OFF PAGE ONE
ROUNDABOUTS: ODOT has ¿nal say on projects
Page 8A
East Oregonian
Continued from 1A
for any projects not included
in the plan, however, so
he said it was important to
include all projects that the
city might be interested in
pursuing.
Spencer said the amend-
ment process began after
conversations with a “large
retailer” interested in devel-
oping a portion of Highway
395 between Hermiston
Foods and the Wal-Mart
Distribution Center. Planning
commission documents in
the agenda packet identify
that retailer as farm supply
and sporting goods store
Ranch & Home.
He said the retailer had
begun the application process
with the city to build a
100,000 square foot store and
develop several “lease pads”
that could end up hosting
restaurants, gas stations or
other small retailers. Spencer
said without a traf¿c signal
being installed at what is
currently known as the
“Hermiston Foods driveway”
traf¿c would be limited to
a right turn in and right turn
out, discouraging visitors to
the stores.
“The store itself could
function without a traf¿c
signal, but you would need
one with the lease pads,”
Spencer said.
City councilors agreed
that a traf¿c signal at the
development’s entrance — as
well as previously-proposed
ones at places like Airport
Road and the Wal-Mart
Distribution Center — were
likely necessary but they
needed to be stop lights, not
roundabouts.
“It de¿nitely slows traf¿c
way down,” councilor Rod
Hardin said.
Spencer said merely
adding the possibility of
roundabouts to the Trans-
portation System Plan didn’t
mean they had to go in. But
he acknowledged that ODOT
has the ¿nal say on highway
projects, meaning putting
them in the plan as an option
would “leave the door open.”
Councilor Doug Smith
said he didn’t like putting
up roadblocks for potential
developers, and the longer
the city took to approve the
amendment allowing for a
signal to be placed at the
Hermiston Foods driveway
the longer the developer
would not have certainty
moving forward.
However, councilor Doug
Primmer said he didn’t
think waiting a couple of
weeks would really make
much of a difference, and
in the end councilors voted
unanimously to continue the
public hearing on the matter
until their March 14 meeting,
allowing staff to discuss with
ODOT whether the state
transportation commission
would still sign off on the
Transportation System Plan
without adding the recom-
mendation for roundabouts.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
HOMELESS: Camp is now very visible from the road
Continued from 1A
to replace his social security card, which
had been in the wallet. The process took
months. His new ID shows his address
as “Under I-82 overpass, Old River
Road, Umatilla.”
“I just got those replaced, so now I’m
looking again,” he said. “Right now, I’m
just unemployed, waiting for the facto-
ries to pick up, which is next month.”
Most of the campers were moved
from their campsites in Umatilla in
August when the city passed a ban on
longterm camping within city limits.
The campers moved to a spot further
upriver, but had to move again this
month because of rising waters.
When the move order ¿rst came
down, Douglas moved his items then
helped others. He found a spot in the
trees next to a collapsed tent and moved
in. He left the tent and its collection of
clothing and items untouched.
“I ¿gured it was none of my busi-
ness,” he said. “How would I feel if I
took that over and then the owner came
back? I’m not a thief.”
The current residents of the Umatilla
camp each repeat the same refrain:
we’re not thieves, we’re not criminals,
we’re not bad people. We don’t steal
anything from anyone.
For James Johnson, life snowballed,
tragedy following tragedy — his father
died, he lost his job, his wife left him,
he was arrested. Now on probation,
Johnson said he did not want to be a
burden on his mother and took to life in
the camp.
“I was taught survival when I was a
kid by my dad, and I’ve been camping
most of my life,” he said. “I’ve got a lot
of pride. I don’t want to live off anyone.”
Johnson has been homeless for about
two years. In addition to working side
jobs and searching for full-time employ-
ment, Johnson is the camp’s designated
¿rewood cutter, helping those without
the bene¿t of survival training survive
in the camps. Most of the campers use
¿res to cook meals, and some take the
embers into their tents to keep warm
but must watch for carbon monoxide
poisoning. When they can afford them,
the campers hook Coleman stoves to
propane tanks to cook meals and heat
their tents at the same time.
The campers have little, but all say
they share food, sleeping bags and ¿re-
wood with others who stop by.
“Anyone who needs a place to stay
or a meal, people send them to us. We
can’t help much, but we try,” said Laurie
Love, one of the newest members of the
camp.
Homeless for about six months,
Love is one of the newest members
of the camp. After losing her home
due to divorce, Love found herself on
Beyer said the amend-
ment strengthened the role of
the Public Utility Commis-
sion, in response to criticism
the earlier version would
have weakened commission
oversight.
Utilities objected to a
provision in the amendment
that would lower the annual
cost cap for the renewable
energy mandate from 4
percent to 3 percent. The
existing renewable energy
mandate allows utilities
to ask the Public Utility
Commission to approve rate
increases based on costs
incurred to meet the law.
“I’m not sure why
changing it advances the
policy now,” said Scott
Bolton, a vice president at
Paci¿Corp.
