2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015
State Senate committee considers transportation plan
By PETER WONG
Capital Bureau
environmental groups and some
+RXVH 'HPRFUDWV ² DOWHUQDWLYHV
include a gradual reduction in
6$/(0²$OWKRXJKGHVFULEHG carbon content of fuels as they
as the equivalent to a Hail Mary become available commercially,
pass in football, a state Senate plus conversion of more cars and
committee Wednesday heard voic- buses to electric or natural gas,
es for and against an 11th-hour and improvements in bus systems
effort to couple a transportation and traffic flows.
funding plan with alternatives for
Both sides heard
greenhouse gas reductions.
Motorists
and local govern-
Oregon lawmakers must ad-
journ their 2015 session no later ment and business groups, some
with reservations, backed the 73-
than July 11.
“I believe all of us wish this page proposal that would amend
could have happened earlier in the House Bill 2281.
“We felt the odds of getting
session,” said Sen. Betsy Johnson,
a
transportation package were
D-Scappoose, one of the Senate
very
difficult,” said John Carter,
negotiators who came up with
president
of the Oregon Busi-
what the committee considered.
Their proposal, thrashed out ness Plan, a coalition of busi-
behind closed doors in the past ness groups that listed it as one
few weeks, has something for al- of its three top priorities for the
session.
most everybody to dislike.
“It’s an important thing for
Among other things, the plan
Oregon
and its citizens to main-
calls for an increase of 4 cents per
tain
its
competitive position in
gallon in the current 30-cent state
the
global
economy” by quick-
WD[ ² SOXV LQFUHDVHV LQ YHKLFOH
UHJLVWUDWLRQ IHHV ² WR UDLVH PRQ er movement of people and
ey for road and bridge repairs and goods.
But environmental groups
specified state highway projects.
questioned
the extent of the green-
A separate $10 surcharge on
driver’s license fees would pay for house-gas reductions projected in
a computer upgrade already un- the alternatives to a low-carbon
derway for the Driver and Motor fuel standard. The director of the
Oregon Department of Transpor-
Vehicle Services Division.
In exchange for a repeal of Or- tation said later that one of them
egon’s recently enacted low-car- was overstated.
“The replacement package just
ERQ IXHO VWDQGDUG ² DQ HIIRUW
does
not add up,” said Christy
that has drawn opposition from
Splitt, external affairs director for
the Oregon League of Conserva-
tion Voters.
Johnson defended the alterna-
tives.
“We have produced a product
that I think will stand up to scruti-
ny,” Johnson said before the hear-
ing. “If the real goal is a reduction
in greenhouse gas emissions, I
believe we have demonstrated we
can achieve more than the previ-
ous bill through a different meth-
odology.”
Johnson was the only Senate
'HPRFUDW²DQGRQHRIDKDQGIXO
of Democrats in the Legislature
² WR RSSRVH D ORZFDUERQ IXHO
standard in Senate Bill 324 that
Democratic majorities passed over
Republican opposition earlier this
year.
Republicans then broke off
talks on a transportation funding
plan, although a group of eight
² LQFOXGLQJ -RKQVRQ ² UHFRQ
vened in Gov. Kate Brown’s of-
fice in late May to devise the
elements of the plan considered
Wednesday.
Although Republicans are mi-
norities in both chambers, at least
one Republican vote in the House
is required for the 60 percent su-
permajority to pass a revenue-rais-
ing measure.
and 2 cents in 2017. Vehicle reg-
istration fees would go up by $10
annually, from $43 to $53; motor-
ists pay them every other year. For
owners of electric and hybrid cars,
which use little or no fuel, the fee
would jump to $188.
Under the Oregon Constitution,
fuel taxes and license and regis-
tration fees must be spent on road
and bridge work.
The plan would fund $202 mil-
lion annually for state and local
URDGV²SHUFHQWIRUVWDWHKLJK
ways, 30 percent for counties and
SHUFHQW IRU FLWLHV ² DQG
million in bonds for highway proj-
ects specified in the bill. Repay-
ment would come from ODOT’s
$103 million share.
The rest of ODOT’s share
would
go
toward
bridge
work, including seismic re-
inforcement,
and
highway
maintenance.
It also would authorize mass
transit districts that already levy
D SD\UROO WD[ RQ HPSOR\HUV ²
TriMet, Lane, Wilsonville, Canby
DQG 6DQG\ ² WR FKDUJH D OHVV
er tax on employees to generate
more money for transit operations.
TriMet would get about $70 mil-
lion of the estimated $80 million
annually.
Plan details
Alternatives to the low-carbon
fuel standard would reduce green-
house gas emissions generated by
Under the plan, the gas tax
would go up by 2 cents on Jan. 1
ACCUWEATHER ® FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
Astoria 5-Day Forecast
Tonight
Oregon Weather
Shown is
tomorrow’s
weather.
