Rice prices threaten businesses
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
Goldendale business owners are struggling to keep up this week as the price of rice continues to increase.
In the last week, restaurant owners have reported increases of more than seven dollars per bag and economists say they do not predict an end in sight.
For Arceli Estrada, owner of Ayutla’s Family Mexican Restaurant, the news is concerning. She says her Mexican diner goes through 300 pounds of rice per month and cannot afford more increases.
“We just raised the prices a few months ago, but with the prices going up, it’s not helping us at all,” she said. “We’re not making profits, especially in a small town.”
The restaurateur, who noticed increases beginning three months ago, says she didn’t earn any profits last month. This month she doesn’t foresee being any better.
Saturday, the restaurant owner paid $22.69 to SYSCO Food Services for a 50-pound bag of long grain. The week prior, she says, flipping through her logbook, the same bag cost $14.98.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she says. “I don’t know how we’re going to do it this month.”
Ying Long Zhu, owner of Gee’s Chinese and American Family Restaurant, says he has seen increases too.
“Five months ago the rice started going up and going up and going up,” he says, motioning upwards with his hands. “Until now — last week — when it was at extremely high prices. I don’t know what happened.”
Local grocers have reported a stockpiling phenomenon emerging.
Zhu says when he contacted United Grocers’ Cash and Carry in The Dalles last week, he was told supplies were scarce because someone has just bought 300 bags. He was urged to do the same.
Although he stuck to his standard 50-bag order, he notes it cost more than $17 per bag — a five dollar increase from around $12 per bag he paid six months ago.
At DeHart’s Red Apple Market, store managers bought a few extra bags “just in case.”
“Last week we did order some extra rice in because of the media frenzy on it,” says owner Ray DeHart. “There was kind of a scare that there might be a shortage.”
However, store manager Wes Lund says he bought the bags mostly just to make sure he could get them and has not seen the public buying large quantities.
He says he has not noticed a major shift in prices but notes sellers were restricting how much rice could be purchased. At the Cash and Carry, he was given a restriction.
“Our warehouse has kind of put us on a case allotment,” Lund says.
It is difficult to pinpoint one reason for the sudden rise in prices.
Initial moves upward started last year when India, China, and other Asian nations began restricting certain rice exports.
According to Hiro Ito, Assistant Professor of Economics at Portland State University, the restrictions are becoming increasingly common as so-called “emerging market” nations gain prosperity.
As those people move out of villages and farmlands and into other regions and economic brackets, he says, demand begins to shift. Rice supplies become less abundant and many governments have reacted by imposing export reductions or tariffs.
Moreover, the decline of the U.S. dollar value, a rising ethanol market, and continued increases in oil prices, have only compounded the situation.
“Rice production requires a lot of oil to produce,” says Ito.
Last week, the crisis came to a head when Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Sam’s Club and divisions of Costco announced they would be rationing the amount of rice members are allowed to buy.
Ito says the media stir created by the announcement added further repercussions, with additional price hikes and continued stockpiling. He calls it a media-induced “self-fulfilling” prophecy.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, long grain milled rice is now up to $787 per ton — up from $539 during the same Foreign Agricultural Service report in February. In California, where a large portion of domestic rice is produced, prices have risen by $125 per ton since March.
China has reduced exports by 300,000 tons.
Ayutla’s Estrada says she has started covering extra shifts to cut back labor costs and has talked about shaving down portion sizes. She says she is determined not to raise menu prices.
Zhu says he is concerned too, but trusts the government will come up with a solution.
Estrada, however, is not so sure. She says she thinks it is up to the people to band together.
“The government can do a lot for small businesses if we speak up,” she says. “Maybe they can hear us.”
WASL math tests get the boot
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
High school seniors in Washington can graduate without passing the math part of standardized tests, according to a recent move by the governor.
Last month, Governor Christine Gregoire signed an initiative allowing the math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) to effectively be phased out, after a decade and a half of criticism.
In the next five years, students can opt to either take the test or replace it by passing an additional math class. In 2014, the section will be eliminated altogether.
In Goldendale, the decision has been met with a seeming sigh of relief as administrators now shift focus to subjects they say have been long pushed aside.
“The arts have been down so we’re going to increase that a bit…” said Goldendale Superintendent Mark Heid. “What we’re trying to do is elongate these subjects that have been cut so much.”
Those, he said, include art, language, history, and vocational skills.
