Page 8A
Thursday, October 20, 2016
OFF PAGE ONE
PENDLETON: Underground Tours organization may
renovate second-story into apartment units, hotel rooms
East Oregonian
VOTERS: ‘We’ve
got the safest voting
system in the nation’
Continued from 1A
concluded that the downtown
area could support 20-40 addi-
tional apartments.
To make money on a four-unit
second-story apartment complex
at an estimated $125 per square
foot cost, the commission
igured building owners would
need to charge more than $1,000
per month, a price competitive
with other mid to high range
complexes in Pendleton like the
St. George Plaza and Pendleton
Heights.
Denight said the key to spur-
ring these kinds of developments
was to make the upfront costs
low enough to assure the prop-
erty owners proitability.
Commission leaders want to
commit more than $1 million
between 2017-2020 to assist
second-story developments, but
that could be a drop in the bucket
compared to the value federal
income tax credits from the
Continued from 1A
worried about voter fraud or a rigged election,
and elections staff in Morrow County said
no one has complained to them about such
possibilities. Republican presidential candi-
date Donald Trump has espoused voter fraud
is rampant and that the election is rigged,
but has been criticized for not presenting
evidence to support the accusation.
“I think we’ve got the safest voting system
in the nation, really,” Lindell said of Oregon.
She said a handwriting expert with the
Oregon State Police Forensic Services
Divisions teaches a class every two years on
signature recognition, and Umatilla County
election employees attended the class this
year in Baker City. And come election night,
she said, staff check every envelope to make
sure signatures match.
“They have to go through three sets of eyes
before we don’t accept it,” she said. “And our
ballot-counting programs are not networked
or connected in any way,” meaning a
computer hacker cannot alter votes.
Political parties can have observers at the
elections ofice to watch the whole process.
Lindell said the county allows that as space
provides, but observers cannot bother elec-
tions workers while they verify signatures
and count ballots.
“We usually have really positive reviews
from the people who come in, on what a good
check-and-balance system it is,” Lindell said.
Umatilla and Morrow counties mailed
ballots Wednesday. Lindell encouraged
people to vote early. And if you lose a ballot,
you can get a replacement from the county,
even until 8 p.m. on election night, Nov. 8.
National Park Service.
Kerry Davis, a consultant
from Preservation Solutions who
has assisted numerous projects
that have used the credits, said
the Federal Historic Preservation
Tax Incentives program can be
a lucrative option for potential
developers.
“It’s not always going to
it, but if it does, there’s a lot of
money on the table,” she said.
For buildings that are listed on
the National Register of Historic
Places or are a contributing
member of a historic district, the
service can provide a tax credit
equal to 20 percent of the amount
spent on the historic rehabilita-
tion.
Retaining some of the deining
historical characteristics is a must
for any of the projects that used
the tax credit, Davis said, but
that doesn’t mean the federal
government won’t allow leeway
for modern amenities under the
right circumstances.
“I don’t want anyone to think
you have to put (in) a wood stove
or what have you,” she said.
Pendleton Underground Tours
Director Brooke Armstrong said
the organization may renovate
its undeveloped second-story
space into apartment units and
hotel rooms, similar to the ones
featured at the Working Girls
Hotel.
Davis said the underground
tours’ nonproit status could
make it dificult to obtain the
tax credits, but the organization
could utilize some of the grant
programs from the Oregon State
Historic Preservation Ofice and
the Energy Trust of Oregon.
The presentation also got
the owners of the Great Paciic
looking at their options as well.
Great Paciic co-owner Ken
Schulberg said Great Paciic’s
building at 403 S. Main St. was
built in 1887 as a masonic lodge
with retail space downstairs.
The space still contains many
of the designs and charms of its
original intent, like elevated plat-
forms for masonic leaders and
a projector’s room that allowed
movies to be displayed on the
wall closest to Main Street. But
there are also signs of decay,
such as sagging ceiling tiles and
peeling paint.
Since the Great Paciic moved
into the building in more than 35
years ago, the owners have occa-
sionally used the upstairs space as
a concert venue, but have mostly
left it vacant in recent years.
Schulberg
said
they’ve
considered both apartments and
an event space for the second
story, but both options offer
marginal proit returns.
