Thursday, February 18, 2021
The ObserVer — 5A
SNOW
Continued from Page 1A
Ellen Morris Bishop/Wallowa County Chieftain, File
A new poll by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center, a proj-
ect of DHM Research, concluded nearly two-thirds of Ore-
gonians (63%) are in favor of allowing motorists to pump
their own gas rather than relying on an attendant.
POLL
Continued from Page 1A
reach 30% support for this
policy change,” according
to a DHM policy brief on a
potential sales tax.
Here are the key
findings:
• Nearly two-thirds of
Oregonians (63%) are in
favor of allowing motor-
ists to pump their own gas
rather than relying on an
attendant. Demographics
showing the strongest sup-
port include those making
more than $100,000 per
year (73%) and political
conservatives (71%). Sup-
port is lowest among polit-
ical moderates, pegged at
55%.
• Even more unifying is
the proposal to allow hard
alcohol sales in grocery
stores, instead of restricting
them to state-licensed
liquor stores. Roughly two-
thirds (65%) support such
an idea, including 70%
of Democrats and 69% of
those living outside the
metro area and Willamette
Valley. Those aged 65 and
older registered the least
support, with just 57% in
favor.
• Oregonians over-
whelmingly gave the
thumbs-down to creating
a new statewide sales tax,
with 75% of residents in
opposition. Demographics
that most strongly rejected
the idea include those
without school-age chil-
dren (79%), those earning
less than $50,000 per year
(73%), conservatives (79%)
and those living in the
outer suburbs (88%). Those
making more than $100,000
per year were most in
favor, but only 26% offered
support.
• The idea of paying a tax
at the cash register became
more palatable when paired
with a proposed reduction
in the state income tax, with
half opposed, one-third in
favor and the remainder
unsure. Opposition was
strongest among those aged
65 and older (67%), while
those with college educa-
tions evinced the most sup-
port (40%).
At age 76, Bob
Fankhauser remembers
pumping thousands of dol-
lars’ worth of gas at a ser-
vice station in San Fran-
cisco — and that was when
DAMS
Continued from Page 1A
would have to be built and
online by 2030, prior to
breaching the dams.
The concept includes an
automatic 35-year exten-
sion of licensing for all
remaining public and pri-
vate dams generating more
than 5 megawatts in the
Columbia River Basin.
This would “lock in” the
dams and eliminate the
“slippery slope” argument
of, “If you allow them to
remove these four dams
they will go after the other
main-stem Columbia River
dams and others,” the rep-
resentative said.
Under the concept, if
the dams are removed, any
litigation related to anad-
romous fish within the
Columbia River system
under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act, National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act or
the Clean Water Act would
be immediately halted and
stayed for 35 years.
The plan combines
many different elements
that are not necessarily
it cost only 25 cents on the
gallon.
“It’s always presented
as, ‘if you pump your own
gas, you’ll save money,’”
said Fankhauser, who lives
in the Garden Home area
of Washington County.
But he’s not buying the
argument. “They charge
you the same amount in
Washington as they do in
Oregon.”
Today, New Jersey is
the only other state still
requiring attendants,
though Oregon lawmakers
began allowing rural resi-
dents to pump their own gas
in 2018.
Fears of viral trans-
mission early last year
prompted a pilot project for
self-service gas, because
motorists feared being near
gas station attendants might
help spread the COVID-19
virus. But that pilot project
didn’t last long, and the
state soon returned to atten-
dants-only service in May.
“I am sometimes a little
annoyed that I can’t pump
my own gas,” admitted
Fankhauser, “but it provides
employment to people who
might not otherwise have
it.”
On the topic of liquor
sales, Southeast Portlander
Suzanne Bader is in favor
of loosening the rules
slowly, potentially through
a pilot program.
“I would not like to see
it available in convenience
stores or sold 24/7,” the
59-year-old said.
Fankhauser disagreed,
saying the restrictions
smacked of “lingering
puritanism.”
And the two survey
respondents split on the
topic of a sales tax, with
Fankhauser in opposition,
noting that a sales tax is
“regressive” — that is, it
puts the heaviest burden on
those with the least income.