Heid said preparing students for the WASL test is time-consuming and drains resources. Yet the tests only center on a few core skills.
“We’re so WASL-bound that if it’s not focused on reading, writing, and math, it’s not valuable,” he said.
Clay Henry, Principal of Goldendale High School (GHS), said in the past, the state has given schools large sums of money for WASL preparation — between $23,000 to 48,000 per year — to prepare students for the tests. However, the money is earmarked only for kids who have failed.
That means, for example, if the school wants to use the funds to offer extra summer math courses, only students who didn’t pass the test can take it.
The result of this equation, he said, is schools end up sitting on a pile of unused state funds while seeking county money for math preparation.
“It gets really frustrating,” said Henry.
The principal said, like Heid, he is glad to see the WASL math phase-out, but is not certain it will free up other resources. In 2013, for instance, he said testing for No Child Left Behind begins and math skills will be needed there too.
“Regardless of WASL our kids have to be understanding math better and that’s not happening,” Henry said.
The WASL tests, created in 1993, began as part of a plan to boost Washington’s student achievement numbers.
High school tudents begin taking the critical part of the test their sophomore year and those who pass are clear. The rest try again as juniors or seniors — they only have to pass one time to graduate.
This year would have been the first time the math portion counts. Criticism surrounded question wording, low pass rates, and an arbitrary grading system.
“I don’t think I could pass the WASL math and I’d like to think I’m pretty successful,” laughed Heid.
The reading and writing portion of the test, however, will proceed on course. That means any 2008 senior who doesn’t pass those sections will not be eligible to graduate.
Last year, 66 percent of GHS 10th graders, (this year’s juniors), passed reading and 72 percent pass writing. The numbers were just slightly below state levels where 82 percent passed reading and 79.8 percent passed writing.
Henry said at this point there is minimal concern about the impact on graduation. The biggest worry, he said, is whether kids will pass all their needed classes, which is always a concern.
Henry emphasized that walking in the ceremony does not guarantee a diploma. Finals occur the week of graduation, he said, and it is impossible to know before the ceremony if everyone has passed.
“The kid flops a class, he doesn’t have enough credits — we may let him walk but he’s not going to graduate,” Henry said. “We have fifth-year seniors every year. We actually have a couple sixth-year seniors. That’s a reality.”
If it is a close margin, he said, parents are notified ahead of time.
Heid said it is critical kids get what they need before leaving high school, regardless of the timeframe. He said it is unfortunate such a stigma exists about graduating “late.”
Henry agreed, saying kids must get certain skills even if it means extra time. Goldendale schools, he said, will do what it takes to make sure that happens.
“Bottom line is we’ve got to prepare kids to be successful in life after they leave Goldendale.”
Examiner rejects Windy Flats appeal
RACHEL CAVANAUGH
News Editor
The Klickitat County Hearing Examiner threw out an appeal last week that would have halted a wind farm development south of Goldendale.
The appeal, put forward by the Columbia Gorge Audubon Society (CGAS) and two private parties, sought to stop the Windy Flats Wind Project, slated tentatively to begin construction by year’s end.
Appellants argued Klickitat County allowed the project last November without proper environmental impact assessments.
“I’ve been to a lot of public hearings and I’ve seen a lot of applicants try to get the permits in hand before they do all the work— especially the work that’s going to be the most difficult,” said CGAS President Dave Thies. “I think that’s the case here.”
Thies and other appellants argued the county did not properly assess the impact on fish and wildlife and should have looked at issues like water erosion, light pollutions, toxic chemicals, road impacts, and interference with migratory birds.
The private parties further argued the turbines would affect long distance views and bring down property values.
Yet Brian Knox, lawyer for Windy Point Partners, LLC, said the county operated within a legal framework.
“Allegations that the county has erred for having failed to consult with various agencies: I don’t see anything there frankly,” he said.
Hearing examiner Philip Lamb said he thought the county had considered view restrictions.
“The issue of view – the reality is, the county commissioner could have pulled the EOC boundary of the ridge so you couldn’t see anything from the Columbia Gorge, and they didn’t.”
The appeal was rejected based in part on the conclusion that the planning director responsible “complied with the procedural requirements of SEPA [State Environmental Policy Act] and based his decision on information adequate to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the project.”
The project is planned to go up west of Highway 97 along the Columbia Hills and will generate a maximum total capacity of 190 megawatts.
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