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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2015)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2015 Employment Department Workers get $2.5 million prevailing wage settlement computers still vulnerable By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Some 325 em- ployees who built a dining hall and residence halls at Southern Oregon University will receive $2.5 million in a settlement with the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The sum is the largest pre- vailing wage settlement in the 112-year history of the agency, according to bureau spokesman Charlie Burr. “This settlement is a result of an extensive, multiyear ef- fort by our Prevailing Wage Rate Unit to ensure that these workers receive every dollar they’ve earned,” Labor Com- missioner Brad Avakian said in a statement. Southern Oregon University already has directed $1.5 mil- lion to the Bureau of Labor and Industries. The agency mailed payments from that amount to 179 workers Tuesday. The bureau will contact the remaining 146 workers to secure individual releases of claims and collect and distrib- ute the outstanding payments by May. The bureau’s Wage and Hour Division initiated about 80 prevailing wage audits, starting in 2013, because of in- formation found during a sepa- rate investigation at a Southern Oregon University project. The inquiry determined that 44 contractors and subcontrac- tors on the project owed $2.6 million to workers. Prior to the $2.5 million settlement, the agency secured about $52,000 in wage payments for the work- ers. The employees built a din- ing hall and two student resi- dences in 2012 and 2013 at the Ashland campus. The university paid the set- tlement despite disagreeing with the agency’s conclusion. “Though SOU disagreed with BOLI’s conclusion that additional wages were owed on the project, due to the time and cost of litigating the dispute, the SOU administration concluded that it was in the best interest of all involved to mutually re- solve the dispute,” university spokesman Ryan Brown said in a statement. “SOU is looking forward to moving on from the issues and continuing to serve our students and community.” The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Me- dia Group and Pamplin Media Group. Transit funds help wheel rural people together on coast Maintaining access pointment to pick up a break- /DUU\9DXJKQÀDJJHG fast sandwich. the bus down outside his “This bus gives me a sense Seaview, Washington, home of normality,” Vaughn said. LONG BEACH, Wash. — MXVWEHIRUHDPZLWKDÀDVK- “I have the freedom to go to 3DFL¿F7UDQVLWEXVOHIWWKH light in one hand and a cane breakfast and then head to my Port of Ilwaco at 6:50 a.m. in the other. Vaughn began appointment without relying Monday to take the morn- riding the bus seven years ago on anyone but the bus driver.” As the bus turned back LQJ¶V ¿UVW JURXS RI WUDYHOHUV after he discovered he had de- LQWR$VWRULD,Q3DFL¿F&RXQ- generative disc disease and onto the peninsula a half hour later, a family of three ty, people without access to decided to sell his car. “The bus is the only way I ÀDJJHGGRZQWKHGULYHU7KH a vehicle have to rely on the transit system as their only can get to my doctor appoint- dad was off to work in Chi- option to travel outside their ments,” Vaughn said. “Plus, it nook and the mom and son ¿WVZLWKP\¿QDQFLDOOLIHVW\OH were traveling to South Bend communities. 3DFL¿F 7UDQVLW UHFHLYHG these days.” He paid $1 to to visit family for Christmas. (YDQV VDLG 3DFL¿F 7UDQ- nearly $2 million in grants this travel to Astoria and back. Gayla Walsh, a communica- sit’s bus routes depend on year as a part of Connecting Washington — a new trans- WLRQVRI¿FHUIRUWKH:DVKLQJWRQ people’s needs. The system portation package the state State Department of Transpor- is unique because it crosses Legislature approved to sup- tation, said there’s been an in- state borders to get passen- port rural public transporta- creased effort in recent years gers to other transportation tion. The package is expected to create reliable transportation options that can take them to destinations like Portland, to give $16 billion to public throughout the state. “Within rural areas, people he said. The organization transit over the next 16 years. Rich Evans, director of Pa- have longer distances to travel also works with other county FL¿F 7UDQVLW VDLG FXVWRPHUV for services or goods,” Walsh public transits to close some only pay for a sliver of the said. “And for people who of the coverage gaps for cus- don’t have access to a car, or tomers. company’s cost. +H VDLG 3DFL¿F &RXQW\¶V “It’s very, very good news have a disability or some sort, ridership has been consistent, the state is focusing on this be- that can be really hard.” 3DFL¿F 7UDQVLW PRVW UH- so there hasn’t been a recent cause we operate off of grants,” Evans said. “Every two years cently received more than reason to increase or change we have to beg the Legislature $52,000 as a part of a vehi- the transit’s service. “Honestly, we just expect for money and this removes cle replacement project and $250,000 to support its rural to maintain the status quo,” some of that pressure.” He said roughly half of the public transportation service. Evans said. “The revenue we see right now allows us to do transit’s operational funding just that.” comes from state and feder- The status quo He said if the need grew, al grants and the majority of After the bus pulled into the remaining revenue comes Astoria Monday morning, 3DFL¿F 7UDQVLW ZRXOG KDYH from a three-tenths sales tax Vaughn headed to McDon- to begin