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East Oregonian
Friday, July 12, 2019
Invoice: GOP gets billed for missed work
Continued from Page A1
spokeswoman for Courtney,
D-Salem. “If they refuse to
pay, they will be sent through
the regular debt collection
process.”
The decision to send out
invoices is a change for the
Senate’s Democratic lead-
ership. When Republicans
walked off the job on June
20 — in a nine-day standoff
over a bill to reduce green-
house gas emissions — Sen-
ate Majority Leader Ginny
Burdick, D-Portland, indi-
cated she’d seek to garnish
lawmakers’ pay by $500 for
each day they didn’t appear
for a floor session.
“The fines shall be col-
lected by forfeiture of any
sum that becomes due and
payable to the absent mem-
ber, including salary and per
diem,” Burdick said, reading
from a formal motion on the
Senate floor.
But that approach was
apparently impossible. Asked
about the change Wednesday,
Currie told OPB: “If anyone
said that the Senate would be
‘docking Republicans’ pay’
for the walkout, they were in
error. It’s not legally possible
to dock them.”
Currie could not offer
details Thursday about
what provisions of Oregon
law made docking mem-
Staff photo by Jessica Pollard
Skyhawks STEM Sports Camp participants play an icebreaker game with the coaches at
Sandstone Middle School.
Skyhawks: Sports Camp
provides space for at-risk youth
Continued from Page A1
More than 15 different
businesses and organiza-
tions donated to the effort,
including the Hermis-
ton School District, which
offered Sandstone Middle
School as a place to host
the camp. Sullivan said
the district is also offering
free breakfast and lunch to
children in the area at the
school this week.
Made to Thrive cur-
rently serves 267 children
in Hermiston, and orga-
nizers of Skyhawks STEM
Sports Camp are hoping to
reach more of them every
year.
“We’d like to be able to
do this on an annual basis
so we can track if we get
the same kids year after
year, and to be able to
find a way to measure the
impact that it has,” said
Teresa Best of New Hope
Community Church, who
is also part of CASA.
Kriss Dammeyer, who
founded Made to Thrive,
said the coaches at camp
were starting to learn more
about the lives of the kids
participating. She said
some are facing poverty,
foster care, and incarcer-
ated parents.
“This is bringing tears
to my eyes, these kids have
been labeled so many dif-
ferent things,” Dammeyer
said. “We’re proving a lot
of people wrong right now.”
Wednesday was a par-
ticularly notable day at
Skyhawks STEM Sports
Camp, because the chil-
dren received gifts from
community
partners,
including ice cream cour-
tesy of Helados La Micho-
acana in Hermiston. At the
end of the camp this week,
all children participating
will receive a soccer ball
courtesy of Skyhawks.
As kids file into the
gym on Wednesday, their
camp T-shirts are still crisp
white, but Dammeyer said
they won’t be for long.
“It’s just really special,”
Dammeyer said.
Glenn Graham said crews
on Wednesday moved the
department’s 1885 fire bell
to the new station No. 1.
The engraving on the bell
is sharp, he said, and the
company that made the bell
remains in business. The bell
has been a part of the depart-
ment since its founding,
when the old city hall build-
ing in downtown Pendleton
housed the fire department,
complete with the bell in the
tower.
“It’s in really great
shape,” he said, “and
they’re thinking of trying
to put it back into service at
the fire station.”
If that happens, the bell
probably would serve a cer-
emonial function, he said,
rather than the regular call
for emergencies.
Berardi said the depart-
ment also is keeping its
familiar phone number —
541-276-1442 — which rings
now at the new station.
“We’re that far along,” he
said.
The city of Pendleton has
not undertaken a project of
this scope for a public build-
ing since the 1990s. During
that span, voters passed
bonds to turn the old Helen
McCune Junior High School
into the city hall, recreation
Continued from Page A1
on fiction, non-fiction, or
poetry. The revived curricu-
lum focuses on wilderness,
ecology and issues specific to
Western communities.
Fishtrap, founded in 1988,
has a long history of concen-
trating on those same issues.
McNerney says it was a nat-
ural to explore how the two
groups could complement
each other.
Under the agreement,
MFA students will spend two
residency weeks at Fishtrap,
learning from high-profile
guests like Pulitzer-finalist
Luis Alberto Urrea, one of the
Fishtrap headliners this year.
For David Axelrod, the
English department veteran
who leads the EOU MFA pro-
gram, this is the culmination
of long negotiations.
