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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 2017)
WEATHER East Oregonian Page 2A REGIONAL CITIES Forecast SATURDAY TODAY Mostly sunny and nice Pleasant with sunshine 72° 50° 72° 49° SUNDAY MONDAY Pleasant with sunshine Very warm with partial sunshine PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 76° 50° 81° 55° 86° 60° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 79° 51° 79° 51° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 66° 71° 94° (2006) 46° 47° 28° (1905) 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" 0.92" 0.70" 9.13" 5.31" 5.81" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday LOW 71° 74° 95° (2008) 0.00" 0.43" 0.66" 6.31" 4.20" 4.65" SUN AND MOON June 1 Bend 72/42 Full June 9 5:20 a.m. 8:24 p.m. 2:11 a.m. 1:09 p.m. Last Caldwell 71/44 Burns 70/38 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 62 68 72 65 70 65 76 72 79 71 74 69 67 83 59 62 74 79 72 75 76 75 68 68 74 75 80 Lo 51 37 42 50 38 39 47 45 51 43 39 43 39 51 49 51 46 49 50 54 39 51 50 39 52 55 51 W s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Sat. Hi 62 68 70 66 71 64 70 72 79 71 75 68 65 82 60 62 77 79 72 70 72 71 66 66 69 74 79 Lo 49 39 41 52 40 40 48 45 51 44 41 44 42 50 47 51 51 49 49 53 39 51 49 41 52 52 50 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W sh s s s s sh pc s s s s sh s s pc pc s s s c s c pc pc c s s WORLD CITIES Today Hi 101 82 79 60 86 68 60 76 79 70 75 Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Lo 65 76 58 47 58 50 46 57 55 62 64 W pc sh s t pc pc t t s sh s Sat. Hi 96 83 69 62 86 70 64 71 80 72 78 Lo 65 78 55 48 57 53 48 56 55 59 67 W s c pc t pc pc t pc pc r s WINDS Medford 83/51 PRECIPITATION May 25 John Day 71/43 Ontario 74/46 49° 47° 33° (1966) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today New First Albany 76/48 Eugene 76/47 TEMPERATURE Yesterday Normals Records 93° 62° Spokane Wenatchee 68/50 75/53 Tacoma Moses 71/51 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 76/51 66/46 63/51 71/50 80/51 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 73/53 75/55 Lewiston 79/50 Astoria 73/49 62/51 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 75/54 Pendleton 65/39 The Dalles 79/51 72/50 81/55 La Grande Salem 69/43 75/51 Corvallis 77/49 HIGH 89° 55° Seattle 70/54 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 84° 52° Today TUESDAY Mostly sunny Friday, May 19, 2017 (in mph) Boardman Pendleton Klamath Falls 74/39 REGIONAL FORECAST Eastern Washington: Sunny to partly cloudy today. Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly sunny today; pleasant. Clear tonight. Cascades: Mostly sunny today; pleasant. Western Washington: Sunshine and patchy clouds today. Northern California: Plenty of sun today; warmer in the interior mountains. Clear tonight. Saturday WNW 4-8 W 6-12 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Coastal Oregon: Mostly sunny today. Partly cloudy tonight. Today SW 3-6 NNW 4-8 2 5 7 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017 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 — 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. 2 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 www.eastoregonian.com 4 The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. June 17 211 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 7 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 Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday -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: Showers and storms will extend from eastern Maine to southern Texas today with severe weather in the Central states. As rain soaks parts of the northern Plains, more snow will fall on the central Rockies. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 102° in Dryden, Texas Low 20° in Randolph, Utah 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 66 89 81 90 60 89 69 83 87 81 54 62 87 39 63 81 63 64 84 90 76 87 74 82 85 83 Lo 43 69 59 59 38 69 47 52 67 63 50 53 67 29 49 54 43 39 72 76 64 68 56 64 69 62 W s t pc t pc t s pc pc t sh pc t sn pc s sh pc pc pc t pc t s t s Sat. Hi 70 89 63 70 66 88 75 62 88 86 74 79 78 57 68 84 61 54 85 88 81 87 65 89 81 86 Lo 48 69 52 54 44 69 47 50 69 67 56 66 62 36 59 60 38 41 71 72 64 69 46 69 63 62 Today W s pc pc pc c t s s pc t t pc t pc pc s pc r sh t t sh t s t s 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 83 87 89 50 54 88 86 88 76 55 91 88 77 87 91 45 77 90 80 62 77 76 70 85 91 74 Lo 70 72 80 45 44 71 74 56 52 47 59 66 43 53 69 32 50 57 70 46 61 52 54 56 63 50 W t t sh sh pc t pc pc t t pc s pc pc pc r s s t pc s s s s t t Sat. Hi 87 85 89 63 54 89 84 70 71 56 72 95 64 69 87 56 83 93 81 70 77 76 68 92 73 65 Lo 69 67 79 54 45 68 72 53 47 43 53 70 44 47 65 34 52 57 59 52 61 51 52 61 59 47 W t t pc r r t t s pc t pc s s s t r s s t s s s pc s pc pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. 