NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Friday, June 17, 2016
Malheur refuge manager: Takeover will drive some workers away
reason most opposed the occupation.
“You didn’t see that community
raise their hands and support the
militia occupation. You saw them
raise their hands and ask them to go
home,” he said.
“Without that process, I’m
convinced we would have had a
different outcome,” Karges said.
The occupation would have lasted
longer, and some federal workers
— including Karges — probably
would have felt so unwelcome they
wouldn’t have returned, he said.
The protesters wanted the federal
government to relinquish control
of Western lands and free two
imprisoned Oregon ranchers. They
eventually surrendered and now face
federal charges, but one — Robert
“LaVoy” Finicim — was fatally shot
by oficers.
In Portland on Thursday,
42-year-old Jason Blomgren pleaded
guilty to a federal conspiracy charge
related to the occupation.
Blomgren, of Murphy, North
Associated Press
ESTES PARK, Colo. — About a
third of the staff of an Oregon wild-
life refuge that was taken over by
armed protesters will probably leave
their jobs because of the lingering
effects of the occupation, the refuge
manager said Thursday.
Some worry about being
confronted by other protesters
who sympathize with the anti-gov-
ernment group that took over the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
for 41 days earlier this year, manager
Chad Karges said. Others are simply
worn down by having to retell the
story to others.
“If they’re a particular individual
that struggles with these types of
events, then having to repeat that
story over and over and over is hard
on them,” he said.
The refuge has a staff of 16, said
Karges, who was in Colorado to
accept an award from the National
Wildlife Federation.
AP Photo/Brennan Linsley
Chad Karges, the manager of the Malheur National Wildlife Ref-
uge in Oregon, speaks during an interview with The Associated
Press, in Estes Park, Colo., onThursday.
The National Wildlife Federation
award praised Karges and his staff
for building a good relationship
with nearby residents long before
the takeover. In an interview, Karges
said the refuge staff has worked
for years to involve residents in
decision-making, and that was the
BRIEFLY
that pot businesses can’t get out
of the changes by arguing they are
impractical. Marijuana industry
attorneys say the measure would ban
80 percent of marijuana products
sold today.
Marijuana skeptics
take aim at potency,
packaging in Colorado
DENVER (AP) — Colorado pot
skeptics have been cleared to start
work on the most sweeping effort
yet to attack legalization of the drug.
A ballot measure cleared for
petitioning Thursday by the
Colorado Supreme Court would set
new potency and packaging limits
on recreational marijuana.
Under the proposal, packaging
would have to include warnings
that marijuana carries a risk of
“permanent loss of brain abilities.”
The measure also includes a new
potency limit, meaning that popular
forms of marijuana such as vape
pens and some edibles would be
illegal.
Supporters of the measure say
that most marijuana sold today is
too strong and that current warning
labels are inadequate.
The pot skeptics tried and
failed earlier this year to get
state lawmakers to limit potency.
Lawmakers were sympathetic but
resisted the change because the state
constitution expressly permits all
forms of marijuana. The industry
compared the change to regulating
the strength of alcohol.
The marijuana critics have
proposed changing the constitution
to allow potency limits. Backed by
legalization opponents including
former State House Speaker Frank
McNulty, the measure also states
Montana Judge says
waste leak from coal
plant ponds is ‘alarming’
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A
state judge expressed alarm at
the estimated 200 million gallons
of contaminated water seeping
annually from leaky ash-storage
ponds at a Montana power plant
serving customers across the Paciic
Northwest — a problem that’s
persisted years after the company and
state oficials reached an agreement
to address it.
A 2012 deal between Montana
environmental regulators and the
Pennsylvania-based manager of
Colstrip Steam Electric Station was
intended to clean up decades of
contamination of surrounding water
tables.
The agreement, known as an
administrative order on consent,
came after the plant’s six owners paid
$25 million in a separate settlement
to Colstrip residents whose water
was fouled by the plant’s ash ponds.
District Judge Robert Deschamps
said he found it “alarming” that 380
gallons of wastewater continues to
seep from the ponds every minute.
That’s nearly 200 million gallons a
year.
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Ofice hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255
or go online to www.eastoregonian.com
and click on ‘Subscribe’
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday
and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
Single copy price:
$1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday
Copyright © 2016, EO Media Group
SATURDAY
Some sun, a
shower in the p.m.
Variable clouds,
showers around
76° 53°
72° 44°
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Partly sunny and
nice
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
75° 43°
84° 48°
92° 62°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
80° 57°
76° 44°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
62°
79°
106° (1961)
47°
52°
40° (1893)
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"
0.40"
0.80"
5.99"
4.99"
7.35"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday
Normals
Records
HIGH
LOW
70°
80°
102° (1961)
46°
53°
38° (2004)
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
89° 56°
96° 59°
Seattle
69/52
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
79° 48°
0.00"
0.12"
0.38"
4.35"
3.14"
5.52"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
Last
New
5:05 a.m.