Temperatures
are tonight’s
lows and
tomorrow’s
highs
Mainly clear
58°
Friday
Corvallis
60/102
Eugene
58/99
The Dalles
66/106
Pendleton
62/102
Salem
63/100
Albany
62/99
Ontario
62/101
Bend
56/97
Saturday
Burns
53/99
Medford
65/107
Mostly sunny;
breezy in the
afternoon
75°
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015
80°
Sunday
59°
Monday
Clouds breaking
at times for some
sunshine
71°
Klamath Falls
55/99
Mostly cloudy and
very warm
58°
Delightful with
clouds and sun
57°
72°
56°
Almanac
Sun and Moon
Astoria through Wednesday.
Temperatures
High ........................................... 75°
Low ............................................ 52°
Normal high ............................... 65°
Normal low ................................. 51°
Precipitation
Yesterday ................................ 0.00"
Month to date .......................... 0.71"
Normal month to date ............. 2.20"
Year to date ........................... 27.37"
Normal year to date .............. 35.56"
Sunset tonight ................... 9:11 p.m.
Sunrise Friday .................. 5:25 a.m.
Moonrise today ................ 2:44 p.m.
Moonset today ................. 1:33 a.m.
Regional Cities
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Full
Last
New
First
July 1
July 8
July 15
July 23
Under the Sky
Today
Hi Lo W
88 48 s
90 56 s
75 58 s
93 58 s
67 57 pc
96 55 s
99 65 s
65 53 pc
69 56 pc
Fri.
Hi Lo
95 53
97 64
73 57
99 63
69 57
99 60
107 71
64 53
68 56
W
s
s
s
s
s
t
s
s
s
National Cities
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Vancouver
Yakima
Today
Hi Lo W
89 58 s
95 62 s
92 65 s
95 65 s
93 63 s
69 57 pc
90 62 s
91 64 s
99 63 s
Fri.
Hi Lo
92 58
102 67
98 69
102 70
100 67
70 55
97 68
98 69
104 67
W
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
Tonight's Sky: High above the southern horizon
is planet Saturn before midnight.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Tomorrow’s Tides
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
High
9:57 a.m. 5.8 ft.
9:52 p.m. 7.9 ft.
Time
3:55 a.m.
3:29 p.m.
Low
1.6 ft.
2.3 ft.
Tomorrow’s National Weather
Today
City
Hi Lo W
Atlanta
94 76
t
Boston
79 61 s
Chicago
75 60
t
Denver
87 58
t
Des Moines
83 66 pc
Detroit
73 59
t
El Paso
95 74
t
Fairbanks
82 60 pc
Honolulu
89 75 pc
Indianapolis
79 66
t
Kansas City
91 70
t
Las Vegas
110 84 s
Los Angeles
81 61 pc
Memphis
98 78 s
Miami
92 79 pc
Nashville
95 74 c
New Orleans
89 77
t
New York
83 65 pc
Oklahoma City 94 73 s
Philadelphia
86 68
t
St. Louis
95 73
t
Salt Lake City
96 68 s
San Francisco
76 56 s
Seattle
86 61 s
Washington, DC 87 71
t
Fri.
Hi Lo
90 71
67 57
70 57
77 58
76 61
76 60
96 73
74 56
89 75
75 60
77 61
112 86
79 62
93 72
90 78
91 69
90 77
75 65
91 65
78 64
80 64
97 69
73 57
88 63
83 67
W
t
pc
c
t
t
pc
t
c
pc
t
sh
pc
pc
t
t
t
t
r
t
r
t
s
pc
s
t
Fire training exercise scheduled
wildland fire situation using
the incident command sys-
:$55(1721 ² 7KH tem, according to organizers.
Clatsop County Firefight-
This training fosters the
ers
Association
along cooperative working rela-
with
Oregon
Depart- tionships between Clatsop
ment of Forestry, Oregon County Emergency Ser-
$UP\ 1DWLRQDO *XDUG DQG vices, local structural fire
Camp Rilea Armed Forc- departments and the state
es Training Center will be D epartment of F orestry.
conducting a prescribed
The skills and lessons
fire training exercise this learned at this event can
weekend
carry over easily to any
The annual training event, emergency situation such as
³1RUWKZHVW2UHJRQ:LOGILUH severe winter storms or tsu-
School 2015,” is scheduled namis, organizers said. The
for Saturday through Sunday prescribed fire reduces the
at Camp Rilea in Warrenton. threat of range fires.
The purpose of the event
Smoke and aircraft will
is to further firefighting be visible Sunday west of
skills in a prescribed live Highway 101 in the Camp
The Daily Astorian
Astoria
58/75
Portland
65/98
Low-carbon repeal?
the transportation sector by 9 to 10
million metric tons, according to
estimates released by Senate Pres-
ident Peter Courtney, D-Salem,
and developed by state experts.
The target under Senate Bill
324, which lawmakers passed and
Gov. Brown signed, was 7.7 mil-
lion metric tons after 10 years.
While lobbyists for oil compa-
nies and distributors said that an
alternative scenario for graduated
reductions in the carbon content
of fuels was more realistic, envi-
ronmental lobbyists assailed it and
the overall estimated reductions in
greenhouse gases.
Whatever those numbers, the
plan still faces a long political
road ahead.
