Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Thursday, November 19, 2015
ODOT: Would only reduce carbon emission by roughly
20 percent of original 2.02 million metric tons over a decade
negotiations, I demanded
Gov. Brown immediately
could achieve that through request the resignation of
a package of alternative fuel Director Garrett due to
incentives and spending to gross incompetency at best
improve public transit and and dishonest manipulation
UHGXFHWUDI¿FFRQJHVWLRQ
at worst,” Ferrioli said in a
One part of the plan written statement. “Whether
in particular resulted in Director Garrett knew the
immediate skepticism by numbers ODOT provided
environmentalists: proposed the workgroup were wrong
technological
improve- or he simply failed to provide
PHQWV LQ WUDI¿F ÀRZV the updated numbers in his
that were supposed to cut possession, his decision
carbon emissions by 2.02 to surprise workgroup
million metric tons over a members with new numbers
decade. Together with other in a public hearing without
components of the plan, any advance warning led
these improvements were to the demise of a critical,
supposed to reduce carbon bipartisan
transportation
emissions by as much as infrastructure package for
9.1 million to 11.22 million Oregonians that would
metric tons over a decade. have resulted in real carbon
Garrett said on June 24 the reduction.”
technological
improve-
Records obtained by
ments would yield roughly )HUULROL¶V RI¿FH VKRZHG
20 percent of the amount as early as June 8, Garrett
calculated originally for and Brown’s sustainable
the bipartisan group, which communities and transporta-
meant the transportation tion policy adviser Karmen
package would no longer Fore received emails from
achieve the same amount of ODOT staff with lower
carbon reductions predicted carbon reduction estimates.
from the low-carbon fuel Amanda Pietz, manager
standard.
of ODOT’s transportation
Ferrioli revealed on planning unit, wrote in the
Wednesday that he had also email that a computer model
asked the governor to seek had predicted that $400
Garrett’s resignation soon million in technological
after the hearing.
improvements to improve
“In June, following the WUDI¿F ÀRZ FRXOG UHGXFH
implosion of transportation carbon emissions by 2.02
million metric tons over a
decade.
Nonetheless, transpor-
WDWLRQ RI¿FLDOV FRQWLQXHG
to provide documents to
the bipartisan group of
lawmakers negotiating the
transportation package —
known as the Gang of Eight
— that showed the state
could achieve the same 2.02
million metric ton reduction
in carbon emissions at half
the price, $200 million over
a decade.
The ODOT estimates
continued to sink lower,
with Garrett passing along
an updated prediction of
0.87 million metric tons in
carbon reduction from $200
million in transportation
improvements in a June 10
email to Fore and Brown’s
energy policy adviser Margi
Hoffman. However, ODOT
and the governor’s advisers
continued to tell lawmakers
LQ XSGDWHG EULH¿QJ GRFX-
ments that they could
achieve 2.02 million metric
tons in carbon reductions for
$200 million.
On the eve of the legis-
lative hearing on the trans-
portation package, Garrett
asked his staff to double-
check the numbers. Angela
Crowley-Koch, legislative
director for the Oregon
Environmental
Council,
also questioned the calcula-
Continued from 1A
HORNECK: Scholarship fund
also established in his name
a chance to spur collaboration
between OSU and BMCC.
community, Horneck was an
All these developments will
avid rock hound, member of allow HAREC researchers to
the Hermiston Lions Club, do things they’ve never been
church leader and youth able to do before, Hamm said.
soccer referee
“I don’t want our faculty
“Anything he was involved to be limited by facilities,” he
in, he gave his heart and soul,” said. “If they’re successful, our
Vicki Horneck said. “I think growers will be successful.”
that’s what people loved about
Nobody understood that
him. He was a very giving better than Horneck, Hamm
person.”
said. The two worked closely
Now, the community is together over the years and
giving back to Horneck’s became fast friends.
memory. While the OSU
“Don meant a lot to us,
College of Agricultural and a lot to this experiment
Sciences provided $60,000 for station,” Hamm said. “If you
the new $300,000 building, didn’t know Don, you missed
the rest came out of donations out.”
from local farms, businesses,
Bryan Wolfe, chairman
trade groups and the station of the HAREC advisory
researchers themselves.
committee, said the building
A memorial scholarship will help to carry on Horneck’s
fund has also been established legacy.
in Horneck’s name, for
“What Don advanced and
students studying agronomy brought to our operations can’t
and soil sciences.
be measured,” said Wolfe, a
“Everybody has done so Hermiston farmer. “He was
many things to memorialize always thinking outside the
him,” Vicki Horneck said. box.”
“Those people who didn’t
Dan Arp, dean of the
know him will be able to see OSU College of Agricultural
what he meant to all of us.”
