✷✞ ➋✟✠ ❖✡✄ ☛❱ ☛
❲ ✁✂ ✄✁❆❨✱ ☎❆❨ ✆✆✱ ✆✝✶✾
REGION/STATE
❆■▲❨
▲❆◆◆❊❘
❚❖❉❆✶
✷♦✸✹✺✻✼ ❲❡✸✽❡✼✸✹✺✾✿✹✺
❀❀✾❁❂❡❃❄❀✽✸✸✹✺♦❅❀❇❃❈❊✷❂❡❋❡
✹❋❡❀❀❛✸✹✺✼●❡❅❁ ✻✽ ❁❂❡✺❡✹❋❊
Union Pacific announces
layoff of up to 195
employees at Hermiston
❇✂ ✄❛☎✆ ✝✞✟✠✇✆❡❡
❛✡☎ P☛☞❡ ✌r☞✐☛✍
✎✏✑✒ ✓✔✕✖✗✘✙✏✘
❚❖❉❆✶❨❍ ■❏❑■▲❏❑■❚
▼✽✿✹✺❀❀✾❃❈❈❀✾✹❅❁❡❋✹
❋❡✻r✽●✹✼❁✻✽r✽❡✹❋●✺ ❛❇✺❡✹❋✼✾
◆♦❂✽✽✺②✹❋✼♦✽❂♦✼❁❡✸sP②◗✼
➇✷♦✽✻r❂❁❘❂♦❙❯❅♦❋❁❂❡❱✽✹●
❁✻t❡❳◆✹✺❩❡✽♦❁♦♦❬♦✈❡❋✹✼
❂♦✼❁❁❂❋❡❡✸✹✺✼●✹❁❡❋❤❊
❖❭❚■❏❍ ❉❆❚❪
❫✽ ❃❴❵❴✾✹t✹❜♦❋❁❋✹✻✽ ❋♦❝❞
❝❡❋✺❁♦♦❬❢●✹❣❡✽❡✹❋✿✹❋✼❂❞
❱❡●✸✾❫✽✸✻✹✽✹✾✹✼t❡t❝❡❋✼
♦❅❁❂❡✐❡✽♦r✹✽rt✹✸❡♦❅❅
❙✻❁❂✇❈❵✾❇❇❇✻✽ ●♦♦❁❊
❫✽ ❃❈❛❈✾❁❂❡❅♦❋❡✻r✽t✻✽❞
✻✼❁❡❋✼♦❅❥❡❋t✹✽✺✹✽✸❫❁✹●✺✾
◆♦✹❣❂✻t ✈♦✽✐✻❝❝❡✽❁❋♦❢
✹✽✸❥✹●❡✹❦❦♦②✻✹✽♦✾✼✻r✽❡✸
✹➇❧✹❣❁♦❅❘❁❡❡●❯ ❣♦tt✻❁❞
❁✻✽r❁❂❡❁❙♦❣♦♠✽❁❋✻❡✼❁♦✹
t✻●✻❁✹❋✺✹●●✻✹✽❣❡❊
❫✽ ❃❈❵❇✾✹✽❡✹❋❁❂♥♠✹❬❡♦❅
t✹r✽✻❁♠✸❡❈❊♣✾❁❂❡✼❁❋♦✽❞
r❡✼❁❡✈❡❋t❡✹✼♠❋❡✸✾✼❁❋♠❣❬
✼♦♠❁❂❡❋✽②❂✻●❡✾❣●✹✻t✻✽r
✼♦t❡❃✾❵♣♣●✻✈❡✼❊
❫✽ ❃❈❵❀✾②♦✽❁✻✽❡✽❁✹●
q✻❋●✻✽❡✼✉●✻r❂❁❃❃✾❡✽❋♦♠❁❡
❅❋♦t②❂✻❣✹r♦❁♦①✹✽✼✹✼
②✻❁✺✾✿✻✼✼♦♠❋✻✾ ❣❋✹✼❂❡✸✹❅❁❡❋
✹❝♦t❝✹❢❢✹❋❡✽❁●✺❝❋♦♠r❂❁
♦✽❝♦✹❋✸❝✺✹❢✹✼✼❡✽r❡❋
❡③❢●♦✸❡✸✾❬✻● ✻✽r✹●● ❄♣♦❣❞
❣♠❢✹✽❁✼♦❅❁❂❡P♦❡✻✽r④❇④❊
▲❖❚❚❪⑤✶
⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩❶❷❸❹❺ ❻❼❽❼ ❾❿➀ ❿➁➂
❵❞④❞❴❞❈❞❃❃❞❛♣
⑥⑦⑧⑨ ⑥➃➄➄➃➅➆❹❺ ❻➈➉➈❾❿➀ ❿➁➂
❃❇❞♣❇❞♣♣❞♣❵❞♣❴❞❃♣❞③♣
➊➅➋⑦➌⑩⑨➄➄❺ ❻❼➍➍❾❿➀ ❿➁➂
❀❞❃❇❞❀♣❞❵❵❞❵④❞❧P❀❵❞③❄
➎➃➆➏➅➌ ➐➃➏⑦❺ ➑➒➓❼➔
❃❛❞❛❵❞❄❇❞♣❄
➊➃❷❸
→❺ ➛➝ ➑➒➓❼➣
↔↕➙➛
➜
➞➟➠➟➡➟➢
↔➤➙➛
➜
➛
➝
➡➟➥➟➦➟➤
↔➧➙➛
➜ ➜ ➛➝ ➛➝ ➞➟➥➟➢➟➦
↔↕➠➙➛
➤➟➧➟➦➟➥
➊➃❷❸
→❺
➑➒➓❼➔
↔↕➙➛
➜ ➜ ➛ ➛ ➝ ➝ ↕➟↕➟➤➟➡
↔➤➙➛
➥➟➠➟➥➟➧
↔➧➙➛
➜
➛
➝
➡➟➡➟➢➟➥
↔↕➠➙➛➜➛➝ ➠➟➨➟↕➟➞
⑤❖❆❉
⑤❪➩❖⑤❚
➫➭➜➯➲➳➵➸➺➻➼➽
➽➝
↔➾ ↔➹➭➸ ➚➵➪ ➵ ➶ ➪ ➲➹➳➲➘➺➚➝➞➠➠➟➥➧➧➟➢➦➢➞➛
➶➲➹➳➲➘➺➚➝➨➠➦➟➨➞➞➟➡➥➤↕➛
❭❪➴❍➩❆➩❪⑤
▲❆❚❪➷
➬➮➱✃➓➱❐
❐
➁✃❒❿
❮
❾➒❰➱❒➁❰➱Ï
➀❿➮➱✃➓➁Ð✃ÑÒ❮➱✃➮➱✃❿
