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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 2016)
Page 8A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Thursday, March 24, 2016 3KRHQL[RI¿FLDOEDFNWUDFNV after blaming voters for lines PHOENIX (AP) — Bruce Weiss stewed after waiting 2½ hours in line outside a downtown Phoenix polling place, where juice drinks, snacks and circus animal cookies were handed out by citizens hoping to pacify thousands who turned out to cast ballots in Arizona’s presidential primary. The scene was repeated Tuesday as thousands stood in lines that wrapped around sidewalks at churches, community centers and government buildings after the number of places to vote were cut back as a cost-savings measure. Some voters took shelter from the sun under umbrellas. Others brought lawn chairs. Still others gave up and went home. The last voters entered polling spots after midnight. “It’s like a complete, total failure of government,” Weiss said. Waits dragged on as long DV ¿YH KRXUV LQ 0DULFRSD County — home to metro Phoenix and 1.2 million voters eligible to cast ballots — but where only 60 polling places were open. By Wednesday, the mayor of Phoenix said the cutbacks David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic via AP People wait in line to vote in the primary at the Envi- ronmental Education Center, Tuesday in Chandler, Ariz. were about more than saving money. Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, called for a federal investigation into ZKHWKHU HOHFWLRQ RI¿FLDOV illegally put fewer polling locations in poor or minori- ty-heavy areas. Stanton in a letter to the Justice Department also cited examples of other policies DGRSWHGE\HOHFWLRQVRI¿FLDOV and the state Legislature that have created “a culture of voter disenfranchisement.” Arizona’s Republican governor called the primary day foul-ups “unacceptable,” and others demanded the resignation of the county’s top HOHFWLRQV RI¿FLDO 5HFRUGHU Helen Purcell. Purcell initially put the blame on voters, stirring a clamor on the Internet. Her name was a trending topic on Twitter. But Wednesday she backtracked, saying she failed to anticipate the effect of intense voter interest on primary turnout. “I made bad decisions based on the information I had, obviously, or we wouldn’t have had long lines,” Purcell told The Associated Press. In the 2012 presidential primary, there were 200 places for voters to cast ballots in the county, which is heavily Republican. By comparison, Pima County — home to more liberal Tucson, Arizona, and a quarter of Maricopa County’s population — had 124 voting locations Tuesday. Ramped-up interest in the presidential primary was also seen Tuesday in Idaho and Utah, where results were delayed as throngs of voters packed caucus sites. Repub- lican and Democratic party RI¿FLDOV SUHGLFWHG UHFRUG turnouts but still underesti- mated the crowds. Three-fourths of the Democratic caucus sites in Utah ran out of ballots, sending workers to nearby stores to print more ballots or voters home to bring back reams of paper or even a home printer at one site. Shrinking the number of voting spots in the Phoenix area was meant to save $1.5 PLOOLRQ RI¿FLDOV VDLG %XW other factors that contributed WR WKH ¿DVFR ² ZKLFK VDZ Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump breeze to victories in Arizona — were the growing number of mail-in ballots the county recorder has seen in the last decade. When Phoenix news station Fox 10 asked Purcell who to blame for Tuesday’s problems, she said, “Well, the voters for getting in line. Maybe us for not having enough polling places or as many as we usually have.” TOBACCO: State doesn’t have tobacco retail licenses Continued from 1A and Umatilla. The subject is a relevant one, said Jones. “Tobacco is still the leading preventable cause of death,” she said. According to a statewide survey by the Oregon Health Authority, about 12,700 people in Umatilla County smoke. Twenty-three percent of Umatilla County adults smoke compared with the statewide average of 19 percent. Almost 3,000 have serious illness caused by tobacco and each year 148 of them die a tobacco-related death. More than a quarter of 11th graders smoke or use non-cigarette tobacco. The effort to tackle the issue locally rather than at the state level came after the demise of a bill to license tobacco retailers. Senate Bill 1559 would have combated sales to minors by licensing retailers with the Department of Revenue and revoking the license for repeat violations, much the same as with alcohol. “Oregon is one of the few states that doesn’t have tobacco retail licenses,” Jones said. “In Oregon you have to have a license to sell Christmas trees, but you don’t need a license to sell tobacco.” The bill was set aside after it became something of a partisan bargaining chip, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Bea- verton, who accused Repub- licans of acting childishly and putting politics ahead of children. Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) said the Senate simply ran out of time to sand down some of the rough spots before the short session ended. An example of a rough spot was a section of the bill that would have prevented new stores from selling tobacco within 1,000 feet of schools. Current businesses would have been grandfathered in, but trans- fers to new owners, even those in the family, were not. “In Athena, we have two establishments that would both fall within 1,000 feet,” he said. “If they sold the businesses, the grandfathers would not go with them.” He expects a similar bill to show up in next year’s full session. “I’m sure it will be back and we’ll have time to work through it,” he said. A couple of Oregon coun- ties (Lane and Multnomah) and one city (Cottage Grove) aren’t waiting. They acted to require licenses at the local level to sell tobacco or inhalant delivery systems such as e-cigarettes. Umatilla &RXQW\ LV WDNLQJ WKLV ¿UVW step to develop a strategy. Jones said the Umatilla County effort will engage retailers, community partners and especially youth. “Youth have a lot of power and they care about their generation,” Jones said. Toni Walters, who manages Dave’s Chevron, explained that the “power wall” is the result of agree- ments with tobacco compa- nies. “Tobacco companies offer merchant contracts that bring down prices of cigarettes,” Walters said. “In exchange, the power wall is put up the way they want it.” Shawn Abdullah, owner of Bare Bones in Pendleton, didn’t reject the idea of working with the county’s new coordinator, but he doesn’t necessarily think it’s the correct approach. Many of the young smokers he knows have parents who smoked and provided a bad example. Boosting the smoking age to 21 as California is considering might push off the decision to smoke until they are more mature. “I think it’s the only way,” he said. In any case, “we always ID anyone who looks 26 or younger.” He stood near the store’s wall of cigarettes, cans of chewing tobacco, vaping supplies and tobacco posters. The store focuses on adult products such as tobacco and alcohol, though it also offers beverages and snacks. Jone said tobacco adver- tising in stores affects not only adolescents, but former smokers and other adults who are trying to quit. “We are really out to keep the next generation from being addicted to tobacco,” she said. “We also want to help the 75 percent of tobacco users who are trying to quit.” ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. PRIMARY: 0DLOHUOLVWVWKUHHRSWLRQVIRUQRQDI¿OLDWHGYRWHUV Continued from 1A it was a top priority for Gov. Kate Brown, who advocated for it in her previous position as secretary of state. Under the law known as “motor voter,” the state auto- matically registers people who are eligible to vote after they obtain or renew their driver’s licenses, permits RU LGHQWL¿FDWLRQ FDUGV 7KH Secretary of State’s Elections Division then sends notices to SHRSOH LGHQWL¿HG DV HOLJLEOH giving them 21 days to opt out of registration or to register with a political party. If people do nothing, the state UHJLVWHUVWKHPDVXQDI¿OLDWHG voters. The secretary of state’s primary mailer lists three RSWLRQV IRU QRQDI¿OLDWHG voters: do nothing and receive a ballot with only nonpartisan races; register with one of the three major parties online at www.oregonvotes.gov or at WKHLUFRXQW\FOHUN¶VRI¿FHRU return an enclosed postcard to request a primary ballot for the Independent Party of Oregon. The deadline to change party registrations or request an Independent Party of Oregon ballot is 5 p.m. April 26. The state sent out WKH ¿UVW EDWFK RI PDLOHUV RQ March 15 and a second batch went out on Monday. Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins said a couple of factors contributed to her decision to send the mailer. Atkins wanted to notify QRQDI¿OLDWHG YRWHUV RI WKH opportunity to request an Independent Party of Oregon ballot, even though she said the law does not require this QRWL¿FDWLRQ$WNLQV DOVR VDZ an opportunity to educate voters about other options. “I have a really great interest in ensuring voters know a lot about what their options are and rather than sending a mailing on behalf of one party, it seemed like a very natural expansion to say this is what is happening now,” Atkins said Wednesday. Atkins said that with “these KLJK SUR¿OH UDFHV WKDW DUH going on, I didn’t want a lot of QRQDI¿OLDWHG YRWHUV JHWWLQJ ballots and saying, ‘Where do I vote for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton?’” Sal Peralta, secretary of the Independent Party of Oregon, had a mixed opinion of the primary mailer. “I think the card itself presented good information for voters,” Peralta said. “It was nice from a civics stand- point.” However, Peralta suggested the Secretary of 6WDWH¶V 2I¿FH PLJKW KDYH other reasons to send the mailer. “The fact they used our Easter Baskets for Kids! Sat., Mar. 26th 1:00 PM C all Faith Center to Reserve! 