Schulberg said the incentives
discussed at the workshop could
make renovating the space more
feasible.
———
Contact Antonio Sierra at
asierra@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0836.
BIOMASS: Requires more material to generate the same amount of power
“It’s not coal, that’s
for sure. But it’s also
not wind and solar.
That’s also for sure.”
Continued from 1A
of carbon neutrality.”
Alex Harris, conservation
organizer with the Sierra Club,
said Wyden plays an especially
important role, sitting on the
conference committee for the
energy bill.
“I want to make sure he’s
following the science and doing
what’s best for Oregon and our
forests,” Harris said.
Wyden released a statement
Wednesday saying he is working
with stakeholders on all sides to
come up with a biomass plan that
“is rooted in science, is bipartisan
and moves Oregon and the entire
country to a smarter carbon
policy.”
The issue comes at a time
when Portland General Electric
is weighing the possibility of
converting its 550-megawatt
Boardman Coal Plant to run on
biomass. PGE will conduct a
full-day test later this year, using
8,000 tons of small-diameter and
beetle-killed trees.
The utility is working with
Oregon Torrefaction, a beneit
corporation that includes Ochoco
Lumber, to source the debris
for fuel. PGE spokesman Steve
Corson said the utility supports
the carbon neutrality amendment
for biomass, in order to provide
greater clarity moving forward.
“We do believe that there are a
BUS: City will
continue to fund
taxi ticket program
Continued from 1A
Without those adjustments, the proposed
route includes 35 stops around town and
takes about an hour to complete one circuit.
Stops include Wal-Mart, Blue Mountain
Community College, Hermiston Plaza and
Good Shepherd Medical Center, as well as
multiple stops along major streets like NW
11th Street, NE Fourth Street, Main Street,
Orchard Avenue and Highland Avenue.
A city survey offered two options for bus
route times: continuously from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. or in two chunks of time in the early
morning and late afternoon for commuters.
Seventy four percent of respondents
preferred the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. option, and
Morgan said after further review it looks
like the tribes will actually be able to offer
the route from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and complete
six circuits through town each day Monday
through Friday.
“We’re pretty excited to be able to
increase that,” he said.
Survey respondents also indicated that
the “north shopping area” encompassing
Wal-Mart and Fiesta Foods was their top
priority for stops, followed by Good Shep-
herd Medical Center and the surrounding
health clinics.
Even after the bus route is up and running,
Morgan said CTUIR assesses its transit and
makes adjustments to routes and times quar-
terly, so it won’t be “set in stone.”
“By no means are we saying this is a
perfect route or perfect times,” Morgan said.
“Everyone’s going to have their opinions.
There are a thousand ways you can draw a
route in town.”
Although the city is helping fund the bus
system, it plans to continue to also fund the
taxi ticket program for senior and disabled
riders.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@
eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536.
— Alex Harris, conservation
organizer with the Sierra Club
Photo contributed by Oregon Torrefaction
In order to use as biomass, woody debris must undergo a
process called torrefaction, described as a “half-step below
making charcoal.”
variety of potential biomass fuels
that can be used for power gener-
ation in a sustainable, carbon
neutral cycle,” Corson said.
But opponents claim that,
since woody biomass is less
eficient than coal, it would
require burning more material
to generate the same amount of
power, thus increasing overall
emissions. Plus, it would take
decades for new trees to grow
and re-sequester that carbon.
Dominick DellaSala, chief
scientist for the Geos Institute
in Ashland — one of the groups
calling for Congress to strip the
carbon neutrality amendment —
equated forests to “green coal,”
saying the best way to combat
runaway climate change is to
leave trees in the woods.
“You want to keep coal in the
ground. Similarly, you want to
keep carbon in the forests,” he
said.
The worry, however, is carbon
neutrality would spur enormous
growth in the biomass industry,
which would increasingly turn
to public forests for raw mate-
rials. The Energy Information
Administration has come up
with models showing that, with
carbon neutrality, the biomass
industry would increase 87
percent, requiring a fuel equiva-
lent to clear-cutting 6-8 million
acres of forests.
On top of that, the EIA
suggests all that biomass would
not actually displace coal use
in the U.S., instead taking a 21
percent bite out of solar energy.
