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
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The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
June 17
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-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.
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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.
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