8:47 p.m.
6:09 p.m.
3:37 a.m.
First
June 20 June 27
July 4
July 11
Today
TUESDAY
Partly sunny and
very warm
Spokane
Wenatchee
73/52
74/56
Tacoma
Moses
69/48
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 77/56
71/49
66/47
70/46
74/50
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
69/48
78/54 Lewiston
81/58
Astoria
77/55
67/49
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
69/54
Pendleton 69/47
The Dalles 80/57
76/53
76/54
La Grande
Salem
72/49
71/50
Albany
Corvallis 69/46
71/47
John Day
72/48
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
81/53
70/45
64/41
Caldwell
Burns
81/54
68/42
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
67
70
64
61
68
69
70
72
80
72
61
72
71
70
62
64
81
80
76
69
66
71
73
67
68
78
74
Lo
49
45
41
47
42
47
45
50
57
48
41
49
46
48
48
48
53
56
53
54
43
50
52
44
52
54
50
W
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
Hi
63
58
63
63
63
57
71
67
76
65
65
61
59
75
61
64
75
76
72
67
67
69
60
61
66
71
72
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
61/41
Boardman
Pendleton
Lo
49
32
35
48
31
37
41
41
44
38
35
35
33
47
45
48
47
44
44
50
33
46
43
35
47
47
40
W
sh
sh
pc
pc
sh
sh
pc
pc
pc
sh
pc
sh
sh
pc
pc
pc
sh
c
sh
sh
pc
pc
sh
sh
sh
sh
sh
Lo
68
82
65
54
54
62
53
61
66
57
71
W
c
sh
s
t
t
c
t
pc
s
c
pc
Sat.
Hi
93
90
87
66
75
81
66
80
82
67
81
Lo
67
83
70
53
53
60
51
63
66
56
71
W
t
sh
s
pc
t
t
sh
pc
pc
r
s
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Times of sun and clouds
today with a passing shower.
Eastern and Central Oregon: A shower
today, except dry in the south and upper
Treasure Valley.
Western Washington: Variable clouds today
with a shower. A passing shower or two
tonight.
Eastern Washington: Partial sunshine
today; a passing shower in the north and
toward the Cascades.
Cascades: Clouds and sun today with a
shower. A passing shower or two tonight. A
shower tomorrow.
Northern California: Cool today with some
sun; a shower in spots. Mainly clear tonight
with a shower.
Today
Saturday
NE 6-12
NNE 6-12
WSW 8-16
WSW 8-16
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
2
4
7
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 •
fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at
541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers in at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel
Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email
editor@eastoregonian.com.
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
7
4
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
WORLD CITIES
Hi
91
90
83
65
75
80
67
76
81
70
81
Classiied & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classiieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
WINDS
Medford
70/48
Corrections
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate. If you
notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SALEM — Business
groups are boycotting a
work group tasked with
discussing proposals for a
bill next session governing
how employers schedule
employees.
In a letter, business lobby-
ists told lawmakers heading
the group that labor advocates
were attacking them during
the irst meeting May 26 and
did “not provide a construc-
tive forum” for discussion.
“We respectfully with-
draw from this interim work
group,” the June 1 letter
states.
The letter was signed by
Associated Oregon Indus-
tries, Northwest Grocery
Association, Oregon Restau-
rant & Lodging Association,
Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon
Trucking Association and
Portland Business Alliance.
The letter also revealed
some of Oregon’s employers’
frustrations over a pending
ballot measure to levy a $3
Multimedia Consultants
• Jeanne Jewett
541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com
• Terri Briggs
541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com
• Dayle Stinson
541-966-0806 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
• Stephanie Newsom
541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com
• Audra Workman
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
• Chris McClellan
541-966-0802 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com
• Amanda Jacobs
541-278-2863 • ajacobs@eastoregonian.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Local home delivery Savings off cover price
EZPay
$14.50
41 percent
52 weeks
$173.67
41 percent
26 weeks
$91.86
38 percent
13 weeks
$47.77
36 percent
*EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge
www.eastoregonian.com
billion-per-year
corporate
sales tax and a series of new
mandates for employers
passed in the past two years.
Lawmakers hiked minimum
wage rates earlier this year.
Last year, they passed legisla-
tion to require paid sick leave
and an employee retirement
program. Initiative Petition
28 to raise corporate taxes
is headed to the November
ballot.
“Oregon
employers
simply can’t afford any
more one-size its all costly
mandates,” the letter stated.
Sen. Michael Dembrow
and Rep. Paul Holvey,
chairmen of the Senate
and
House
workforce
committees, convened the
work group to include equal
representation from business
and labor lobbyists and from
Democrat and Republican
lawmakers.
