FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2016

VOLUME 89, NUMBER 47
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
THE GAP
WIDENS
Young protesters take to the streets of Port-
land, Ore., after Donald Trump was elected
president. The election outcome appears to
have widened the urban-rural divide.
In election’s aftermath, urban-rural
divide has never seemed bigger
2016 Oregon vote count
count: East vs. West
Western Oregon accounted for more than 87 percent of all votes
tallied statewide for president and vice president of the U.S.
889,016
Votes counted *
Clinton/Kaine
Trump/Pence
Other
620,242
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
“A lying,
bigoted brute
has seized
power, and
you’re well
familiar
with his
intentions.”
Mitch Friedman,
Conservation
Northwest director
182,837
I
n Central Oregon, cattle rancher and timberland owner
John Breese fi gures Donald J. Trump’s election may
fi nally bring some common-sense management to the
state’s choked forests.
In Seattle, Conservation Northwest Executive Di-
rector Mitch Friedman warns supporters, “A lying, bigoted
brute has seized power, and you’re well familiar with his
intentions.”
In the Willamette Valley, the heart of an Oregon wine
industry that has risen to international acclaim, pioneering
winemaker David Adelsheim considers the fact that his
Yamhill County voted Republican, “But I don’t know a sin-
gle person who voted for Trump.”
In the wake of a bitter presidential campaign and tight
election, the gap has never seemed so wide.
“An urban-rural divide?” a commenter on the Oregon-
Live.com website wrote this past week. “The rural folks
support racism, the urban folks do not. Make no mistake ru-
ral Oregon, if you voted for Trump, you said racism is OK.”
A commenter on the other side said Portland “progres-
sives” think people outside Multnomah County are “a bunch
of uneducated hicks.” Rural residents, the commenter said,
Turn to GAP, Page 12
*As of Nov. 11
138,412
76,887
23,656
Winner by county
“If Hillary would have
won, we wouldn’t
have been rioting in
our alfalfa fi elds.”
John Breese, Central Oregon,
cattle rancher, timberland owner
Source:
Oregon
Secretary
of State
Total votes:
1.69 million
Total votes:
238,955
Alan
Kenaga/
Capital
Press
Protesters angry over
President-elect Donald
Trump take to the streets
of Portland, Ore. The
presidential election
appears to have widened
the urban-rural divide.
Photos by Alex Milan Tracy/Associated Press
As prices fall, more farmers
struggle with loan payments
Farm Credit System nonperforming loans rise 19 percent
Capital Press
More farmers across the
U.S. are having a hard time
paying off their debts as com-
modity prices slump, revers-
ing a years-long trend, ac-
cording to federal data.
The volume of loans that
are past due, not being paid
or are otherwise “nonper-
forming” has increased more
than 19 percent so far in 2016,
based on data from the Farm
Credit System network of
lenders.
During the fi rst three
quarters of the year, nonper-
forming Farm Credit System
assets topped $2 billion, up
from $1.7 billion at the end of
2015.
Between 2011 and 2015,
nonperforming assets dropped
about 8 percent to 24 percent
annually.
“I think there’s a potential
for further deterioration of
credit quality,” said Stephen
Gabriel, chief economist at
the Farm Credit Administra-
tion, which regulates the net-
work.
With the decline in prices
for many crops and livestock,
the Farm Credit Administra-
tion has anticipated the vol-
ume of nonperforming loans
would rise, he said.
Even so, the current level
of problem loans remains low
by historic standards, Gabriel
Turn to LOANS, Page 12
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — The 2017 wa-
ter season was kick-started
by abundant rain in many
parts of the Northwest during
September and October.
Many areas received
record amounts of precip-
itation, Natural Resources
Conservation Service wa-
ter supply specialist Ron
Abramovich said Nov. 10
during a water supply out-
look conference in Boise.
“This is exciting,” he said.
Abramovich also said soil
moisture levels are better than
last year heading into winter.
“This is more good news. We
will feel the impacts of that
next spring when the snow
starts melting.”
A persistent series of
storms made October the
Courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology
The Columbia River fl ows past White Bluffs in Benton County,
Wash. The water year is off to a good start in the Northwest, with
record rains reported in many areas.
wettest on record in Idaho
and the second wettest in
Oregon, said Kathie Dello
of the Pacifi c Northwest Cli-
mate Impacts Research Con-
sortium.
Other parts of the Pacific
Northwest also received
a lot of rain in October.
Much of the Columbia
River Basin received 200
percent of normal or more,
said Troy Lindquist, senior
hydrologist at the National
Weather Service’s Boise
office.
Turn to WATER, Page 12
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NW water year starts with record rainfall