WEATHER
East Oregonian
Page 2A
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
THURSDAY
TODAY
Partly sunny
A shower in the
afternoon
36° 22°
36° 30°
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Snow or fl urries
possible
Today
SUNDAY
Chilly with clouds
and sun
Cloudy, a little
snow; chilly
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
34° 28°
32° 20°
29° 12°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
34° 31°
36° 21°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
48°
39°
39°
25°
66° (1900) -12° (1990)
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
0.16"
1.49"
0.98"
12.79"
9.71"
12.49"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
LOW
John Day
36/18
Ontario
20/5
Bend
35/18
50°
34°
39°
27°
63° (1933) -12° (1990)
Burns
25/0
0.24"
1.11"
0.99"
9.01"
6.74"
9.49"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Jan 5
7:33 a.m.
4:14 p.m.
12:04 a.m.
12:25 p.m.
Full
Last
Jan 12
Jan 19
Caldwell
24/9
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
50
19
35
54
25
30
39
36
36
36
35
32
32
44
49
54
20
37
36
45
35
42
31
35
45
37
35
Lo
37
3
18
38
0
14
28
23
21
18
14
18
19
27
37
37
5
19
22
31
14
28
16
17
33
20
17
Klamath Falls
35/14
Hi
49
20
37
51
23
27
45
35
34
34
39
29
29
44
48
53
20
34
36
43
36
44
30
34
43
34
33
Lo
40
12
27
44
13
21
39
29
31
28
29
26
26
37
41
43
10
25
30
39
26
38
28
27
40
30
24
W
r
c
c
r
c
c
r
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
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r
c
i
c
r
c
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sn
c
r
c
i
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
44
77
51
51
71
34
45
62
54
77
61
Lo
29
67
41
36
45
28
43
41
46
67
52
Thu.
W
c
t
pc
r
pc
sh
c
pc
r
s
s
Hi
44
76
54
47
72
33
50
59
51
74
67
Lo
20
62
41
39
44
28
35
38
28
68
59
W
s
s
s
pc
pc
c
r
pc
r
pc
r
(in mph)
Today
Thursday
Boardman
Pendleton
ENE 3-6
SE 4-8
SSW 3-6
SSE 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Sunny to partly cloudy
today. Mostly cloudy tonight; periods of rain
across the north.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly sunny
today; cold in the upper Treasure Valley.
Partly cloudy tonight.
Western Washington: Sun and clouds
today; areas of morning fog. Periods of rain
at the coast tonight.
Eastern Washington: Clouds and sun today,
except partly sunny across the south. Some
clouds tonight.
Cascades: Partly sunny today. Some clouds
tonight. A bit of snow tomorrow.
Northern California: Plenty of sunshine
today. Partly cloudy tonight. Mostly cloudy
tomorrow.
0
1
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surrounding county as a whole.
The audit also found that only 30
percent of Business Oregon incentives
between 2006 and 2015 went to firms
in rural areas, even though urban areas
“already have faster employment
growth.”
Regarding the enterprise zones
created by local governments, the audit
found that the standard zones appear to
be working better than the long-term
rural zones, which provide a longer tax
break.
In 2015, each new job in a long-term
rural enterprise zone cost $55,000 in
waived property taxes, versus $4,200
per job in standard zones.
Data storage centers, which tech
giants like Apple, Facebook, and
Google have built in Oregon in recent
years, have been particularly costly in
terms of job creation, the audit found.
Data centers’ combination of high
investment in equipment — meaning
potentially high property taxes — and
few workers needed to maintain them,
meant that each job they created cost
$87,000 to nearly $800,000 in lost
property taxes in 2015.
The audit also concludes that,
despite some recent improvements,
there is still a lack of transparency
in the different tax breaks and other
incentives that the state and local
governments provide.
For example, some subsidy
programs don’t publicly disclose what
requirements — like a set number of
created jobs or investment in a facility
— businesses must comply with in
order to receive their incentive. Others
don’t provide details on whether a
recepient ultimately complied with
those requirements or not.