Dembrow,
D-Portland,
and Holvey, D-Eugene, said
they plan to continue the
work group and will invite
other business representatives
to join in.
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
ADVERTISING
Advertising Director: Jennine Perkinson
541-278-2683 • jperkinson@eastoregonian.com
Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255
before noon Tuesday through Friday
or before 10 a.m. Saturday
for same-day redelivery
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
Biz lobby boycotts group
studying employee law
Claims by plant manager Talen
Energy that the seepage was being
effectively controlled “is clearly a
disputed fact,” Deschamps wrote in a
Wednesday ruling.
“What is a reasonable amount of
time in which the (state) should act
versus conduct further study, given
there has already been 30 years of
seepage and the (administrative
order) itself was seven years in the
making?” Deschamps wrote.
The judge rejected arguments
from Montana Department of
Environmental Quality oficials that
they were appropriately handling the
matter. That means environmentalists
can proceed with a lawsuit
challenging the 2012 agreement,
which set few deadlines for action
and could entail years of further
study.
Talen spokesman Todd Martin
said in an email that the company
was abiding by the agreement
to investigate and remediate
the ash-pond leaks. He said the
agreement “established a formal and
comprehensive process” to remediate
the seepage. Opponents warned that
Colstrip could close long before
Talen cleans up the problem.
Talen is seeking to get out of the
plant within two years. Meanwhile,
Colstrip co-owners Puget Sound
Energy, Portland General Electric
and PaciiCorp are considering
shutting down at least two of the
plant’s four electricity-generating
units in coming years as part of
a transition away from coal-ired
electricity by utilities.
Subscriber services:
For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255
Carolina, traveled across the country
to join the protesters. He told a judge
he served as an armed guard.
In exchange for his plea,
prosecutors dismissed a charge of
possessing a irearm in a federal
facility.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct.
14. Prosecutors recommend six
months of home detention.
Karges said workers inished
repairing damage caused by the
occupiers on Wednesday. The next
step is deciding on new security
measures. He said that could include
surveillance cameras and gates but
he declined to offer speciics.
Crews have caught up on main-
tenance they couldn’t do during the
occupation, but some wildlife-man-
agement work was thrown perma-
nently behind, Karges said.
“Biological activities, when
you miss the window, you miss the
window,” he said. “It’s not there
again for a long time. Those things
you can’t catch up on.”
2
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: Showers and thunderstorms will extend from the middle Mississippi
Valley to the southern Atlantic coast today. Thunderstorms will erupt over the northern
Plains with spotty showers in the Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 105° in Roswell, N.M.
Low 20° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
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
94
95
73
78
81
94
81
69
97
81
82
81
97
88
86
103
82
82
84
96
86
96
93
100
97
81
Lo
62
71
59
58
54
71
56
58
71
59
59
61
77
58
60
70
59
68
72
78
62
73
68
75
75
57
W
s
t
r
r
pc
t
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
s
s
s
s
s
pc
t
c
pc
pc
t
t
s
t
s
Sat.
Hi
99
84
74
81
88
88
73
73
83
84
85
84
96
92
87
106
72
85
84
94
87
83
89
102
93
86
Lo
68
64
58
56
57
67
48
57
66
57
62
64
78
64
62
74
57
71
73
74
64
70
67
78
75
64
Today
W
s
pc
s
s
pc
s
sh
s
pc
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
c
t
c
pc
s
t
pc
s
pc
s
Hi
Louisville
86
Memphis
94
Miami
92
Milwaukee
76
Minneapolis
85
Nashville
89
New Orleans
95
New York City
80
Oklahoma City
96
Omaha
94
Philadelphia
82
Phoenix
105
Portland, ME
75
Providence
76
Raleigh
82
Rapid City
82
Reno
74
Sacramento
80
St. Louis
90
Salt Lake City
90
San Diego
77
San Francisco
71
Seattle
69
Tucson
103
Washington, DC 76
Wichita
100
Lo
68
74
77
61
67
69
78
60
73
70
60
79
53
54
62
59
54
57
70
66
64
55
52
73
63
73
W
pc
t
t
s
pc
pc
t
pc
t
t
pc
s
s
pc
t
t
s
s
s
s
pc
pc
c
s
r
t
Sat.
Hi
88
92
92
81
86
89
92
82
95
93
83
110
73
81
81
93
77
83
91
95
77
71
65
109
81
95
Lo
66
75
77
63
69
66
77
63
73
69
61
86
54
54
56
62
50
57
69
61
67
54
50
76
62
71
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
s
s
t
s
s
s
t
s
s
pc
s
s
s
s
pc
s
s
s
s
s
pc
s
r
s
s
s