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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2018)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018 Interior official blasts resignation of parks advisory board By DAN JOLING Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A U.S. Interior Department official on Wednesday blasted the resignation of most mem- bers of a board that advises it on national parks, suggest- ing the move was politically motivated and their work was flawed. Todd Willens, associate deputy secretary of the depart- ment, brought up investiga- tions that uncovered sexual harassment at national parks such as Grand Canyon and Yellowstone and an inter- nal investigative report of a guidebook written by former National Park Service leader Jonathan Jarvis. “We welcome their res- ignations and would expect nothing less than quitting from members who found it convenient to turn a blind eye to women being sexually harassed at national parks and praise a man as ‘inspiring’ who had been blasted by the inspec- tor general for ethics and man- agement failures,” Willens said. Nine members of the 12-member National Park System Advisory Board, including chairman Tony Knowles, a Democratic for- mer Alaska governor, resigned Monday in a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, saying their requests to meet were ignored. The Washington Post, which first reported the resig- nations, said a 10th member stepped down Wednesday. It’s the latest hit to com- mittees that advise the Trump administration. Half the expert members of a board that advises the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency on the integrity of its science were not reappointed last May. At the same time, the Interior Department said it launched a wide-ranging review of more than 200 boards and advisory committees, including some that had not met in years. The congressionally autho- rized National Park System Advisory Board must meet AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, shown here at center in 2009, has resigned from a national parks advisory board. twice per year by law but has not been called into session by the Interior Department since President Donald Trump took office. “Our requests to engage have been ignored and the matters on which we wanted to brief the new department team are clearly not part of its agenda,” Knowles wrote in the letter. Willens said that was “patently false” and that department officials were working to renew the board’s charter, schedule a meeting and fill vacancies as recently as last week. “Their hollow and dishon- est political stunt should be a clear indicator of the intention of the group,” he said. Knowles, the board chair- man, said no one at the depart- ment contacted him or other board members this month about future meetings. The idea of a political statement by board members, made up of national experts in natu- ral resources, financial man- agement, geography and other fields, was disingenuous, he said. Most of the board had worked together for seven years. “We’re all a bunch of wonks,” Knowles said. “There’s absolutely nothing political about any person on it. We have a lot of differ- ent backgrounds and were all brought together because we want to do something really important for the national park system of America and build it for the 21st century.” The board has collected comment from more than 100 experts, including Nobel Prize winners, to offer advice on challenges the system faces, including climate change, attracting more diverse visi- tors and employees, and pro- tecting natural diversity of wildlife. As for sexual harassment within the parks, Knowles said, “We had complete confi- dence that Jon Jarvis, a person of integrity and strong control of the park system, was taking care of it.” Jarvis is now execu- tive director of the Insti- tute for Parks, People, and Biodiversity at the Univer- sity of California, Berkeley. He said by email he had no comment. Knowles said he had no knowledge of a report on Jar- vis by the Interior Depart- ment’s Office of Inspec- tor General. It investigated a guidebook that Jarvis wrote without consulting the depart- ment’s ethics office. The book was published by a nonprofit group that operates stores and sells merchandise in national parks. The report determined that Jarvis worked on the book out- side office hours and directed royalties to the National Park Foundation, which raises money for the National Park Service. Measure 101 petitioners float new funding plan Oregon joins challenge By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Two state lawmak- ers behind next week’s special election say they’ve found a new way to pay for Medicaid. State Reps. Julie Parrish, R-Tualatin/ West Linn, and Cedric Hayden, R-Fall Creek, petitioned to get the state’s exist- ing Medicaid funding plan on the ballot as Measure 101. About 1 million Oregonians are on Medicaid, known as the Oregon Health Plan. The program serves low-income people and other qualifying groups. The election is Tuesday. A “no” vote could throw a wrench into the state’s health care budget, but Parrish and Hayden believe they’ve found a way to plug the hole and continue to draw down federal matching funds that pay for most of the program. But it’s not yet clear whether their plan, unveiled Tuesday, will make up the difference because it has not been scored by nonpartisan legislative analysts. The current version of the bill they’ve now proposed would expand what’s referred to as the state’s provider tax. Health care providers pay a refund- able assessment to the state, which in turn uses the money to collect matching funds from the federal government. Pro- viders get the money back. Most states use a provider tax to get matching federal funds to pay for their Medicaid programs. Oregon lawmakers crafted a plan last year that included those types of taxes on hospitals, but also created taxes on managed care organizations and insur- ers, and a nonrefundable tax on hospi- tals, which Parrish and Hayden object to. Instead, the two lawmakers propose taxing a wider range of health care pro- viders, not just hospitals and long-term care facilities. In addition to taxing hospitals, Par- rish and Hayden’s new bill would also tax surgical centers and ambulance com- panies. Future versions could include even more health care businesses, such as pharmacies, Parrish says. Parrish argues that taxing more pro- viders could cover the rising costs of Medicaid. That’s a growing concern as the federal government tapers its share of the Medicaid bill. Although the feds initially picked up all of the tab for patients covered under the Medicaid expansion of income cri- teria under the Affordable Care Act, by 2020, the state will be responsible