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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2017)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Friday, May 12, 2017 ECLIPSE: Spray has one motel and one convenience store Continued from 1A it out. Wheeler County commissioner and Spray city council member Debbie Starkey led the meeting along with her husband, Phil, the school district super- intendent. The couple lived in Hermiston for several decades before moving to the small town. “I want to make something perfectly clear: I take no responsibility for anything that’s going on with this eclipse,” she said to laughter around the room. “I’m really just trying to serve as a clearinghouse for information.” Consider Starkey Spray’s chicken little. She went to a county meeting in January and realized that nearby cities were way ahead in planning for the eclipse. “It is coming and that’s the main thing: you really don’t have a choice,” she said. “You could sit there like we did for a year and think it was going to go away, but it’s not.” The meeting-goers spent several hours trying to cover all the minutiae of accommodating and catering to thou- sands of visitors with limited resources and a tiny working adult population. These are issues towns all along the path of totality are grappling with. The concerns range widely, from whether the town could run out of water to where the incoming hordes will park. After all, there’s only one main street in town, and no one wants their small streets lined with strangers’ RVs. “It’s overwhelming,” said Spray’s mayor, Daniel Allen. “Are people scared? No, we’re not scared. We’re just concerned that after the four days are over, what we’re going to have left?” The main concerns boil down to three big questions: • How are you going to keep everyone safe in an area prone to forest fires, heat stroke, and snake bites? As the group repeatedly pointed out, to cover the county’s 1,715 square miles, there’s only a half-dozen deputies, four ambulances and one medical clinic (the nearest hospital is 90 minutes away — with no traffic — in the neighboring county). Which means local volunteer EMTs and firefighters might not get much sleep. Nor likely will Allen, who doubles as mayor and the town’s only physician assistant. • How are you going to house and feed all of these people when there is only one motel and one convenience store? Like neighboring towns, Spray is looking to turn any big patch of grass — such as the school and town park — into campsites, where they hope to house anywhere from hundreds to thousands of campers. Several ranchers are planning to turn their fields into campgrounds at hundreds of dollars per site for the weekend. Some are gearing up to offer water hookups, food and even entertainment — full weekend mini-festivals — while others will just provide space for toilets and to pitch a tent. “We’re planning up to 375 camp- sites,” Frank Asher chimed from the back of the group as the Starkeys try BRIEFLY Man charged in Oregon cliff death strikes plea deal to add up how many people the town can handle. Asher’s plans are by far the biggest in the county: accommo- dating potentially 3,000 campers (the maximum occupancy under the county permit), although he’s offering the barest of necessities: space, bathrooms, and access to the river and hiking. In tandem, local groups are debating cookouts to feed all the campers. The school is thinking of hosting a bake sale; the local grange is considering a biscuits and gravy breakfast; others are consid- ering breakfast burritos or cowboy breakfasts. “Nobody’s really talked about some- thing like a potato bar, a spaghetti feed or anything for lunch, so those things are sort of open,” said Debbie Starkey as she runs through the list, writing everything on a giant pad of paper at the front of the group. Some, like Asher, see big economic potential. “We just decided that we would step up to the plate and try to get some folks to come to Spray,” he said. “Maybe give our economy a little shot in the arm, because we definitely need it.” The hope is visitors would love the area so much they would come back again. To attract visitors, Wheeler County, like neighboring Grant County, created a webpage with links to all the camping, housing and food options local people are offering, in addition to existing restaurants and gas stations. But the economic opportunity comes with a big gamble: No one knows how many people are coming, so it’s risky for a low-income region to stock up on food, ice, and help and have it go to waste. HOOD RIVER (AP) — A Bend man charged with pushing his girlfriend to her death off a trail in the Columbia River Gorge has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and coercion after striking a plea deal. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Thursday that Steven P. Nichols had increased the life insurance policy on 23-year-old Rhonda Casto to $1 million months before her 2009 death and was charged with murder. But evidence problems created challenges for prosecutors. