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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2017)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Wednesday, January 25, 2017 Legislative leaders seek compromise on tax reform Employees Retirement System. Courtney said he spurred the Legislature’s budget writers last week to release a budget without any new revenue to give lawmakers a reality check on what they’re facing in terms of cuts. Budget writers unveiled a plan that would entail kicking more than 350,000 people off Medicaid, larger class sizes, university tuition hikes and cuts in child welfare workers. Beyond having informal meetings with business and labor leaders, Gov. Kate Brown has largely distanced herself from the push for revenue reform since the failure of Measure 97, which she endorsed. In her proposed budget last month, Brown laid out several new taxes to address the state’s revenue shortfall but excluded any now,” Courtney said. “We do not have them in the room together.” The two groups last year waged the most expensive political battle in the state’s history over a $6 billion corporate sales tax measure. Voters overwhelmingly defeated Measure 97 on the November ballot. Since then, victo- rious business leaders have acknowledged the state needs more revenue stability. The state’s system is overly dependent on income tax revenue, which fluctuates drastically with economic spikes and dips. However, business leaders say they won’t support new business taxes until lawmakers curtail rising costs associated with the Public By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau The heads of the Oregon House and Senate said Monday they still have not brought together two opposing sides over how to fix the state’s unstable revenue system and a $1.8 billion shortfall in the next two years. House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, have been leading an effort to negotiate a compromise between public unions and business leaders. But they are making slow progress with just a week before the 160-day legisla- tive session. “I’m very discouraged right that would raise business taxes. “She has seven taxes we’re supposed to vote on individually, but basically, long-term she’s thinking 2018,” Courtney said. “This also complicates this long-term perfect fix” that some lawmakers are pursuing. In an email to the Pamplin Media Group/EO Media Group Capital Bureau, Chris Pair, a spokesman for Brown, did not address the governor’s preference for timing in revenue reform. “The cuts proposed put into human terms the devastating consequences families face with a tax system that is unstable, inad- equate, and fundamentally out of balance to meet Oregon’s essential needs,” Pair wrote in the email. “While Gov. Brown will continue working hard to make sure state Oregon officials kill cougars preying on pets SALEM (AP) — Normally timid mountain lions are being forced by this winter’s heavy snows into some remote Oregon communities, where they are preying on pets and chickens. Cougars prowling through La Pine have killed two pets and at least 12 chickens, stoking fear in the town in the piney woods of Oregon east of the Cascade Range. On Saturday, Deschutes County deputies shot and killed a cougar that was hiding under a porch after attacking a dog. On Monday, state and federal wildlife officials went to investigate and killed three more of the cougars that have been leaving their paw prints in the snow on the decks of homes and in backyards. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement Tuesday the cougars are causing public safety issues in and around town. It said officials from the Oregon agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services were tracking at least one cougar after it was sighted at a store. There has never been an attack by a wild cougar on a person in Oregon, which is home to about 6,300 cougars, although attacks have occurred in other states and Canadian provinces, the Oregon agency said. Resident Shannon Shahan said 14 of her chickens were killed or died of shock and two survived. She told Bend TV station KTVZ the cougars had jumped a fence to get at the chickens. Her surveillance cameras caught at least one cougar on her property, leaving large paw prints in the snow. The state wildlife department said — Corey Heath, wildlife biologist with ODFW 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays 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 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 © 2017, EO Media Group FRIDAY Fog in the a.m.; mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy; fog, cold 34° 26° 34° 22° SATURDAY Areas of fog, freezing early SUNDAY Areas of fog, freezing early Areas of fog, freezing early PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 35° 22° 36° 22° 38° 29° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 35° 25° 35° 26° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 31° 29° 42° 28° 71° (1935) -15° (1930) 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 0.00" 1.33" 1.14" 1.33" 1.13" 1.14" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 33° 30° 43° 29° 63° (1935) -16° (1949) 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 0.00" 1.39" 1.00" 1.39" 0.87" 1.00" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today New First Jan 27 Feb 3 Full Feb 10 35° 24° 37° 28° Seattle 46/36 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 36° 24° 7:24 a.m. 4:51 p.m. 5:30 a.m. 3:04 p.m. Last Feb 18 Today Spokane Wenatchee 33/23 30/19 Tacoma Moses 47/31 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 31/20 32/18 47/36 47/31 33/21 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 46/35 35/24 Lewiston 33/24 Astoria 36/25 50/38 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 44/32 Pendleton 28/11 The Dalles 35/26 34/26 37/27 La Grande Salem 33/20 48/33 Albany Corvallis 48/33 48/31 John Day 33/20 Ontario Eugene Bend 27/8 48/30 35/19 Caldwell Burns 29/13 20/-2 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 25 35 49 20 28 48 35 35 33 33 33 31 45 49 51 27 34 34 44 37 48 33 31 44 35 33 Lo 38 3 19 39 -2 11 30 24 26 20 15 20 18 31 38 39 8 23 26 32 19 33 23 16 32 24 21 W c c pc pc pc c c c c pc pc c c c c c pc c c c pc c c c c c pc Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Lo 22 60 48 28 46 -8 22 39 15 70 35 W pc s c c s c s s s c s Lo 36 5 16 36 -3 9 28 20 25 17 9 16 15 28 36 36 8 21 22 29 16 29 23 12 29 22 22 W pc c c pc c c pc c c c pc c c pc pc pc c c c pc c pc c c pc c c Thu. Hi 48 68 56 40 77 10 39 54 43 81 49 Lo 19 61 43 31 44 8 32 40 24 72 40 W pc s c s s pc s s pc c s WINDS Medford 45/31 (in mph) Klamath Falls 33/15 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Mostly cloudy today; a shower in spots across the north. Eastern Washington: Mostly cloudy today; areas of freezing fog during the morning. Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy and cold today, except some sun in central parts; fog across the north. Western Washington: Mostly cloudy today. A shower in spots; arriving in the afternoon in central parts. Cascades: A little snow at times with little or no accumulation today. Northern California: Some sun, then clouds today; frigid in the interior mountains. Today Thursday NE 3-6 WNW 4-8 NE 3-6 NNW 4-8 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 0 0 1 0 0 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 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 42 71 64 44 76 14 33 56 33 78 48 Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Thu. Hi 50 24 36 51 21 27 47 34 35 33 34 32 30 49 49 52 24 34 34 45 38 48 31 31 45 33 34 PORTLAND (AP) — An Oregon woman accused of hiring a hit man to kill her ex-husband has pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce in a murder-for- hire plot. Pamela Gygi of Lane County entered the plea Monday at the federal courthouse in Eugene. Federal officials said Gygi paid a parolee to kill her ex-husband, but the parolee decided to instead alert the man to the plot. The woman was arrested in July after the would-be hit man had several audio-recorded meetings with her. Court documents state Gygi paid the hit man $600, and promised him a residence in California, the title to a 2005 Dodge Stratus and an online business. Corrections REGIONAL CITIES Forecast Woman pleads guilty in murder- for-hire plot Umatilla County Republican Chairman Larry B. Moore was misrepresented in the article “Local reactions” in Saturday’s East Oregonian. He said Democrats are not the enemy, but they are the opposition. The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. Advertising Director: Marissa Williams 541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com Advertising Services: Laura Jensen 541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Terri Briggs 541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com • Elizabeth Freemantle 541-278-2683 • efreemantle@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Chris McClellan 541-966-0827 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com • Stephanie Newsom 541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@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 — THURSDAY EUGENE (AP) — An Oregon man with ties to the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun. The Register-Guard reports that 54-year-old Michael Ray Emry on Monday pleaded guilty. Sentencing is scheduled for April 3. The ATF says the M2 machine gun Emry possessed was capable of firing 550 to 650 rounds per minute. Emry admitted that he took the gun from a shop where he works in Idaho. Emry says the owner of the shop didn’t know that he had taken the weapon. Emry described himself as an “embedded reporter” during the refuge takeover one year ago. He was not indicted for his role in the occupation and the “The cougars are having trouble hunting their traditional prey so are coming to residential areas for an easier meal.” and appreciate the cougars as a part of living in a rural area. A dog and a cat have been killed, in addition to the chickens. In its statement, the state wildlife department said wildlife managers will not relocate the trespassing cougars because the animals would cause prob- lems in new areas or return to La Pine. Officials recommended residents feed their pets indoors, walk their dogs on a leash and be aware of their surroundings, especially at dawn and dusk. weapons charge was not connected to the incident. Man pleads guilty to possessing machine gun Mark Mulligan/The Daily Herald via AP, File Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 TODAY BRIEFLY In this 2012 file photo, an approximately 2-year-old female cougar runs away from a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife trap after being released northeast of Arlington, Wash. Cougars prowling near the remote community of La Pine, have killed two pets and at least 12 chickens. deep snow is likely a factor in the appearance of the cougars. “The cougars are having trouble hunting their traditional prey so are coming to residential areas for an easier meal,” said Corey Heath, a wildlife biologist with the department. “Unfor- tunately at this point we consider them a significant human safety risk, so they need to be removed for the safety of La Pine residents.” Some people think killing the tres- passing cougars is going too far. They said people should protect their pets government does more with less, she maintains that we must work to develop a long-term solution that doesn’t put Oregonians at risk every two years. “Gov. Brown looks forward to working with legislators, business leaders and advocates to come together on these tough choices and build a budget and revenue package that keeps the doors of opportunity open for all Orego- nians” Kotek said 2017 is the best time for lawmakers to reform the revenue system. “I don’t want to wait until ’18 because we might be dealing with a whole different set of problems … because of what the federal government decides to do,” Kotek said. “There is a lot of unknowns on the horizon.” 0 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. ©2017 -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: Rain will fall from the eastern Great Lakes to the central Gulf coast today. Snow and colder air will sweep over much of the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest. Much of the West will be dry. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 94° in Laredo, Texas Low -17° in Bridgeport, 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 38 72 52 55 29 69 28 46 74 62 45 52 59 30 45 50 8 29 80 74 54 78 36 49 64 59 Lo 18 49 44 42 15 42 11 34 54 42 32 38 33 13 36 27 4 18 67 45 33 57 24 34 32 42 W pc pc s s pc pc pc pc s pc sh c s pc sh s pc c s pc c s sf s pc s Thur. Hi 37 55 55 56 30 53 25 48 71 43 35 41 54 32 41 49 30 23 80 63 37 74 33 48 48 62 Lo 15 34 38 35 21 32 12 35 38 30 24 30 32 13 29 27 13 15 66 41 26 40 21 34 28 44 W s pc pc pc s s c pc sh c sf sn s s sn s pc c pc s sf sh pc pc s s 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 61 66 81 40 35 64 78 49 47 33 52 56 41 47 70 22 34 53 51 29 61 54 46 53 61 41 Lo 36 36 65 33 26 37 53 43 24 23 42 37 27 33 55 7 21 36 33 20 46 42 36 31 49 22 W c c pc sn sn c pc s s c s s r pc s pc pc pc pc sn s pc c s s pc Thur. Hi 42 46 86 37 28 46 60 51 48 28 56 58 43 50 63 28 35 54 39 27 62 54 47 57 59 42 Lo 29 29 65 25 20 31 42 37 24 17 36 39 29 34 35 18 15 35 28 9 46 42 33 31 37 22 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W c s s sf c c s pc s pc pc s pc pc pc pc pc pc c c s pc c s pc s