Ry Schwark, a spokesman
for Paci¿Corp, said he
expected the bill might still
undergo changes. “Since
this now will likely need to
go to conference, much will
depend upon what comes
out the other end of that
process,” Schwark wrote in
an email.
Beyer’s amendment also
expanded the types of energy
JAIL: Should not have
much effect on staf¿ng
Continued from 1A
about $120,000 a year, and
he and his jail commander,
Capt. Stewart Harp, plan to
meet with 5ogers to ¿gure
out some details. Rowan
said they could have a
contract by early March.
Rogers and Rowan are
both seeking re-election
this year. Rogers said the
decision to move had been
up in the air for two years,
but once the talk got serious
it took about six months for
Rogers to ¿nali]e the deci-
sion. Another three months
passed by before it could be
implemented to give Union
County notice of the switch.
Rogers said while he
gives notice to other county
departments,
such
as
commissioners, the judges
and district attorneys of
important decisions such as
this, the jail is his, and the
decision was his alone to
make.
He added while it may
seem like the additional
distance would cost more
money, this is not the case.
“I think it’ll be a wash
in the long run. It’s a little
more expensive to transport
the prisoners, but the cost
per prisoner per day is
cheaper,” Rogers said. “It’ll
work out pretty close.”
Rowan said the Umatilla
County Jail can handle
the few inmates Wallowa
County will send without
much of an effect on
staf¿ng. And the new
revenue stream will have
to cover the cost of housing
inmates, he said, but this
also could mean more
programs and services to
help offenders stay out of
jail.
“We look at all this as an
opportunity to improve,”
Rowan said.
Of course, commis-
sioners of both counties
will have the ¿nal approval
of the contract.
The jail already has
contracts with Morrow
County,
Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservations, the
county’s parole and proba-
tion department and U.S.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.
———
Phil Wright of the East
Oregonian and Steve Tool
of the Wallowa County
Chieftain contributed to this
report.
YOUNGMAN: Said she found
DeGeneres to be quite genuine
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The homeless camp on Umatilla River Road was down at this spot on the
banks of the Umatilla River before rising water levels forced the campers
to move up closer to the road.
“No one wants to have a town with homeless people in
it, but most of the people here didn’t do anything wrong.
Something bad happened, and it happened fast.”
— Laurie Love, one of the newest members of the camp
the streets. She said she has an RV, in
storage, but has been turned down by
RV parks because she is now homeless
and has a record for being unable to pay
¿nes.
“I never dreamed I would end up
here,” Love said. “I used to be very
judgmental, but sometimes God wants
to put you on the other side of the tracks.
I’ve learned a lot, and I’ll never forget it.
It can happen to anyone.”
Love points out people treat her
differently when they ¿nd out she is a
“river person” now. Some people close
off or assume she is a criminal; other
people offer help or food or clothing.
“People think all the worst things,
that we’re thieves, liars, vagrants, but
this community also has really awesome
people,” she said. “No, no one wants to
have a town with homeless people in
it, but most of the people here didn’t
do anything wrong. Something bad
happened, and it happened fast.”
The most recent move has been dif¿-
cult on some in the group, because the
camp is now very visible from the road.
“I’m beginning to wonder if they’re
using us to clean up the river. We move
to a site, we get it cleaned up, we haul
off the trash that’s been there for years
— then they tell us to move,” she said.
“Now, here we are by the road, and it’s
embarrassing.”
Umatilla City Manager Bob Ward
said the city council will discuss ¿nding
a set space for campers to stay where
they can meet hygiene needs and have
access to law enforcement.
“We have been getting a lot of
complaints here from people about the
presence of the tent camp,” he said. “It’s
not really growing, it’s that as the river
waters rise, the people who have been
camping are moving to higher ground.
At this point, all of the calls we have
received have been complaints and not
necessarily suggestions.”
The council may discuss the campers
and homeless situation at its next
meeting. Meanwhile, Umatilla County
is working on a solution to move the
camps off the roadside.
“We have been working collabora-
tively with out code enforcement, plan-
ning, and board of commissioners to put
together a plan to deal with things out
there,” Umatilla County Sheriff Terry
Rowan said. “It is still in its infancy, but
I do foresee a plan in the near future.”
That plan will likely involve identi-
fying everyone in the camps, arresting
anyone with warrants and posting signs
for no overnight camping or parking
in the area, Rowan said. The campers
continue to work on ¿nding food and
shelter while trying to get back on their
feet.
“We don’t plan to live here forever.
Going to college, you live in a dorm
before you graduate. Until we get
another job, this is where we are,” Love
said. “Just because someone doesn’t
have anyone to turn to doesn’t make
them a bad person. It doesn’t make
them a loser. It makes it hard.”
ENERGY: The bill might still undergo changes
Continued from 1A
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
the utilities could use to meet
the renewables mandate to
include certain hydropower
projects, biomass and power
plants that burn municipal
solid waste. That provision
did not appear to be contro-
versial.
