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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2017)
WEEKEND EDITION JENNINGS MAKES BIG SPLASH IN PRELIMS 1B 100 YEARS OF GIRL SCOUT PRUITT CONFIRMED AS COOKIES LIFESTYLES/1C EPA CHIEF NATION/10A FEBRUARY 18-19, 2017 141st Year, No. 90 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD PENDLETON Day One: Stay calm Th e ‘big one’ would likely leave Eastern Oregon without power, communications By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian The biggest natural disaster in the history of the United States, with the power to alter life forever in the Pacifi c Northwest, will start in Eastern Oregon with the rattling of windows. That’s what the scientists say. Rattling windows could mean Cascadia — the “big one” — an 8.0 to 9.0 magnitude subduction zone earthquake that seismologists at Oregon State University predict has about a one in three chance of hitting Oregon and Washington in the next 50 years. Research suggests such a quake has happened an average of every 243 years and the last one was more than 300 years ago. It could happen 20 years from now. It could happen after we’re all Cayuse Technologies has about 150 vacancies By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Cascadia Rising A large earthquake on the Cascadia subduction fault line in the Pacific Ocean would shake the entire Pacific Northwest. 5 ub du mb Colu ia 101 Chelan Coulee Dam WASHINGTON Seattle ine lt l Ground shaking intensity* 90 Wenatchee 90 Olympia Severe * Based on Modified Mercalli Intensity scale 82 Longview Astoria Vancouver lumbia Riv e r Co Portland The Dalles 84 Richland Pasco Lewiston Walla Walla Kennewick Umatilla Hermiston Boardman Pendleton 5 101 Salem 84 Corvallis Redmond Bend Eugene Scenario epicenter, magnitude 9.0 earthquake Coos Bay Council John Day OREGON Burns 5 Enterprise La Grande e R iv e r Weak Ocean Moderate IDAHO r Snake R i v e Yakima Pacific Strong Spokane Tacoma 5 Very strong See CASCADIA/14A Sn ak Ca sc ad ia s dead. Or it could happen tomorrow. If it happens tomorrow, the Oregon Offi ce of Emergency Management predicts Umatilla County residents will likely notice some light shaking for four to six minutes, while some Morrow County homes might shake hard enough to knock over unsecured furniture. Next, the lights will probably go out. Then, cell phones, landlines, the internet and natural gas. B.C., CANADA Vancouver fau on See JOBS/12A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A massive earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone could knock out communications throughout the region, leaving vital rescue coordination efforts to ham radio operators like Alan Plan, ARES/RACES coordinator in Umatilla County. cti Last week, Rocky Moun- tain Colby Pipe Co. halted production and laid off most of their employees. Rocky Mountain Colby Pipe Vice President Bill Quinn said he wasn’t sure how many people were given a pink slip, but said only four employees remain at the plumbing product manufacturer’s Pendleton facility. Quinn said “market conditions” led to the closure and the tentative plan is to refi ll the positions during the summer. At a Pendleton Prog- ress Board meeting Feb. 10, Pendleton economic development director Steve Chrisman told a group of local leaders about the layoffs but added that Rocky Mountain Colby Pipe’s loss could be Keystone RV Company’s gain, along with other local companies. According to an interview after the meeting, Chrisman put together an informal study on job vacancies in Pendleton in December. Chrisman said he expected the number of unfi lled jobs to be signifi cant but not overwhelming. After gathering informa- tion from many of the area’s major employers, Chrisman said he was surprised by the fi nal tally: 367 open positions. The study comes with some caveats: the number of vacancies can vary signifi - cantly from month to month, Chrisman only gathered fi gures from roughly a dozen businesses and organizations and he wasn’t able to obtain employment information from some large employers like Blue Mountain Commu- Editor’s note: This is the fi rst in a week-long series about preparing in Eastern Oregon for a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake. R i ver As some jobs vanish, many remain unfi lled Ontario Boise Caldwell Nampa 84 Roseburg 101 Sources: Cascadia Rising exercise scenario document; U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group Grants Pass N Medford Klamath Falls 40 miles Ashland 5 CALIFORNIA NEVADA Budget testimony focuses on preventing cuts Education funding, crime lab two biggest topics of Joint Ways and Means Committee By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Eastern Oregon residents told state legislators Friday that increasing revenue needs to be part of the plan for the next biennium. The Joint Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for crafting budget policy for the state, listened to more than two hours of testimony from a packed house at Hermiston High School Friday evening. Several of those testimonies included a plea to raise corporate taxes to keep important services like education and public safety from suffering the signifi cant cuts proposed by Governor Kate Brown and legislative leaders. “We should not have to be here pitting services against each other,” said Ginger Ogle of Pendleton. As a former teacher, she said she was “begging” the committee to raise corporate taxes. The state could not expect to improve educational outcomes for Oregon students, she said, while continuing to make budget decisions that led to shorter school years, larger class sizes and fewer programs. Others in the healthcare industry See BUDGET/12A Staff photo by Jade McDowell The legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee met at Hermiston High School Friday.