Sciences, also spoke at the
Phil
Hamm,
station ceremony and thanked the
director, said the Don Horneck donors who made the project
building is a much-welcomed happen.
addition to the HAREC
Though Arp said he didn’t
campus, which continues to know Horneck as well as
grow. The 290-acre property others, he did get a chance
added a pair of new green- to take a tour of the research
houses in the spring, and plans station with Horneck during
WREXLOGIRXUQHZRI¿FHVQHDU RQHRIWKHVLWH¶V¿HOGGD\V
WKHFXUUHQWRI¿FHEXLOGLQJ
“He exuded pride and
Of course, Hamm said they enthusiasm for this station,”
are excited to break ground in $USVDLG³<RXKDYHDWHUUL¿F
late winter or early spring on group of individuals who
the new $3.3 million precision serve you as growers, and
irrigation center approved in serve the community. This
the Blue Mountain Commu- building is really a tremen-
nity College bond. The project dous gift to them, and allows
is not only a great opportunity them to do their work more
for students, Hamm said, but effectively.”
Continued from 1A
POPULATION: Irrigon had
largest growth rate at 2.4 percent
Boardman accounted for all
of the growth.
cycle (where growth leads to
Irrigon had the largest
more growth),” he said. “It’s growth rate at 2.4 percent,
much better to be in a virtuous adding 45 residents for a total
cycle than a death spiral. If of 1,930. The city added 50
you’re losing population, it residents the previous year
doesn’t make sense for busi- — a 2.7-percent growth rate
nesses to open in the area.”
— and City Manager Aaron
According to U.S. Census Palmquist said the growth
data, Hermiston has grown by will improve the community’s
33.2 percent, 4,366 residents, livability, culture and stability
since 2000 — including 775 in the future.
residents since 2010.
“I know that as we see in
Pendleton — which has all areas — whether it’s our
only grown by 3 percent since SROLFHDQG¿UHRURXUVFKRROV
2000 — added 145 residents any type of service which
this year, a 0.9-percent cities are — there are going
increase to a total of 16,845. to be some increases on the
The previous year, the city demand for services, but
lost 80 residents with a overall I think it’s going to be
0.5-percent decrease.
positive,” he said.
At 1.3 percent, Athena
Boardman added 60
had the largest growth rate residents to a total of 3,505
in Umatilla County, adding with a 1.7-percent growth
15 residents for a total of rate — higher than the
1,140.
Milton-Freewater previous year’s rate of 1.2
and Umatilla each added 10 percent. Since 2000, the city
residents with a 0.1-percent has grown by 22.8 percent,
increase to 7,070 and 7,060, adding 650 residents.
UHVSHFWLYHO\ 6WDQ¿HOG DOVR
Statewide, 51,135 residents
added 10 residents with a were added since the previous
0.5-percent growth rate to year, and the 1.3-percent
2,125. While Milton-Free- growth rate carried Oregon
water’s rate increased from beyond the four-million
the previous year when no milestone to 4,013,845 total
new residents were added, residents. Since 2000, the state
the rates for Umatilla and has grown by 17.3 percent,
6WDQ¿HOGERWKGHFUHDVHGIURP adding 592,446 residents.
the previous year.
Umatilla County has
Morrow County main- grown by 12.2 percent —
tained its 0.9-percent growth 8,607 residents — since 2000,
rate for a second consecutive and Morrow County has
year, adding 105 residents to grown by 5.8 percent — 635
a total of 11,630. Irrigon and residents.
Continued from 1A
QUIT: E-cigarettes not on the list of FDA-approved interventions
Continued from 1A
Eighteen percent of
the county’s 11th graders
smoke. Jones stays posi-
tive.
“The amount of kids
smoking has come down,”
she said. “We’ve made
progress.”
Smokers aren’t blind to
the long list of health risks
associated with smoking
— cancer, pulmonary
disease, stroke, coronary
heart disease, rheumatoid
arthritis, diabetes and more.
Cigarette smoking causes
more than 480,000 deaths
each year in the United
States, according to the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and is the
leading preventable cause
of death. Then, there’s the
cost of smoking. Pack-
a-day smokers spend about
$1,825 a year. Though
smokers have plenty of
motivation, many still
struggle to pull away.
“Every smoker on this
planet knows they should
quit smoking,” said Kristi
Gartland, employee well-
ness coordinator for the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion and Wildhorse. “It just
matters when the time is
right for you.”
Dayle
Stinson,
of
Pendleton, quit almost cold
Ready to quit smoking?
Great American Smokeout
WHERE: Good Shepherd Medical Center
Main lobby, Pharmacy lobby or Medical Group lobby
WHEN: Today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Talk to cessation instructors and wellness experts.
Learn insurance options. Receive a quit kit.