for 10 percent of the costs of the expansion population. Parrish and Hayden’s proposal would also use one-time revenues to temporar- ily continue a state program that holds certain insurance premiums down, and require the Oregon Health Authority to do monthly reconciliations to con- firm that all recipients still reside in Oregon. The pair have also previously sug- gested taxing large companies that self-insure, but detractors say that could be subject to a legal challenge. The lawmakers’ proposal comes as they approach the end of a wonky health care campaign where their crit- ics — including the state’s largest health care organizations and unions — have Woman arrested after allegedly stabbing her partner in Seaside The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — A woman was arrested for second-degree assault after allegedly stabbing her partner with a knife during an argument in Seaside Tues- day night. Patience Cabansag was arrested. The victim was sent to the hospital for minor injuries. The Seaside Police Depart- ment is looking for any wit- nesses who can provide more information about the stabbing police say occurred around 6 p.m. in the 300 block of N. Wahanna Road near Shore Terrace Estates. Anyone with any informa- tion is asked to contact Detec- tive Bill Barnes at the Sea- side Police Department at 503-738-6311. Councilor Brownson holds meet and greet The Daily Astorian Astoria City Councilor Tom Brownson is holding a “Meet Your Councilor” event at 9 a.m. Saturday at Three Cups Coffee, 279 W. Marine Drive. Residents are invited to discuss city issues. g ~ Livin d e t s i s s A lise f f O k o o C i l i h C SATURDAY ne E n a z u S ~ January 20th HIGH NOON 101 Forest Drive in Seaside 38-0307 Heather at 503-7 Call ter ion and how to en for more informat the cook off. your chili in of net neutrality repeal argued Parrish and Hayden didn’t have a viable back-up plan. Hayden, a dentist who serves Ore- gon Health Plan patients, unsuccess- fully floated a somewhat similar pro- posal in last year’s legislative session. It included a tobacco tax, a tax on vaping, and assumed Medicaid caseloads would drop. Janet Bauer, a policy analyst for the Oregon Center for Public Policy, which supports Measure 101, says the long leg- islative session in 2019 would be a bet- ter time to assess the policies in the new proposal. Legislators convene for short ses- sions in even-numbered years, and long sessions in odd-numbered years to develop the state’s two-year budget. Bauer said she could not comment on specifics of Parrish and Hayden’s proposal without reading the actual bill, but that generally, it would be better to wait another year when legislators have more time to weigh the merits of another funding strategy. “I think that it’s rolling the dice to suggest that we should overturn a solu- tion that we already have,” Bauer said. The Yes For Healthcare campaign, which is advocating to keep the cur- rent funding plan, dismissed the proposal. “This is more of the same misleading tactics and should not be trusted,” the campaign said in a statement in response to the proposal. “The only way to pro- tect health care funding is Yes on Mea- sure 101.” The Capital Bureau is a collabo- ration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. New Mexico, North Caro- lina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Oregon has joined 20 Washington other states and the District The FCC voted 3-2 along of Columbia in launching a party lines to scrap the rule legal challenge to the Fed- approved by the FCC in 2015. eral Communications Com- The commission’s two Demo- mission’s decision in Decem- crats voted against it. ber to repeal a rule An investigation by New York Attorney barring internet pro- viders from blocking General Eric Schnei- derman’s Office found or charging more for that commenters to access to one website the FCC on the pro- over another. posed rule change ille- The lawsuit, filed gally used the iden- Tuesday in the U.S. tities of Americans Court of Appeals in Ellen Washington, D.C., Rosenblum from around the coun- try to give feedback asks the court to over- turn the decision to on net neutrality. His repeal “net neutrality” and office has identified at least 2 to find it unlawful. The suit million fake comments. Oregon Attorney General alleges that the decision by the FCC was an abuse of dis- Ellen Rosenblum has said the cretion and that it violated repeal of would have “last- the U.S. Constitution and the ing negative impacts for our Communications Act of 1934. economy and almost every Furthermore, attorneys gen- aspect of our lives” and would eral of the states argue that the “incentivize Big Cable over action conflicted with notice- other companies.” Rosenblum spearheaded a and-comment rule-making letter from 18 state attorneys requirements. Other plaintiffs in the case general to the FCC in early are the attorneys general of December urging commis- New York, California, Con- sioners to delay a vote until necticut, Delaware, Hawaii, investigators could deter- Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, mine whether fraud was com- Maine, Maryland, Massachu- mitted in the FCC comment setts, Minnesota, Mississippi, process. By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Coast Guard rescues three Hot Roast Beef fishermen near Ecola State Park Sandwiches Clatsop Post 12 The Daily Astorian Three fishermen were res- cued Wednesday afternoon after being stranded near an Ecola State Park beach. The men were fishing in tide pools before a high tide caused them to become stranded near Indian Beach around noon. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicop- ter crew hoisted the men and brought them to another sec- tion of the shore. No injuries were reported. with Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Salad Friday Jan. 19 th 4 pm until gone 8. 00 $ 6PM “Karaoke Dave” WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Clatsop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 The Astoria Art Loft will hold a no cost discussion on... The art of RECYCLING, RE-PURPOSING or USING YOUR STUFF to create ART Sat. January 27th 10am. - until finished Tues. January 30th 7pm. - until finished 2 WAYS TO PARTIC IPATE Prepa C for you re your prize OMPETE r chanc w : e to wi inning chili n some and en Bring y great p ter wide v our family EAT rizes. ariety : a n of hom d friends vote fo e-made ch out and sam i r your favori l t i. Then cast p y le a e. our Brigitte Willse and other artists will lead the discussion For more information contact (503) 325-4442 or Brigitte Willse (503) 844-4918 Second Saturday Art Walks Art Classes, Workshops, and Studio Spaces 106 3rd St. @ Marine Dr. Astoria, Oregon 97103 503.325.4442 AstoriaArtLoft.com AstoriaArtLoft@gmail.com