2A — THE OBSERVER
DAILY
PLANNER
TODAY
Today is Thursday, May
14, the 135th day of 2020.
There are 231 days left in
the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On May 14, 1940, the
Netherlands surrendered
to invading German forces
during World War II.
ON THIS DATE
In 1643, Louis XIV became
King of France at age 4 upon
the death of his father, Louis
XIII.
In 1796, English physician
Edward Jenner inoculated
8-year-old James Phipps
against smallpox by using
cowpox matter.
In 1804, the Lewis and
Clark expedition to explore
the Louisiana Territory as
well as the Pacifi c Northwest
left camp near present-day
Hartford, Illinois.
In 1863, Union forces
defeated the Confederates
in the Battle of Jackson,
Mississippi.
In 1948, according to the
current-era calendar, the
independent state of Israel
was proclaimed in Tel Aviv
by David Ben-Gurion, who
became its fi rst prime min-
ister; U.S. President Harry S.
Truman immediately recog-
nized the new nation.
In 1955, representatives
from eight Communist bloc
countries, including the
Soviet Union, signed the
Warsaw Pact in Poland.
In 1961, Freedom Riders
were attacked by violent
mobs in Anniston and Bir-
mingham, Alabama.
In 1968, John Lennon and
Paul McCartney held a news
conference in New York to
announce the creation of
the Beatles’ latest business
venture, Apple Corps.
In 1998, the hit sitcom
“Seinfeld” aired its fi nal
episode after nine years on
NBC.
In 2001, the Supreme
Court ruled 8-0 that there is
no exception in federal law
for people to use marijuana
for medical purposes.
In 2003, more than 100
immigrants were aban-
doned in a locked trailer
at a Texas truck stop; 19 of
them died. (Truck driver
Tyrone Williams was later
sentenced to nearly 34 years
in prison for his role in the
deaths; of the 13 others
indicted in the case, two
had charges against them
dismissed, one who cooper-
ated with prosecutors was
sentenced to the three days
in jail and the others were
given sentences ranging
from 14 months to 23
years.)
In 2008, the Interior De-
partment declared the polar
bear a threatened species
because of the loss of Arctic
sea ice.
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Win for Life: May 11
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer, call
the offi ce at 541-963-3161.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“Silence cannot hide any-
thing — which is more than
you can say for words.”
— From the play “The
Ghost Sonata” by Swedish
author-playwright August
Strindberg (born 1849, died
this date in 1912)
THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020
STATE/REGIONAL
OSP looks at big cuts due to coronavirus
Proposal would
close nine field
offices, cut 199 jobs
By Gary A. Warner
For the Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
State Police would make the
“heartbreaking” decision
to lay off almost 200 per-
sonnel and close nine fi eld
offi ces under a proposal
submitted to Gov. Kate
Brown.
Brown has asked all state
departments for how they
would cut their budgets by
14% over the next year, the
maximum the governor can
order on her own.
The numbers are
expected to be a starting
point for fi lling an expected
$3 billion hole in revenue
due to the economic impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The next Oregon budget
forecast is set to be released
May 20 by the state Offi ce
of Economic Analysis.
State police would
implement an estimated
$27 million reduction in
its budget by cutting 199
positions and closing fi eld
offi ces in Prineville, La
Pine, McMinnville, St.
Helens, Albany, Hermiston,
Grants Pass, Government
Camp, and Tillamook.
That would leave the
posts in Pendleton, La
Grande and Enterprise for
northeast Oregon.
“This is a planning exer-
cise — a hypothetical, and
this is not a layoff notice,”
Map by Oregon State Police
Oregon State Police has proposed signifi cant cuts to deal with the loss of revenue due to
the COVID-19 crisis, including closing nine stations.
said Oregon State Police
Superintendent Travis
Hampton in a “straight-
talk” statement to OSP staff
released Tuesday afternoon.
There was bipartisan
support for keeping the
budget knife away from
OSP.
“We are going to have to
fi nd a way to fund essen-
tial services, and that defi -
nitely includes OSP,”
said Sen. Betsy Johnson,
D-Scappoose, one of the
chairs of the Joint Ways &
Means Committee in the
Legislature.
Rep. Jack Zika, R-Red-
mond, said lawmakers in
both parties think there
needs to be a larger state
police force.
“This would be a steep
cut — too steep,” Zika said.
“They just hired a bunch
of troopers. It doesn’t make
sense to turn around and
lay them off. That’s a cut to
public safety.”