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 • Danni Halladay 541-278-2683 • dhalladay@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com 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 Azure Farms agree to try OHA: Determining Medicaid a new weed control plan eligibility a complicated task By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau Neighbors are wary organic plan won’t be enough By ERIC MORTENSON EO Media Group MORO — Azure Farms and Sherman County officials agreed Thursday to try a new weed control plan that would allow the farm to retain its organic certifi- cation. The agreement came during a two-hour county court meeting that saw approximately 300 people, more than one-sixth of the county’s population, file into the high school gym. The county has warned it will ask the Oregon Depart- ment of Agriculture to quar- antine the 1,922-acre organic farm if it doesn’t control rampant noxious weeds that neighboring wheat farmers say are spreading on to their ground. The local weed control supervisor said the county will spray herbicide and bill the farm for the work if the problem is not dealt with. The situation, which has been a local issue since at least 2006, came to a head this spring when local farmers renewed complaints that Azure’s property is filled with Rush Skeleton weed, Canada Thistle, Bindweed, White Top and Morning Glory. Conventional farmers, especially those who grow certified seed, said weeds from Azure can contaminate their crops and increase their input costs due to additional spraying. For Azure Farms, however, spraying conven- tional herbicides would cause it to lose valuable organic certification for three years after the last applica- tion. Azure Farms is part of Azure Standard, a major distributor of organic prod- ucts, and the company’s first response — a video that urged a social media uprising against the county — didn’t win them any local friends. County officials counted approximately 57,000 emails from around Eric Mortenson/Capital Press David Stelzer, center, CEO of Azure Standard, and his brother, Nathan Stelzer, left, Azure Farms manag- er, address the Sherman County crowd about their weed problems. the world, critical of their proposed action. The county courthouse also shut down its phone system after being deluged with protests. At the Wednesday meeting, however, Azure representatives said they regret the conflict. “We have every intention of living peaceably with all of our neighbors,” farm manager Nathan Stelzer said. “I’m deeply sorry if we hurt you guys,” he added later. His brother, David Stelzer, CEO of Azure Standard, said he authorized the social media campaign but doesn’t have a Facebook account himself and didn’t understand the implications. “I do apologize for unleashing social media on the county,” he said. “I am sorry.” But the brothers made it clear they don’t want to use weed control methods that will cause them to lose organic certification. They proposed a combination of tillage, mowing and organic products to do the job. County weed district Super- visor Rod Asher said he will work with Azure in concert with farmers, university weed experts and perhaps organic consultants. Some of the conventional farmers in the area are skep- tical. During the meeting, several said Azure Farms should simply spray herbi- cide, clean up its fields and resume organic operations in three years. “This has gone on long enough,” said Bryan Cran- ston, who grows certified wheat seed adjacent to Azure Farms. He said the farm should use Milestone, a powerful herbicide that will kill the weeds. Grower Chris Moore, who also farms next to Azure property, said the time he spends on weed abatement has gone from hours to days, and he’s losing productive ground. He said “half measures” by Azure won’t be sufficient. “If you do undertake it, control every weed,” he said. “Don’t let it go to seed. If you do that, I don’t think you’ll have a problem with your neighbors.” Jean Luxford-Hubert was blunt. “What we’re looking at here is bad farming practices that have gone on for a number of years,” she said. “This is pure and simple poor management, poor soil control, poor conservation of the fields. “You need to fix this problem because you’re encroaching on your neigh- bors,” she told the Stelzers. “That’s not the way it should be in an agricultural commu- nity.” Blake Rowe, CEO of the Oregon Wheat Growers League in Portland, said Sherman County is one of the state’s