But Bader said the state
doesn’t have enough rev-
enue to match the ever-
rising expense of providing
services. “I don’t think our
residents have a realistic
view of what things cost,”
she said.
DHM surveyed 603
Oregon adults in January,
using respondents from a
professional panel who were
selected to be representative
of state demographics. The
margin of error for the poll
is 2.4% to 4%.
related, including fish
recovery, energy genera-
tion and electricity rates,
said Kristin Meira, execu-
tive director of the Pacific
Northwest Waterways
Association.
Each element requires
its own intense inquiry and
study, she said.
“Unfortunately, the
idea of Snake River dam
breaching is a nonstarter
when it comes to how
we move cargo and ulti-
mately for our energy port-
folio,” she said. Taking
out the dams would make
that stretch of the Snake
River impassable for barge
traffic.
Stakeholders also said
breaching the dams won’t
achieve salmon recovery,
pointing to fish declines
along the West Coast due
to ocean temperatures,
runoff and other factors.
Four of 13 endangered
salmon populations listed
traverse the Snake River
dams, said Glen Squires,
CEO of the Washington
Grain Commission.
“Everybody knows
salmon are not doing well
regardless of the rivers
While Tollgate is pop-
ular for winter recre-
ation, Sno-Park parking
areas are a lower priority,
the press release stated,
and crews will not plow
the sites by the time the
highway opens. Once the
route is open, drivers can
expect narrow lanes, lim-
ited shoulder space and up
to 10-foot-high snowbanks
adjacent to some highway
sections.
ODOT District 13 Man-
ager Ace Clark in the press
release stated there is little
to no parking in Sno Parks
next to Highway 204, and
visitors should expect deep
snow in the parking areas
off the highway. He also
warned about parking on
the side of the highway in
areas not designated for
parking.
Those locations are not
viable alternatives and
“will significantly slow our
snow removal operations,”
he said. “It will also create
a hazard in the low visi-
bility conditions.”
Weather forecasts
call for continued snow.
ODOT requested everyone
avoid the Tollgate
Highway area until condi-
tions improve. ODOT will
plow Sno-parks and desig-
nated parking after other
critical sections are clear
and safe.
For updated condi-
tions, continue to check
TripCheck.com or call
800-977-6368.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Gene Hardy gets ready to plow a driveway off Hardy Road on Wednesday, Feb. 17,
2021. Nearly 2 feet of snow fell over the past week in Northeastern Oregon around
the towns of Imbler, Elgin and La Grande, according to the National Weather Service,
while Tollgate has upwards of 10 feet of snow accumulation.
ning of Thursday through
early Friday, Feb. 18-19,
according to Slagle. After
Friday, snowfall should
cease as temperatures rise
into the 40s.
The Weather Service
has forecast a high tem-
perature of 34 degrees
Thursday is La Grande and
a low of 30. Friday’s high
temperature could reach 40
in La Grande with a low of
30. Saturday looks about
the same, with a high of 39
and the low 29.
Across the state, the
winter weather had left
tens of thousands
without power as ice-
and snow-covered trees
came crashing down
through power lines.
“Later Thursday through
early Friday, is when we
can start to see another
round of snow.”
Dan Slagle, a meteorologist with the National
Weather Service in Pendleton
The weather is winding
down, Slagle said, but he
expected another weather
system to enter the
Grande Ronde Valley in
the coming days. Most of
the storm will hit higher
elevations, but a few
inches will accumulate
in La Grande and
surrounding areas.
“Later Thursday
through early Friday,”
Slagle said, “is when we
can start to see another
round of snow.”
The NWS predicted
the Grande Ronde Valley
will receive a moderate
amount of snow the next
two days, with 1-3 inches
of snow from the eve-
FLOODS
Continued from Page 1A
Without it the ranchers
will have to continue to
keep their livestock and
farm animals in tight quar-
ters, said Valerie O’Dai
of Elgin, the executive
director of Relief Angels, a
local organization formally
known Emergency Equip-
ment Solutions, which is
continuing to help those
affected by the flood.
The five ranchers the
fundraiser will help are
but a portion of the many
who still are recovering
from the disaster.
“Thirty percent (of the
people in Umatilla and
Walla Walla counties hit
hard by the flooding) are
still feeling the impact,”
O’Dai said.