“Both Business Oregon and the
(Oregon) Department of Revenue
tend to be conservative about releasing
business information,” the audit states,
because releasing more information
“could compromise projects ... and
reduce demand for the incentive and
loan programs.”
But auditors wrote that interviews
with officials in other states where more
disclosure is required hadn’t found that
to be the case.
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ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
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Audit takes a look at state’s
business incentive programs
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EUGENE — Oregon should work
to ensure better return on investment
and transparency in the $340 million a
year in tax breaks and cash incentives
it provides to businesses, a new audit
from the Secretary of State’s office
concludes.
The audit, released Monday,
examines Business Oregon, the state’s
economic development agency, and
the incentives it provides directly to
private companies. Those sweeteners
— including forgivable and low-in-
terest loans, tax credits, and direct cash
assistance — total $72.5 million a year.
But the review also examined
property tax waivers granted by local
governments through state-approved
enterprise zones and the Strategic
Investment Program. Those add up
to $267.5 million a year in waived
property taxes throughout Oregon.
Technology firm Intel is the biggest
recepient with $162.5 million a year
in tax breaks from Washington and
Multnomah counties.
Lane County currently has several
enterprise zones, which provide prop-
erty tax waivers to a wide range of
companies. Hynix, which shut its West
Eugene plant in 2008, was the county’s
largest recepient of property tax breaks:
$65 million over ten years.
“It is critical that Business Oregon
and other state agencies regularly
evaluate and improve their business
subsidy programs to make the best use
of limited public resources,” Secre-
tary of State Jeanne Atkins said, in a
prepared statement. “Taxpayers should
expect nothing less.”
Generally, the audit found that
economic development officials, when
they give a business an incentive, aren’t
adequately monitoring and reporting
the number of jobs the company creates
or retains, the wages of those jobs, and
the state’s overall return on investment.
For example, analyzing 231 direct
Business Oregon incentives between
2011 and 2012, the audit found that
most went to firms where wages were
lower, on average, than those in the
W
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Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
WORLD CITIES
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
By SAUL HUBBARD
The Register-Guard
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
WINDS
Medford
44/27
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
Dec 28
Albany
41/29
Eugene
39/28
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday
Normals
Records
31° 16°
Spokane
Wenatchee
31/16
28/20
Tacoma
Moses
45/30
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 33/19
29/21
46/35
44/30
35/17
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
45/32
37/20 Lewiston
36/20
Astoria
30/18
50/37
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
45/31
Pendleton 30/14
The Dalles 36/21
36/22
32/20
La Grande
Salem
32/18
42/28
Corvallis
41/30
HIGH
34° 20°
Seattle
46/35
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
35° 26°
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
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: The nation will be free of major storms today. Snow will create slippery
travel from North Dakota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Rain showers will dampen
part of southern Florida for a time.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 88° in Naples, Fla.
Low -21° in Presque Isle, Maine
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
53
61
46
47
32
58
24
41
60
48
33
37
63
40
31
68
7
35
81
68
38
64
42
58
53
78
Lo
32
47
34
29
18
45
9
30
36
37
24
29
36
18
27
44
-16
18
71
52
24
40
20
45
32
55
W
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s
s
s
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s
pc
c
c
s
s
c
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sn
c
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pc
pc
pc
pc
s
s
s
Thur.
Hi
42
62
49
49
30
60
27
42
66
44
32
35
51
41
36
53
-11
33
80
67
35
71
39
57
49
74
Lo
35
40
34
28
19
38
19
28
41
26
18
25
37
24
20
42
-18
20
68
49
19
50
26
39
31
53
W
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c
pc
c
pc
c
c
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c
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c
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s
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s
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Today
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
51
82
34
35
49
65
43
54
41
45
72
38
43
56
36
45
58
48
37
73
59
46
72
48
45
Lo
30
34
68
26
17
35
53
34
27
18
30
57
24
29
33
11
25
35
27
21
57
44
35
58
35
22
W
pc
pc
pc
c
c
s
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
s
s
pc
s
s
s
pc
pc
s
s
Thur.
