Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2017)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2017 Cascadia Day 30: Carry on and prepare for a crowd Preparing your business for Cascadia earthquake Refugees from west side will head to the east EO Media Group Editor’s note: This is the third story in a five-part series about a possible Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake in Oregon and Washington state. By JADE McDOWELL EO Media Group The Oregon Office of Emer- gency Management offers an emergency prepared- ness scorecard. Life will go on in Eastern Oregon if the dreaded Casca- dia earthquake ever hits the Pacific Northwest, but it will and government workers who would likely spend weeks not quickly return to normal. It’s unclear how many ref- in the county or at least pass ugees from the west side of through. “With that increased popu- the state will land in Uma- tilla County, but Joe Franell, lation expectancy, the potential CEO of Eastern Oregon Tele- is if business owners are pre- com and chairman of the gov- pared, and if they’ve encour- ernor’s Oregon Broadband aged their employees to be Advisory Council, said if half prepared, there is a potential of the county’s 76,700 resi- for them to see a windfall,” he dents have family on the west said. The Oregon Office of side who come to stay with Emergency Man- them the county’s agement offers an population could emergency pre- quickly double. paredness score- “If you look card that helps busi- at what happened nesses assess how with (Hurricane) resilient they would Katrina, where they be in a natural disas- landed is where ter and helps ask the they tended to stay,” “tough questions” he said of people about whether they fleeing the disas- should reopen. ter. “I don’t know Roberts said if we can house that that if owners and many.” Joe Franell employees are per- At the same time, some people in East- sonally prepared for a disas- ern Oregon would join one ter, then they will be able to of the 50 nonprofits on the return to work more quickly. National Voluntary Organiza- The business also needs to tions Active in Disasters regis- have plans in place for com- try and head west to assist in munication and the possibility cleanup efforts there. Those they may need to function for with medical training can get a while without electricity or pre-credentialed now with the internet (see sidebar). Customers also need to be State Emergency Registry of Volunteers to provide medical prepared for the fact that busi- nesses may not immediately services. reopen, or may operate on a cash-only basis for a while Commerce The earthquake could after the disaster. prove crippling to some busi- nesses, especially those that Mental health depend on shipping commod- A month into the disas- ities to the west side of the ter there would likely be more state. But Umatilla County stability in meeting phys- emergency manager Tom ical needs, but mental and Roberts said other local busi- emotional needs will also be nesses could see a boon from present. After Hurricane Katrina refugees, volunteers, media Oregon Office of Emergency Management flooded New Orleans, the city’s residents experienced increased rates of post trau- matic stress disorder, depres- sion and anxiety. Cascadia, with its destructive powers and aftershocks that will likely run for weeks, could produce sim- ilar effects. Monique Dugaw, commu- nications director for the Cas- cades region of the Red Cross, said the nonprofit has volun- teer mental health profession- als that it would call upon to help victims of Cascadia. Steve Eberline, a prepared- ness presenter for Red Cross, said people will be in a bet- ter place mentally after a big disaster if they have discussed it, thought about it and pre- pared for it ahead of time. “A family plan is part of psychologically preparing for the event,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want to talk about it, because thinking of your child trapped at school across the river, it’s a tough conversa- tion to have.” He said his family keeps card games and books in their 72-hour kit, to provide a “sense of normalcy and com- fort” if they had to live in a tent or emergency shelter for a while. The Red Cross also keeps stuffed animals for chil- dren in its emergency shelters. Services As life begins to stabilize in Eastern Oregon, organizations like school districts will have to figure out how to carry on in the face of a “new normal.” Mike Kay, operations man- ager for Hermiston School District, participates in meet- ings for Umatilla County’s local emergency preparedness committee, and said the school district has relocation plans in place to evacuate students in the event of an emergency. It also plans to offer up its build- ings and staff as resources to the Red Cross, National Guard and other responders. “We anticipate we, and any facilities we have, becom- ing readily available staging areas,” he said. Kay said so far the district has been mostly focused on what would happen in the first month after Cascadia and hasn’t spent much time discussing how it would accommodate a large influx of children from the west side. As the district has built new schools, it has built them up to seismic stan- dards. If the county only sees light shaking during Cascadia and its aftershocks, the damage to school build- ings in Hermiston could be very minimal. However, with variables such as time of year unknown, Kay said how soon school would start back up again is “the million dollar question.” Other organizations have similar questions. Roberts said many of them have been Bill prohibits employers from firing workers who use marijuana invited to an all-day Casca- dia Earthquake Preparedness Summit on in May to dis- cuss “areas to work on” as the region continues to pre- pare for Cascadia. “We don’t have all the answers yet, but we intend to start working on them this spring,” he said. Coming Thursday: Cas- cadia after six months. Consult a Professional the Q: Does Oregon Health Plan cover chiropractic care? Yes! The Oregon A : Health Plan does ASTORIA cover chiropractic care with CHIROPRACT I C referral from your primary care physician. Call us today for more infor - mation or to schedule your appointment. Now accepting new patients. Ba rry S ea rs , D.C . 