Recovery is proving
to be a heart-wrenching
process filled with unex-
pected twists.
O’Dai noted many
people who had their
homes insured for their
full value are finding
themselves well short of
the money they need to
rebuild. They have had to
spend large sums just to
clean up the flood-dam-
aged land before the foun-
dation for a new home can
be put in.
“Some people who have
a $200,000 home may
be spending $50,000 to
that have dams, don’t have
dams,” Squires said.
Removal of the dams
and the navigation system
would affect reliability
and timeliness of wheat
delivery to customers over-
seas, Squires said.
“When we visit with
overseas buyers, very
seldom, if ever, do they ask
about what’s going on with
the barge system,” he said.
“What they ask about is,
what’s going on with the
rail system?”
Transportation costs to
get wheat to West Coast
ports would increase by
50% to 100%, said Michelle
Hennings, Washington
Association of Wheat
Growers executive director.
Dick Mason/The Observer, File
Valerie O’Dai of Elgin loads hay March 1, 2020, to help livestock in flood-affected areas
of Umatilla County. O’Dai is the executive director of Relief Angels, which is helping to
fundraise to help victims still reeling from the floods in Umatilla County and in Walla
Walla County, Washington.
of grandfather clauses.
Today’s government
rules do not allow homes
to be rebuilt in these
floodplains, forcing some
flood victims to purchase
new property and move.
O’Dai said in some cases
these victims are paying
between $20,000 and
$30,000 for one acre on
which they can rebuild.
Insurance, she said, does
not cover land purchases.
When O’Dai reflected
back upon Relief Angels’
efforts to help flood vic-
tims in Umatilla and
Walla Walla counties, she
said one thing she would
do differently is work to
help build more perma-
nent replacement fencing
for farmers and ranchers.
Much of the fences vol-
unteers erected involved
temporary panels. The
panels are not nearly has
strong as barbed wire
fencing.
She said plans were
in place to have 300 vol-
unteers install a major
amount of permanent
fencing in March 2020.
O’Dai said the outbreak
of the coronavirus threw
up a big hurdle.
son’s concept is a “huge
worry.” The $33.5 billion
figure “won’t even begin to
cover what it would take to
redo our whole transporta-
tion mode and clean up the
impacts it would have on
everything, including agri-
culture,” she said.
Simpson believes
Pacific Northwest mem-
bers of Congress are in a
unique position to include
the effort under Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s $2 tril-
lion to $3 trillion national
clean energy stimulus bill,
expected to be proposed
later this year. Simpson’s
concept would repre-
sent 1% to 2% of the total
package.
“Mike’s trying to end the
salmon wars for all agri-
culture, not just those four
dams,” the representative
said. “We could catch light-
ning in a bottle here and
reset agriculture, energy
and bring back salmon for
the next 50 to 70 years.
We can control our destiny
instead of letting a judge
figure it out for us, or some
other Congress down the
road.”
Northwest and national
wheat organizations will
reach out to Simpson’s
office, Hennings said.
“Targeted mitigation
funds to attempt to address
local impacts,” Meira said,
“miss the point that these
industries are part of some-
thing so much larger.”
HOW TO HELP
• People who would like to contribute to the efforts on
Saturday but cannot come to Les Schwab in La Grande or
Pendleton can call to have volunteers pick up donations.
For information, call O’Dai at 541-663-6050 or Laurie Harvey
at 509-386-7007.
$70,000 (of their insurance
money) to clean up their
land,” she said.
Others are discov-
ering they cannot use
their insurance money to
rebuild their home at the
site their old one stood.
O’Dai explained a number
of the flooded houses
were built long ago on
land later given flood-
plain designation. These
homes were allowed to
remain occupied because
Barging is the most
carbon-friendly mode of
transportation, Hennings
said. Switching to trucks
and trains would likely
increase carbon dioxide
and other harmful emis-
sions by over 1.25 million
tons per year.
“This is not a plan that
gets us on a greener path
when it comes to cargo
movement,” Meira said.
“That’s for them to
figure out, the environ-
mental groups,” the rep-
resentative of Simpson’s
office said. “They’re
apparently more concerned
about the salmon going
endangered because of the
dams than emissions.”
Hennings said Simp-
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