looking for more from the county. ald’s before his doctor’s ap- grants. By KATHERYN HOUGHTON EO Media Group Bummer! Tax-free pot burns out Associated Press PORTLAND — Oregon’s tax-free marijuana sales come to an end next year. Beginning Monday, the state will collect a 25 percent sales tax on marijuana prod- ucts sold to people without medical cards. That means pot will be- come one of just three prod- ucts with a tax applied at the point of sale. The others are hotel rooms and prepaid mo- bile phone credits. Oregon marijuana stores have been selling tax-free pot in limited quantities since Oct. 1 due to a quirk in the voter-approved initia- tive that allowed adults to buy the drug from licensed stores. State marijuana sales taxes will drop to 17 percent late next year when Oregon’s rec- reational marijuana program is fully up and running. Local governments will then be able to assess their own taxes of up to 3 percent. a year after security breach SALEM — Computer systems at the Oregon Em- ployment Department remain vulnerable more than a year after a major data breach at the agency, according to a state audit released this week. State employees have tak- en steps to tighten the Em- ployment Department’s cyber security, but auditors found that problems remain. These include a lack of control and tracking of which state em- ployees can access data, and RQJRLQJVHFXULW\ÀDZVDWWKH state data center where the Employment Department systems are housed. The data breach at the Employment Department in October 2014 affected more than 800,000 people. An anonymous tipster alerted the state that hackers had ac- cessed information including names, addresses and Social Security numbers of people who were looking for work. People who received unem- ployment insurance also re- ceived notices they might be affected. Many of the problems cit- ed in the audit stem from the Employment Department’s use of mainframe computer programs from the 1990s, housed at the Department of Administrative Services’ state data center. The agency started the process to replace the systems, which it uses to collect employment taxes and GLVEXUVH EHQH¿WV EXW LW ZLOO take a decade to complete, said Legislative and Pub- lic Affairs Manager Andrea Fogue. By then, the systems will be at least 30 years old. As a result, employees have to do a lot of work manually. “It is a long, ongoing process so it’s happening as quickly as it can,” Fogue said. Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 State employees also lack a complete understanding of the systems’ security func- tions, because of poor docu- mentation over the years, au- ditors wrote. Auditors found the Employment Department and Department of Adminis- trative Services have not done HQRXJKWRSURWHFWFRQ¿GHQWLDO information from inside the organization, by restricting access to certain high-level employees and monitoring their actions. Old computer systems have prevented the Employ- PHQW'HSDUWPHQWIURP¿[LQJ VHFXULW\ ÀDZV RQ LWV ZHEVLWH that put Oregonians at risk of what is known as a “man in the middle” attack. As of Wednesday morning, the Em- ployment Department portal ZKHUHSHRSOHFDQ¿OHFODLPV for unemployment insurance was still using the encryption protocol TLS 1.0 that has been known to be vulnerable for years. Fogue said earlier this year that information tech- nology employees had taken additional steps to encrypt the sensitive information entered on the website, so even if an attacker intercepted the infor- mation, “it would take years” to decipher. strictly limiting which em- ployees can access certain data — cannot be implement- ed until a new system is in place. Auditors wrote that com- puter systems should employ “a complex and multi-lay- ered” security system to defend against hackers, but stopped short of saying whether the Employment Department systems met that goal. They did, however, re- IHUWRWKH¿QGLQJVRIDQDXGLW of the state data center earlier this year which also apply to the Employment Department systems at the facility. That audit found that state data cen- ter employees never imple- mented many of the security strategies planned when the facility opened in 2006, and WKH\LJQRUHGUHSHDWHG¿QGLQJV of security shortfalls in half a dozen state audits and a pri- vate consultant’s report. Handle a lot of money The computer systems also handle a lot of money: in 2014, the state collected $1 billion in employment tax- es and paid out $625 million in unemployment insurance EHQH¿WV DFFRUGLQJ WR DXGL- tors. The Employment De- partment had also been skip- ping an important step that could detect unemployment tax return errors, according to auditors. That crucial re- Security weaknesses The EO Media Group/ port could help the state de- Pamplin Media Group Cap- tect when employers over or LWDO %XUHDX ¿UVW UHSRUWHG RQ under report taxable wages. the security weaknesses on Auditors found that rough- websites operated by the Em- ly 4,400 employers might ployment Department and have underpaid their taxes other state agencies in April. by as much as $2.9 million In a written response to in 2014, or 0.4 percent of the audit, Employment De- total taxes collected. At the partment Director Lisa Nis- same time, other employers enfeld wrote that the agency overpaid their taxes by nearly has already started to imple- $850,000. ment some of the auditors’ The Capital Bureau is a recommendations. However, collaboration between EO Nisenfeld wrote that some Media Group and Pamplin of the suggestions — such as Media Group. Goodbye 2015 HELLO 2016 NEW 2015 DODGE DART SE #395010 6-speed auto, fl ex fuel. 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