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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 2019)
SIT-IN AT GOVERNOR’S OFFICE RESULTS IN ARRESTS GIRLS SOCCER: PIRATES, VIKINGS DOMINATE EOL HONORS IRRIGON ARTIST REACHES OUT TO COMMUNITY WITH SCAVENGER HUNTS LIFESTYLES, C1 SPORTS, B1 NORTHWEST, A2 WEEKEND EDITION E O AST 143rd Year, No. 287 REGONIAN NOVEMBER 23-24, 2019 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD EO SPOTLIGHT A TROUBLING TREND $1.50 Recession threat looms despite strong economy Jobs being added at slower pace, and tighter labor markets are pushing up wages By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau More than 300 K-12 students without adequate nighttime residence across Umatilla, Morrow counties last year Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Students leave school for the day at Sunridge Middle School in Pendleton on Thursday afternoon. According to an Oregon De- partment of Education report released on Thursday, 123 students in Pendleton “lacked a fi xed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.” By KATHY ANEY AND JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian MATILLA COUNTY — New data from the Ore- gon Department of Educa- tion shows the number of homeless students in Ore- gon increased 2% during the 2018-19 school year, continuing a trend over the last decade. That trend holds true in closer to home. In the Pendleton School Dis- trict, 123 students “lacked a fi xed, reg- ular and adequate nighttime residence,” according to the ODE report. The num- ber is double the previous year’s total of 62. Matt Yoshioka, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assess- ment, said most homeless students have somewhere to sleep though often the sit- uation isn’t ideal. “Homelessness has a lot of catego- U ries,” he said. “People imagine kids sleeping under a bridge somewhere. To my knowledge, we don’t have any students sleeping under a bridge, but they’re displaced.” The federal McKinney-Vento Home- less Assistance Act defi nes a homeless student as one living in an emergency shelter, transitional housing, a motel, substandard housing — such as tents or trailers — or doubled up with others. Julie Smith, the district’s director of special programs and homeless student liaison, said the 123 students ranged from kindergarten through high school. This year, the numbers are lower at 85, but district offi cials say the totals will likely rise by springtime. “We (currently) have 41 students in elementary schools, 31 in high school and 13 in middle school,” she said. “Washing- ton Elementary School has the most right now, probably because of RV parks and temporary housing in the area.” Regarding the jump in numbers from the previous year, Smith credited an even more strenuous effort to get the information. Students fi lled out resi- dency forms that asked about living sit- uations, with choices, such as living in a campground, temporary shelter or with relatives or friends. Once students are found to be homeless, counselors make sure they get enrolled for the free and reduced lunch program and hook them up with community organizations. Pendleton School Board Vice-Chair Debbie McBee estimated that the dis- trict seems on track for a similar year as the last one. She judged her assess- ment on numbers of requests received by an Altrusa program she and Karen Rose founded three years ago to help homeless students. KARE (Kids at Risk Empowered) provides homeless students supplies, such as tents, warm SALEM — Oregon’s economy continues to expand and household incomes are growing, but job growth is slowing down and the risk of reces- sion is still present. State economists gave lawmakers their quarterly update on Oregon’s economic landscape on Wednesday morning. Here are fi ve takeaways from their report: • The risk of a U.S. recession is still present, but slightly lower than before. “While recession risks remain elevated, they appear to be abat- ing somewhat,” economists wrote in their report. “The typical catalysts for recession are not rearing their heads but the slowdown in business invest- ment and hiring is problematic.” • Job growth is slowing more than expected. Oregon industries are add- ing about 2,000 new jobs a month — about 100 more than they need to add to keep the state’s low unemploy- ment rate stable. That growth is lower than it has been of late and lower than economists initially expected. Several industries are behind that slowing: construction, durable manu- facturing, leisure and hospitality, pro- fessional and business services, and transportation and warehousing. Ore- gon businesses are advertising jobs less, economists say. “This is one indication that local fi rms are looking to hire less than a year or two ago,” they wrote. “How- ever, it is an open question as to whether fi rms are hiring less because they are seeing weaker sales or because the labor market is tight and fi nding workers is diffi cult.” • The state’s racial poverty gap is signifi cant, but narrowing. About 12.6% of Oregonians live in pov- erty, below the national rate of about See Trend, Page A11 See Recession, Page A11 McKay Creek restoration clears fi rst hurdle City hopes to restore creek to original capacity by this spring By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian PENDLETON — The city of Pendleton took a fi rst step this week in getting the proper permits to restore McKay Creek to its former capacity. The city’s planning commission unanimously granted a conditional use permit on Thursday for the city to enlarge the stream bed in six sections where debris from spring fl ooding had narrowed the channel. Tim Simons, city engineer and community development director, said the process was a “little bit of a formality” but was required by the city’s code. The conditional use per- mit is also required for the city to apply for the joint permit they need from the Army Corps of Engineers, Oregon Department of State Lands and Oregon Department of Environ- mental Quality. “In order for us to submit the per- mit and start the review process we had to get that box checked,” Simons said. “The city’s no different than any other private property owner in regards to being required to get permits in order to do this kind of work.” McKay Creek fl ooded in April, after signifi cant rainfall in a short amount of time caused the McKay Reservoir to reach 95% capacity. To keep it from overfl owing, the Bureau of Reclamation released almost See Creek, Page A11 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Piles of rock along the banks of McKay Creek in Community Park and gravel bars on the creek bed show where emergency excavation took place when the creek burst its banks last spring.
