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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER SaTuRday, OcTOBER 17, 2020 LOCAL/REGION Daily Wyden talks infrastructure, forest management Planner By Ben Lonergan TODAY East Oregonian Today is Saturday, Oct. 17, the 291st day of 2020. There are 75 days left in the year. PENDLETON — Infra- structure and forest man- agement were among the primary topics of concern during a Wednesday, Oct. 14, virtual town hall held by Sen. Ron Wyden for Eastern Oregon residents. Nick Powers, of Enter- prise, opened the meeting by expressing concerns about broadband infra- structure in rural Eastern Oregon and the unusu- ally high load placed on systems due to remote learning, telehealth and working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The fact is we can’t have big league quality of life in rural Oregon with little league connectivity,” Wyden said. Wyden cited the Move America Act as a pri- mary piece of legislation in dealing with ailing or insufficient infrastruc- ture issues, such as rural broadband. The bill, introduced by Wyden and Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, in 2019, would allow tax-exempt bonds and tax credits to support infra- structure projects, such as airports, railroads, TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY On Oct. 17, 1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the Unit- ed States as a refugee from Nazi Germany. ON THIS DATE In 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, New York, in a turning point of the Revolutionary War. In 1814, the London Beer Flood inundated the St. Giles district of the Brit- ish capital as vats of beer ruptured, sending more than 320,000 gallons of liquid into the streets. In 1939, Frank Capra’s comedy-drama “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” star- ring James Stewart as an idealistic junior U.S. senator, had its premiere in the nation’s capital. In 1973, Arab oil-produc- ing nations announced they would begin cutting back oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974. In 1979, Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1989, an earthquake measuring 6.9 in magnitude struck Northern Califor- nia, killing 63 people and causing $6 billion worth of damage. In 2014, the World Health Organization acknowledged it had botched attempts to stop the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, blaming factors including incompetent staff, lack of information and budget cuts. LOTTERY Megabucks: $3.1 million 5-8-10-12-14-48 Mega Millions: $69 million 11-44-45-46-70 —25 x2 Powerball: $72 million 21-37-52-53-58—PB-5 x2 Win for Life: Oct. 14 25-39-64-70 Pick 4: Oct. 15 • 1 p.m.: 3-3-4-1; • 4 p.m.: 0-7-4-4; • 7 p.m.: 7-6-5-4; • 10 p.m.: 2-6-9-3 Pick 4: Oct. 14 • 1 p.m.: 7-2-1-7; • 4 p.m.: 4-3-3-9; • 7 p.m.: 0-4-9-6; • 10 p.m.: 3-1-2-8 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, please call 541-963-3161. CORRECTION The Observer brief on Oct. 15, “La Grande Police participate in Drug Take Back Day” incorrectly identified the drop off location. The correction loca- tion for drop-off is at the Safeway parking lot at 2111 Adams Ave. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian Sen. Ron Wyden speaks during a virtual town hall at the East Oregonian in Pendleton on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. The town hall, held virtually by Town Hall Project, allowed residents of Umatilla, Union, Morrow and Wallowa counties to pose their questions to the senator. flood diversions and rural broadband. “In 2021, probably one of the very first bills will be expanding infra- structure,” said Wyden. “I’m going to make sure it includes broadband and opportunities to expand education and health care.” Fuji Kreider, a founder and board member of the La Grande-based Stop B2H Coalition, took the opportunity to discuss renewable energy infra- structure and forest man- agement as they relate to the proposed Boardman to Hemingway transmission line. She asserted that the proposed 500-kilovolt B2H transmission line from Boardman to Hemingway, Idaho, would pose severe fire risk to the region. Wyden emphasized his support of renewable energy infrastructure, citing his intent to repeal Wolf kill illegal, ODFW says Baker City Herald BAKER COUNTY — Oregon State Police are investigating the unlawful killing of the breeding male wolf from the Cor- nucopia pack in eastern Baker County. The wolf died from a gunshot wound on or about Sept. 24, according to OSP. This incident occurred northwest of New Bridge in the Skull Creek drainage of the Wal- lowa-Whitman National Forest. Forest Service Road 7741 accesses the Skull Creek drainage and the wolf was found off the 125 spur road. That’s about 1 mile east of Eagle Forks campground. Anyone with information can contact OSP Sgt. Isaac Cyr through the Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-452-7888. Biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Oregon State Police/Contributed Photo A collared gray wolf was found shot and killed in east- ern Baker County in late September. trapped the wolf and fitted it with a GPS tracking collar in December 