“It’s displacing other renew-
ables,” said Mary Booth, director
of Partnership for Policy Integ-
rity, an environmental think tank.
“There’s no question it increases
stack emissions.”
If the Boardman Coal Plant
converts to biomass, Harris said
it would become the largest
power plant of its kind in the U.S.
and fourth-largest in the world.
While there are climate beneits
associated
with
producing
biomass energy, he said carbon
neutrality will have dangerous
consequences.
“It’s not coal, that’s for sure,”
Harris said. “But it’s also not
wind and solar. That’s also for
sure.”
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0825.
WORLD BRIEFLY
Iraqi special forces join Mosul
offensive against IS
KHAZER, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi special
forces joined the Mosul offensive on
Thursday with a pre-dawn advance on a
nearby town held by the Islamic State group,
encountering heavy ire.
Gen. Maan al-Saadi said the elite
Counterterrorism Forces advanced on the
town of Bartalla with the aid of U.S.-led
coalition airstrikes and heavy artillery on the
fourth day of a massive operation to retake
Iraq’s second-largest city.
The special forces are expected to lead the
way into Mosul, where they will face ierce
resistance in an urban landscape where IS
militants are preparing for a climactic battle.
The offensive is the largest operation
launched by Iraqi forces since the 2003
U.S.-led invasion. It is expected to take
weeks, if not months.
The Kurdish forces known as peshmerga,
who are also taking part in the offensive,
announced a “large-scale operation” to the
north and northeast of Mosul on Thursday.
Modest gain seen for Obama’s
last health care sign-up season
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing new
challenges to a legacy law, the Obama
administration on Wednesday set modest
expectations for the president’s inal health
care sign-up season. The biggest worry: rising
premiums and dwindling choices.
Some 13.8 million people are expected to
sign up for 2017 coverage, Health and Human
Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said.
That would be an increase of a bit less than
9 percent from the 12.7 million who picked
plans during open enrollment for this year.
This year is shaping up to be the most
dificult sign-up season since HealthCare.
gov launched in 2013 and the computer
system froze up. But technology isn’t the
issue this time. Premiums are going up by
double digits in many communities, and some
major insurers have left the program, leaving
consumers with fewer choices next year.
The administration says taxpayer-provided
subsidies designed to rise alongside premiums
will cushion most of the pocketbook
impact. About 85 percent of customers get
inancial help. And for those policyholders
whose insurer bailed out, the government
is automatically matching them to another
carrier’s plan. It’s up to the consumer whether
or not to accept the match or keep shopping.
For more information, call 1-800-962-2819
2x3 EXAMPLE
Celebrate your loved ones in our
We are so
proud of you
for serving
your country.
VETERANS DAY TRIBUTE
Love
Evelyn,
We are
so
Joe
proud and
of you
Cheryl
for
serving
Free Example:
Honoring those who have served
and those who are currently serving
our country!
They’ve served our country with
courage and honor. They’ve left
behind loved ones to risk their
lives while protecting our country.
They’ve defended our freedoms
and ideals. They make us proud to
be Americans. Help us honor them.
J OSEPH S MITH
your country.
Day
SALUTE
TE
1x4 EXAMPLE
J OSEPH B. D AVIS
Staff Sergeant
Joel Davis
US Marines
Veteran
Example
This special section will print in the Hermiston Herald on Nov. 9 and
in the East Oregonian on Nov. 11, 2016. There is NO CHARGE to
be included. Bring us or send in photos of servicemen, servicewomen
or veterans, along with the information in the form to the right, by
November 1.
Thank you for
your service!
Love Evelyn,
Joe and
Cheryl
If you’d like to purchase a larger space to
include a special message, border, lags, or stars
and stripes, rates are $40 for a 1x4” space or $55
for a 2x3” space. Private party only.
Please call 1-800-962-2819.
Love always
Marcy, Julie &
Emily
Service Person’s Name
Military Branch
Your Name
Your Address
Your Phone Number
Military Rank
Currently Serving Veteran (Check One)
Deliver to:
East Oregonian
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Pendleton, OR 97801
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or e-mail to classifieds@eastoregonian.com