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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2016)
55/28 CITY’S CITIZENS HONORED HEPPNER HOLDS OFF IRRIGON TO WIN CBC TITLE MILTON-FREEWATER/3A BASKETBALL/1B TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2016 140th Year, No. 92 Proposed Transportation System Plan update New traffic signal/ roundabout E. Airport Road S. Hw y. 39 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Hermiston Foods S. Ott Road Planned Ranch and Home store E. Penney Ave. S.E. Kelli Blvd. S. Walmart Distribution Center Hw y. 3 95 N Source: City of Hermiston Jade McDowell and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group 500 Feet Feedville Road PENDLETON Jail to add Wallowa County prisoners No love for roundabouts City councilors, citizens voice opinions on ODOT recommendation EZ Mini Storage 5 HERMISTON By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian An Oregon Department of Trans- portation recommendation to install roundabouts on south Highway 395 was met with resistance from city councilors and citizens alike on Monday night. “It seems ridiculous,” councilor Jackie Myers said. The negative comments came during a public hearing for amendments to the Transportation System Plan approved by the city’s planning commission. One amendment, added at the request of ODOT, would add the words “or a roundabout” to the plan’s current recommendation for traf¿ c signals to eventually be installed at multiple spots along Highway 395 south of the city. According to ODOT’s recommen- dation, roundabouts in high-speed areas help reduce crashes that come from distracted drivers who run red lights or rear-end vehicles that are waiting to cross. Five citizens spoke out against the roundabout idea during Monday’s public hearing, including Dan Coffee, who lives on Airport Road. He said his years of truck-driving e[perience had taught him that heavy eighteen-wheelers would constantly damage the round- abouts and drivers would have dif¿ culty navigating them. “A roundabout is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said. Nathan Crowther, a Hermiston resi- dent, said he spoke with the manager of the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and learned that during the month of November the center had 500 trucks coming in and 500 trucks leaving every day. Some sort of signal along there may be needed to control traf¿ c, he said, but “the combination of a roundabout and trucks is asking for trouble.” During a workshop before the coun- cil’s regular meeting, city planner Clint Spencer stressed that the Transportation System Plan is not a construction plan, but rather a “conceptualization” of what the city’s transportation needs might be over the ne[t 20 years. The state won’t give the city money See ROUNDABOUTS/8A Homeless campers forced to move to higher ground East Oregonian The Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton is the new home for Wallowa County offenders. The ¿ nal contract is still in the works, but suspects arrested in Oregon’s northeastern county will be transported to Umatilla County instead of Union County, where they have been housed since around 2010. Wallowa County has its own 12-cell jail, but Sheriff Steve Rogers said he has neither the manpower nor funding to staff it. Umatilla County has more room than Union county facilities, one of the reasons that necessitated the move. “Union County (jail) is real small, and they can’t do anything with our people without our permission, so we could basically keep their jail plugged all the time,” Rogers said. Wallowa County housed its inmates at the Pendleton jail for at least a decade until around 2010. Rogers said isn’t sure why the switch was made to Union County. Though a few bumps in the transfer need to be ironed out with the court and the district attorney’s of¿ ce, Rogers said the move to Pendleton is permanent. The Pendleton jail started taking Wallowa County’s inmates last Wednesday. Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan said the return makes a lot of sense; Umatilla County’s jail is an impressive facility with Tuali¿ ed staff working at high standards. Rowan said a typical contract would provide ¿ ve or si[ beds for See JAIL/8A Staff photo by E.J. Harris James Johnson, originally from Irrigon, smokes a cigarette near his campsite Monday along Umatilla River Road outside Umatilla. Nowhere to go ‘River people’ shufÀ ed again, move closer to Umatilla River Road By JENNIFER COLTON East Oregonian A tent offering a bit of warmth, a bite to eat and a fragment of privacy becomes home for those who have nowhere else to go. Around those tents springs a commu- nity of “river people,” those thrown together by circumstance and chance, bound by a need to survive. Monday, about 14 people called the camp near the Umatilla River home. In the summer months, the camps have Youngman meets Ellen Twitter campaign ends as PHS teacher appears on ‘Ellen Show’ See YOUNGMAN/8A See HOMELESS/8A Amended energy bill lowers cost hike caps By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian #YoungmanOnEllen. Check. For the past several weeks, students of Pendleton High School Spanish teacher Kathryn Youngman waged a Twitter campaign to get their teacher on “The Ellen DeGe- neres Show.” Youngman, ¿ ghting cancer for the third time, has long admired the comedienne for her posi- been home to as many as 20 or 25 resi- dents. One is Douglas Robertson, a long- time resident of Eastern Oregon who has been in the camps for about a year. “A lot of people lost their jobs. That’s why I’m here,” he said with a shrug. After losing his job and his apart- ment, Robertson moved into a tent near the river and started looking for another job. Then he said he lost his wallet, and to replace his identi¿ cation card he had Photo contributed by Michael Rozman/Warner Bros Kathryn Youngman, center, talks with Ellen DeGeneres during a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneresShow” that aired Monday. SALEM — A bill to double Oregon’s renewable energy mandate is headed for a vote as soon as Wednesday in the state Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate. The Senate Committee on Busi- ness and Transportation voted 3-2 Monday afternoon to pass an amended version of the bill out of committee. Committee chair Sen. Lee Beyer, D-Spring¿ eld, wrote the amendment in an attempt to address concerns that the bill, which was negotiated behind closed doors by the state’s two inves- tor-owned utilities, environmental groups, the renewable energy industry and Citizens Utility Board of Oregon, will be costly to consumers and businesses. See ENERGY/8A