key wheat producing regions. Wheat is among the state’s leading export products, with much of it going to Asia, and the area’s reputation for high quality is at risk, Rowe said. SALEM — More than three years after Oregon opted to expand healthcare coverage under Medicaid, the government’s healthcare plan, it’s still not clear how much the state may have spent on people who don’t qualify. In response to an audit memo released by the Oregon Secretary of State this week, the Oregon Health Authority said that the process for determining eligibility for the program has been hampered by old, disparate systems for keeping track of Medicaid recipients and the failure of Cover Oregon, the state’s expensive attempt at a health insurance marketplace. Oregon decided to expand Medicaid in 2013 under the federal Affordable Care Act, and dramatically widened the pool of Oregonians who could receive government health coverage. State auditors’ preliminary findings, first reported by The Oregonian on Tuesday evening, brought more visibility to what has been another wrinkle in a litany of problems with the state’s implementation of the Medicaid expansion, including the Cover Oregon failure, which cost state and federal taxpayers about $300 million. Richardson’s memo said that at a cost of $430 per patient per month, the state could have spent millions of dollars providing coverage for approximately 86,000 people whose qualifications for the program are still in question. The health authority and several Democratic legislators on healthcare committees maintained this week that the Legislature, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were already aware of problems with enrollment and eligibility, which are in the process of being resolved. As of May 1, there were 1,028,509 Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan, representing about a quarter of the state’s population. Most people receiving Medicaid coverage in the state — nearly 734,000 recipients — have been determined eligible and have been enrolled in a new eligibility system called ONE. Another 180,000 people are receiving benefits through programs for foster children, the elderly and people with disabilities administered by the Oregon Department of Human Services. That leaves about 115,000 people who were previously determined eligible for Medicaid benefits, but whose current qualifications for the program have not been confirmed. Of that 115,000: • 14,000 are in the process of having their benefits terminated because they haven’t responded to the health authority’s inquiry. • 17,000 have responded and are undergoing analysis to determine whether they are eligible for Medicaid, a process OHA expects to complete Friday. • 84,000 people are still being analyzed to find out what the agency needs to do next about them, as they have previously been eligible for Medicaid benefits, but have not been “redetermined” eligible. “Just because redetermination is not complete, does not indicate that they are ineligible for Medicaid,” an agency spokeswoman said in an email. Eligibility is an official term that denotes whether or not someone has met the government’s criteria for health coverage. Eligibility determination is a formal process that is supposed to take place annually; the state got several passes on performing those annual determinations from the federal government until mid-2016. According to the Oregon Health Authority, federal law says that once someone has been determined eligible for Medicaid coverage, eligibility cannot be revoked until the case has been reviewed, and he or she has been notified and given a chance to respond. Someone would no longer meet the criteria if he or she started earning more than the maximum income, for example, but official eligibility isn’t up until the formal determination and revocation processes are complete. According to OHA, “poor data quality” in Cover Oregon and the state’s older data systems meant that the agency had to contact each person receiving benefits to complete a paper application. It took more than two years to finish that process on fairly straightforward cases. What’s left, the agency said, are cases “more complex in nature.” The health authority says it will know what to do next with the group of about 84,000 people by the end of the month. M-F DRIVE - IN FM/AM RADIO SOUND GATES OPEN AT 7:30 P.M. SHOWTIME AT DUSK Shows playing Fri, Sat, Sun May 19th, 20th, 21st GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (PG-13) BORN IN CHINA (G) 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. Always two movies for the price of one! 938-4327 www.m-fdriveintheatre.com Fri. • Sat. • Sun. Adults $7, Children 11 & Under $2
