The Observer 05-01-15

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l IN SPORTS:EOU ATHLETE BOUNCES BACK, 8A IN OUTDOORS: BIKEWAY FUNDRAISER PLANNED, 1C

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EOU PR ESIDENTIAL S EARCH

SEARCH TAKES NEXT STEP FOR After four days of presentations fmm final four candidates, school's new board of trustees expected to make recommendation to State Board of Higher Education today, and final announcement expected to come by May 15

• Oregon Supreme Court rules Thursday some of 2013 PERS cuts unconstitutional By Jonathan J. Cooper The Associated Press

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Cynthia Pemberton is the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota.

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Martin Tadlock is the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bemidji State University and chief academic officer at NorthwestTechnical College in Bemidji, Minnesota.

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Tom Insko is the area manager for Boise Cascade's Inland Region in La Grande and is a graduate of Eastern Oregon University.

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Marysz Rames is the interim president at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota. Rames also served as vice president for student affairs at South Dakota State.

• EOU Board of Trustees pleased with diversity of final four presidential candidates The Observer

W hat do you think?

The Eastern Oregon University Board of Trustees hopes to come to a consensus todayregarding itspreference for the university's next president. The board meets in an executivesession,closed to the public, before an afternoon sessionofthe State Board of Higher Education convenes, with the expectation that the trustees will have decided theirpreference forthe Eastern's next leader, said David Nelson, chair of the board of trustees and the search committee.

We want to hearyour thoughts. Email letters to the editor to news@ lagrandeobserver. com and join the conversation on The Observer Opinion

page. Interim President Jay Kenton has overseen the university since former President Bob Davies left last summer. Nelson said the State Board of Higher Education

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again It was the second time in a decade that the court rebuffed the Legislature's efforts to curtail pension benefits already accrued, and Democratic legislative leaders showed little interest in trying again.

FaiTtily research

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By Kelly Ducote

SALEM — The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday that some of the 2013 cuts to public-employee retirement benefits are unconstitutional, wiping out much of the savings lawmakers were aiming for and likely raising pension costs for state and local governments. The justices unanimously said workers were promised an annual inflation increase of up to 2 percent, and the Legislature can't scale it back retroacti vely. Cities and schooldistricts saidthey'redisappointed in the ruling and warned it will lead to larger class sizes and diminished government services. They called on the Legislature to find new Public SeePERS / Page5A

No luck,

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will make the final call on the president. A formal announcement by Oregon University System acting Chancellor Cathy Dyck is expected on or before May 15. ewe're going to make a recommendation, and they're going to rely heavily on our recommendation," Nelson sald. The state board officially governs Eastern until its independent board takes the helm July 1. The university this week wrapped up a series of presentations, receptions and meetings with four presidential finalists: Marysz Rames,

Cynthia Pemberton, Tom Insko and Martin Tadlock. Feedback from those events was compiled fortheboard to review. ewe have four very diverse and capablecandidates,"Nelson said, noting that Insko, who sits on theboard oftrustees, has not been active with the board during the search. Nelson said he was very moved by at least one finalist's presentation. "I wassomoved, Ihad tears in my eyes," he said. Faculty Senate President John Knudson-Martin said the faculty is impressed with SeeSearch / Page 5A

By Dick Mason The Observer

Anyone doing local genealogical research could probably list up to 50 reasons why the La Grande Family History Center is a valuable resource. Not Terry Thimmes, the center's volunteer director. He can cite a million reasons. "A least one million pieces of information areadded togenealogicalw ebsitesevery day," Thimmes said. This means welcome surprises await Thimmes and others who visit the family history center regularly. On Wednesday, for example, Terry's wife, Kathy, a history center volunteer, found an old photo of one her greatgrandfathers that had just been posted on a family history website by a distant relative she didn't know. Terry Thimmes said that surprising findings like this add an incomparable thrill to the processofdoing genealogicalresearch. "It is just exciting to find new things," he SeeHistory / Page5A

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center hosting discovery day

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Issue 52 4 sections, 30 pages La Grande, Oregon

MONDAY IN HOME 8l. LIVING MORE PEAS, PLEASE

Email story ideas to newsC~lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page 4A.

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