REGION
Friday, March 10, 2017
Mitchell gets boost
to cellphone service
East Oregonian
Mitchell, a bucolic town
just miles from Oregon’s
Painted Hills, is getting a
boost to cellphone service.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Oregon, announced in
a written statement that
T-Mobile is bringing cell-
phone service to Mitchell.
“Cell service is a must
for the health and well-being
of rural Oregon residents
and visitors, and I am glad
that T-Mobile recognizes the
need for dependable service
that businesses and emer-
gency providers can rely
on in Mitchell, the gateway
to Oregon’s iconic Painted
Hills National Monument,”
Wyden said in the statement.
Mitchell and plenty of
other small Oregon towns
are readying for the Aug.
21 total solar eclipse, which
promises to bring thousands
of visitors to the area.
Wyden said the cell service
will be in place for the event.
Residents of Mitchell,
population
130,
have
been relying on network
extenders, devices that act
as mini cell towers with
enough signal strength to
reach several blocks, which
the East Oregonian reported
in August 2015.
Wyden
visited
the
town and Wheeler County
that year and heard from
locals about the lack of cell
service. He said he has been
working on the problem
since, and the new service
has been “long sought to
bolster public safety and
the economy in the Wheeler
County community.”
The senator also said
while he is glad this will
help Mitchell and Wheeler
County, he is committed
to finding ways to upgrade
cell service and broadband
throughout Oregon.
BRIEFLY
Contributed photo
Students learn about environmental stewardship
and sustainability at the Cottonwood Crossing
Summer Institute, which will take place for a week
in June.
Outdoor education
program offered
for high schoolers
CONDON — For
the third year, Oregon
State Parks Foundation
will offer high school
students a chance to
learn about careers in
environmental stewardship
and sustainability. The
Cottonwood Crossing
Summer Institute is set for
June 18 through 23, and
students and teachers from
northeastern Oregon can
register now.
The program is free,
and can admit up to 25
students and their teachers
from Crook, Gilliam,
Grant, Jefferson, Morrow,
Sherman, Umatilla, Wasco
and Wheeler counties.
During the weeklong
program at Cottonwood
Canyon State Park, students
and their teachers will
learn about watershed
management, restoration of
riparian zones, photography,
writing, astronomy and the
nocturnal lives of animals
through courses taught by
hydrologists, botanists, and
specialists in watershed
management and natural
resources.
The program is a
collaboration between
several state agencies,
including Oregon State
Parks Foundation, Eastern
Oregon University
and the Department of
Environmental Quality.
Students can contact Tim
Pfau to learn more, at Tim.
Pfau@oregonstateparks
foundation.org
Crash sends
Weston man
to hospital
MILTON-
FREEWATER — A
two-vehicle collision
in Milton-Freewater
stopped traffic Wednesday
afternoon on North
Columbia Street near
Safeway and sent one local
man to the hospital.
Gordon A. Giger, 53, of
Weston was driving south
at about 5 p.m. when he
had an unspecified medical
emergency and his Honda
Odyssey van crossed into
oncoming traffic, according
to Oregon State Police.
Giger’s vehicle
sideswiped a Chevrolet
Tahoe SUV driven by
23-year-old Chance A.
Royse of Walla Walla.
The van reentered the
southbound lanes and came
to rest against a concrete
barrier, according to the
police report.
Giger was taken by
ambulance to Providence
St. Mary’s Medical Center
in Walla Walla, where a
spokeswoman Thursday
morning said he was in
satisfactory condition.
— Walla Walla Union-
Bulletin
Concert celebrates
Women’s History
Month
PENDLETON — In
celebration of National
Women’s History Month,
Lauren Pelon will perform
in Pendleton.
Hosted by the Pendleton
Public Library, the free
event is Tuesday at 7 p.m.
in the Little Vert Theater,
480 S.W. Dorion Ave.,
Pendleton.
Pelon traces the story
of women in music and
performs music from around
the world. The concert
celebrates music written by
or for women. Crossing the
boundaries of time, distance
and culture, she sings and
plays ancient and modern
instruments, including some
of which were traditionally
played by women, some
forbidden to women.
The program features
voice and a variety of
antique and contemporary
instruments from many
countries and cultures
— from the ancient bone
flute, gemshorn and lyre to
a modern electronic wind
instrument and pedalboard.
For more information,
call the library at 541-966-
0380.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
Live Music
East Oregonian
Climate change panel urges delay
in Oregon forest policy decisions
Forests store the
equivalent of 9.7B
tons of carbon dioxide
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Activists
often urge a speedier govern-
ment response to climate
change, but the Oregon
Global Warming Commis-
sion doesn’t want to rush any
decisions involving forest
policy.
Angus
Duncan,
the
commission’s chair, recently
told Oregon lawmakers
it’s better to wait until it’s
better understood how forest
management can offset
carbon emissions, which are
blamed for climate change.
Up until now, the OGWC
has focused on quantifying
the amount of carbon
absorbed by forests across
different regions in the state.
Altogether,
Oregon’s
forest store the equivalent
of about 9.7 billion tons of
carbon dioxide — roughly
150 times as much as the state
emits per year, according to
the commission.
Before making forest
management recommenda-
tions, the commission plans
to determine the historical
carbon fluctuations in Oregon
forests and how they’re
affected by climate change
and human interventions
such as logging, said Duncan.
“We don’t see anybody
else who is doing this type of
work,” he said.