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled an interview with Nichols after his arrest was inadmissible. A lead detective also destroyed crime scene and autopsy photos. Nichols was secretly indicted while living in China and was arrested in San Francisco in 2015. He received three years of probation, with credit for 19 months of jail time while awaiting trial. Rescuers say man killed on Mount Hood was not using ice ax PORTLAND (AP) — Rescuers who had come to a man’s aid after he tumbled down Mount Hood in Oregon say he had not been using an ice ax. Witnesses heard 32-year-old John Thorton Jenkins say, “I should have had my ice ax in my hand,” shortly after he tumbled about 600 feet down the slope, The Oregonian/ OregonLive reported Wednesday. Rescuers believe Jenkins had been hiking with trekking poles. He was pronounced dead Sunday after an Oregon Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter brought him to a Portland hospital. Jenkins had been able to speak with rescuers, but gradually showed difficulty breathing, Portland Mountain Rescue team leader Rocky Henderson said. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Henderson said. “This is my first experience of having a person in my care expire.” Rescuers are not sure if Jenkins had been climbing up or down when he fell, they said. HANFORD: Cave-in could have happened four days before discovery The 8 feet of dirt that fell into the tunnel after its roof partially collapsed may have prevented radiation from escaping into the environ- ment, Heeter said. But Washington state officials were taken aback upon learning after the collapse that tunnel inspec- tions were made on what they called an infrequent basis. “It’s not acceptable that the hole could have been open for four days,” said Alex Smith, nuclear waste manager for the Washington state Department of Ecology, which helps regulate the Hanford site. Smith said that radio- activity would have been detected immediately by monitoring devices if it had escaped from the tunnel into the air. The 360-foot long rail tunnel was built in 1956 Continued from 1A safekeeping location for radioactive waste dating from World War II. Authorities plan to inves- tigate why and when the roof of the tunnel suffered a partial cave-in, creating the sinkhole that poured dirt into the tunnel containing railroad cars with nuclear waste, the agency said. The cave-in could have happened as many as four days before its discovery Tuesday morning, said energy department spokesman Mark Heeter. “We don’t know exactly when it occurred,” Heeter said. No one was hurt and no radiation escaped into the environment before the sinkhole was filled in with 54 truckloads of soil late Wednesday night, the Energy Department said. from timber, concrete and steel. Eight flatbed railroad cars loaded with radioactive material were parked inside when the entrance was sealed in 1965. The waste came from a nearby factory where between plutonium was extracted from 1956 to 1988 from spent nuclear fuel rods as part of the process to make nuclear weapons. Smith said the tunnel contains about 780 cubic yards of waste — a mixture of radioactive and chem- ical waste and irradiated equipment, including the contaminated rail cars used to haul the fuel rods. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the filling of the hole “was accomplished swiftly and safely to help prevent any further compli- cations.” “Our next step is to iden- tify and implement longer- term measures to further reduce risks,” Perry said. Hanford, created during the World War II Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb, for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons. Now it is engaged in cleaning up the radioac- tive waste. The tunnel collapse reinforced longstanding crit- icism that toxic remnants at Hanford are being stored in haphazard and unsafe condi- tions, and time is running out to deal with the problem. It also prompted a demand from Washington state officials for the federal Energy Department to immediately assess the integrity of Hanford tunnels. “The infrastructure built to temporarily store radioac- tive waste is now more than a half-century old,” said Maia Bellon, director of the state ecology department. 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 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. BOSTON (AP) — A group of 20 attorneys general, all Democrats, is calling for the appointment of an independent special counsel to continue the investigation into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election. The group led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey called Republican President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey during the ongoing investigation a “violation of public trust.” The group said in a Thursday letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that only the appointment of an independent special counsel “with full powers and resources” can begin to restore public confidence. Those signing the letter include the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont and Washington. Corrections 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. 