➂ Ó➁➂❰❿
➒❒❿❾➱➀ Ï ➓
❾➒➂➂➱✃❽ÑÓÓ➒❮❿
➁
➂➒➀
➀
➓
❒❿ ❾➁✃➱❰❿
➁➂❮➱Ô❿ ❐ ❮ ×ÓÐ➀
❒❒Õ➒❒❾➒Ö➱❰➱➀
❿➮➱✃➓
❒
❽
Ø➏Ù➅❶⑨➌⑦➆➅Ú➅➆⑨Û➅Ú➅➌
➌➅❶Ú⑦Ü❰➱➀
❿➮➱✃➓❮Õ➁Ð➀
❰ Ò➱
➯➲Ý➺➳➲➨➝
➦
➠➙➛
➜
➛➾
Ý
Þ➺➭➶➺➚➺➸
✃➱Ó➱❿
➮➱➓➁Ð✃ß➒ß➱✃ß➀➱➒❮➱Ó➒➀➀
àá➣Ï➉â➈Ï➈➣â➣❽
ãä❖❚❪ ❖å❚■❪ ❉❆✶
➇❲❡❂✹✈❡✹●●✾ ✹❁♦✽❡❁✻t❡♦❋
✹✽♦❁❂❡❋✾ ❝❡❡✽❢❡❋❅♦❋t❡❋✼✾✹✽✸
t✹✽✺♦❅♠✼✼❁✻● ✹❋❡æ❢♦●✻❁✻❣✻✹✽✼✾
❢●✹✺❝♦✺✼✾❣✹❋✸✻✽✹●✼ ✹✽✸❬✻✽r✼❊❯
çèéêëìíîìïðñòñìëóôëñõñö÷
éîõøëùúøëíõ÷ñö ûéõìñí üýþÿó
ûñìûñí üý ý
✾
✁
The railroad looms
large in Hermiston’s
past, but it will likely
play a much smaller role
in the city’s future.
Union Pacific Railroad
filed notice with the state
on Tuesday that it will lay
off up to 195 employees
at the Hinkle Rail Yard in
Hermiston and close the
yard’s supply warehouse
and mechanical shop.
It stated the 195 layoffs
would be completed by
July 19 and are expected
to be permanent. The
bulk layoff is an escala-
tion of the scores of lay-
offs that have happened
incrementally at the rail
yard since October 2018.
Hermiston Mayor Da-
vid Drotzmann said his
conversation on Tuesday
with UP spokesman Aar-
on Hunt was a difficult
one. The city of Herm-
iston’s June 2018 finan-
cial report listed Union
Pacific as one of the
city’s largest employers
at the time, estimating
the company employed
about 500 people at
Hinkle. Drotzmann said
it was his understand-
ing the latest layoffs will
leave between 40 and
45 employees.
“It was both a con-
versation of frustration
and sadness to realize
an organization that has
made such an impact on
the community over the
last 25 years is reducing
to one-eighth of what it
was,” he said.