Improving forest health
and preventing wildfires
may involve removing trees,
but these choices involve a
“trade-off” in terms of carbon
accrual, Duncan said.
Wildfires in Oregon have
been emitting roughly 1.5
million tons to 4 million
tons of carbon dioxide a year
since the beginning of the
21st Century, but it’s unclear
whether this level is normal
or excessive, the commission
found.
The impact of forest
fires on carbon emissions is
complicated by the extent
and severity of fires — in
some cases, fires can affect
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
The equivalent of about 9.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide are stored in Oregon’s
forests, which is roughly 150 times more than the state’s annual emissions. The
Oregon Global Warming Commission is studying how climate change and human
intervention affect forest carbon storage.
large acreages but the forest
will still store carbon in
burned trees, he said.
Of the 63.4 million tons
of carbon dioxide emitted in
Oregon in 2015, about 37
percent came from the trans-
portation sector, 35 percent
came from the residential
and commercial sectors and
20 percent came from the
industrial sector, according
to OGWC.
With about 8 percent of
the total, the agricultural
sector
contributed
the
smallest share of Oregon’s
emissions.
Oregon
is
expected
to fall short of its carbon
emissions-cutting goals in
coming years, but Duncan
said he expects the output of
renewable energy to increase
in the state and the nation due
to technology improvements
and lower costs.
In the future, the energy
industry will move away
from a “command and
control” structure, with utili-
ties buying electricity from a
variety of sources as needed,
similar to the stock market,
he said.
Oregon’s contribution to
reduce global emissions will
depend on a “mutually-rein-
forcing club” of other states
and countries taking similar
steps, Duncan said.
“If we do our job and
nobody else does theirs,
we’re toast, and I mean that
literally,” he said.
Uni-Tech wins bid for Umatilla County phones
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Uni-Tech
Communi-
cations Inc. of Hermiston
won the contract to replace
Umatilla County’s aging
phone system.
The local business was
the only bidder to meet all
six of the county’s criteria
for the work, including
doing the job for no more
than $150,000, the amount
the county budgeted for the
project. Uni-Tech’s bid was
for $141,663.
The county board of
commissioners during its
meeting Wednesday in
Pendleton selected Uni-Tech,
which has been servicing the
county’s phone systems.
Dan Lonai, head of
administrative services for
the county, said the phone
system has been in use since
1995 and is at the end of its
life. The system has regular
breakdowns, he said, and that
means calling Uni-Tech to
make fixes.
Paying for a new system
means county phones can
utilize four-digit dialing and
doing away with old exten-
sions not in use. Lonai said
the county pays about $8,000
a month for phone service,
and the upgrade will save
about $1,000 a month.
Between that and the
savings on maintenance and
repairs, Lonai estimated the
new system could pay for
itself in about 10 years.
The county board also
approved bylaws for the
weed board.
Teddy Orr, county weed
department supervisor, told
commissioners he found
the board had no bylaws,
so he looked at what other
counties have done and
created bylaws based on that
research. He said the weed
board also approved the new
rules.
The board opted to vote
on adopting the bylaws
rather than wait for another
reading, and Commissioner
Larry Givens asked if was
any further discussion before
the vote.
Commissioner
George
Murdock quipped, “I really
didn’t want to get into the
weeds on it.”
The board passed the
bylaws 3-0.
Many elected positions vacant week ahead of filing deadline
East Oregonian
With less than a week left
before the filing deadline,
plenty of seats are available
on school boards and taxing
districts across Umatilla
County.
Out of the 124 seats up
for election in May, nearly
40 percent have yet to draw a
single candidate. Plenty more
feature a single candidate
running unopposed.
While many of seats
without candidates are from
small, rural fire and cemetery
districts, more prominent
boards have vacancies as
well.
The position 3 seat on
the Hermiston School Board
— currently filled by board
member Don Rankin — has
drawn no candidates. Incum-
9:00
bents Jason Middleton,
Bonnie Luisi and Karen
Sherman have all filed for
their respective seats.
The Blue Mountain
Community College Board
of Education Zone 5 seat,
which represents Umatilla
County, has no incumbent or
candidate either. Incumbents
Bob Savage, Heidi Van Kirk,
Kim Puzey and Tony Turner
have filed for re-election.
The Pendleton School
Board position 7 seat is one
of the few contested races
in Umatilla County, with
incumbent Debbie McBee
drawing a challenge from
Chris Roop.
When he was appointed to
fill the rest of the term of Bob
Rosselle, board member Gary
George was one of 10 people
who applied for the position
4 seat. As of Thursday, he has
no challengers.
Incumbent
Steve
Umbarger holds the posi-
tion 1 and is also currently
Great work environment.
Super awesome team.
Good pay. Retirement plan.
Weekends off. Interested?
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?
Send resume and letter of
interest to
PM
PO Box 2048
Salem, OR 97308-2048
by fax to 503-371-2935 or
e-mail hr@eomediagroup.com
Friday, March 10
QUINELL
CH11115
running unopposed.
The filing deadline to
run for any of the elected
positions is March 16. The
election is May 16.
MULTI-MEDIA SALES
EO Media Group
8 S . E . CO U RT, P E N D L E TO N • 5 4 1 . 278 .1 1 0 0
Page 3A
Base wage plus commissions,
benefits and mileage
reimbursement. Benefits
include Paid Time Off (PTO),
insurances and a 401(k)/Roth
401(k) retirement plan.