Hampton told OSP per-
sonnel that Brown and the
Legislature also could tap
into the state’s “rainy day”
funds to patch the budget
gaps for OSP or other
departments. But to meet
the governor’s forecasting
request, state police would
reduce or suspend 199 posi-
tions, including 102 posi-
tions in fi eld operations and
services bureaus and 39
positions in forensic labora-
tories and pathology opera-
tions, including suspending
operations in Springfi eld
and Central Point. Hampton
said the overall effect on
forensic services would be
“severe.”
Another 39 would come
out of headquarters sup-
port, internet technology,
central records, human
resources and the offi ce of
professional standards and
dispatch.
Hampton said 18 posi-
tions assigned to training,
procurement, fl eet and the
Oregon State Athletic Com-
mission also would fall to
the budget ax.
OSP would remove all
positions from its Dignitary
Protection Unit and fi rearm
investigative unit.
The Oregon Fire Mar-
shal Bureau would have
its budget cut but not lose
any positions. It is funded
by sources other than the
state general fund. Positions
funded by Oregon Lottery
and tribal gaming revenue
could face cuts under other
budget proposals.
Hampton said “scenarios
are endless, complex and
almost unimaginable to
fathom” amid the crisis. But
he chose to shutter offi ces
and specifi c operations
rather than taking a “thin-
soup” approach and spread
reductions across the force.
“I would look to build
this agency around our core
mission — the protection
of people, property and nat-
ural resources,” he said.
Hampton said the offi ces
chosen for closure were
near enough to stations that
would remain open, making
the reassignments less
onerous for those forced to
move. He also said the fi nal
outcome is unknown.
“Team, there is no
crystal ball for this job, but
times like these deserve
straight talk,” he said. “If
our agency will be spared
to a degree, or face more
drastic reductions, we
likely won’t know for many
weeks.”
Record jury award stands in wake of fatal road rage crash
Attorney: Verdict sends message to transport
industry on dangers of losing self control
By Phil Wright
The Observer
PORTLAND — Road-
raging commercial drivers
caused the head-on crash
in 2016 near Burns that
left Matthew Allison with
serious injuries and took
the life of his wife, Sara
Allison. Now the record
jury verdict he won in May
2019 in federal court in
Pendleton remains standing.
Portland-based attorney
Tom D’Amore and law
partner Steve Brady repre-
sented Matthew Allison, 27,
of Boise, and the estate of
his wife in the lawsuit.
“We are proud of
the result of this case,”
D’Amore said. “It’s a relief
that the case is offi cially
over and the defendant
cannot appeal again. There
is a feeling that justice has
been done.”
‘Pay the verdict’
The jury awarded a
total of $26.5 million to
the plaintiffs. But Horizon
Transport in July fi led a
42-page motion asking the
federal court for a new trial
or to reduce the amount of
the jury verdict. The court
denied both.
“It’s a pretty high stan-
dard, though, to take away
a jury verdict or issue a new
trial,” D’Amore said.
The defendants then
appealed to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit. D’Amore said the
company wanted to settle,
just as it had wanted to
settle at trial.
“We pretty much said no,
pay the verdict,” D’Amore
said.
The Ninth Circuit has a
mediation program, which
contacted the parties and
urged them to show up
and participate. They did,
D’Amore said, and the sides
resolve the case in April—
with the $26.5 million ver-
dict intact.
The estate of Sara
Allison won economic
damages of of almost
$2.4 million and non-eco-
nomic damages of $10 mil-
lion. Matthew Allison won
$600,000 in economic
damages and $7 million in
non-economic damages.
The defendants also had to
pay $6.5 million in punitive
damages with 70% going to
the state of Oregon’s Crime
Victims Fund to pay for
care for other victims of
crime.
But no amount of money,
D’Amore stressed, will
make up for the loss of
Sara Allison, who in 2014
worked full time while
caring for her husband when
he developed leukemia.
“Sara was his every-
thing, his caretaker, the
bread winner for the family,
his whole reason for being,”
D’Amore said.
Celebration ends in
tragedy
Matthew Allison during
the course of two years
overcame the blood dis-
order and subsequent health
problems. After completing
physical therapy in April
2016, the couple took a trip
through Oregon.
“It was our way to cel-
ebrate having got through
that tough time together,”
Matthew said at the trial. “It
was a much-needed break.”
They enjoyed a concert
in Portland, hiked in Mount
Hood National Forest and
on June 5 they visited at
Crater Lake before the
push home to Boise. They
stopped in Burns to fuel
up their Ford Focus and
have Matthew take over as
driver. But he testifi ed his
wife saw how exhausted he
was, so she decided to let
her husband sleep.