Turn in tobacco products to become eligible for prizes.
turkey a year ago, but the
successful attempt came
\HDUV DIWHU KHU ¿UVW
try. Stinson, a multimedia
consultant at the East
2UHJRQLDQ VDLG WKDW ¿UVW
time around she quit for six
months. She was so cranky
that her 10-year-old son
told her half-jokingly that
she should start smoking
again. One day, Stinson
walked into the employee
breakroom where some
co-workers were smoking
and asked for a cigarette.
³6RPHRQH ÀLSSHG PH
one and that was it,” she
recalled.
A year ago, Stinson was
¿QDOO\ UHDG\ WR WU\ DJDLQ
She smoked e-cigarettes for
a few days, then stopped
smoking completely. She
hasn’t looked back.
“It was my time,” she
said.
The former pack-a-day
smoker said her sense of
smell has returned and she
no longer coughs.
Gartland works one on
one with CTUIR and Wild-
horse smokers who want
to quit. Employees who
stop for at least six months
receive $100.
“Ten to 12 people quit
that way every year,” she
said.
She said that Stinson’s
experience with quitting is
not unusual.
“They can smoke for
30, 40 or 50 years and then
something triggers a desire
to quit,” she said. “If the
method, motivation and
timing come together, it can
happen in the blink of an
eye, but you have to be a 10
on the readiness scale.”
Gartland
believes
smoking is more a mental
addiction than a physical
one. Cigarettes become old
friends.
“Nicotine leaves the
body within 48 hours,” she
said, “but people can crave
cigarettes for six months.”
Jones assures smokers
that it’s never too late to
quit. As an example, Jones
pointed to her own mother,
a veteran smoker who
¿QDOO\KDGDKHDUWDWWDFN
“She quit smoking in
the hospital at age 65,”
Jones said. “She’s going
to be celebrating her 86th
birthday very soon.”
She urged smokers to
reach out for help. Those
who call the toll-free
Oregon Tobacco Quit Line
at 1-800-QUIT-NOW will
receive advice from a quit
coach and may be eligible
for patches or gum.
She said the jury is out
on whether vaping helps
conquer nicotine additions.
“No studies have proven
they help people to quit,”
Jones said. “E-cigarettes
are
understudied
and
under-regulated.”
E-cigarettes are not on
the list of FDA-approved
interventions. The list
includes skin patches, nico-
tine gum and lozenges and
prescription-only medica-
tions such as Chantix and
Zyban.
Jones urged smokers to
keep trying to quit.
“Don’t give up,” she
said. “It’s never a wasted
effort. Even quitting for one
day shows you have power
over nicotine.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
PILOT ROCK: Has paid about $43,000 so far for no public purpose
would probably lose.
Councilman Ray Corwin
brief stint, paid the $300 a criticized the “good old
month to Koch’s widow, boy handshake deal” and
Mary Koch.
suggested there could be an
City recorder Teri Porter escape hatch — terminating
told the council at its Tuesday the lease with U.S. Cellular.
meeting that after conferring The city has paid about
ZLWK WKUHH ODZ ¿UPV LQ $43,000 so far, he said, for
recent years, there seems no no public purpose.
way out of continuing the
Pilot Rock resident John
payments. The 2006 city Taylor pointed out using
council OKed the checks and public money for no public
set a precedent, and if the city purpose could be a viola-
stopped and the Koch family tion of Oregon law, and the
sues, Porter said, the city council members could be
on the hook for that.
The council after some
deliberation voted unani-
mously to have city staff look
into terminating the lease.
Mary Koch nor her repre-
sentatives were present. City
staff and councilmen said
she refuses to talk to them
Continued from 1A
and only uses lawyers to
communicate. She also did
not return a phone message
Wednesday to the East
Oregonian.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
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Friday, November 20
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Saturday, November 21
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597850
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Elaina, 4, and Taylor Jewett, 2, the granddaughters of
Don Horneck, look at potato starts in the plant tissue
culture room of the new Don Horneck Memorial Build-
ing on Wednesday outside of Hermiston.
tions in an email to ODOT
assistant director Travis
Brouwer that evening.
“Can we please see
the ODOT models for the
carbon reductions from
transit and transportation
operation?” Crowley-Koch
wrote. “I’ll admit surprise
at the high level of carbon
reductions from just $20
mil (annual) investment in
transportation operations!”
Chris Pair, a press secre-
tary for Brown, attributed
the failure to pass along
updated information to
lawmakers to the fast pace
“in the waning hours of
session” and the complexity
of the legislation. “That
said, Governor Brown has
asked the Oregon Trans-
portation Commission to
oversee a third-party review
of (ODOT’s) management
practices,” Pair wrote in an
email.
Brown did not address
her advisers’ handling of the
information in a statement
issued Wednesday after-
noon.
“If we are to ask Orego-
nians to step up and provide
additional resources for
our transportation system,
WKH\PXVW¿UVWEHFRQ¿GHQW
that the resources currently
available are being used
responsibly,” Brown said in
a statement.
333 E Main St.
Hermiston
For more information: 509-525-7918