2018. According to ODFW, the breeding male and female of the Cornucopia pack bred for the first time in 2019. The breeding female is a radio-collared wolf that dispersed from the Pine Creek pack, also in eastern Baker County, and the breeding male that was killed in Sep- tember had dispersed from the Walla Walla pack in Union, Umatilla and Wal- lowa counties. The pair produced three pups that sur- vived to the end of 2019, according to ODFW. Data from the wolves’ collars showed the pack used a 162-square-mile area in the Pine Creek and Keating wildlife man- agement units, with 92% of the location points on public land. Student breaches Pendleton’s digital classrooms By Antonio Sierra East Oregonian PENDLETON — The Pendleton School Dis- trict is shoring up its cyber security system after a stu- dent gained access to its emails and classroom plat- forms on Monday, Oct. 12. Superintendent Chris Fritsch said the student used the district’s email system to send cyberbul- lying messages to sev- eral district students that morning. The district already was looking into the breach when the stu- dent hacked into the dis- trict again to post por- nographic material into virtual classrooms at McKay Creek Elemen- tary School and Sun- ridge Middle School in the afternoon. Fritsch said teachers noticed the por- nography within a minute and removed it from their classrooms. In an Oct. 13 email to staff, Fritsch discussed some of the consequences the student may face. “Police will be con- tinuing with their inves- tigation and working with the District Attor- ney’s Office regarding any charges,” he wrote. “The District, for its part, will be determining the appro- priate level of sanctions. The District is still gath- ering evidence as well and will determine the appro- priate course of action once its investigation and review of the facts is completed.” Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts identified the student as a 13-year-old boy, but he wouldn’t go as far as to call the student’s actions “hacking.” “Frankly, it’s not overly complex,” Roberts said. Roberts said the stu- dent figured out the pat- tern to the passwords stu- dents were issued to access their emails and digital classrooms. The student then spent hours using the pattern to make educated guesses at what other stu- dents’ passwords were. Roberts said he found out about the incidents Oct. 12, and by the next day, police were able to trace the messages back to the student with the help of the district’s IT contractor, the InterMountain Educa- tion Service District. Rob- erts said police met with the student and his par- ents, where he admitted to accessing the school’s systems. Roberts said the dis- trict will refer the case to the Umatilla County Dis- trict Attorney’s Office, but he added the outcomes for youths can vary. La Grande School Board OKs contract with sheriff By Dick Mason The Observer LA GRANDE — The La Grande School Dis- trict’s School Resource Officer program has received a boost. The school board voted Wednesday night, Oct. 14, to approve a one-year intergovernmental agree- ment for the program, which has been in place at least five years. The program provides the La Grande School Dis- trict with a deputy from the Union County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy works throughout the academic year, visiting schools and meeting with students, fac- ulty and staff. The school district first had an SRO about 15 years ago. That SRO was an officer from the La Grande Police Department. The school district later had to discontinue the program because of financial prob- lems before it was rein- stated in 2015. Robin Maillie, chair of the La Grande School Board, said having a school resource officer cre- ates a safer environment and promotes positive atti- tudes toward law enforce- ment by making it possible for students to get to know sheriff deputies. “They are less afraid when they can interact and develop personal relation- ships (with school resource officers),” Maillie said. The new contract calls for the school dis- trict to pay the Union County Sheriff’s Office $39,657 for the September to December period. The money will be pro- vided in two payments of $19,828.50. The amount to be paid in the January to June period will be billed at a prorated amount based on the salary and benefits of the deputy assigned to the position. The reason the Sep- tember to December amount for 2020 is not cer- tain is Cody Bowen will be the SRO for this period. Bowen has been the school district’s primary SRO since 2015. However, it is not clear if Bowen will continue serving as SRO in 2021 because he is a candidate for Union County Sheriff in an elec- tion that will be conducted Nov. 3. The school district will thus be billed in the January to June period in a prorated amount based on the salary and benefits of the deputy assigned to the position. dozens of federal tax breaks for fossil fuels. “One of my first bills will be to take those 44 energy bills that are really monuments to yesteryear — those energy tax laws — and throw them all in the garbage can and sub- stitute the ones for clean energy and an alternative vision for Oregon