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Page 10A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Tuesday, February 28, 2017 Four dead after plane hits houses Campaign primer RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Four people died and two were injured when a small plane carrying a family returning from a cheer- leading competition crashed into two Southern California homes and sparked a major fire Monday, authorities said. A husband, wife and three teenagers were on the plane that had just taken off from Riverside Municipal Airport at 4:40 p.m. intending to return to San Jose after the weekend cheerleading event at Disneyland when it crashed in the residential neighborhood, Riverside Fire Chief Michael Moore said. One of the teenagers, a girl, was thrown from a back seat of the plane on impact but had only minor injuries, Moore said. Three witnesses told TV stations she crawled from the home asking for help. She was able to talk to firefighters about what had happened as she was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, Moore said. Firefighters entered one of the burning houses and pulled out an unconscious resident. That victim is Watchara Phomicinda/The Press-Enterprise via AP Smoke rises from a fire after a plane crashed in Riverside, Calif., Monday. The deadly crash injured several when a small plane collided with two homes Monday shortly after taking off from a nearby airport, officials said. in surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino, Moore said. Four bodies were found in the combined wreckage of the plane and the homes, but firefighters have not sorted out exactly how many were passengers and how many were residents. Moore said firefighters are looking for three to five more people who may have been in or near the homes when the plane crashed. “It’s horrible,” Moore said, especially given that they had gone to a cheer competition and it was “supposed to be a happy time.” Moore did not give the name of the cheerleading competition, but the Jr. USA Nationals for girls age 15 and under was held at Disney California Adventure Park over the weekend. The two homes that were hit directly were destroyed, and there was minor damage to some neighboring houses, Moore said. The plane was broken into hundreds of pieces, its propeller sitting on the roof of a nearby home, and the fire burning with jet fuel was still ablaze several hours after the crash. Firefighters found plane pieces about a half-mile away. H.L. Reyes, who lives about a quarter-mile from the crash site, told The Associ- ated Press she felt the ground shake and saw plumes of black smoke. “I thought it was a possible earthquake, and we heard all the birds just suddenly react outside, too,” Reyes said. “This was just like a night- mare coming true.” Shannon Flores, a teacher at an elementary school about three blocks away, said she saw the plane out her classroom window. She said it was raining during the crash, though other witnesses said the rain was very light. “As soon as we saw it fly over, we knew it wasn’t a good thing,” Flores told KABC-TV. “We watched it go down very quickly ... Before we knew it, there was a loud crash and huge plumes of smoke.” EOTEC: Doug Primmer said he worried about delays while everything was legally transfered to the council Continued from 1A doing the heavy lifting.” He proposed the council also approve contracts, bids and other EOTEC business during a once-a-month special session before their regular meetings. Mayor Dave Drotzmann was skeptical. “So we’re going to accomplish more than they’re accomplishing, in one hour?” he asked. “I believe so,” Kirwan replied. Drotzmann, who was on a committee that raised $2 million for the event center, said he shared Kirwan’s frustrations that EOTEC was not finished earlier and there was still not an operations plan in place. But he said he didn’t think “coming late to the party” would make things move any faster, considering the depth of experience with the project — and the Umatilla County Fair and Farm-City Pro Rodeo — that current EOTEC board members have. City attorney Gary Luisi said there would have to be a rewrite of the inter- governmental agreement with Umatilla County that the county would have to approve. Luisi also commented that it would be “difficult” because partners like the fair, rodeo and hote- liers who are used to having a seat on the board would want to see their interests protected. Councilor Doug Smith said he was concerned about how the move would be perceived, while Doug Primmer said he worried about delays while paper- work was adjusted and everything was legally transferred to the council. “I think it would bring a lot of that stuff to a grinding halt,” he said. Rod Hardin said he thought that whatever happened, there needed to be more conversation with the county. “The two of us are a team,” he said. “The other half of the team needs to show up,” councilor Jackie Myers replied. Kirwan agreed with Myers that it didn’t feel like the county was placing enough importance on EOTEC, and the city needed to push them to step up. When asked what he thought about the proposal, city manager Smith replied that EOTEC is a “compli- cated thing.” “I would be a little leery of the concept,” he said. At councilors request, however, he said he would set up a meeting with the county to discuss it. He also said he would try to push the EOTEC board to move faster on decisions such as the lease with the Farm- City Pro Rodeo, which rodeo board member Mike Kay said during Friday’s EOTEC meeting was still not completed after a year of waiting for it to be done. Smith said he did still believe that the project will be able to host the 2017 fair and rodeo. Contractors broke ground on the barns last week. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. HEALTH: Republicans have yet to win any Democratic support Continued from 1A to be paid to people, even if they owed little or no federal taxes. Walker heads the Repub- lican Study Committee, which traditionally represents most House Republicans. He said in a statement that he could not “in good conscience” recommend support without significant changes. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Repub- licans have made numerous changes to that draft, but Walker’s objections under- scored internal tensions over the effort. For many in the party, those problems, while major, are outweighed by pledges they’ve made for years to repeal Obama’s 2010 law and substitute a GOP alternative. Conservatives favoring full repeal are pitted against more cautious moderates, and governors looking to curb Medicaid’s costs also worry about constituents losing coverage. But Republicans see inaction as the worst alter- native and leaders may plunge ahead as soon as next week with initial House committee votes on legislation. “I believe they have left themselves no choice. Polit- ically they must do some- thing,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican economist and health analyst, said Monday. Trump spoke about health care’s complexities on a day he held White House talks with dozens of governors worried Republicans could shift a huge financial burden to the states by curbing Medicaid, the federal-state program that helps low-income people and those in nursing homes pay bills. Republican governors told reporters later that Trump would describe some specifics of his own plan in an address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress. Trump also met with insurance company executives concerned that AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais President Donald Trump, left, and Vice President Mike Pence, right, participate in a meeting with health in- surance company executives in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Monday. uncertainty about possible GOP changes could roil the marketplace. Trump said the current health insurance market is “going to absolutely implode”— a contention he and other Republicans have made repeatedly. With premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pockets costs increasing in many indi- vidual markets, Democrats concede that changes are needed. But they contest that dire description and have no interest in helping Republicans kill Obama’s statute. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters that Repub- licans have yet to win any Democratic support for their effort and said “the odds are very high” Obama’s law won’t be repealed. Congress returned Monday from a recess that spotlighted hurdles the GOP faces. Many Republicans endured rough receptions at town hall meetings from activist backers of Obama’s overhaul. Governors meeting in Washington received a consultants’ report warning that planned Republican cuts in Medicaid and federal subsidies for consumers buying private insurance would risk coverage for many people and serious funding gaps for states. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she wouldn’t support blocking federal payments to Planned Parenthood or repealing the health law’s expansion of Medicaid — two staple GOP proposals. And Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group PO Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048 by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, predicted at a Florida forum last week that full repeal and replace- ment of Obama’s law is “not going to happen” and suggested they’d end up leaving much of the law intact. The plan House Republi- cans are considering includes helping people pay doctors’ bills with tax credits based on age, not income, and expanding tax-advantaged health savings accounts. They would also gradually end Obama’s expansion of Medicaid to more low earners and the open-ended federal payments states currently receive to help pay for the program. Although “Obamacare” has never been popular, public opinion polls show most Americans want changes but not a complete takedown of the law. draws crowd By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Umatilla County has more than 100 seats avail- able on school boards, fire districts and more. A dozen possible candidates for those seats took a campaign primer Monday night in Pendleton. Pete Wells, commu- nity activist and former Pendleton city attorney, walked the group through the overview of “Running for Office in Oregon,” touching on the basics of taxing districts to campaign finance rules. He said a good way to get started in local public policy is to get on one of those boards. Even before that, he said, someone running for office has to answer basic questions about why they are doing it and if they can do the job. “You need to be able to articulate to the voters in the district why they ought to vote for you,” he said, such as experience or what sets you apart from an incumbent. Candidates also need to consider what it takes for a successful run. He stressed that campaigning takes time and the ability to reach voters in multiple ways. Wells said going that road alone is hard and the reason why candidates need to build a community of people to help you get elected. “It is an effort to partic- ipate and get elected to office,” he said,” “unless of course you are the only candidate running.” Wells was the only Democrat running in 2010 when he entered the race for Oregon House District 58. He told the group he was running as “back-up candidate” to help ensure Republican Rep. Bob Jenson won another term. Jenson the year before supported a tax increase, and in the 2010 primary he drew challenger Mike Matheson, a conservative hardliner. Wells told the modest crowd he and Jenson were and are friends, and they agree politically. The House Democratic Committee asked him to run in case Matheson prevailed in the primary. That would have been an opening for the Dems. Jenson won the primary by a scant 212 votes. “It was the most successful loss I ever had,” he said. “It was a fun expe- rience.” Melissa Shumake of Pendleton said she has been thinking of running for the school board the past couple of years. “I care deeply about the state of education,” she said. But a campaign this year is out. She said he feels she still needs to know more people. She also is the city planner for Walla Walla, and work does not leave much time to run a campaign. Still, Shumake said, she might give it a shot in a year or two. SEARCHES: Similar laws have been passed in Rhode Island Continued from 2A being overturned and additional litigation over convictions. Kimberly McCullough, legislative director for ACLU of Oregon, said there is no judicially defined standard of proof for officers to initiate a consent search during a traffic stop. That means that consent searches can “effectively facilitate racial profiling and other types of profiling,” McCullough said. “The ACLU is concerned that what may often be purportedly consensual searches may, in many cases, actually be coercive to individuals who either don’t understand the implications of consent, or that they have a right to refuse a search, or that feel intimidated into consenting,” McCullough said. Frederick’s proposal was considered for inclusion in a higher profile omnibus racial profiling bill crafted by a Department of Justice task force, but was omitted due to law enforcement opposition. Similar laws have been passed in Rhode Island and in municipalities around the nation, said McCullough of the ACLU of Oregon. “Some of the members of the community that I deal with there is a sense of being under siege, and it’s not just the kind of thing that you hear headlines about in terms of any sort of use of force but also sort of drip, drip, drip of harass- ment or concerns of not (feeling) they’re not being treated fairly,” Frederick said. Another bill by Fred- erick aims to reduce the use of traffic citation quotas in law enforcement. ——— The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Call for Vendors! Community Health Fair MULTI-MEDIA SALES Saturday, April 8, 2017 Great work environment. Super awesome team. Good pay. Retirement plan. Weekends off. Interested? Pendleton Convention Center 9:00 am - 3:00 pm East Oregonian has an opening for multi-media sales. No multi-media experience? That’s fine, as long as you understand the importance of customer service, working hard and a desire to enjoy your job. Could this be you? Free Community Event to Promote Wellness Base wage plus commissions, benefits and mileage reimbursement. Benefits include Paid Time Off (PTO), insurances and a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. N O C HARGE TO H OST A B OOTH To Reserve a Space Call Emily @ 541-278-2627 emilysmith@chiwest.com 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR 97801