“There are a lot of reasons
to want to be here,” Axel-
rod said. “I think we can
provide a lot of educational
opportunities.”
EOU has been on a mis-
sion, under the leadership of
center and city library, and to
build the aquatic center. City
finance director Linda Car-
ter said the city paid off the
city hall bond in fiscal year
2014 and made the last pay-
ment on the aquatic center
bond in fiscal year 2016.
“It was paid off when they
started going out for the next
bond,” she said.
The city has other debt,
such as the local improve-
ment district for the Sunridge
Estates development. And
the city used TPAC funds to
pay for the renovation of the
Convention Center. But the
only general obligation bond
the city is carrying is for the
new fire station.
Worship Community
PENDLETON
LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH
Sunday Service: 10am & 6pm
Tuesday Kingdom Seekers: 7pm
Wednesday Bible Study: 7pm
We off er: Sunday School • Sign Language
Interpreters • Nursery • Transportation • & more!
Pastor Dan Satterwhite
541.377.4252
417 NW 21st St. • Pendleton, OR 97801
www.facebook.com/
PendletonLighthouseChurch
Redeemer
Episcopal
Church
OPEN HEARTS – OPEN DOOR
www.graceandmercylutheran.org
Sunday Worship 8:45 a.m.
Sunday School 10:00 a.m. (Nursery Provided)
Fellowship, Refreshments & Sunday School
Check Out our Facebook Page or
Website for More Information
241 SE Second St. Pendleton
(541)276-3809
www.pendletonepiscopal.org
Sunday Holy Communion 9:00 a.m.
Wednesday Holy Communion Noon
Weekly Adults Spiritual Life Group
All Are Welcome
Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church
Community
Presbyterian Church
FAITH LUTHERAN
CHURCH
LCMC
14 Martin Drive,
Umatilla, OR
922-3250
in Mission for Christ LCMC
Sunday Worship.........9:00 AM
Bible Study......10:00 AM
Sunday worship at
11:00 AM
Pastor Michael Smith
420 Locust St. • Boardman, OR
541-481-6132
Worship: 10 AM
Sunday School at 11:30
Red Lion Hotel
( Oregon Trail Room )
www.faithpendleton.org
541-289-4535
Tom Inch, Pastor
Grace and Mercy Lutheran Church, ELCA
(First United Methodist Church)
191 E. Gladys Ave. / P.O. Box 1108
Hermiston, Oregon 97838
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
Join
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
SUNDAYS
Morning Celebration - 10am
Morning Kids Place - 10am
Evening - 6pm
Adult - Study
Youth - Small Group
Kids - Rangers & Girl’s Ministries
THURSDAYS
Celebrate Recovery - 6pm
Celebration Place - Kids - 6pm
The Landing - Teens - 6pm
WEEKLY
401 Northgate, Pendleton
Celebration of
of Worship
Celebration
Worship
Sundays 10:00 am
Youth: 0-6th grade
Midweek Service
Midweek Service
Wednesdays 6:00 pm
Youth: 0-6th grade
Overcomer’s
Outreach
Jr./Sr. High
’
Groups For All Ages
Pastor Sharon Miller
AN ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH
1911 SE Court Ave.
541.276.6417 • pendletonfi rst.com
Pastor Sharon Miller
541-278-8082
www.livingwordcc.com
-Presbyterian Church (USA)-
201 SW Dorion Ave.
Pendleton
Service of Worship - 10:00 am
Children’s Sunday School -
10:20 am
Fellowship - 11:00 am
www.pendletonpresbyterian.com
Open Hearted...
Open Minded
rum needed to conduct busi-
ness. The 11 senators were
not fined for the first floor ses-
sion they missed, and Dem-
ocrats canceled one planned
session after they received
threats from militia members,
meaning the fines were only
for seven days.
Republicans have received
scrutiny for how they plan to
pay those fines, even as they
have hinted they will fight
them in court.
On June 26, a coalition
including labor unions, Basic
Rights Oregon and Planned
Parenthood, filed complaints
with the secretary of state’s
office and Oregon Govern-
ment Ethics Commission.
The complaints sought for-
mal rulings that Republi-
cans could not pay off their
fines using campaign money
or a crowdfunding effort that
raised more than $40,000.
State officials said this
week the complaints are
still being scrutinized to see
if they have merit. Senate
Minority Leader Herman
Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants
Pass, told reporters last month
his members did not plan to
use outside cash to pay the
fines.
