NORTHWEST
Saturday, April 18, 2015
East Oregonian
Page 7A
BRIEFLY
Work group to take
up bid to expand birth
control access
Crash pollination
SALEM (AP) — A proposal to
allow women to get birth control
without a doctor’s prescription has
been dealt a setback.
An Oregon state lawmaker
this week proposed allowing
pharmacists to prescribe and dispense
contraception.
But House Committee on Health
Care Chair Rep. Mitch Greenlick
said Friday the issue needs further
discussion. Instead, a work group will
take it up and could propose potential
legislation in the future.
The work group will be led by
Republican Rep. Knute Buehler of
Bend, who originally proposed the
idea, and Democratic Rep. Val Hoyle.
Buehler says improving access to
birth control would give women more
control over their health care needs.
He says he may try to get the Senate
to restore his proposal.
Ex-Reynolds teacher
dropped from Oregon
National Guard
Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times via AP
Bee keepers stand next to a semi-truck that rolled early Friday spilling a load of honeybees on
the Interstate 5 median at the Interstate 405 interchange near Lynnwood, Wash. The truck had
just merged onto Interstate 5 around 3:30 a.m. when it tipped on its side, dumping its load
of 448 hives, or about 13.7 million bees, Washington State Patrol Trooper Travis Shearer said.
Highway abuzz with millions of bees after semi tips
Associated Press
LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A
semitruck carrying millions of
honeybees overturned on a high-
way north of Seattle early Fri-
day, scattering hives and sending
white-suited beekeepers scram-
bling to save as many insects as
they could.
The truck had just merged
onto Interstate 5 around 3:30 a.m.
when it tipped on its side, dump-
ing its load of 448 hives, or about
13.7 million bees, Washington
State Patrol Trooper Travis Shear-
er said. The driver, a 36-year-old
man from Idaho, was not hurt.
The company that owns the
insects, Belleville Honey and
Beekeeping Supply of Burling-
ton, sent beekeepers to recover as
many as possible, and bees cov-
ered their protective suits as they
worked.
The bees became more active
as the sun rose and the weather
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spray a layer of foam on some of
the boxes, killing the insects for
safety.
Many of the hives were still
along the highway more than sev-
en hours after the accident, when
a front-end loader began scoop-
ing them up and dumping them
into a dump truck, Shearer said.
The majority of the hives had
been crushed.
“I’m sure they’ll take that
somewhere and try to save as
many as they can, but they can do
that someplace safer, away from
the I-5 corridor,” he said.
The bees were being trans-
ported from Sunnyside, in central
Washington, to a blueberry farm
in Lynden, a city near the Cana-
dian border about 100 miles north
of Seattle, Shearer said.
First responders and reporters
alike swatted at the bees as they
tried to do their jobs.
“I think everybody there got
stung,” Shearer said.
Seattle television station
KIRO posted a video compilation
of its on-scene reporter swatting
the insects as he reported on the
accident.
Shearer urged drivers to
keep their windows up and to
“#beesafe when traveling through
that area,” as he wrote on Twitter.
A man who answered the
phone at the beekeeping compa-
ny said he couldn’t immediately
answer any questions related to
the accident.
PORTLAND (AP) — A high
school teacher suspended after
sending inappropriate text messages
has been dismissed from the Oregon
National Guard for drunken driving.
A National Guard spokesman
told The Oregonian that Capt. Justin
Prunk was questioned by military
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arrest last December. Prunk later
pleaded no contest to the charge and
was entered into a diversion program.
On Thursday, Prunk was placed on
inactive ready reserve, which means
he can never rejoin the military.
Prunk was suspended from
teaching for sharing information
about personal family matters in text
messages with girls at Reynolds High
School in Troutdale.
Guard spokesman Nick Choy said
another factor leading to Prunk’s
dismissal from the military was his
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not sent the messages.
The Reynolds School District said
Friday that Prunk has now resigned
from his position as band and
orchestra teacher.
Man charged with murder
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JEFFERSON (AP) — A Jefferson,
Oregon, man has been charged with
murder in the death of his father in a
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The Albany Democrat-Herald
reports that 37-year-old John Duran
was arraigned Wednesday in Marion
County Circuit Court.
Duran was initially charged with
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of 81-year-old Candido Duran.
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December, investigators said Duran
told them he was on a four-day
methamphetamine binge when the
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told them he couldn’t put it out and
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Duran is being held in jail without
bail. His next hearing is scheduled for
May 12.
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ballot measure for
$15 minimum wage
SALEM (AP) — A Portland-based
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for a ballot measure boosting the
statewide minimum wage to $15.
The group, 15 Now Oregon,
revealed plans Friday for a statewide
campaign next year. It proposes
gradually raising the state’s minimum
wage to $15 an hour by 2019.