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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 Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group REGIONAL CITIES Forecast TODAY SATURDAY Clouds and sun, a shower; cooler Partly sunny, a shower; cool 56° 39° 58° 39° SUNDAY MONDAY A passing afternoon shower Cool with some sun, then clouds TUESDAY Overcast, a little rain; cool PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 60° 40° 61° 42° 55° 41° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 64° 43° 64° 42° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 67° 70° 98° (1931) 52° 46° 28° (1911) 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" 0.04" 0.41" 8.25" 4.52" 5.52" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 73° 72° 95° (1993) 55° 45° 29° (1999) 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" 0.07" 0.43" 5.95" 3.57" 4.42" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Last New May 18 May 25 First June 1 66° 45° 61° 42° Seattle 57/46 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 65° 43° 5:28 a.m. 8:16 p.m. 9:59 p.m. 6:57 a.m. Full June 9 Today Spokane Wenatchee 53/38 60/40 Tacoma Moses 57/43 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 63/40 50/35 55/44 57/42 64/37 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 55/45 60/43 Lewiston 65/42 Astoria 54/38 56/45 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 58/46 Pendleton 44/27 The Dalles 64/42 56/39 62/43 La Grande Salem 51/34 57/44 Albany Corvallis 57/45 57/44 John Day 54/34 Ontario Eugene Bend 58/38 57/43 52/32 Caldwell Burns 58/36 52/30 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 56 52 52 52 52 44 57 56 64 54 50 51 48 60 53 55 58 66 56 58 55 57 53 49 57 60 64 Lo 45 28 32 44 30 27 43 36 42 34 27 34 31 42 44 46 38 40 39 46 31 44 38 31 46 43 37 W t sh pc sh pc r t pc pc pc pc r r c t sh c pc pc t pc t c sh t pc pc NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Sat. Hi 54 51 51 52 51 46 55 55 64 51 50 52 51 59 52 55 61 66 58 56 54 55 56 49 55 60 64 Lo 45 27 31 43 25 29 41 35 43 31 27 33 33 41 44 45 36 42 39 46 30 43 40 30 45 45 40 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W sh c pc c sh sh sh pc pc c c sh sh sh sh sh pc pc pc c pc c sh sh c sh pc WORLD CITIES Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Hi 87 87 78 66 81 48 68 75 71 68 77 Lo 53 79 57 51 57 30 53 56 54 57 64 W s c s pc pc pc t pc c pc pc Sat. Hi 84 86 84 65 76 51 66 73 74 72 68 Lo 53 77 60 52 56 33 50 54 52 59 62 W s sh s pc pc pc pc pc t pc r WINDS Medford 60/42 (in mph) Klamath Falls 50/27 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Eastern Washington: Variable cloudiness today with a shower in places. Cascades: A little rain today; however, rain and snow showers in the south. Northern California: A quick shower today; clouds and sun in the interior mountains. Mainly clear tonight. Saturday WSW 8-16 WSW 7-14 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Coastal Oregon: Showers today; however, a couple of showers and a thunderstorm across the north. Eastern and Central Oregon: Times of sun and clouds today with a shower; cooler, but dry in the south. Western Washington: Variable clouds today with a shower and thunderstorm around. Today WSW 6-12 SW 6-12 1 3 5 5 3 1 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 gather over the central Appalachians and the Chesapeake Bay region while severe storms extend from the southern Appalachians to the lower Mississippi Valley today. Showers will dot the Northwest. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 99° in Fernandina Beach, Fla. Low 25° in International Falls, Minn. 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 79 82 57 58 84 80 56 53 89 64 66 59 79 77 63 87 66 74 85 87 69 93 73 92 74 72 Lo 56 63 50 48 50 63 37 45 68 52 45 46 60 49 45 63 45 47 74 64 47 65 49 64 56 56 W s t c r s t c c pc r pc c pc s pc s sh pc sh pc pc pc s s sh pc Sat. Hi 85 76 55 56 62 77 57 54 78 69 75 66 83 84 68 94 65 83 84 87 72 83 78 84 77 73 Lo 56 59 49 45 41 56 38 43 60 50 54 51 61 48 48 64 42 53 73 64 55 64 56 61 54 55 Today W pc t r r sh s pc c t pc pc pc s pc pc pc pc s sh s pc t s s s pc 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 70 74 91 59 73 72 80 61 73 76 60 98 57 58 64 83 60 70 75 86 69 64 57 96 59 73 Lo 53 58 76 46 55 56 64 49 51 51 49 73 43 43 56 53 36 46 55 49 60 49 46 66 51 49 W sh r s pc s r t c s s c s c c t s pc s pc s pc pc t pc r s Sat. Hi 75 78 92 69 81 75 80 54 78 82 57 98 54 56 69 85 61 72 79 66 69 64 54 95 58 78 Lo 57 56 76 48 57 53 65 48 55 59 48 69 40 44 52 52 37 46 59 43 58 49 46 63 49 57 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W s s pc pc s s s r s s r s c r pc s pc s s s pc s pc s r s
