2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
TODAY
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 20,
the 294th day of 2020. There
are 72 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY
On Oct. 20, 1973, in the
“Saturday Night Massacre,”
special Watergate prose-
cutor Archibald Cox was
dismissed and Attorney
General Elliot L. Richardson
and Deputy Attorney Gen-
eral William B. Ruckelshaus
resigned.
ON THIS DATE
In 1803, the U.S. Sen-
ate ratified the Louisiana
Purchase.
In 1947, the House
Un-American Activities
Committee opened hearings
into alleged Communist
influence and infiltration
in the U.S. motion picture
industry.
In 1967, a jury in Missis-
sippi, convicted seven men
of violating the civil rights
of slain civil rights workers
James Chaney, Andrew
Goodman and Michael
Schwerner; the seven re-
ceived prison terms ranging
from 3 to 10 years.
In 1976, 78 people were
killed when the Norwegian
tanker Frosta rammed the
commuter ferry George
Prince on the Mississippi
River near New Orleans.
In 1977, three members
of the rock group Lynyrd
Skynyrd were killed along
with three others in the
crash of a chartered plane in
Mississippi.
In 1987, 10 people were
killed when an Air Force jet
crashed into a hotel near
Indianapolis International
Airport after the pilot, who
was trying to make an
emergency landing, ejected
safely.
In 2004, A U.S. Army
staff sergeant, Ivan “Chip”
Frederick, pleaded guilty to
abusing Iraqi detainees at
Abu Ghraib prison. (Freder-
ick was sentenced to eight
years in prison.)
In 2011, Moammar
Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator
for 42 years, was killed as
revolutionary fighters cap-
tured the last major bastion
of resistance.
LOTTERY
Megabucks: $3.2 million
2-3-18-21-43-44
Mega Millions: $77 million
27-32-50-52-57—12 x5
Powerball: $82 million
6-10-31-37-44—PB-23 x2
Win for Life: Oct. 17
23-44-55-75
Pick 4: Oct. 18
• 1 p.m.: 5-5-7-1; • 4 p.m.: 5-3-2-3;
• 7 p.m.: 4-5-2-7; • 10 p.m.: 7-1-9-4
Pick 4: Oct. 17
• 1 p.m.: 3-7-3-3; • 4 p.m.: 9-2-7-5;
• 7 p.m.: 4-7-5-8; • 10 p.m.: 2-5-6-6
Pick 4: Oct. 16
• 1 p.m.: 0-5-7-3; • 4 p.m.: 0-7-4-4;
• 7 p.m.: 6-8-6-6; • 10 p.m.: 1-1-2-0
DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
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Correction
The Oct. 15, 2020,
Observer article “Local
schools solid” incor-
rectly stated the year for
the graduation rates for
Union County schools.
The rates reflect the
2018-19 school year.
PGE closes Boardman coal-fired plant
By Jade McDowell
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN —
Boardman Generating Sta-
tion went offline for good
on Thursday, Oct. 15,
marking an end to Oregon’s
coal-burning era.
The plant, which Port-
land General Electric
owned and operated just
south of Boardman, was the
last coal-fired generating
plant in the state and could
burn as much as 8,000 tons
of coal per day. According
to the Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality,
it was the largest single
source of greenhouse emis-
sions in Oregon.
“Our customers are
counting on us to deliver a
clean energy future,” PGE
President and CEO Maria
Pope said in a statement.
“PGE’s Boardman closure
is a major step on our path
to meeting Oregon’s green-
house gas emission reduc-
tion goals and transforming
our system to reliably
serve our customers with a
cleaner, more sustainable
energy mix.”
The plant employed
110 PGE employees and
a variety of contractors
in its prime, and had 67
employees remaining at the
East Oregonian, File
Portland General Electric on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, permanently closed its coal-fired
power plant in Boardman.
time of its closure. “Many”
of the plant’s employees
have transferred to jobs
at other locations within
the company or retired,
according to the press
release, while others will
lose their jobs.
Although the plant no
longer will generate power,
some employees will remain
at the site for cleanup work
in preparation for a dem-
olition and removal of the
plant in 2022.
Spokesman Steve Corson
said the jobs at the plant
were technical, skilled posi-
tions that often paid more
than $100,000 a year.
