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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2015)
Page 8A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian CELLPHONE: Service for roughly 3-4 miles of highway east of Mitchell, but nothing in the city Continued from 1A with AT&T and Frontier TeleNet, a cooperative effort between Wheeler, Gilliam and Sherman counties and the North Central Education Service District to provide broadband access in the rural area. “A model of this sort ZRXOG QRW RQO\ EH HI¿FLHQW and cost-effective, but could also deliver a template for solving these communication and public safety needs in other highly rural communi- ties,” Wyden said. FirstNet was created by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 to build, operate and maintain WKH FRXQWU\¶V ¿UVW KLJKVSHHG wireless broadband network dedicated to public safety. Wheeler County Judge Patrick C. Perry said the lack of cell coverage is a growing concern in his hometown of Mitchell as tourism increases to the Painted Hills, not only for public safety but also for economic development. “It’s not just a public safety issue to my local constituents, but to anyone who comes to visit Wheeler County,” Perry said. “They would extend “It’s not just a public safety issue to my local constituents, but to anyone who comes to visit Wheeler County.” — Patrick C. Perry, Wheeler County Judge their stays longer if they could communicate with the outside world.” The AT&T tower provides service for roughly 3-4 miles of the highway east of Mitchell, Perry said, but nothing in the city due to old technology and the area’s unique geography. Unfortu- nately, he said, the economics haven’t yet penciled out for a FRPSDQ\ WR FRPH LQ DQG ¿OO the gap. The county does not have the money to make the invest- ment, but would be available to assist FirstNet with the logistics, Perry said. Wheeler County Sheriff Chris Humphreys said there have been incidents before, primarily on Highway 26, where lack of cell coverage has forced people to run out to a house in the middle of QRZKHUHRUÀDJGRZQDSDVV- erby to call in an emergency. “Every second counts,” Humphreys said. “Those dispatch times can be pretty extensive.” The city also faced a GLI¿FXOWFKDOOHQJHD\HDUDJR Humphries said, hosting a PDQDJHPHQWWHDPDVZLOG¿UHV burned roughly 40,000 acres in the area and threatened structures. “Not having cell coverage LQWRZQUHDOO\PDGHLWGLI¿FXOW for a while,” he said. Rob Myers, who manages Frontier TeleNet and is based in Condon, said it is too early to anticipate how the project design would take shape. But he agrees cellphone service is needed in Mitchell, one way or another. “I have no argument that it’s necessary from a public safety standpoint, and it’s in an that area that’s been over- looked,” Myers said. “We’re still in the early stages of conception for how this might work out.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4547. Thursday, June 11, 2015 Umatilla County prepares and educates for big quake Management. She has made a career teaching hazard The big one rocking the mitigation and imple- Oregon Coast also could menting outreach programs mean disaster for Eastern about earthquakes and Oregon, including loss tsunamis. The lecture and of electrical power or the information will focus on the destruction of bridges on effects Eastern Oregon may see due to an earthquake off Interstate 84. The Umatilla County the coast of Oregon. Seating is limited. To Emergency Management is inviting local government reserve a seat contact Jodi RI¿FLDOV EXVLQHVV OHDGHUV Florence with the Umatilla ¿UVW UHVSRQGHUV DQG RWKHUV &RXQW\ 6KHULII¶V 2I¿FH DW interested to a presentation 541-966-3607 or email her on how a Cascadia Subduc- DW -RGLÀRUHQFH#XPDWLOOD- tion Zone earthquake could county.net. The county emergency affect the region. The already production is June 19, 9-11 management a.m., at the Umatilla County checked into how a big Justice Center, 4700 N.W. earthquake could affect operations at the justice Pioneer Place, Pendleton. Presenter Althea Rizzo center, which houses the is the Geological Hazard VKHULII¶VRI¿FHMDLOGLVSDWFK Program coordinator with center and more. The county the Oregon Emergency Tuesday shut off commer- East Oregonian cial power to the building a little after 9 a.m., and used the building’s generator to provide backup power, according to a statement IURPWKHVKHULII¶VRI¿FH Umatilla County emergency manager Jack Remillard said the drill is to verify the county can maintain fully functioning operations in the sheriff’s RI¿FH GLVSDWFK MDLO DQG emergency operations center in the event of a long power failure or other disaster, such DVDQHDUWKTXDNHRU¿UH Umatilla County Emer- gency Management also urges citizens to be prepared for disasters by having an emergency kit with two weeks of supplies on hand. For more information on emergency