“We’re all using our per-
sonal funds,” he said.
Baertschiger did not return
an inquiry about potential
legal challenges to the fines.
Writing: Program’s revived curriculum
will focus on wilderness ecology
Fire Station: Under budget and
almost move-in ready
Continued from Page A1
bers’ pay illegal.
The Office of the Legis-
lative Counsel, which pro-
vides legal advice to law-
makers, declined to answer
an inquiry on that matter, or
to discuss what mechanism
allowed Senate leadership to
fine lawmakers in the first
place. An inquiry to the Leg-
islature’s human resources
director was not immediately
answered.
Democrats have suggested
in the past there is precedent
in other states for such fines.
Word that invoices would
be arriving appeared to be
news to Republicans.
“As far as I know, no one
has been issued any invoice
in the Senate caucus office,”
said Justin Brecht, a policy
analyst for the Senate Repub-
lican office. “An invoice is
different than what the Dem-
ocrats announced — deduct-
ing pay from (Republicans’)
legislative paychecks.”
The second Republican
walkout in as many months
was a way to delay a vote on
House Bill 2020, which would
have capped carbon emis-
sions in Oregon and charged
companies for their pollution.
The bill wound up dying in
the frenetic final days of the
legislative session.
GOP senators’ nine-day
departure from the Capitol
denied the Senate the quo-
Oregon Public Broadcasting Photo/Stella White, File
Fishtrap, the annual gathering of writers in Wallowa County,
draws writers and writing teachers from around the West.
President Tom Isko, to reverse
a decline in enrollment and
expand degree programs, and
take a more prominent place
at the table in rural affairs.
Nate Lowe, EOU’s dean
of arts, humanities and social
sciences, says, “Our hope is
that by creating more access
and opportunity from grade
school to graduate school for
clear thinking and good writ-
ing in and about the West, our
communities can find ways to
address those most persisting
global issues.”
Seventh-Day Adventist
Church
Saturday Services
Pendleton
1401 SW Goodwin Place
276-0882
Sabbath School 9:20 am
Worship Service 10:45 am
To share your worship times
call 541-278-2678
The Salvation Army
Center for Worship & Service
Sunday Worship Service
9:30 - Sunday School
10:30 - Worship Service
Wednesday Bible Study
5:30 Family Fellowship Meal • 6:00 Bible Study
COME AS YOU ARE
150 SE Emigrant
(541) 276-3369
P eace L utheran C hurch
210 NW 9th, Pendleton
1909 SW Athens Ave.,
Pendleton
Come join us for Worship
at 10:45am on Sunday
541-966-8912
But McNerney has even
higher ambitions. As the talks
between the two sides pro-
gressed, she recalled some-
one suggesting northeast-
ern Oregon could become
the literary hub of the Pacific
Northwest.
“I think that’s very possi-
ble,” she hoped.
The partnership was
sealed with a signing cere-
mony, featuring a reading by
Oregon poet laureate Kim
Stafford, one of the co-found-
ers of Fishtrap.
ELCA
Join us Sundays
9:30 am Sunday Worship
10:00 am Sunday Worship
11am Fellowship & Adult Class
9am Sunday School
~Come and be at Peace ~
on 1290 KUMA noon each Sunday
First United
Methodist
Church
Pendleton
501 SW Emmigrant Ave. • Pendleton OR
Sunday Worship 9am
in the Community Room
541-276-2616
Worship Livestream at
www.facebook.com/FUMCPendleton/
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Patty Nance, pastor
BAHA’I FAITH
IN PENDLETON
“See ye no strangers, rather see all men
as friends, for love and unity come hard
when ye fi x your gaze on otherness.”
– Abdu’l Baha
Please come visit with us at
The Baha’i Center:
1015 SE Court Place
Behind These Stone Walls Beat the Hearts
of Some of the Warmest Most Sincere,
Most Caring People in Pendleton.
We Invite You to Come Get Acquainted!
Sunday Worship
at 9:40am
June - September
Offi ce 541-276-5358 M-Thr, 8:30-12:30
www.fccpendleton.org
Everyone invited!
Sunday Devotions @ 11:00am
Everyday Devotions, 11am - 1pm
Thursday Seminars on World Religions @ 7pm
(541) 276-9360 or visit us at
www.pendletonbahais.com
or on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/pendletonoregonbahais/