541-276-9569 elections notice to encourage people to register with parties I think is an indicator they’re worried party registration is plummeting as a result of that law,” Peralta said, referring to the new motor voter law. Atkins said she was following the precedent set a few years ago, when as secre- tary of state Brown decided to send mailers to all voters informing them of the option to request ballots so they could participate in the open Republican primary. The executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon declined to comment on whether the party was concerned about the increase LQ QRQDI¿OLDWHG YRWHUV DQG the Oregon Republican Party did not respond to the same question. $VRI)HEUXDU\WKHLQÀX[ RIQRQDI¿OLDWHGYRWHUVKDGD negligible effect on the split of voters among the major parties, according to an anal- ysis of voter registration data. However, the state has estimated that automatic registration could eventually add as many as 400,000 new voters to the rolls, with much of the increase expected after the Secretary RI 6WDWH¶V 2I¿FH XVHV '09 data to register people who obtained or renewed their driver’s licenses, permits or LGHQWL¿FDWLRQ FDUGV RYHU WKH last two years. The agency will not implement that plan until after the May primary. Oregon has 2.2 million regis- tered voters. ——— The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Hillary Borrud can be reached at 503-364-4431 or hborrud@ eomediagroup.com. HERMISTON EO file photo Good Shepherd Health Care System’s diagnostic imaging department was awarded a Gold Seal of Accreditation in magnetic resonance imaging by the American College of Radiology. Good Shepherd earns gold seal for MRI program practices. Director of Diagnostic Good Shepherd Health Imaging Robert Rose, Care System’s diagnostic Radiologic Technologist imaging department was (RT), R, CT, MR, said in awarded a Gold Seal of a news release from Good Accreditation in magnetic Shepherd that the designa- resonance imaging by tion is “quite the accom- the American College of plishment and something our community should be Radiology. The gold seal represents proud of.” “This designation the “highest level of image quality and patient safety” requires an in-depth review for MRI tests, according to by the ACR of the quality a news release from Good and safety of the service we provide with MRI. In Shepherd. To receive the seal the addition, each of our tech- hospital went through a nologists and radiologists peer-reviewed evalua- have to complete manda- WLRQ E\ ERDUGFHUWL¿HG tory continuing education physicians and medical credits which give them physicists. The evaluation the knowledge and ability examined image quality, to provide the best service SHUVRQQHO TXDOL¿FDWLRQV possible for our commu- facility equipment, nity,” he said. The diagnostic imaging quality control procedures and quality assurance department also had a gold programs. The accredi- seal accreditation from tation also comes with a the American College of comprehensive report that Radiology for its comput- the department can then use erized tomography (CT) to continue improving its scans and mammography. East Oregonian HOMICIDE: Family has not heard from investigators Continued from 1A also states Contreras claims there was a second shooter. Primus did not speculate about that. He said he has “been in communication with the feds in this case and will continue working with them.” Tony Jimenez’s sister, Marisol Jimenez, said the family has not heard from investigators, but they could be giving the family time to arrange her brother’s funeral services. She said they anticipated hearing more as the case developed. Primus said this homi- cide is different from the case of Thadd Nelson of Meacham, who was a non-Indian living on reser- vation land when he was shot and killed Jan. 27. Police the next day arrested Joseph Aaron McIver, 22, of Umatilla, Edward Duarte Ayala, 46, and Armando Rueben Vargas, 39, both of Herm- iston, in connection to the homicide. Primus charged Ayala and Vargas with gun crimes and McIver with PXUGHU ZLWK D ¿UHDUP Days later he dismissed the cases after the Oregon U.S. $WWRUQH\¶V 2I¿FH LQGLFWHG the trio on one count each of felon in possession of a ¿UHDUP Those cases are going forward in federal court, but Primus still can bring charges against the defen- dants. 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