Oregon currently has the nation’s
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hour. That’s $2 higher than the federal
minimum.
On Monday, the state Legislature
held three public hearings, but took
no action, on several proposals
dealing with minimum wage.
Ballot measure organizers say
political leaders in Salem have
indicated they’re not going to bump
minimum wages this session.
The group will need 88,184 valid
signatures by July 2016 in order to
qualify an initiative in time for the
November 2016 ballot.
Half-million bond for
hit and run death
PASCO, Wash. (AP) — The
suspect in a hit and run crash that
killed a Pasco father of two is being
held on a $500,000 bond.
The Tri-City Herald reports
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into Jason Smith’s car at 60 miles
per hour. Court documents say
surveillance footage captured a man
resembling Paniagua running from
the scene.
He was assigned a public defender
and is expected to enter a plea next
week.
The repeat felon had eluded police
until Wednesday, when a tip led
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hiding.
Prosecutors asked a Franklin
County judge for the half-a-million-
dollar bond in light of Paniagua’s
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far this year. He faces several charges,
including vehicular homicide.
Oregon Legislature unlikely to increase DMV fees this session
say on fees.
“You have to rely on the
Legislature if fees are going
SALEM — Some fees to change,” DMV Adminis-
for driver’s licenses should trator Tom McClellan said.
be increased so that vehicle “In many cases, our costs
title and registration fees do exceed our charges.”
The commission did not
not subsidize the costs of op-
erating the Driver and Motor act on a similar report from
Vehicle Services Division, September 2013, based on
according to a report pre- an assumption that lawmak-
ers would increase some of
sented Thursday.
But Oregon’s 2.9 million those fees this year to raise
drivers should not expect in- more money for road and
bridge work.
creases soon.
However, the prospects
Even though the Oregon
Transportation Commission for action on a transporta-
accepted the report, it’s un- tion funding package — in-
likely to result in action this cluding increases in fuel and
session by the Oregon Leg- truck taxes — are uncertain
LVODWXUH ZKLFK KDV WKH ¿QDO at best in the current session.
By PETER WONG
Capital Bureau
McClellan said DMV
will recommend legislation
for the 2017 session.
The report says that fees
for driver-related services —
such as licensing and testing
— are recovering only 40
percent of their actual costs.
It says vehicle title and regis-
tration fees are offsetting the
difference, but in turn, they
are generating less for road
and bridge work by the state,
counties and cities.
“I hope you can bring
that home to legislators,”
commission member David
Lohman of Medford said
after the presentation by Mc-
Clellan.
The proposed fee increas-
I wish to say THANK YOU to my
wonderful family and many cherished
friends for an outstanding and
unforgettable 90th Birthday Party on
Saturday, April 11th at the Hermiston
Christian School.
For starters, I love the three tiered cake
produced by Nydene Moore of
Hermiston. It was so beautiful with
cascading fondant butterflies of various sizes
and colors.
There was a nice variety of hous d’oeurves created and attended
by representative of The Country Gentleman, of Kennewick.
Beautiful floral arrangements were supplied by Kopacz Nursery
of Hermiston.
Dale Have, of Pasco, was the artist that created an absolutely
unique ice sculpture. He beautifully carved and decorated my
large numbers representing my total number of birthdays. He
even spelled my first name correctly...L I N I S.
On display was an antique American Flag from 1912. It
displayed just 48 stars and reminded everyone of earlier times.
Brass Fire, a local band, played for most of the party. At one
point, they took a break and disappeared. While they were
gone, family and friends took turns with a microphone and
mentioned many warm and loving memories.
Then and to a round of applause, Brass Fire reappeared.
However, this time the entire band was dressed in US Army
dress uniforms. From that point on, they played 1940’s Big Band
Era music. It was as if we were celebrating my 20th birthday.
What a party! Thanks to all that had a part in it.
es would recoup an estimat-
ed $88.3 million over a two-
year budget period.
Some examples of the
higher fees: Original driver’s
license, from $54 to $100; li-
cense renewal (eight years),
from $34 to $60; driving
skills test, from $9 to $37;
vehicle registration fee (two-
year basis), from $86 to $96;
LGHQWL¿FDWLRQFDUGWR
$54.
All fees exclude a pro-
posed $4 surcharge for a
10-year DMV computer
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which is underway. That
project, which among other
things will enable DMV to
accept credit and debit cards,
is estimated at $100 million
over a decade.
Lawmakers
increased
some of these fees in 2003
and 2009, but earmarked
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off bonds for highway and
bridge projects, not for re-
covery of DMV costs.
McClellan says DMV
has shed 24 positions over
the past four years, and with
40 percent of its workforce
scheduled for retirement in
the next few years, is likely
to reduce a few more.
———
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.