NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Thursday, March 3, 2016
BRIEFLY
Brown signs minimum
wage hike plan into law
in rural and coastal counties with
struggling economies and $13.50 in
the rest of the state by 2022.
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from $9.25 to $9.75 statewide.
President Obama on Wednesday
commended the Oregon Legislature
and Brown for approving the plan and
called on Congress to follow suit. He
said more than half of states now have
wages higher than the federal
minimum.
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Congress to increase the
federal minimum wage
in 2013, 18 states and
the District of Columbia
have acted on their own,”
Obama said in a statement.
“These efforts will boost the
paychecks of hardworking Americans
and help support millions of workers
trying to make ends meet.”
Brown said the plan would help
the state avoid “a number of poten-
tially problematic ballot measures.”
It is still unclear whether all of the
initiative campaigns are dead.
The Raise the Wage coalition
announced Monday that it has
suspended signature gathering to
place a measure on the ballot to raise
wages to $13.50 statewide during a
three-year period. That measure also
would have lifted a ban on cities and
counties setting higher wages. Chief
sponsors said early in the campaign
that the union-backed initiative was
intended to spur the Legislature to
action.
“While this proposal diverges from
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown
signed
landmark
legislation
Wednesday to set a three-tier
minimum wage increase schedule
around the state.
The plan, which establishes a
higher minimum wage in the Portland
area and a lower amount
in areas with a struggling
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kind in the nation, said Sen.
Michael Dembrow, D-Port-
land.
“I am so delighted to
be here today to celebrate
the achievement of my top
priority for the short session
to raise Oregon’s minimum wage,”
Brown said. “Over the past few
weeks, I’ve done a lot of talking about
how important it is for hardworking
Oregonians to get a much needed
raise in order to keep up with the
rising cost of housing, rent, food and
other necessities.”
Dembrow and Rep. Paul Holvey,
D-Eugene, crafted the plan, contained
in Senate Bill 1532, after a year’s
worth of research, meetings with
stakeholders, public hearings and
negotiations.
The plan hikes wages over a period
of six years. The amount differs
in each of three regions and is set
according to a county’s population,
median income and cost of living. In
Portland, minimum wage will reach
$14.75 in the Portland area, $12.50
DEQ director
resigns amid outcry
over toxic hot spots
SALEM (AP) — Gov.
Kate Brown announced the
resignation of the director
of the Department of
Environmental Quality.
Brown said Tuesday that
Dick Pedersen is stepping
down as Oregon’s top
HQYLURQPHQWDORI¿FLDOIRU
health reasons that she did not
identify.
Pedersen’s resignation
comes amid a public outcry
over discovery of hazardous
levels of cadmium and arsenic
near two glass-making facilities
in Portland. Questions have
been raised about whether the
environmental agency took too
long to respond to discovery of
the toxic hot spots.
Pedersen has been with the
agency for two decades and
became director in 2008.
Deputy Director Joni
Hammond will step in as
interim director until a
permanent replacement is
named.
our initial plan for raising the wage, it
is overwhelmingly a win for Oregon
workers — in large part because it
gives a raise to over 100,000 mini-
mum-wage workers this July,” said
Andrea Miller, executive director of
Causa Oregon. “Most notably, this bill
contains no carve-outs or exceptions
for different classes of workers, like
farmworkers or restaurant workers,
or for people just starting out in their
career.”
The $15 Now campaign is still an
unknown.
“We are still in discussions with
our partners of which there are many,”
said chief petitioner Jamie Partridge
RI 3RUWODQG ³7KH\ DUH ¿JXULQJ RXW
how to go forward. We are trying to
determine our capacity to go to the
ballot and wage a winning campaign.”
The plan approved by the Legis-
lature is “too low, too slow and too
little, too late,” Partridge said. “It’s
not enough to bring people out of
poverty.”
Anthony K. Smith, Oregon state
director for the National Federation
of Independent Business called on the
governor to publicly oppose the $15
Now campaign.
“It’s bad enough that this unfor-
tunate law will prompt small-busi-
ness owners to halt hiring, start
cutting back hours for workers,
start eliminating overtime, or even
make layoffs, but her silence on
the ballot initiative only adds to the
anxiety Oregon’s entrepreneurs are
already experiencing,” Smith said in
a statement.
Oregon jobless rate
falls to 5.1 percent;
lowest since 2007
PORTLAND (AP) —
The last time Oregon’s
unemployment rate was this
low Apple had just released its
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Trail Blazers selected Greg
2GHQZLWKWKH¿UVWRYHUDOOSLFN
in the NBA draft.
The state Employment
Department said Tuesday that
Oregon’s unemployment rate
for January fell to 5.1 percent,
a level the state has not seen
since June 2007.