Last week, 19 of the 35 House
'HPRFUDWV ² EXW QRW WKH OHDG
ership or the House negotiators
RI WKH SODQ ² VLJQHG D OHWWHU
in opposition to any repeal of
the low-carbon fuel standard. If
the Senate passes the proposed
amendments to House Bill 2281, it
would return to the House, where
it would require 36 votes for
passage.
“The House is somebody else’s
neighborhood,” Johnson said. “I
don’t know (whether it will pass)
because I haven’t counted votes
there.”
The Capital Bureau is a col-
laboration between EO Me-
dia Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
Fronts
Cold
Warm
Stationary
Rain
Flurries
Snow
Ice
-10s
-0s
0s
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
110s
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands
are highs for the day. Forecast high/low temperatures are given for selected cities.
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
CLATSOP
POWER
EQUIPMENT, INC.
SALES • SERVICE • RENTALS
OSU grad to intern for local paper
time I go on a story,” Smith said.
Astorian Managing Editor Lau-
Oregon State University graduate
ra Sellers said, “We are eager to put
McKinley Smith has joined the staff
McKinley’s science and storytelling tal-
at The Daily Astorian as a summer in-
ents to great use over the summer. We
tern.
also plan to make sure she gets a wide
Smith comes to the Astorian through
variety of experiences, from council
the Snowden Internship Program, run by
meetings to events, from breaking news
to feature stories.”
the University of Oregon School of Jour-
After more than a decade living in
nalism and Communication.
McKinley
the
Willamette Valley, Smith said she is
While at OSU, Smith spent four years
Smith
excited to get to know Clatsop County.
working for the student paper, The Daily
³ , UHFHLYHG D À\¿VKLQJ URG IRU
Barometer, where she specialized in sci-
HQFHZULWLQJDQGZRUNHGDVDQHGLWRUKHU¿QDO\HDU Christmas, and I’m looking forward to embarrass-
Her dream is to be a full-time science LQJP\VHOIWU\LQJWR¿VKZLWKLW´VKHVDLG
6PLWKKDVOLYHGLQWKH3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVWDOOKHU
or environmental reporter. “As a science
writer, I get to learn something new every life, but still carries an umbrella, she said.
The Daily Astorian
Memorial
Showers
T-Storms
Friday, June 26
to 7 p.m., Ocean View Funeral & Cremation
5$6086621 &OHJJ ²9LHZLQJ IURP Service, 1213 Franklin Ave.
Lotteries
OREGON
Wednesday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 9-8-5-2
4 p.m.: 5-4-2-1
7 p.m.: 4-1-7-7
10 p.m.: 2-7-7-1
Wednesday’s
Mega-
bucks:
03-05-08-10-13-
46
Estimated jackpot: $2.2
million.
Wednesday’s Powerball:
03-05-10-22-32, Powerball:
7, Power Play: 4
Estimated jackpot: $40
million.
WASHINGTON
Wednesday’s
Daily
Game: 4-0-1
Wednesday’s Hit 5: 11-
24-28-33-34
Estimated
jackpot:
$100,000
Wednesday’s Keno: 01-
04-06-10-12-15-18-20-36-38-
42-50-53-59-63-66-68-70-74-
76
Wednesday’s Lotto: 02-
22-36-37-40-45
Estimated jackpot: $3.2
million
Wednesday’s Match 4: 04-
09-18-24
Cannon Beach Plan-
ning
Commission,
6
p.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St., Cannon
Beach.
FRIDAY
Cannon Beach Emergen-
cy Preparedness Commit-
tee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St., Cannon Beach.
Public meetings
THURSDAY
Recreational Lands Plan-
ning and Advisory Commit-
tee, WR SP IRXUWK ÀRRU
800 Exchange St.
For online updates: www.dailyastorian.com
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday,
by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO
Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-
325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The
Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-
0210
www.dailyastorian.com
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to
the use for republication of all the local news
printed in this newspaper.
34912 HWY 101 BUS • ASTORIA
503-325-0792 • 1-800-220-0792
Rilea and Sunset Beach ar-
eas.
About 100 firefighters
will be training over the
weekend.
Astoria, Cannon Beach,
Gearhart, John Day-Fern-
hill, Knappa, Lewis &
Clark, Olney-Walluski, Sea-
side and Warrenton f ire d e-
partments will partner with
the state D epartment of
F orestry, state M ilitary D e-
partment and the state fire
marshal’s office in a live fire
exercise.
For questions or con-
cerns, contact ODF spokes-
woman Ashley Lertora at
the local office at 503-325-
5451.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Effective March 1, 2014
HOME DELIVERY
MAIL
EZpay (per month) .................................. $9.75
EZpay (per month) ................................ $14.30
13 weeks in advance ............................ $35.72
4 weeks in advance .............................. $20.00
26 weeks in advance ............................ $68.76
13 weeks in advance ............................ $50.47
52 weeks in advance .......................... $131.12
26 weeks in advance ............................ $99.64
52 weeks in advance .......................... $194.08
Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211
Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR
ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP
All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Daily Astorian become the property of The
Daily Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval.
COPYRIGHT ©
Entire contents © Copyright, 2015 by The Daily Astorian.
SUBSCRIBER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
NEWS SERVICE
MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF
CIRCULATIONS, INC.
Printed on recycled paper