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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2016)
WEEKEND EDITION NIXYAAWII GIRLS TAKE OVER FIRST PLACE 1B BILLS SEEK TO RATIFY WOLF DELISTING MECHANIC’S CREATIONS POWER CBARC EXPERIMENTS LIFESTYLES/1C OREGON/3A JANUARY 16-17, 2016 140th Year, No. 66 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD MINIMUM WAGE IN OREGON Not if, but how By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian When it comes to a minimum wage hike in Oregon, the question these days seems to be how, not if, it will be accomplished. At least three different plans are headed for debate RQWKH+RXVHDQG6HQDWHÀRRU during the session that begins on Feb. 1, and activists are gathering signatures for two separate ballot measures. On Thursday, Governor Kate Brown announced her plan, calling for a separate minimum wage inside the Portland Urban Growth Boundary that would reach $15.52 by 2022. Outside the Portland area, minimum wage would be raised to $10.25 in 2017 and incre- mentally increase to $13.50 by 2022. Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland), chair of would break the state into the Senate Workforce three regions based on cost of Committee, has been living. working on his own bill that The highest wages would be in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. Eleven counties on the western side of the state Eastern Oregon business owners worry over hike would fall in the middle. Eastern Oregon and sections of the coast would fall under a lower “Tier 3” increase. Dembrow has yet to specify how quickly wages would rise in each tier. A separate union-backed bill would raise all of Oregon’s minimum wage to $13.50 by 2019 while lifting the current ban on allowing individual cities to set their own minimum wage higher. If Democrats fail to build enough consensus to raise PLQLPXPZDJHVLJQL¿FDQWO\ from its current level of $9.25 an hour, activists have promised to put the issue on the ballot in November. Raise the Wage Oregon, a coalition of unions and political groups, is gathering signatures for a ballot measure that would raise statewide minimum wage to $13.50 by 2018 and end the ban on cities setting their own, higher minimum wage. If activists pushing for a $15 an hour minimum wage in Oregon get their way, more than half of Umatilla County workers are in for a raise. A 2015 report by economist Dallas “Nothing’s Fridley estimated 52 percent of Umatilla free. If you County’s workforce less than $15 raise minimum makes an hour and 43 percent Morrow County wage by 50 of workers do. While those percent, some- workers might relish one has to pay the thought of a jump in pay, many business for that.” owners are worried — Joseph Franell, about how they will Eastern Oregon Telecom CEO pay for it. Sam Jackson, owner of Crazy Mike’s Video in Hermiston, said proposals to raise minimum wage from $9.25 an hour to $13.50 or $15 could mean she would See WAGE/12A See BUSINESS/12A By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Deer Ridge will house inmates in February By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The Depart- ment of Corrections plans to move nearly 800 inmates in late February to a vacant medium-security facility at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras. The move, which will cost PLOOLRQLVWKH¿UVWLQD two-step plan to accommo- date unanticipated growth in the state’s prison population. The inmates will be moved from a smaller minimum-se- curity complex at Deer Ridge that lacks room for more beds. “That plan is in motion,” said DOC Director Colette Peters. The entire plan involves opening 200 more beds. If fully implemented, the expansion is estimated to cost a total of $9.5 million. “It gives you an idea of See PRISON/12A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Benny Hill of Pendleton changed to an e-cigarette as a means to quit using tobacco products more than three years ago. Clearing the smoke Risk of e-cigarettes still hazy as smokers switch from tobacco to e-juice a cigarette since.” Humphrey had found success in what some call the Wild West of smoking cessation. The largely unregulated vaping industry has rapidly expanded since a Chinese chemist invented By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian the e-cigarette about 13 years ago. But disagreement about the health of vaping abounds. The U.S. Food Steve Humphrey started and Drug Administration warned smoking tobacco as a teen and that e-cigarettes may be harmful worked his way up to two packs a and toxic. The World Health Orga- day. For decades, he tried to stop. nization called for a ban on indoor “I tried to quit a thousand times,” use and asked for restricted sales to Humphrey said. “Sometimes it was minors. Portland State University a couple of weeks, but never for researchers determined that the very long.” carcinogen formaldehyde can be Finally, about a year ago, the present in electronic cigarette vapor. Pendleton blues musician and Staff photo by E.J. Harris As of Jan. 1, Oregonians may UHWLUHG¿QDQFHPDQDJHUGHFLGHGWR try vaping. With vaping, battery-op- The vaping industry has seen an explosion in the number of users no longer vape in indoor public places — e-cigarettes now fall erated devices such as e-cigarettes over the last few years as tobacco users look for a way to quit. deliver nicotine in an inhalable known as e-juice. “I went to a vaping shop and under the Clean Air Act. The ban vapor. There is no combustion. A Humphrey decided he had bought a starter kit,” he said. “I See VAPING/12A FRLO LQVLGH KHDWV ÀDYRUHG OLTXLG nothing to lose. started that day and have never had