Oregon’s payroll report
surged by nearly 10,000 jobs in
January, the agency said, with
four major industries leading
the way: leisure and hospitality,
construction, manufacturing,
and professional business
services.
Since January 2015, when
the jobless rate was 5.9 percent,
payroll employment has risen
by almost 60,000 jobs.
“Oregon’s labor market
is as good as it was during
UO president declines to renew contracts for 79 faculty
EUGENE (AP) — The University
of Oregon will have fewer non-ten-
ured faculty members next fall after
its president declined to renew 79
contracts.
President Michael Schill issued
the contract non-renewals Monday.
The change is part of his larger
effort to focus priorities like hiring
100 tenure-track faculty members
RYHUWKHQH[W¿YH\HDUVDQGPDNLQJ
it easier for students to graduate on
time, reported The Register-Guard.
All of the affected faculty
members worked in the College of
Arts and Sciences, and 60 percent
of them were in the humanities,
according to a memo from interim
'HDQ$QGUHZ 0DUFXV %XW RI¿FLDOV
said more job cuts are probably on
the horizon.
“Other schools and colleges —
like business and journalism — will
be doing it in the future, I suspect,”
said university Provost Scott Coltrane
on Tuesday.
The university also decided not
to renew the contracts of six central
RI¿FHQRQIDFXOW\HPSOR\HHV
Schill had expressed concern that
departments were hiring non-tenure
track faculty to teach while some
tenured faculty had skimpy teaching
loads.
Nathalie Hester, an associate
professor of Italian and French, said
departments like English and foreign
languages seem to be the hardest hit.
6KHH[SHFWVWKDW¿YHWRVHYHQRIKHU
colleagues in the romance languages
department won’t be returning next
year.
“There’s a lot of apprehension and
a lot of anxiety in our department,”
Hester said.
The school’s faculty union,
United Academics, supports the
goal of increasing tenured faculty.
But United Academics President
Michael Dreiling said the cuts were
too abrupt.
“By making these cuts all in one
year, it leaves open the question of
how are those programs going to
deliver the high-quality undergrad-
uate training that they’re expected
to deliver?” he said, suggesting a
two- or three-year rollout would have
given the departments more time to
adjust.
Coltrane said the cuts weren’t
really abrupt because they’d been on
the table for more than a year.
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FRIDAY
TODAY
A passing morning
shower
Partial sunshine
58° 37°
63° 48°
SATURDAY
Mostly cloudy,
showers around
SUNDAY
Clouds and
sunshine
Mostly cloudy, a
shower or two
61° 47°
58° 37°
50° 34°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
65° 45°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
58°
51°
69° (1931)
37°
32°
2° (1896)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Trace
0.24"
0.07"
2.61"
1.55"
2.62"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
56°
53°
73° (1936)
35°
31°
10° (1993)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.02"
0.11"
0.07"
1.60"
1.06"
2.34"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Mar 8
Mar 15
6:30 a.m.
5:45 p.m.
2:29 a.m.
12:11 p.m.
Full
Last
Mar 23
64° 47°
61° 36°
54° 36°
Seattle
57/45
ALMANAC
Mar 31
NEWS
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COMMERCIAL PRINTING
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REGIONAL CITIES
Today
MONDAY
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
62° 34°
ADVERTISING
Advertising Director: Jennine Perkinson
MSHUNLQVRQ#HDVWRUHJRQLDQFRP
Real Estate Advertising: Jodi Snook
MVQRRN#HDVWRUHJRQLDQFRP
Forecast
Spokane
Wenatchee
51/33
56/36
Tacoma
Moses
58/39
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 59/34
51/35
55/47
57/41
61/32
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
58/43
58/39 Lewiston
63/32
Astoria
57/35
57/46
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
60/44
Pendleton 49/28
The Dalles 62/34
58/37
61/36
La Grande
Salem
54/31
61/42
Albany
Corvallis 60/42
62/43
John Day
58/35
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
62/37
62/42
55/33
Caldwell
Burns
62/37
51/27
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
57
54
55
59
51
49
62
58
62
58
57
54
51
62
57
61
62
63
58
60
58
61
51
53
58
58
61
Lo
46
30
33
47
27
28
42
35
34
35
33
31
31
40
48
46
37
34
37
44
33
42
33
30
44
39
32
W
sh
c
pc
c
c
r
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
r
r
pc
c
c
c
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
c
r
pc
c
pc
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Fri.
Hi
55
57
59
60
53
55
63
61
65
63
54
60
57
63
58
62
64
64
63
59
62
61
55
59
57
62
60
Lo
47
41
43
50
33
42
48
44
45
50
39
47
44
44
50
51
47
45
48
48
40
47
43
43
47
52
41
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
r
pc
pc
c
pc
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c
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c
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WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
66
69
58
49
65
32
48
56
54
86
58
Lo
33
61
44
37
47
27
39
39
41
70
45
W
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
c
sh
sh
pc
s
s
Fri.