The utility offered
employees several resources
in deciding on their next
steps, including setting up
a scholarship fund at Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege, Pendleton, for plant
employees who decided to
go back to school.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Melissa Lindsay
said while she was driving
past the plant the day after
its closure, she felt sadness
as she thought of the jobs
the plant would no longer
Union to vote on revised charter
By Dick Mason
The Observer
UNION — The city of
Union could be in a better
position to respond to some
emergencies more quickly
if voters approve a revised
charter in the Nov. 3 elec-
tion, according to Union
city officials.
The reason is the cur-
rent charter states the city
cannot borrow more than
$30,000 without approval
of its residents in an elec-
tion. The proposed revised
charter expands the amount
the city can borrow without
voter approval to 2.5% of
the total taxed assessed
value of property in Union,
said City Administrator
Doug Wiggins. This would
mean Union would be able
to borrow in the range of
$2-$2.5 million without
going to a vote of the people.
Wiggins said increased
borrowing power would
serve Union well in major
emergencies. For example,
if a natural disaster
destroyed Union’s water
tower, leaving the commu-
nity without water, the city
would need to get a loan to
restore it because insurance
money would take time to
arrive. Under the current
charter, the city could need
to hold an election to secure
the loan, creating a signif-
icant delay, before the city
could restore water service.
State law allows cities
to borrow up to 5% of the
total assessed property
value without a vote of its
residents, Wiggins said. He
City of Union/Contributed Photo
Residents of Union are voting in the November election on
revisions to the city’s charter, including boosting the city’s
ability to borrow money.
said the charters of many
Oregon cities allow them to
borrow this amount.
Mayor Leonard Flint
noted the proposal calls for
approval of only half the
borrowing power the city is
eligible for.
A second revision would
require city councilors to
attend at least 75% of meet-
ings over a rolling 12-month
period. Should a councilor
miss 25% or more of the
meetings, the council would
have to meet with the indi-
vidual to discuss the poor
attendance and the coun-
cilor could face removal
from the council.
Union’s present charter
allows the council to
remove members only if
they move out of Union or
become ineligible to vote.
Tthe charter change would
give the council the removal
option if it determines the
reason for missing meetings
is not satisfactory.
Bust nets 21 suspects in fentanyl trafficking case
By Alex Castle
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Blue Mountain Enforce-
ment Narcotics Team
arrested 21 suspects in the
dealing and manufacturing
of fentanyl throughout
Umatilla and Morrow
counties as a part of Oper-
ation West County Blues
on Monday, Oct. 12.
Pendleton Police Chief
Stuart Roberts, head of the
local anti-drug board, said
the operation was intended
to address and bring atten-
tion to the prevalence and
danger of the drug.
“Our intent of this oper-
ation was to show the prev-
alence and the need for the
Oregon Legislature to take
a good hard look at what’s
going on in Oregon,” he
said.
Roberts said the oper-
ation had been underway
for “the better part of a
year” and involved roughly
two dozen agencies in the
region. A press release
indicated another 13 sus-
pects were arrested prior
TuESday, OcTOBER 20, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
to Oct. 12 in connection
with the operation, making
a total of 34 people who
have been arrested on
a variety of possession,
delivery and manufac-
turing charges.
The “take down” Oct. 12
used a school in Hermiston
as its command center,
according to Roberts.
After investigations that
used confidential infor-
mants and controlled buys,
suspects were arrested
on the west side of Uma-
tilla County or in Morrow
County, while at least a
few were apprehended
across the border in the
Tri-Cities area.
Those arrested will be
prosecuted in Umatilla and
Morrow counties, while
some may be prosecuted
federally by the U.S. Dis-
trict Attorney’s Office,
Roberts said. In addition
to the arrests, the press
release said that BENT has
seized more than 8,000
fentanyl pills, more than
20 firearms and more than
$300,000.
provide in Morrow County,
along with its contribution
to the county’s tax base.
“It’s the end of an
era,” she said. “PGE and
the plant have been great
partners.”
While some were
mourning what the plant
closure meant for jobs,
others were celebrating
what it meant for the envi-
ronment. DEQ Director
Richard Whitman in a
statement called it an “envi-
ronmental success” that
“helps put the state on a
path toward cleaner, safer
News Briefs
Wallowa County
“It’s not an Oregon
thing, it’s not a Busi-
has second death
related to COVID-19 ness Oregon thing and
WALLOWA COUNTY
— Wallowa County had a
second death attributed to
COVID-19 reported in the
Saturday, Oct. 17, update
from the Oregon Health
Authority.
The OHA also reported
Saturday a third case in
four days in the county,
which has had 39 cases of
the coronavirus since the
start of the pandemic.
