WEEKEND EDITION
INSIDE THE More than
ACTOR’S
just a tow
STUDIO 3C LIFESTYLES 1C
REGION:
Irrigon library offi cially
reopens its doors 3A
BUSINESS:
Ultra-fast Internet
coming to Hermiston 8A
MARCH 14-15, 2015
139th Year, No. 107
WINNER OF THE 2013 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
$1.50
Farmers say line
must go around
Dawgs
come up
just short
Commissioner George Murdock.
The public has until Thursday to
weigh in on a draft environmental
impact statement for the Boardman
to Hemingway Transmission Line
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Eastern Oregon counties in order to
share a reliable source of electricity
between the Columbia Basin and
southwest Idaho.
Approximately 50 miles of the
project would run through Umatilla
County. More than 20 local farmers
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Hermiston’s Tavin
Headings (22) and
Kynzee Padilla (21)
walk off the court
Friday as the La
Salle’s girls basket-
ball team celebrate
their 51-46 5A state
championship win
against the Bulldogs
in Corvallis.
For more on the
game see Sports 1B.
Umatilla County wants no part
of a proposed transmission line
stretching 305 miles from Board-
man to near Boise, which residents
say will interfere with farming and
recreation without offering any ben-
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Or, if there’s no other alterna-
tive, the project should at least fol-
low Interstate 84 which is already
a suitable route, according to draft
comments by Umatilla County
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
See LINE/14A
Nuke energy
world starts
to think small
By COURTNEY FLATT
Oregon Public Broadcasting
In the world of nuclear power, one tech-
nology is generating debate: factory-pro-
duced reactors that are no bigger than a
house.
These “small modular reactors” are de-
signed to produce power on the scale of a
single factory or business campus. That’s
a big departure from a traditional nuclear
plant — the kind that’s powerful enough
to run an entire metropolis and big enough
to be seen from miles away.
“Think of it as bite-sized power,” said
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cer for NuScale Power, an Oregon-based
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kind small modular reactors. “Small mod-
ular reactors will play a critical role in the
energy future of the country.”
Advocates say small modular reactors
represent a way to create jobs around an
energy technology that doesn’t emit car-
bon. Critics say it’s an untested form of
nuclear power that will add to the nation’s
stockpile of radioactive waste.
These arguments are bubbling up in
Washington’s state capitol. Lawmakers are
considering a bill that aims to bring small
modular reactors, or SMRs, to Washing-
ton. It would require the state Department
of Commerce to look at siting and manu-
facturing the technology. The bill cleared
the Republican-controlled Senate last
week and now awaits action in the House,
where Democrats hold the majority.
The legislation is sponsored by Sen.
Sharon Brown, a Republican whose
Mid-Columbia Basin district encompass-
es the Tri-Cities — home to the region’s
only commercial nuclear power plant.
“We are well positioned to take the lead
in this technology, but in our region, we
risk being left behind, if we fail to coor-
dinate our efforts to attract SMR produc-
tion,” she said.
See NUCLEAR/14A
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, answers questions at Friday’s town hall at Clara Brownell Middle School in Umatilla. He is fl anked
by Umatilla High School leaders who helped run the question-and-answer part of the session.
Wyden faces wide scope
Students grill senator on education, adults focus on Internet freedom
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Education and international
trade were on the minds of cit-
izens who showed up to a town
hall meeting hosted by Sen. Ron
Wyden in Umatilla Friday.
The students who were in at-
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amining Wyden on what the
federal government could do
to improve conditions in their
schools.
One student asked how a
teacher was supposed to be ef-
fective when they have more
than 30 students in a classroom.
Another asked why graduation
rates in Oregon are so low. Yet
another asked what Congress
could do to help schools get
more funding.
Wyden said many of the el-
ements that affect education are
local ones.
“The most productive con-
tribution a teacher can make is
to make young people excited
about learning,” he said.
He had high praise for Uma-
tilla’s robotics program, which
he got a demonstration of before
the town hall, and said he could
See WYDEN/14A
Northeastern Oregon lawmakers post host of bills
Reps take aim at
speed limits, hunting
restrictions, more
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Local lawmakers aim to make in-
terstates faster, city courts more ac-
countable and get cities off the hook
of forced annexations to abate health
hazards.
Here’s a look at some of the bills
sponsored this session by northeast-
ern Oregon’s three Republican rep-
resentatives Sen. Bill Hansell (Athe-
na), Rep. Greg Smith (Heppner) and
Rep. Greg Barreto (Cove).
The three will join many other
lawmakers this weekend at the annu-
al Dorchester Conference in Seaside,
Hansell
Smith
a Republican issues conference that
has no formal association with state
GOP.
Hansell, 27 bills
The sophomore legislator from
District 28 sponsored a bill to help
Milton-Freewater and other cities
avoid annexations, which had a pub-
lic hearing Monday. Senate Bill 121
would change Oregon’s little-used
health hazard
abatement law,
which allows
as few as 11
people to peti-
tion the Oregon
Health Author-
ity to compel a
city to provide
water and sewer
infrastructure to
Barreto
areas with con-
tamination problems.
Wells north of Milton-Freewa-
ter have had contamination for de-
cades, and a group of residents there
want the city to hook them up. Mil-
ton-Freewater city leaders contended
that would cost millions and having
city taxpayer’s cover the tab would
be unfair.
Milton-Freewater City Manager
Linda Hall, Mayor Lewis Key and
City Councilman Orrin Lyon testi-
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Umatilla County Commissioner Lar-
ry Givens. Hansell’s proposal would
change the minimum number of pe-
titioners from 11 to least 51 percent
of “electors registered in the affected
territory.” It also would require pe-
titioners to provide an alternate to
annexation.
The Senate Committee On Health
Care has not set other meetings for
the bill.
Hansell also is a chief sponsor
on 18 other Senate bills and eight
House bills. SB 126 would allow
county voters to approve an exemp-
tion to the state ban on using dogs to
hunt mountain lions, and SB 320, the
“home baking bill,” would give the
OK for food establishments within
See BILLS/14A