preparedness, visit www.ready.gov. OLCC: Received about 550 applicants total bright,” Houk said. “So he’ll read the material, he’ll be Taylor did not return prepared for the meetings calls seeking comment from and offer up his own opinions the East Oregonian, but his based on the information.” wife, Renee Taylor, said McHenry said Taylor she handled her husband’s LV D JRRG IULHQG VKH ¿UVW public relations. She said met when he served on city Steve Taylor’s years of small council. She said Taylor was business and public service thorough and fair in that role, experience are his key but also tough-minded. TXDOL¿HUV IRU VHUYLQJ RQ WKH “Truthfully, I can’t think committee and he is digging of someone better to serve into the 38 pages that make from Eastern Oregon,” she up Measure 91 to be ready said. for the committee’s meeting The liquor commission June 19. received about 550 applicants Taylor also listed six total, according to Townslee, references in his application: and some 200 did not specify Pendleton Mayor Phillip where they were from, so Houk; Pendleton attorney more could have been from Eugene Hallman; Pendleton the eastern side of the state. attorney David Gallagher; Almost all applicants wanted former Umatilla County on the rules committee, Commissioner Dennis he stated, but were more Doherty; Pendleton Sanitary suited to marijuana technical Services Inc. owner Susan subcommittees. McHenry; and Art Hill, Marks in May revealed director of BMCC’s Small he appointed 15 people from Business Development the pool to serve on the rules Center. and technical committees, Houk has known Taylor but none were from Eastern for decades, even played Oregon. Hansell and four football against him in high fellow Republican senators school, and served with him — Fred Girod of Stayton, on the BMCC board and Ted Ferrioli of John Day, Pendleton City Council. Chuck Thomsen of Hood “What’s good about River and Doug Whitsett of 6WHYHLV¿UVWRIDOOKH¶VSUHWW\ Klamath Falls — sent a letter Continued from 1A May 11 to Marks, asking how the OLCC decided who would serve on the rules committee. They noted more than half the state lacked representation. Townslee said that should not have happened. “It was an oversight on our part,” he said. Houk said Taylor’s appointment also means locals have someone they can talk to about their concerns with rules for recreational pot. The committee involvement will take some work and is at the center of a controversial subject, he said, but Taylor is strong willed and thinks for himself. Hansell, like others, said he has known and worked with Taylor for years and H[SUHVVHGFRQ¿GHQFH7D\ORU will do a solid job on the committee. He said he still does not have an answer on the liquor commission’s selection process, but said he would cut them some slack because it is a new endeavor and he gave credit for Taylor’s swift appointment. ——— Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0833. MARIJUANA: Limited data on long-term use impaired driving cases and poison control calls. Alaska, as well as Vermont But there are shortcom- and California, which is ings, too, as Dr. Kathy Lofy, expected to vote on legal- Washington’s top public ization next year. Other KHDOWKRI¿FHUZURWHLQQRWHV attendees have come from for the conference. Health- Jamaica, Mexico, Colombia risk behavior surveys are of and Uruguay, the only limited use when it comes to country that has legalized estimating marijuana use in the adult use of marijuana. small areas or among ethnic Washington’s legal groups; it’s not clear how to pot law, passed in 2012, identify marijuana-related included a requirement car accidents; there’s limited that the state conduct a data available on long-term FRVWEHQH¿W DQDO\VLV DQG marijuana use; and there’s no some data are being tracked national consensus yet about and analyzed, including on how to survey people about PDULMXDQDLQYROYHG WUDI¿F changing ways of using pot, stops, marijuana-related such as by vaporizing it or calls to the state poison eating it. center and admissions to The conference also addiction treatment centers. provided a chance for Surveys provide a good idea attendees to chat about what of students’ attitudes toward has and hasn’t worked well and use of marijuana, and the in Washington, Colorado University of Washington is and Uruguay. assessing marijuana-related Dr. Jay Butler, the public parenting behaviors to better health director in Alaska, inform prevention efforts. which joined Oregon in In Colorado, the only voting to legalize pot last other state where legal, year, said in response to a recreational pot sales have conference questionnaire VWDUWHG RI¿FLDOV DUH DOVR that he wanted to learn more tracking marijuana-related about the legal markets that school suspensions, hospital are already up and running. room marijuana mentions, And Conrad Gregory, the Continued from 1A chief economic