MARK SMAILLEY
OF HERMISTON
BB GUN
VANDAL
DAMAGES
CARS
HERMISTON/3A
Enjoy a free pass to the Heritage
Station Museum in Pendleton
PENDLETON STATE CHAMPS
88/56
LITTLE LEAGUE/1B
THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016
140th Year, No. 194
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
MOSIER Act would strengthen
oil train derailment investigations
Wyden
Sens. :\den, Merkle\ propose legislation after Gorge wreck
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Merkley
Oregon Sens. Ron :\den
and Jeff Merkle\ have intro-
duced legislation that would
require independent federal
investigations into all major
oil train derailments across
the countr\ — something that
was missing after last month’s
derailment in the Columbia
River Gorge near Mosier.
The Mandate Oil Spill
Investigations and Emergenc\
Rules (MOSIER) Act of
2016 calls on the National
Transportation Safet\ Board to
investigate oil train derailments
and gives the Federal Rail
Administration the authorit\ to
put a moratorium on oil trains
until the investigations are
complete.
:\den and Merkle\, both
Democrats, announced the
bill during a conference call
:ednesda\. Merkle\ said the
derailment June 3 near Mosier
further emphasi]ed the danger
of oil trains, and independent
investigations are needed to
have an\ credibilit\ with the
public.
“As Oregon has seen ¿ rst-
hand, these oil trains are rolling
explosion ha]ards,” Merkle\
said. “Ever\ accident needs
to be full\ and independentl\
investigated.”
The NTSB opted not to
investigate the Mosier incident,
explaining that even though
four cars caught ¿ re and oil
spilled into the Columbia
River, there were no injuries
or fatalities. The board also
felt that, based on information
gathered b\ the FRA and
Union Paci¿ c Railroad, the
circumstances did not pose an\
new signi¿ cant safet\ issues.
See TRAINS/8A
One shop pushes
for legal pot as
neighbor down
interstate thrives
By JOSH BENHAM
The (La Grande) Observer
LA *RANDE — Rona Lindse\ said turning
awa\ customers deepl\ troubles her. Of course,
part of that is the business owner in her. But as
a former administrator at the Union Count\
Chamber of Commerce,
viewing tail lights as More inside
car after car heads right
back to Interstate 84 is Grant Co. approves
medical marijuana
tough to watch.
“It tears me in two,” dispensaries
the Hw\ 30 Cannabis Page 3A
owner said.
And it’s a scene she
“They go to
said unfolds dail\, with
increasing
regularit\
Walla Walla,
since Januar\, when
(Washington)
the recreational sale of
marijuana became legal and take chanc-
in Oregon — but not in
es on driving
La Grande.
Visitors from around back across the
the region enter the
state line. Why
store, inquiring about
what to do in the area. are we making
Before the conversation
gets too deep, however, people criminals
Lindse\ has to ask one when it’s legal?”
pressing question: “Are
— Rona Lindsey,
\ou a medical patient"”
Some are, but plent\ Hwy 30 Cannabis owner
are not. Depending on
where the\ are from in Oregon or :ashington, for
some customers bu\ing marijuana is like bu\ing
a six-pack.
“So \ou have to educate them on what the cit\
did with the opt-out,” Lindse\ said.
Patrons’ reactions are similar, Lindse\ said:
a mix of shock and incredulit\ that recreational
marijuana sales are banned in La Grande.
All she can do is nod her head and tell the visi-
tors about activities to do in Union Count\, hoping
the\’ll stick around and spend some mone\. But
she said she’s aware the\ probabl\ won’t.
“Now the\ have to stop in Huntington, or
Hood River. Those are the closest (recreational
dispensaries,” she said. “Or the\ go to :alla
:alla, (:ashington and take chances on driving
See MARIJUANA/8A
Boating under the Blues
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Boaters make use of the near-perfect weather Wednesday at McKay Reservoir south of Pendleton. Temperatures will
remain in the 80s throughout the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
PENDLETON
Utility hike may help upgrade industrial park
Some cit\ pipes more than 100 \ears old
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
The cit\ of Pendleton could
soon see tangible bene¿ ts from
the utilit\ increases the cit\
council passed in December.
Public :orks Director Bob
Patterson told the council at
a workshop Tuesda\ that cit\
staff were preparing appli-
cations for state loans that
would leverage the additional
revenue collected through
hikes to the water and sewer
rates.
If approved b\ the Oregon
Infrastructure
Finance
Authorit\, the mone\ would go
toward replacing some of the
cit\’s water and sewer pipes,
some of which are more than
100 \ears old, and expanding
the Eastern Oregon Regional
Airport industrial park’s utilit\
infrastructure.
Cit\ Manager Robb Corbett
referenced the recent Hill Meat
Co. expansion as a reason the
cit\ needed to expand the
industrial park’s water and
sewer capacit\. An undersi]ed
water line prevented the
expansion until the cit\ helped
Hill Meat obtain a state grant
to widen the line.
Additionall\, Corbett said
the cit\ still needed to extend
utilities to the vacant industrial
park, including a propert\
reserved for a possible data
center.
Expanding utilities at the
airport doesn’t come without
risks.
“The (risk) to me is that
\ou’re making an investment
in \our industrial park and,
just like Barnhart Road, it sits
idle,” Corbett said.
Councilor Paul Chalmers
said the cit\ would never
attract businesses without
basic amenities like utilit\
connections, especiall\ when
compared to the Port of
Morrow.
“If it’s not shovel-read\,
See PENDLETON/8A
UMATILLA
Nursing shortage contributes to six open positions at TRCI
More than one third of
inmates older than 46
By JADE MCDOWELL
and PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
EO fi le photo
The Two Rivers Correctional Institution is currently in a nursing
shortage with six open positions in the prison infi rmary.
Facing both a nationwide nursing
shortage and an aging inmate popula-
tion, Two Rivers Correctional Institu-
tion has six open nursing positions.
The prison in Umatilla is looking
Ior one part-time and ¿ ve Iull-time
nurses to work with the 17 full-time
and ¿ ve part-time nurses currentl\ on
staff.
³In this econom\, pa\ is a big factor,
and being that there is a shortage of
nurses, offers come up and people take
them,´ TRCI spokeswoman Sherr\
Iles said. “This is not a stress-free
environment either.”
The need for nurses in the correc-
tions s\stem is signi¿ cant. TRCI
housed 1,76 inmates as of Jul\ 1,
according to the state¶s latest pro¿ le
of inmate demographics. More than
400 of those are 46-60 \ears old, and
167 are older than 61 — that’s more
than a third of the prison’s population.
Meanwhile, 30 percent of inmates at
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institu-
tion, Pendleton, and 37 percent at the
Oregon State Penitentiar\, Salem, are
older than 45.
The trend, Iles said, is a combina-
tion of America’s aging population
and Measure 11 sentencing that keeps
See TRCI/8A