He said the loss of so
many jobs in the com-
munity will have an eco-
nomic impact as families
move away or cut back
their spending signifi-
cantly while facing un-
employment. But he said
he was more concerned
about the effects on the
individuals who lost
their jobs.
“Those were good-pay-
ing jobs with great ben-
efits,” he said.
After Union Pacific
laid off more than 80
employees during the fall
of 2018 and winter 2019,
UP spokesman Tim Mc-
Mahan declined to share
how many employees
Hinkle had, but said UP
had 1,506 employees
throughout Oregon. On
Tuesday, he again de-
clined to answer most
questions
submitted
by the East Oregonian
about the number of em-
ployees who will remain
at Hinkle or what opera-
tions will continue there,
❚☞✌✍✎☞✏✑✒✓
✔✌✑✕✖✌✑✏
✫ ✗✌ ✘✑✌✙✕✏
✔✌✑✕✖✌✑✏
but stated the company
would move some of
Hinkle’s operations to
yards in Portland; Spo-
kane; Ogden, Utah; Po-
catello, Idaho; and Nam-
pa, Idaho.
“The workforce reduc-
tion is the result of accel-
erating (Union Pacific’s)
continuous improvement
plan and implement-
ing Precision Scheduled
Railroading principles,”
he wrote in an email.
Union
Pacific
an-
nounced its Unified Plan
2020 last year to improve
efficiency. It announced
record earnings in 2018
of more than $6 billion,
and during a first quarter
earnings call with share-
holders on April 18 an-
nounced record 2019 first
quarter net income and a
15% increase in earnings
per share compared with
2018, despite the fact that
total volume decreased
by 2% compared with the
previous year.
During the call, Chief
Operating Officer Jim
Vena said UP increased
train length by 7% and
was focused on reduc-
ing “touch points” where
trains are handled. He
said the company had
“stopped humping cars
at Hinkle and Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, and curtailed
yard operations in Salt
Lake City, the Kansas
City complex and Butler
Yard in Wisconsin, to
name a few.”
State Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, called the
cuts at Hinkle “devastat-
ing” for the area.
“These are good fam-
ily wage jobs with ben-
efits,” Smith said. “That
job loss is going to have
a significant economic
effect throughout the re-
gion.”
State Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, said he found
out about the job cuts on
Tuesday afternoon.
Hansell
questioned
whether
legislation,
such as the recent gross
receipts tax, is making
neighboring states more
attractive to business.
That’s been the talk in
some circles at the Capi-
tol, he said, and perhaps
Union Pacific relocating
operations from Hinkle
to Idaho and Washington
signals that is happen-
ing. However, Hansell
cautioned, he does not
know if that’s the case
here.
George Murdock, chair
of the Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners,
said Union Pacific has
long been a “major em-
ployer” in the county.
“These are the kind
of jobs people occupy
for an entire career, so
their loss is particu-
larly acute,” he said. “I
had heard rumors that
it was a possibility, but
had hoped it was only a
rumor.”
Murdock said his un-
derstanding was Union
✚✛✜✢✣✜ ✤✥✦✧★ ✜✥✩✪✢✩✦✫ ✪✥
have a presence at Hinkle
and the county will remain
a major freight route. He
said it will be important to
work with the unions and
✛✬✫✜✪✫★ ✫✭✮✧✥✯✫✫✰ ✢✩ ✪✱✫
coming months.
While the jobs repre-
sent a significant loss
for the area, Hermiston’s
increasingly diversified
economy helps absorb
the blow. Drotzmann
pointed to the closure
of the Simplot plant in
2004 and the closure of
Hermiston Foods in 2017
as an example of times
that Hermiston lost one
of its largest employers
but continued to grow.
“This community is re-
ally resilient,” he said.
That might be small
comfort to the employees
whose jobs have been cut
in recent months. Locals
took to community Face-
book forums on Tues-
day to share that family
members had been laid
off or to share condo-
lences with friends who
had lost jobs.
Oregon has designated
CAPECO in Pendleton as
the lead organization for
when major job losses
occur in Hermiston, and
CAPECO will conduct
trainings and job fairs
for former Hinkle em-
ployees in June. In the
meantime, some employ-
ees will be eligible to ap-
ply for transfer to one of
Union Pacific’s other rail
yards.
❘❊●❖◆ ■◆
❘■❊❋
✹✺✻✼ ✽✿✺❀ ✺❀❁✻✺❂❃
Oregon Senate passes $15M verdict reduced
to $683K for woman
election-security bill
in light rail crash
on election day
SALEM — County
clerks in Oregon would
be required to audit re-
sults after each election
under a bill that over-
whelmingly passed the
Senate on election day.
