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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 2019)
Happy Canyon Board of Directors announce 2020 court | REGION, A3 E O AST 144th Year, No. 44 REGONIAN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HOUSE DISTRICT 58 Pendleton woman joins House race Barbara Wright is the third candidate to announce intent to run By SABRINA THOMPSON EO Media Group Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Third-graders Kamila Rangel, left, and Stephanie Barrera, both 9, paint snowmen during an art class as a part of the Beyond the Bell program at Windy River Elementary School in Boardman on Friday morning. Boardman schools go ‘Beyond’ Morrow County School District seeing an influx of primary school students who choose to participate in Beyond the Bell program By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian B OARDMAN — The prospect of a three-day weekend is doing little to keep elementary school students from rolling out of bed early on Fri- day mornings to take classes through the Beyond the Bell program at Windy River Elementary. The Morrow County School District has school Monday through Thursday, and the Beyond the Bell program pro- vides community classes to elementary schoolers who attend Sam Boardman and Windy River Elementary school in eight-class sessions on Fridays during the school year. “It’s fun school,” said third-grader Phoenix Davis, 9. “It’s not supposed to be ‘school school’.” Davis joined a handful of other stu- dents on Friday in sketching trees during an art class. Creative arts is one of three classes he takes during Beyond the Bell sessions. He said he likes the Beyond the Bell program because he gets to choose which classes to take. So far, he’s one of about 170 students, about one-quarter of the Boardman elementary school population, signed up to take part in the program this year. “Numbers are higher than in past years,” said Paul Keefer, who teaches sixth grade and coordinates Talented and Gifted students at Windy River Elementary. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Students draw trees during a creative art class at the Beyond the Bell program at Windy River Elementary School in Boardman on Friday morning. According to Sam Boardman Ele- mentary Principal Brandon Hammond increased attendance could be because the program once provided after-school enrichment, but now is offered on Fridays when kids at Sam Boardman Elementary and Windy River don’t have school. Jaylyn Estrada, 11, likes the program for that reason. As a sixth-grader, she said it’s easier to attend sewing class on Fridays than it would be during the school week when she’s stressed out with homework. “And sometimes on the weekends I get kind of bored when I’m lonely,” she said. Estrada started taking sewing, taught by Paula Hansen, last year. Although she describes the task as difficult, she was able to use the skill to patch up clothes for her dad. Hansen describes herself as a stay-at- home mom and grandmother in the area, and she’s one of a few volunteers who help out during Beyond the Bell. See Beyond, Page A8 PENDLETON — A third chal- lenger has entered the race for the rep- resentative of House District 58. Barbara Wright of Pendleton will return to the bal- lot, joining Democrat Nolan E. Bylenga of Pendleton and Repub- lican Bobby Levy of Wright Echo. “I am getting tired of the east-west divide,” Wright said about her decision to run. “And there are other things in this district than farming.” According to Wright, one of the big- gest issues she wants to address by tak- ing office is the lack of small business and common working person repre- sentation in the Legislature. Wright, 58, works as a merchan- diser, veterans advocate and has been a small business owner in Pendleton. She ran on the Democratic ticket for the district in the 2008 primary and lost. Her opponent went on to lose in the general election to incumbent Rep. Bob Jenson, a Republican from Pendleton. She said she studied journalism and pre-law for two years at Blue Mountain Community College and is continuing to pursue a bachelor degree in journal- ism online at Linfield College. Wright said she has had a lifelong interest in the Legislature, and now is the right time for her to try for office again. Wright said she’s known Bylenga since he was young and they attend the same church. She said he is a fine young man, but she doesn’t believe he is old enough to be in Salem yet. “And I think I have a little more fire in my belly,” she said. Wright also is interested in the issues of pay disparities between East- ern Oregon and Western Oregon, and the lack of family wage jobs on the eastern side of the state, something she said is keeping younger people away. “We need young people in the area, but we can’t afford them,” Wright said. “I want to work on finding family wage jobs to bring young people back to Eastern Oregon, rather than being a retirement community. And nobody should have to fight and scrap for a pay raise.” Democrats haven’t fielded a candi- date in the 58th District primary since 2014, when state Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, won his first term. Barreto declined to seek a fourth term, open- ing up a seat that covers Union County, Wallowa County and a part of Umatilla County. State gas tax to go up in January Pendleton, Hermiston outline plans for the increased revenue By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian UMATILLA COUNTY — As the state prepares to raise gas taxes another 2 cents in January, some cit- ies already have plans for the increased revenue. The 4-cent gas tax increase in the Legislature’s 2017 transportation package gave the city of Hermiston an extra $230,000 for street projects in 2019, and the city expects the 2-cent increase on Jan. 1 to add another $120,000 to that amount. The city of Hermis- ton hasn’t imposed its own gas tax, but all Oregonians pay 34 cents per gallon in state gas taxes and 18.4 cents per gallon in federal taxes. The state distributes 30% of its gas tax to cities, 20% to counties and 50% to the Oregon Department of Transportation. City Manager Byron Smith said the city used the additional gas tax funds it received to increase the number of projects it com- pleted, instead of using them to backfill the budget. “We want to be very stra- tegic about how to invest the increased gas tax revenues, which we knew would be coming our way as a result of the Legislature’s 2017 gas tax increases,” he said in a statement. “That’s why we didn’t simply absorb those funds to pay for business as usual, but we chose to pro- gram those dollars for spe- cific capital improvement projects, which have been needed for many years.” Hermiston also gained additional money for roads through a 33% increase in franchise fees, which the city council passed in 2017. Utilities, such as electric See Tax, Page A8 Contributed photo by the city of Hermiston A Hermiston Water Department crew replaces a valve from the early 20th century at the intersection of Hermiston Av- enue and Southwest Fourth Street in Hermiston earlier this year.