503 -3 25-3 3 11 2935 M a rin e Drive, As to ria , Orego n work on several Q: I distinct projects, each LEO FINZI Employees who show up high could still get fired requiring different apps and programs. Help! 10 enables you to Astorias A: Windows have different desktops, each their own set of short cuts Best.com with and desktop icons. By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Most Oregon employers would lose the right to fire workers or deny employ- ment to a candidate who uses marijuana during nonwork hours, under a bill proposed by lawmakers on the legislative marijuana regulation committee. The controversial legislation makes exceptions for certain industries such as truck driv- ers, federal contractors and jobs covered by collective bargaining agreements. As a legal substance in the state, marijuana should be treated the same as tobacco, pro- ponents told lawmakers during a public hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. “The goal with Senate Bill 301 is to protect other sub- stances that are legal under Ore- gon law from being a cause of termination or not hiring people for a particular job,” said Beth Creighton, a Portland employ- ment attorney, who has repre- sented clients who were fired for their marijuana use. “Currently, tobacco is protected, so if you use tobacco off-site, employ- ers are not permitted to fire you because of that. With the onset of legalized marijuana, mari- juana should not be treated any differently.” The bill still allows employ- ers to fire employees who come to work impaired, she noted. “If you have somebody fall- ing down drunk in the work- place, you don’t have to keep them on duty. You don’t have to keep them as an employee,” Creighton said. “You can still In the event of a disas- ter, businesses can get back on their feet more quickly if they are prepared. The Oregon Office of Emer- gency Management’s busi- ness preparedness website and the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Small Business Recover Guide have a com- prehensive set of resources for businesses, including the following suggestions: 1) Have an emergency plan and supplies such as flashlights and first aid kits in place for if the disaster hits during the work day. Make sure your employees know what the plan is and where the supplies are. 2) Have a plan for communication between employees and con- sider purchasing satellite phones or walkie talkies for managers. 3) Seismically safeguard your office or store and secure important inventory. 4) Invest in off-site backup services for your company website and dig- ital records you don’t want to lose. Also have paper copies of employee con- tacts, insurance and other important information on hand. 5) Learn how your sup- pliers would operate during an emergency so that you can make sure your plans fit with theirs, and identify backup suppliers from out of state if needed. 6) Discuss partnerships to pool resources with other small businesses in the community in the event of a disaster. 7) Once disaster hits, document damage carefully and file insurance claims. O pen 7 D ays a W eek ! M-F 10-6 Sat & Sun 11-4 77 11th Street, Suite H Astoria, OR 503-325-2300 Click on the task view icon in the task bar. It looks like a square with two small rectangles on each side, its the 3rd icon from the left. At the far right, click on “New Desktop” Set up additional desktops with specialized shortcuts, desktop icons, etc. for each of your projects. just got engaged - Q: I when should I talk Paris Achen/Capital Bureau Heather Kell of Portland sits in the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting at the Capitol in Salem Tuesday after testimony on a bill to prohibit employers from firing employees who use marijuana. be prohibited from coming to work impaired on any kind of substance.” Opponents argued such a law would violate federal law on controlled substances and would be defeated in court. Employers, including cities and counties, argued the bill also could put employers at risk of litigation. “I am not generally averse to symbolic laws that can’t be enforced. Sometimes you want to make a policy state- ment even if it’s unenforceable,” said Rob Bovett, legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties. However, the bill “would cost our members … significant dollars to litigate and defend, and ultimately, it is my strong opinion, would all be preempted (by federal law),” Bovett said. “In this case, we don’t want to see a symbolic law put on the books that would not be enforceable but would cost tax- payers money.” Opponents said the bill also needs to allow businesses that involve public safety, including airline pilots, railroad engineers and schoolteachers, to prohibit employees from using mari- juana on or off work. Portland resident Heather Kell, who has a bachelor’s degree in finance, said she lost a job offer after she disclosed that she was a medical marijuana patient and tested positive for THC, the psychoactive element of marijuana. “I feel that even though it’s legal in the state of Oregon, it’s awkward that I have to share pri- vate medical information,” Kell told lawmakers during the hear- ing. “I could no longer work with the recruiting agency, and I did not know I would be pre- cluded from all future employ- ment through the recruiting agency.” During the five years since she started using medical mar- ijuana, Kell said she had never been reprimanded or accused of being impaired due to her medi- cal marijuana use. One way to protect medical marijuana users, without put- ting the state in conflict with federal law, could be to change Oregon’s Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against medical marijuana users who use the substance when they’re not at work, said Jim Westwood, senior counsel at Stoel Rives, who spoke on behalf of Oregon business. State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he plans to meet with West- wood, other opponents and pro- ponents to discuss that potential option. The Capital Bureau is a collab- oration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. 971 Commercial Street Astoria 503.325.3571 bloomincrazyfl oral.com to my fl orist about fl owers? fl orists only book A: Most one or two weddings per weekend depending on the size of the wedding. It is really important to put down a deposit to secure your date at your preferred fl orist as soon as possible. It is your special day and we want to give your wedding the special attention it deserves. This will give you and your fl orist time to put together those special fl owers and ideas. The Daily Q: Does Astorian have a Seaside office? A : BRANDY STEWART South County Sales Consultant T HE D AILY A STORIAN 1555 N. Roosevelt Dr. • Seaside 503-791-6615 bstewart@dailyastorian.com Yes it does, located at 1555 N. Roosevelt Dr. on Highway 101, between Stop ‘N Go and the Human Bean. Office hours are 8–5 p.m. Monday-Friday. We are here to help with any of your Daily Astorian, Coast Weekend, and Chinook Observer, Seaside Signal, Cannon Beach Gazette and Coast River Business Journal needs. Need assistance with advertising or placing an ad in south county? Give me a call at (503) 791-6615 so I can help you get “more reach at the beach.”
