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Wednesday, November 11, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
House votes to keep
highway spending level,
By Joan lowry
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Despite years of warnings that
the nation’s roads, bridges
and transit systems are falling
apart and will bring nightmar-
ish congestion, the House on
Thursday passed a six-year
transportation bill that main-
tains the spending status quo.
The bill, approved on a
bipartisan vote of 363-64,
authorizes $325 billion in
spending through the 2021
federal budget year. But it
provides money for only the
first three years because law-
makers couldn’t agree on a
way to pay for it all. The mea-
sure would continue current
rates of spending.
The bill is similar to a
transportation bill passed
by the Senate in July.
Congressional leaders say
they hope to quickly work
out the differences between
the two measures and send
President Barack Obama a
final bill before Thanksgiving.
They also said they hope to
find the money to pay for the
last three years of the bill.
“At the funding levels
proposed in both the House
and Senate bills, the result
will be more traffic,” said
Transportation Secretary
Anthony Foxx. He has said
$400 billion over six years is
minimum needed to prevent
matters from worsening.
Most lawmakers lauded
the bill as a major accom-
plishment because it would
assure states and localities
that they can count on federal
highway and transit aid for
at least three years. It’s hard
to plan major construction
projects when availability of
federal aid is in doubt. The
House and Senate bills are
first long-term funding bills
in about a decade.
Since 2008, Congress has
kept the federal Highway
Trust Fund teetering on the
edge of bankruptcy, unwilling
to raise the federal 18.4 cents-
a-gallon gasoline and 24.4-
cent diesel taxes. The fuel
taxes, the trust fund’s main
source of revenue, were last
raised in 1993. Transportation
aid has continued through
dozens of short-term exten-
sions and transfers of money
from the general treasury to
make up the gap between rev-
enues and spending.
The House bill is filled
with changes to transporta-
tion policy that reflect the
small-government, pro-
business philosophy of the
chamber’s GOP majority.
But it is also a compro-
mise that Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee
Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa.,
spent months negotiating
with Rep. Peter DeFazio
of Oregon, the panel’s top
Democrat. As a result, the bill
also includes many provisions
sought by Democrats or sup-
ported by lawmakers from
both parties.
One change that gained
wide support would direct
$4.5 billion a year to inter-
state highways and other
roads designated as freight
corridors to increase capac-
ity and relieve bottlenecks,
and a grant program of more
than $700 million a year for
nationally significant high-
way and freight projects.
Halloween event focused on safety
Sisters-Camp Sherman
Fire District volunteers Kyle
Sharek and Angel Cisneros
Thorsvold, who are enrolled
in the Fire Science program at
Central Oregon Community
College, incorporated their
Fire Science class project
with the annual Halloween
event. As a part of their proj-
ect, Angel and Kyle managed
the fire safety booth, which
focused on Halloween safety
for kids and also fire and life
safety around their home.
“We interacted with 144 chil-
dren at the fire safety and
prevention booth and want to
congratulate them for being
prepared for fire and life
safety emergency situations.”
Cisneros Thorsvold and
Sharek wanted to know how
the community is doing in fire
and safety prevention educa-
tion, especially in regards
to Halloween, and how the
Fire Safety and Prevention
program at Sisters-Camp
Sherman Fire District can
focus events for the future.
Their goal was to let kids
know the importance of
awareness in fire and safety
with prevention and aware-
ness being key components.
As a part of their class
project, each child who vis-
ited the booth would spin the
fire prevention game wheel,
which had important ques-
tions they felt children in the
community should know. If
they answered the question
correctly, they won a prize.
Below are a few of the results
of those questions:
Of the children participat-
ing in the game,
• 80 percent knew to get
out of the house when they
hear a smoke alarm,
• 80 percent knew to call
photo provided
Kyle sharek and Angel cisneros thorsvold manned a fire safety booth last
Halloween.
9-1-1 in case of an emer-
gency, and
• Over 80 percent knew
the best places to place smoke
alarms around their homes.
While Cisneros Thorsvold
and Sharek were happy with
the percentage of correct
answers, they did find a few
areas as a community we can
improve upon to keep our
families safe, and have passed
along that information to the
Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire
District’s Fire Safety Manager
and prevention personnel:
• Have your child wear a
costume that does not pose a
trip hazard.
• Wear masks that children
can see out of easily.
• Use a flashlight at night
and reflective wear on cos-
tume such as reflective tape,
glow sticks, and/or a reflec-
tive trick or treat bag so driv-
ers and other people can see
you.
• Finally, use glow sticks
or battery lights instead of
candles inside pumpkins.
These are just a few things
to keep in mind so for next
year so kids and their families
stay safe and everyone can
have fun.
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