Beyer was also trying to
shore up support for the bill
after news reports last week
that Gov. Kate Brown’s
administration
silenced
state energy regulators who
critiqued the bill, and that
those regulators had not
received enough information
from the utilities to vet cost
projections for the bill.
“There was lots of
concerns expressed in the
press and everybody else
about how this bill got here
and what it did and whether
the regulator was left out or
not,” Beyer said on Monday.
House Bill 4036 would
double Oregon’s existing
mandate to increase renew-
able energy and require Port-
land General Electric and
Paci¿Corp to use renewable
power sources such as wind
and solar to serve at least 50
percent of their customers’
energy demand in Oregon
by 2040, up from the current
state mandate of 25 percent
renewable energy by 2025.
The bill would also
require the investor-owned
utilities to stop using coal
to serve Oregon customers,
but there are questions
about whether the bill
would actually do much to
impact the phase-out of coal
power in Oregon. Portland
General Electric has already
committed to close Oregon’s
only coal plant, in Boardman,
by 2020, and Beyer said the
bill would have a greater
impact on the types of power
utilities use to replace coal.
Beyer invited Susan
Ackerman, chair of the
Public Utility Commis-
sion, to testify before the
committee on Monday,
something Senate Republi-
cans had called for last week.
Ackerman said the Public
Utility Commission had
long considered a carbon
cap-and-trade system to
be the most ef¿cient way
to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
Lawmakers
introduced a bill to create a
cap-and-trade system this
session, although it seems
to have lost momentum
and is currently assigned
to the budget writing Joint
Committee on Ways and
Means.
Ackerman said she was
concerned that if the renew-
able mandate bill passes,
it could use up the political
capital that would be neces-
sary to pass cap-and-trade
legislation.
Leadership Training at BMCC
tivity. The hashtag trended
with tweets originating
around the world.
A producer ¿nally
invited <oungman to Ày to
Los Angeles and observe
an “Ellen” taping, and last
Thursday, Youngman and
two family members settled
into their seats among
the audience to watch the
show. The episode would
feature “X-Files” actor
David Duchovny and air
the following Monday.
During
the
show,
DeGeneres
approached
Youngman in the audience
for a conversation about
attitude. The comedienne
invited Youngman to stand
and talk about facing chal-
lenges.
“It’s totally about atti-
tude and I also think it’s
totally about being kind to
one another,” Youngman
said. “I get my inspiration
from you and your show.
Be kind to one another.
Kindness and spreading it
to other people is a great
message. It helps you get
through these times.”
“These times” referred
to Youngman’s breast
cancer, which requires
chemo treatments every
two weeks. At the show,
DeGeneres ¿xed her blue
eyes on Youngman’s ha]el-
brown ones.
“You know, I love
talking to interesting people
and we have a lot of famous
people that come on the
show,” DeGeneres said,
“but it’s stories like yours
that actually I … think
about when I go home at
night.”
She gave Youngman a
long hug.
DeGeneres’ staff heaped
red carpet treatment on
Youngman, Àying her to
LA on Wednesday, sending
a chauffeur to collect her
entourage (her niece, Katie
Montchalin, and daughter,
Becky Youngman) and
drive them to a hotel near
Universal Studios. The
next afternoon, the driver
whisked them to the Warner
Brothers Studios where
“The Ellen DeGeneres
Show” is produced. They
were shown to a private
green room and fed lunch.
Youngman’s mother, Marie
Groshong, and sister,
Rebecca Barlow, joined
them there.
Later from her seat in
the audience, Youngman
laughed at Duchovny and
DeGeneres’ banter. During
commercial breaks, staff
members kept the audience
in a high-energy fren]y
with dance contests and
pulsing music. Though she
had worried about having
enough stamina for the trip,
Youngman just relaxed and
enjoyed the adventure.
“She was so high and
energetic. Her adrenaline
was Àowing,” Groshong
said. “She had accom-
plished one of her dreams
and she was in the clouds.”
“It was ama]ing,”
Youngman
said.
“It
surpassed my expecta-
tions.”
After the show, the
producers treated the ¿ve
women to dinner at an
expensive Italian restaurant.
Youngman said she
found DeGeneres to be
quite genuine.
“She means what she
says and she truly cares
about other people,” the
teacher said. “The people
who work for her promote
her values.”
That’s important to
Youngman. She is using her
third battle with cancer as
a platform to promote her
own values and the impor-
tance of being kind.
The day the show aired,
Youngman had returned
to reality with a crash.
She spent the morning in
chemotherapy. It was a lot
of downtime to think about
her surreal adventure in LA
and all the folks who had
made it happen. The busi-
nesses that held fundraisers
for her medical fund. The
students and their plethora
of tweets.
After watching the
show again at home, she
expressed her gratitude.
“I’m so thankful to all
the people who supported
and encouraged me — the
high school students and
the community and the
campaign that allowed me
to go down there and spread
the message of kindness.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
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