Hi
59
71
60
46
63
36
47
57
61
85
57
Lo
40
64
44
34
41
33
33
47
48
70
48
W
pc
c
s
sh
sh
sn
sh
pc
c
s
pc
WINDS
Medford
62/40
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
57/33
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: More clouds than sun
today; a couple of showers across the north.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy
today with a couple of showers, except dry
in the south.
Western Washington: Mostly cloudy today
with spotty showers. A passing shower in
central parts tonight.
Eastern Washington: Cloudy today. Snow, 1-3
inches in the mountains; a shower near the
Idaho border. Clouds breaking across the south.
Cascades: A shower during the morning;
otherwise, mostly cloudy today. Partly
cloudy tonight.
Northern California: Mostly cloudy today; a
couple of showers, except dry at the coast.
Today
Friday
WSW 4-8
SW 4-8
NE 3-6
S 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0
2
3
PORTLAND (AP) —
Authorities say a 19-year-old
PDQKDVEHFRPHWKH¿IWK
person to die in eight months at
Oregon’s Cape Kiwanda.
The Oregonian reports that
Tillamook County Sheriff’s
2I¿FHVD\V'DYLG/RSH]RI
Woodburn drowned there
Sunday.
Deputies say Lopez and two
friends were climbing in an
area known as the Punch Bowl
when one of the men fell into
the water. Lopez and the other
friend fell while trying to help
him.
Lopez’s friends made it
safely to shore.
Earlier this month,
17-year-old Megan Owens
of Washington fell at Cape
Kiwanda. She has not yet been
found.
Sheriff Andy Long says
most deaths in the area are
teens and people in their 20s,
usually from out of town.
Deputies say Owens and Lopez
both went around a fence to
climb in the area.
Corrections
Legal Advertising:$PDQGD-DFREV
DMDFREV#HDVWRUHJRQLDQFRP
Copyright © 2016, EO Media Group
Teen dies after fall at
Cape Kiwanda; 5th
death in 8 months
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely
regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please
call 541-966-0818.
ClassiÀed Advertising:
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Single copy price:
7XHVGD\WKURXJK)ULGD\6DWXUGD\
previous expansions,”
said Nick Beleiciks, state
employment economist. “The
unemployment rate is now
lower than it was in most of the
mid-2000s and nearly as low
as in the mid-1990s. Oregon is
adding jobs at a faster rate than
during the mid-2000s, and the
number of jobs added over the
last year is on par with growth
during the mid-1990s.”
The state’s jobless rate has
been steadily declining since
reaching a peak of nearly 12
percent in the spring of 2009,
a time when it was reeling
from the recession. Another
month of strong job growth
could push the rate to below 5
percent, a mark Oregon has not
seen this century.
Another unemployment
measure, known as U-6, sat
at 10.3 percent in January
— down from 12.4 percent a
\HDUDJR7KH¿JXUHLQFOXGHV
discouraged workers who
stopped looking as well as
part-time workers who want
but can’t get full-time jobs.
2
0
0
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: Snow will spread eastward along the Interstate 70 and 80 corridors of
the Midwest with rain and storms farther south today. Rain and mountain snow will begin
to push well inland over the West.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 92° in Thermal, Calif.
Low -20° in Crane Lake, Minn.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
72
55
38
40
63
53
61
35
65
41
34
36
73
67
34
82
20
34
82
82
42
78
51
84
66
71
Lo
41
43
31
31
35
43
40
24
48
32
24
27
43
35
23
47
1
25
67
49
30
54
31
56
40
53
W
pc
r
pc
pc
pc
r
c
s
s
sn
sn
sn
s
pc
sn
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s
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pc
pc
sn
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
Fri.
Hi
76
59
40
42
61
58
64
34
64
45
37
34
73
62
34
85
21
44
82
75
42
72
62
78
61
69
Lo
42
37
29
26
36
36
49
24
41
27
31
23
49
33
21
49
2
27
67
48
31
45
37
58
40
56
Today
W
s
s
sn
sn
pc
s
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sn
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c
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c
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
45
59
81
33
37
47
78
39
66
44
40
90
27
36
52
56
62
64
49
63
67
63
57
89
44
62
Lo
35
42
69
21
25
39
55
31
38
31
33
60
10
22
37
34
38
52
35
40
56
55
45
52
35
34
W
r
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pc
sf
sf
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t
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pc
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s
Fri.
Hi
47
57
83
35
40
51
70
39
73
55
40
88
31
37
54
58
63
67
52
61
68
66
54
90
43
72
Lo
34
40
64
31
32
33
50
27
43
33
27
59
16
25
33
27
43
55
42
42
59
58
45
52
33
39
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
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