OHA’s reported fatality
was of an 83-year-old
Wallowa County woman
who died Sept. 29, 15
days after testing positive
for the virus. The OHA
report said the woman had
underlying conditions.
The county’s new case
of COVID-19 was the
third in the week reported
by the state’s health
authority along with single
cases Wednesday and
Thursday.
Wallowa County has
been among the areas of
the state least hit by the
coronavirus, as just six
counties have had fewer
cases. The county also has
an infection rate of 0.55%,
well below the state rate,
which is nearing 1%.
Oregon reported
388 cases Saturday
and another 220 cases
Monday, bringing the total
since the start of the pan-
demic to 39,532 cases of
COVID-19, according
to the Oregon Health
Authority.
The state also had
three deaths Saturday
but reported no deaths
Monday. OHA has
attributed 620 deaths in
the state to the virus.
As of Friday afternoon,
the state’s positive test rate
was 4.8%, and the coun-
ty’s positive test rate was
3.2%. Roughly 16% of the
population of Wallowa
County has been tested.
Baker City needs
police force policy
to obtain grants
Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team/Contributed photo
The Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team reports
it seized cash, firearms and other items in the past year as
part of Operation West County Blues.
air, while we continue to
develop climate-friendly
sources of electricity.”
Closure of the plant has
been in the works for a
decade, after PGE struck
a deal with DEQ in 2010
to stop burning coal at
the plant by 2020. Envi-
ronmental groups lobbied
for a faster timeline, and
the Sierra Club sued PGE
over the plant, claiming the
utility should have built in
better emissions controls
before the plant first came
online in 1980. That lawsuit
was settled in 2011.
Cesia Kearns, deputy
campaign director for
the western region of the
Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal
Campaign, said in an email
it took a “chorus of com-
munity voices and a legal
challenge” to bring about
the transition to cleaner
energy, and those voices
still are needed to help
diversify Oregon’s energy
in a sustainable and eco-
nomic way. She referenced
the Wheatridge Renew-
able Energy Facility under
construction in Morrow
County, which, when fin-
ished, will be the largest
combination of wind, solar
and battery storage in
North America.
BAKER CITY — The
excessive force policy the
Baker City Council has
been asked to approve
to allow New Directions
Northwest to receive a
$1 million grant to build a
Wellness Center is a rou-
tine part of awarding fed-
eral Community Develop-
ment Block Grants.
Nathan Buehler, a
spokesperson for Business
Oregon, the agency that
administers the program
in Oregon, said Thursday,
Oct. 15, the Baker City
Council can agree not to
approve the policy, but
in doing so, New Direc-
tions would not receive the
$1 million funding for its
project.
it’s not a new thing,” he
said. “We don’t have the
ability to waive the federal
requirement.”
The environment
in Oregon, which has
included Black Lives
Matter demonstrations
and protests over the
past five months, might
account for a few more
questions being asked
about the policy that has
been in place since 1990,
Buehler said.
Business Oregon has
been involved in the pro-
gram for 10 years, he
said, and he has not heard
of any city in Oregon
refusing to adopt such
a policy and thereby
refusing grant dollars.
Provisions of the
National Affordable
Housing Act state, “no
CDBG funds may be
obligated or expended
to any unit of gen-
eral local government
that fails to adopt and
enforce a policy of pro-
hibiting the use of exces-
sive force by law enforce-
ment agencies within its
jurisdiction against any
individuals engaged in
nonviolent civil rights
demonstrations.”
If the grant recipient
doesn’t have a specific
excessive force policy,
the city council or county
board of commissioners
must adopt one, according
to a federal handbook.
The Baker County Board
of Commissioners adopted
the policy a few years ago
when it received a $1.5
million block grant to
build a new fire station in
Richland.
Police Chief Ray
Duman said he did not
believe the policy would
change how his officers
perform their jobs. Duman
said the department’s
eight-page use of force
policy directs officers to
use reasonable and neces-
sary force to conduct an
arrest.
“If you use excessive
force, you’re putting your-
self and the city in a tough
liability situation,” he said.
Duman said he can
understand why there
might be some concern
about the city having to
approve an additional
policy that specifically
deals with nonviolent civil
rights demonstrations.
City Manager Fred
Warner Jr. said he will
present more details about
the policy to the Council
in the near future for
further discussion, and
invited community com-
ment as well.
Duman said he believes
that could resolve the
matter.
— EO Media Group