package also included
a $400 million-a-year cut in
personal income taxes. The
idea is to offset some of the
burden of the gross receipts
tax, which actually raises
about $1.4 million a year.
Preston Mann, a spokes-
man for the Oregon Manu-
facturers group, said their
complaint was with the
gross receipts tax, and that’s
the issue they want to take
to voters.
Today
Sun.
SW 4-8
WNW 4-8
WSW 6-12
WNW 6-12
CORRECTIONS: The May 31 article “PERS eats into city budget” incorrectly
stated the city would have 120 full-time employees in 2019-20. All positions in the
city, including part-time employees, will add up to the equivalent of 120 employees.
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.
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
79/48
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:09 a.m.
8:37 p.m.
4:27 a.m.
6:50 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
June 3
June 9
June 17
June 25
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 100° in Zapata, Texas Low 21° in Climax, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Oregon
Tradeswomen’s
Career Fair
2019 School Girls Day
8th through 12th graders
throughout
Umatilla County
Explored Jobs
39 Students had a blast!
Thank you to our Sponsors
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
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