and the country,” Wyden said. In addition to renew- able energy infrastructure, Wyden added that a com- bination of smart forest management and climate science are needed to help mitigate wildfire risks. Wyden cited the National Prescribed Fire Act that he has before Congress as a key piece of legislation in the prevention of cata- strophic wildfires. Introduced in Sep- tember, the legislation would support pre-fire season controlled burns as a way to help reduce hazardous fuels on the forest floor and reduce the severity of wildfires. “Some people say the issue is all forest manage- ment or climate science,” he said. “I think the two are very much intertwined, smart forestry policy in rural Oregon is smart cli- mate science policy.” Wyden added that he feels the recent wild- fires throughout Oregon and other states have opened eyes to the severity of threat fire poses to communities. “These last few months have really been transfor- mative in a lot of respects,” he said. “People night after night — for weeks — trag- ically saw how close fire was getting to population centers.” News Briefs U.S. Bank to close 32 Oregon branches, including a branch in Elgin PORTLAND — U.S. Bank plans to close 32 branches in Oregon, most in the Portland metro area, including three in Van- couver, Washington. Nine Oregon branches outside the Portland area will close, including a branch in Elgin. The bank, which was founded in Oregon and based in Portland until 1997, told The Oregonian last week that it will begin the process of closing more than 25% of its Portland metro area branches on Nov. 1. The bank will close 26 branches in the Portland metro area. Nine branches will close in Portland, including one in down- town. The bank will also close two branches in Gresham, two in Hillsboro and one in Beaverton. The bank will be laying off employees at the affected branches. Evan Lapiska, a spokesman for the company, said that U.S. Bank will not be com- menting on the number of employees losing their jobs because many will be allowed to reapply for new roles within the com- pany. Employees who are being laid off will have the option to remain in their current roles until Jan- uary, even if their branch is closing before then. U.S. Bank originally announced in 2019 that it would close 10% to 15% of its branches nationwide by 2021, but the company put a pause on the plan earlier this year due to the pandemic. Since, the com- pany has seen a move to digital banking speed up, and Lapiska said it is likely that U.S. Bank will ulti- mately close more than 15% of its branches as the company responds to the economic impacts of COVID-19. — The Oregonian State forestry ends fire season after rain dampens area LA GRANDE — The Oregon Department of for- estry announced the end of the fire season in the North- east Oregon District effec- tive Saturday, Oct. 17, at 12:01 a.m. “The last few days have brought quite a bit of precipitation across the region,” according to a press release from the for- estry department. “While the district is comfortable with removing the general fire season restrictions, it is important to remember that weather patterns could change and conditions could return to dry and windy.” The termination of fire season means landowners can begin burning in burn barrels or yard debris piles, though safety proto- cols must still be followed. A permit for burn barrels or yard debris piles is not required. The Oregon Department of Forestry does require a permit for burning as a result of forestry and log- ging activities and the for- estry department must be notified at least seven days prior to the ignition and burning accomplishments must be reported within seven days after the burn. The Northeast Oregon District encompasses lands in Union, Baker, Umatilla and Wallowa counties as well as small portions of Grant, Morrow and Mal- heur counties. U.S. Department of Agriculture invests in rural counties UNION COUNTY — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing in rural counties to help with economic recovery in five rural Oregon and Washington counties. The USDA is investing a total of $110,000 in the non- profit Rural Development Initiatives. “Rural Development Ini- tiatives will use the grant to establish a program to build the capacity of com- munity main street organi- zations and equip them to serve key functions in the local business support eco- system,” a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. “This technical assistance will give them greater resources and support, help them build more productive rela- tionships among busi- nesses, and assist commu- nities with implementing economic vitality initiatives in their downtown areas.” The nonprofit will give funding to five main street hubs in Klamath, Malheur, Umatilla, and Union coun- ties in Oregon, and a hub in Skamania County in Wash- ington State. The USDA’s Rural Com- munity Development Ini- tiative is providing funding and the money can be used for improving housing, community facilities and community and economic development projects in rural areas. The Rural Develop- ment Initiatives could not be reached for further comment. — EO Media Group