Hi
43
48
82
34
30
47
65
44
45
39
47
67
36
43
59
39
48
57
39
36
69
58
44
68
52
41
Lo
25
33
68
21
22
31
52
34
32
24
31
55
23
29
30
13
33
41
25
24
56
45
39
53
32
27
W
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pc
pc
c
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sh
c
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r
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pc
s
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
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NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 •
fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com
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email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at
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COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
BRIEFLY
Judge: Kids can
move ahead with
climate rights case
SEATTLE (AP) — A judge
says eight Seattle children
should have “their day in court”
to argue that Washington state
and others are violating their
constitutional rights to a healthy
environment by failing to protect
them from climate change.
King County Superior Court
Judge Hollis Hill on Monday
wrote that there’s a need for
coordinated science-based
action by the state to “address
climate change before efforts
to do so are too costly and too
late.”
The petitioners, between 12
and 16 years old, had asked the
judge to find the Department
of Ecology in contempt for
failing to protect them and
future generations from global
warming. The judge said
Ecology complied with her
orders within her timeline and so
denied the kids’ request.
But in an unusual move,
the judge allowed the youth to
amend their petition and move
forward with their constitutional
rights claims against the state.
Secretary of state
suspends probe of
voter ‘robocalls’
SALEM (AP) — Oregon’s
secretary of state is suspending
an investigation into automated
calls that told some voters in the
run-up to the November election
that they were marked as
“inactive” voters in registration
rolls and their vote might not
count.
Secretary of State Jeanne
P. Atkins said Tuesday that
while the calls confused voters,
there is no evidence that they
contained deliberately false
information.
She has said previously that
the contacts may have relied on
outdated voter rolls.
In a statement, Atkins says in
the future, political campaigns
should consult with state
elections officials to make sure
their voter records are up-to-
date.
Voters all across the state
received the confusing auto-
mated calls in the week before
the Nov. 8 election.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office
and the FBI also looked into the
complaints.
Officials concerned
about water used for
growing marijuana
MEDFORD (AP) — The
Medford Water Commission
is concerned that commercial
marijuana growers might be
illegally taking water from
municipal sources.
The commission is installing
water meters to measure how
much water is being used
at filling stations in White
City and Medford and see if
increased marijuana production
has had an impact, reported The
Mail Tribune. Officials are also
hoping to determine if there are
ways to police the water usage.
“A lot of growers are buying
land that is pretty arid,” said
commission member Bob
Strosser.
He said that as a result they
could look for other water
sources.
Under state law, municipal
water can be used for homes,
lawns and other landscaping
around a house. The law isn’t
specific about using the water
for agricultural purposes.
Local contractors can get
permission to use fire hydrants
at construction sites, but the
Corrections
The East Oregonian works
hard to be accurate and sin-
cerely regrets any errors. If you
notice a mistake in the paper,
please call 541-966-0818.
commission has gotten reports
that other water trucks are also
filling up there. There’s also
concern about commercial
growers with hundreds of
plants using water from filling
stations.
“At some point, we need to
look at our policies and come
up with clear and definitive
guidelines as to when the
treated water can be used,”
said Strosser, who will be on
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners beginning in
January. “It’s an emerging issue
that we are going to have to
address and deal with because
water is a finite resource.”
No charges for fatal
medication error
BEND (AP) — No criminal
charges will be filed against an
Oregon hospital after a patient
died from being given the
wrong medication.
The Bend Bulletin reports
that 65-year-old Loretta
Macpherson, a Sisters resident,
died in December 2014 when a
staff member at the St. Charles
Bend hospital pharmacy filled
an IV bag with a paralyzing
agent instead of the requested
anti-seizure drug.
St. Charles said the correct
drug was entered in the
hospital’s record system.
The Deschutes County
District Attorney’s office
announced Monday that it
won’t prosecute the case.
District Attorney John
Hummel said in a news
release that he decided not
to initiate criminal charges
after reviewing the facts and
considering steps St. Charles
took to prevent future mistakes.
December 26 th
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