development consultant for California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, said he was interested in ideas for how to incorporate the growers in that state’s famed “Emerald Triangle” into any statewide legal marijuana industry, should California vote to legalize. Dr. Wendel Abel, who serves on the agency that has been set up to regulate medical marijuana in Jamaica, noted that govern- ments need to carefully craft messages for young people that just because marijua- na’s legal doesn’t mean it’s not harmful — something public health advocates said Washington state failed to do before legal sales began. But he said he was also struck by the economic possibilities on seeing that recreational sales in Washington and Colorado have topped a combined $500 million, with tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue coming into state coffers. “You’re able to divert funds that would have gone into the black market,” he said. “This is attractive.” Inslee signs measure creating “silver alert” system OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a measure that creates a new alert for highway signs DQG WUDI¿F DGYLVRULHV ZKHQ older adults who may be suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia go missing. The bill signed Wednesday creates a “silver alert” that will use Washington state’s current missing person alert system that activates electronic highway signs DQG UDGLR WUDI¿F DGYLVRULHV the News Tribune of Tacoma reports. It will be aimed at locating adults age 60 and older. The new program won’t activate the federally managed Emergency Alert System that interrupts television and regular radio broadcasts because the state doesn’t have permission from the Federal Commu- nications Commission to use the federal emergency system for that purpose. According to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, more than 40 other states already have a Silver $OHUWV\VWHPWKDWVSHFL¿FDOO\ applies to older adults. Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Rivoli Theater Coalition was turned down for a request of $10,000 from the Pendleton Development Commission on Tuesday. RIVOLI: Commission will write a letter of support to the coalition for grant proposals Continued from 1A Many city councilors showed reluctance toward donating money to the coalition, citing the more than $68,000 the commis- sion has already donated to the restoration of the theater and the commission’s focus on investing in projects that will bear returns through the increase in property values. Councilwoman McKennon McDonald was one of the few commission members to support the donation. “From the short time that I’ve been here ... the one thing I’ve learned is that people want to see something,” she said. “They want to have something that they can see, they can touch, they can be there, they can see we’re doing something with. For me, this is one of those things.” As a compromise, Councilman Al Plute made a motion to donate $10,000 to the coalition contingent upon them collecting the other $123,888 by the end of the year. The idea seemed to gain VRPH WUDFWLRQ HYHQ EULHÀ\ swaying Councilman Tom <RXQJDQRWHG¿VFDOKDZN But the support didn’t last, with the commission voting 2-6 to approve the request. McDonald and Plute were the commission members to vote in favor of the donation, with Mayor Phillip Houk absent. As a consolation, Councilwoman Jane Hill proposed the commission write a letter of support to the coalition, which they could include while writing grant proposals. Hill’s motion passed unan- imously. Hill suggested they come back at a later phase in their project and ask for an even larger donation. “What I would argue is this isn’t your last bite of the apple,” she said. “I think the big win here tonight is you got Tom Young, the PRVW ¿VFDOO\ FRQVHUYDWLYH member of this commis- sion, saying ‘I really like you and you should come back,’ and I think that’s tremendous.” Before leaving, Perkinson said the coalition would hold the commission to their word. The commission also unanimously passed its yearly budget for the 2016 ¿VFDO\HDU7KHQHZEXGJHW has an operating fund of $524,500 and a debt service fund of $613,962. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. National Flag Week Exchange your old flag for a new American Flag! June 15th through June 19th We celebrate Flag Week in honor of our American flag and our heritage In honor of National Flag Week, we will be handing out free American Flags. Flags may be exchanged Monday, June 15 thru Friday, June 19 between 9:00am and 5:00pm. Limited supply, reserve yours today! There will be a ceremonial disposal of the retired flags that are collected. You're a grand old flag, you're a high flying flag, and forever in peace may you wave. ~George M. Cohan McKay Creek Estates 1601 Southgate Place Pendleton, OR 97801 (541) 276-1987 www.PrestigeCare.com