They were on narrow
Highway 20 east of Burns
when then crash occurred.
James Decou, Peter
Barnes and Corey Frew
were driving semitrailers
for Utah-based Smoot
Brothers Transportation
from Salt Lake City, Utah,
to Eugene, according to
D’Amore, depositions,
court documents and police
reports. Near Mountain
Home, Idaho, they has a
run-in with a motorhome
driver, Jonathan Hogaboom
of Taylor, Michigan. He
was driving a 45-foot long,
$750,000 luxury motor-
home for Horizon Transport
from Indiana for delivery
in Oregon. According to
court records, he cut off
Barnes on the freeway and
slammed on the brakes to
shoot for an exit.
Hogaboom and the three
truckers met up again on
Highway 20 in Eastern
Oregon. They raced to pass
each other, cut each other
off and pulled in front of
each other only to slam on
the brakes. Hogaboom on
more than one occasion
blasted the big RV’s air
horn when he was next to
one of the semis and fl ipped
the bird to one driver.
Decou tried to pass
Hogaboom, who would not
let the trucker back into the
westbound lane. Near mile-
post 156, Decou and Sara
Allison saw each other in
the same lane. She jerked
the car to the right and off
the road and into the dirt.
Decou hit the brakes, slid
and turned to the left.
The semi plowed into the
car, mashing the driver’s
side. Sara Allison died in
the crash.
Matthew Allison suf-
fered broken ribs, a lacer-
ated spleen, head trauma
and more. The verdict gives
him the ability to take care
of himself medically and
even afford a caretaker if he
needs one, D’Amore said,
but he remains “just men-
tally decimated” from the
death of his wife.
Outcome sends
message
The four commer-
cial drivers in this case,
D’Amore said, lost control
of their senses and tempers
and ignored other people on
the road. He and his partner
aimed to do more than win
a verdict — D’amore said
they wanted to wake up
the trucking industry to
the dangers of road rage.
Judging from industry mag-
azines reporting the verdict,
he said, they hit that mark.
“They don’t talk about
plaintiff verdicts,” he said.
“We tried to make the point
that road rage was getting
worse, and it’s because of
these folks who have com-
mercial licenses and are
trained in this and are on
the road all the time.”
With the legal action at
an end, D’Amore said Mat-
thew Allison is on a trek to
Utah and wants to be alone
for two months.
“He’s been living with
this disaster for the past
two years or so, and so he is
just kind of seeing what he
wants to do for the rest of
his life,” D’Amore said. “He
wants to be left alone, and
we’re going to honor that.”
Be ready for roadwork in Eastern Oregon
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Oregon Department of
Transportation urges
drivers to stay alert and pre-
pare for work zones.
The state road agency
reported it has more than 36
key highway construction
projects this year in Eastern
Oregon, from fi xes to pave-
ment, sidewalks and bridges
to safety improvements to
extending the life of the
transportation system.
The big project near La
Grande is the construction
of a third lane on Interstate
84 through the eastbound
side of Ladd Canyon, mile-
post 270-273. ODOT esti-
mated the project will con-
clude in November.
I-84 also will see mul-
tiple safety enhancements
between Pendleton and La
Grande, ODOT reported,
including new variable
message boards, road sen-
sors/cameras and lighting
from milepost 214-260.
That work also wraps up in
November.
The Highway 30 turn-
around near Gangloff Park
west of La Grande is getting
new illumination. ODOT
reported the work ends in
September. Highway 30
also is getting ADA side-
walk ramp upgrades at
various intersections in
La Grande between 20th
Street and McAlister Road.
That work continues until
November 2021.
Crews are upgrading
sidewalks ramps on
Highway 82, the Wal-
lowa Lake Highway, in La
Grande, Island City, Elgin
and Imbler. That work also
continues until November
2021.
Perhaps the more signif-
icant project is realigning
the hairpin corner at Minam
Curve. ODOT reported the
safety improvement should
be complete in August.
Highway 237 is getting
sidewalk ramp upgrades in
downtown Cove between
Foster and Church streets
and in Union along Main
Street and between Bryan
and Oregon streets.
Throughout all of this
work, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transporta-
tion advised there will be
road closures, pedestrian
detours, occasional fl aggers
and minor delays.
ODOT will share addi-
tional updates throughout
the construction season. For
more information on key
projects visit www.tinyurl.
com/odot-region5.
For up-to-date traffi c
condition information,
visitTripCheck.com.
Road condition informa-
tion also is available by
phone by dialing 511, or
800-977-6368.
SHANE
ROLLINS
FOR
Sheriff
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