Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2019)
FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2019 143rd Year, No. 186 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend BMCC gets $13 million for FARM II New, multi-use facility will include indoor rodeo arena, classroom space By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian • Wildhorse Pow Wow, Wildhorse Resort & Casino • Sen. Merkley Town Hall, SAGE Center • Kids’ Fishing Derby, Jubilee Lake PENDLETON — Blue Moun- tain Community College got an early sign that it was going to get what it wanted — a new, multi-use facility that will include an indoor rodeo arena and classroom space for classes in veterinary science, unmanned aerial systems, and other agricultural education. They then had to wait almost the entire 159-day session to confi rm they were getting it. The college announced Tues- day that the project, which was once known as the Blue Moun- tain Regional Training Center and is now back to operating under its FARM II working title, had received $13 million from the Ore- gon Legislature just before it closed shop for the year on June 30. In a press release, BMCC Pres- ident Dennis Bailey-Fougnier cele- brated the state’s decision and cred- ited Northeast Oregon’s legislative delegation. “We are very grateful to the Leg- islature for its support of this unique community project,” he said. “Gov- ernor (Kate) Brown showed her support by including the project in her proposed budget, and then Sen. Bill Hansell and Rep. Greg Smith — who both sit on the Ways and Means Committee on Capital Con- struction — as well as Rep. Greg Barreto, helped us keep the proj- ect in front of their colleagues in the Capitol in a positive way that gar- See FARM II, Page A8 FOR DATES, TIMES AND VENUES, VISIT WWW.EASTERNOREGONEVENTS.COM Weekend Weather FRI SAT SUN 89/58 85/56 81/5 Eastern Oregon Cancer Center expects to start seeing patients in December Worries linger over Washington sales tax Gone are the days of showing Oregon ID and skipping sales tax in Washington By KATE DAVIDSON Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — Oregonians, say goodbye to your Washington sales tax break — at least as you’ve come to know it. Gone are the days of showing an Oregon ID at a Washington reg- ister and getting an automatic pass on sales tax. Starting July 1, Orego- nians who shop in Washington must save their receipts if they want to get reimbursed later. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure into law in May. Washington leaders project the change will raise about $54 million for their general fund over the next two years. But some business own- ers in Southwest Washington fear the revenue comes at their expense. Their concern — and confusion — can be summed up in tractors and teak. Skip Ogden owns Dan’s Tractors outside Battle Ground, Washington. He’s been at it for decades. He says he’s learned something about his Oregon customers: They hate paying sales tax. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Dump trucks and other heavy machinery work to prepare the site for the new Eastern Oregon Cancer Center in Pendleton on Wednesday afternoon. The center is expected to be completed in December. By ALEX CASTLE East Oregonian P ENDLETON — Access to can- cer treatment is coming closer to home for Eastern Oregon residents with construction of a new oncol- ogy radiation center underway. Radiation Business Services, the Ten- nessee-based company in charge of plan- ning and overseeing the project, held an informal groundbreaking event on June 18 and is eyeing a December completion date. The facility will be known as the Eastern Oregon Cancer Center at Pend- leton and will be located on the almost 2-acre lot on Southwest 24th Street across from Rice Blakely Park. Trip Leasure, the RBS vice president of project development and the Pendleton center’s project manager, was joined by Mayor John Turner and a number of other community members associated with the project for the groundbreaking event. “It was great,” Leasure said. “Espe- cially on relatively quick notice to get all the critical community members that helped get us to groundbreaking to be there.” This April, Turner announced that he was free of throat cancer, which he had faced over the previous eight months. Though he was given as much as an 80% chance for recovery at the time of his diagnosis, the mayor had to travel nearly 40 miles to Walla Walla fi ve days a week over the span of seven weeks to receive his treatments. “I received excellent care,” he said. “But it would have been nice to not have to travel so far to get it.” Thanks to the new center, Turner’s hope will become a reality. See Oncology, Page A8 See Tax, Page A8 Local legislators refl ect on tough 2019 session By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian SALEM — The 2019 legisla- tive session came to a turbulent conclusion as Republican senators returned from a nine-day walkout over cap and trade, but the drama overshadowed the hundreds of less-controversial bills passed over a four-month session, often with bipartisan support. Rep. Greg Smith, Rep. Greg Baretto and Sen. Bill Hansell worked on a variety of policy and budget bills throughout the session, some tailored specifi cally to East- ern Oregon issues and others that have more broad benefi ts through- out the state. Hansell was a sponsor or chief sponsor of 138 bills and resolu- tions, not all of which became law by the end of the session. He was the chief sponsor of Sen- ate Bill 290, which protects people voluntarily helping fi ght a fi re in good faith, such as farmers help- ing fi ght wildfi res on neighboring farms, from civil liability. Hansell likened it to Good Samaritan laws that protect people who stop and render fi rst aid at the scene of a car crash. He was also sponsor of SB 312, which requires public universities See Wrap up, Page A8 AP Photo/Andrew Selsky The 2019 legislative session came to a turbulent conclusion as Republi- can senators returned from a nine-day walkout over cap and trade, but the drama overshadowed the hundreds of less-controversial bills passed over a four-month session, often with bipartisan support.