The bill requires county
clerks to conduct hand-
count or risk-limiting au-
dits after every primary,
general and special elec-
tion. Risk-limiting audits
are based on counts of
statistical samples of pa-
per ballots.
Ballots were due Tues-
day in Oregon’s special
elections. Candidates ran
✲✥✳
✰✜✱✥✥✧
✴✥✛✳★✰✵
PORTLAND — A judge
has ruled that a woman
who lost her leg when she
dashed in front of a MAX
light rail train is lawfully
entitled to only $682,800
of the $15 million in dam-
ages awarded by a jury.
The Oregonian/Ore-
gonLive reported Andrea
“Amy” Laing and her at-
torneys contended that
she should receive 58%
of the verdict, or $8.7
million, because the jury
in February found Tri-
Met and its driver 58% at
fault.
But TriMet argued that
an Oregon law limiting
the tort claim liability of
government agencies en-
titled Laing to no more
than $682,800.
On Monday, Mult-
nomah County Circuit
Judge Christopher Ram-
ras agreed with TriMet.
Laing was struck by a
train at a Beaverton sta-
tion in November 2015.
TriMet declined com-
ment.
Laing’s attorney Sonia
Montalbano said Tuesday
they haven’t yet decided
whether to appeal.
✣✳✫
districts and other of-
✣✜✫✰✵ ✛✩★ ✧✥✜✛✧ ✪✛✶ ✧✫✷✢✫✰
were decided. In Oregon,
voters mail in ballots or
✧✫✛✷✫ ✪✱✫✭ ✢✩ ✥✸✜✢✛✧ ★✳✥✮
boxes.
Sen. Lew Frederick, a
Portland Democrat, said
the bill ensures more au-
dits happen to make sure
election results are cor-
rect.
The bill requires audits
after every election, in-
stead of just general elec-
tions. It goes next to the
House.
ðñòòóôõö÷ ðñôôøùöõñô õôúõöøû ÷ñó öñ
ðøüøýþÿöø ü øþ òøþõùÿôû ñôö
✁ ✂
✄ ☎
✭✠✓✑✞✮✝✝✡ ✯✟✮✰ ✕
✱✠✠☞ ✲✕✞✳✔ ✴✝✕✓✍
✠✞ ✵✰✝✝✓✍✔
✆✝✞✟✠✡ ☛☞✌✟✍✠✡✎ ✏✠✑✞✒✟✓✔ ✕✞☞ ✖✠✡✝✗
✘✙✚✛✙ ✜✛✢✙✣✤ ✥✦✙✚✛✧ ✜✦✙✣✦✧ ★ ✩✪ ✫✧✪✙✬✦
✃❐❒ ❮❰ÏÐÑÒ ÐÓ❮Ô
ÙÚÛÜ Ý
àáâããäå
Þß
æç èéêéëì íìéîèï
➤➥➦ ➧➨➩➫➭ ➧➯➲➳➵ ➸➩ ➺➻➩➼➨➲
➽➾➦➚➪➤➶➚➹➤➘➦
➸➩➺➻➩➼➨➲➴➩➷➼➬➳➮➱➫
✃❐❒ ❮Ñ Ï ÕÖ×Ø Ð
ÙÚÛÜ Ý
àáâããäå
Þß
æç èéêéëì íìéîèï
➛➜➝➞
➟➠➡➢
➃➄➅➆ ➇➄➅➈➈➉ ➊ ➃➄➅➆ ➌➍➎➎ ➏ ➐➈➉➑➒➉➑➒ ➓➉➑➅ ➔➉➑➉➑➒ ➐→➣↔ ↕➍ ↕➄➅ ➙➍➎➒➅
❳❩❬❭ ❭❪❫❳ ❴❩❵ ❜❝s❞ ❡❢❝❣
✚✚✛✛ ✜✢✣✤r✥ ✦✥t ✧★✩✢r ✪✬✭✮ ✯ ✰✲✳✴✰✵✸✴✸✸✹✳
✵✵✳✵ ■✣❧★♥✺ ✻✼✢t ▲★ ✽✿❀❁❂❃ ✯ ✰✲✳✴❄❅✰✴❅✳✰✵
▼✤♥✺★✮✴❇r✬✺★✮ ✹✴❄ ✯ ❈❀✥❉r✺★❛ ❊✴❄ ✯ ✦❉♥✺★❛ ❋✴✰
♣●❍❏❍❑ ◆❍P ◗❘❘✉❑❏P❙❏◗❍✐ ❍✐❘❯
❤❥❥❤❥ ❦♠♦♦q✈♠ ✇♠①② ③④⑤⑥✈♠⑦ ⑧ ❦♠♦♦q✈♠ ✇♠①②⑨ ⑩❶②⑤q❷ ⑧ ❸❹❺❻❹❼❽❻❾❿❽❺ ⑧ ✈♠♦♦q✈♠♦♠①②➀➁q➂