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NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 24, 2017
Judge reverses key ruling
Private consultant indicted
in $1.4B timber class action in Oregon energy scandal
Counties can’t seek
financial damages
from state, judge rules
Associated Press
SALEM — A private
consultant
in
Oregon
was indicted this week in
connection with a widening
corruption scandal that
already has ensnared a
former Oregon Department
of Energy manager.
The 78-count indictment
against
Martin
Shain
includes allegations of
bribery,
racketeering,
theft and tax evasion, The
Oregonian/OregonLive
reported. The indictment
comes two days after the
former agency manager,
Joe Colello, pleaded guilty
to accepting $291,017 in
kickbacks.
The 60-year-old Shain
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Bureau
A judge has ruled that
counties can’t sue the State
of Oregon for financial
damages, potentially under-
mining a $1.4 billion class
action lawsuit over state
logging practices.
Linn County Circuit
Court Judge Daniel Murphy
has reversed an earlier ruling
in the case, which held that
Oregon’s “sovereign immu-
nity” doesn’t bar counties
from seeking such damages.
In his most recent June 20
decision, Murphy has agreed
with Oregon’s attorneys that
counties — as subdivisions
of the state — cannot sue the
state government for money.
Murphy said he’s “well
aware this interpretation
contradicts” his earlier
opinion, but he will provide
the plaintiff counties with
“the opportunity to re-plead
their case in such a manner
that is supported by the law
if they can.”
“Like peeling a very large
onion this case contains
complex layers of legal
issues and theory that can
take time to unravel,” he
said.
The judge has left open
the possibility for the plain-
tiffs to seek an “equitable”
remedy, such as an injunc-
tion or order that requires
the state government to
take certain actions without
paying financial damages.
However, the counties
have repeatedly said they’re
not aiming for Oregon to
change its logging practices,
but instead seek compensa-
tion for insufficient timber
revenues.
The class action lawsuit
was filed on behalf of 14
counties that donated forest-
land to the state government
in exchange for a portion of
logging proceeds.
The counties argue that a
1998 rule change emphasizes
environmental and recre-
ational values over timber
harvest, thereby violating
was both a consultant on
energy projects and a tax
credit broker. Prosecutors
accuse the Seattle-based
businessman of sending
cashier’s checks to Colello
on more than 50 occasions
during a period of 2 ½
years.
In return, Colello said
he helped Shain arrange
the sale of tax credits the
agency issued to developers
and owners of renewable
energy and conservation
projects.
Shain was arraigned
Friday in Marion County
Circuit Court. On his way
out of court, Shain said
he had no comment then
stopped briefly. “My life
has been ruined,” he said. “I
Grand jury says officer
justified in fatal shooting
“Like peeling a very large onion this case
contains complex layers of legal issues
and theory that can take time to unravel.”
— Daniel Murphy, Linn County Circuit Court Judge
a contract that required
logging to be maximized.
John DiLorenzo, attorney
for the counties, said his
clients may decide to rechar-
acterize their complaint or
seek clarification from an
appellate court regarding
sovereign immunity and
other issues.
In the long term, such
an opinion would provide a
“road map” for the litigation,
DiLorenzo said.
“Maybe we’re better off
having clear declarations
from the appellate courts on
what the law is,” he said.
The EO Media Group/
Pamplin Media Group
Capital Bureau was unable
to reach an attorney repre-
senting Oregon in the case.
Ralph Bloemers, an
environment attorney with
the Crag Law Center, said
that Murphy’s latest ruling
has effectively “torpedoed”
the counties’ lawsuit.
“In essence, he’s granting
the motion to dismiss for
sovereign
immunity,”
Bloemers said, adding that
he expected the state’s attor-
neys to refile a motion for
the complaint to be thrown
out.
“The case should be
dismissed,” he said.
The plaintiffs face an
uphill battle if they decide
to seek an equitable remedy,
Bloemers said.
It’s tough enough to win
an injunction, let alone an
order requiring the state
government to manage its
forests a certain way, he
said.
———
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
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CORVALLIS (AP) — Authorities say
a man who was found dead in downtown
Corvallis last month refused to go to a
hospital after he had a seizure at a jail
before his death.
Benton County Sheriff Scott Jackson
told the Gazette-Times that jail officials
called an ambulance and paramedics
examined Jose Semadeni for the seizure
he had the morning before his death.
Authorities say he had been arrested for
criminal trespassing.
Jackson says jail deputies offered to
drive Semadeni to the hospital while they
were releasing him, but he turned them
down.
Semadeni died May 19 shortly after
leaving the jail. He was 34 years old and
homeless at the time of his death.
Corvallis police completed their
investigated Semadeni’s death. They say
there was no crime.
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Police: Man refused hospital
trip for seizure before death
KLAMATH FALLS (AP) — A worker
checking the spill gate at an Oregon dam
for obstructions thought he found a log.
After a closing inspection, hydro
foreman Todd Engelbrecht discovered it
was the carcass of a fish.
The Herald and News reports the white
sturgeon found Thursday at Keno Dam is
an estimated 9 ½-feet long and 250 pounds.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
biologist Bill Tinniswood says it’s the
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biggest freshwater fish he’s ever touched.
He says sturgeon from the Columbia
River were taken to Klamath County
in 1958. They have long lifespans, and
fish like the specimen found Thursday
are believed to be from the original
transplant group.
An examination of the carcass revealed
the fish to be a female laden with what
Tinniswood estimated to be millions of eggs.
Carcass of 250-pound fish
found at Keno Dam
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BRIEFLY
PORTLAND (AP) — A grand jury has
cleared a Portland police officer who used
deadly force last month against a man who
was armed with a utility knife.
The Multnomah County District
Attorney’s Office said Friday the grand jury
found Officer Samson Ajir used a “lawful
exercise of self-defense” in the fatal
shooting of 24-year-Terrell Johnson.
Officers responded May 10 after a
9-1-1 caller reported that a man was acting
erratically and threatening people at a
light-rail station.
Johnson ran off, but was tracked down by
Ajir. Police say Johnson showed the knife,
prompting the officer to fire multiple shots.
Transcripts of grand jury testimony will
likely be released to the public in July.
EO Media Group
Fourteen counties and roughly 130 tax districts are in-
volved in a $1.4 billion lawsuit that accuses Oregon’s
government of insufficiently logging state forests.
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SUNDAY
Sunny; hot this
afternoon
Blazing sunshine
and hot
91° 58°
98° 69°
MONDAY
TUESDAY
A t-storm around
in the p.m.
Lots of sun; breezy,
not as hot
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
95° 64°
84° 55°
81° 55°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
102° 69°
96° 57°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
84°
81°
102° (1992)
47°
54°
40° (1920)
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"
1.05"
0.97"
10.20"
6.45"
7.48"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday
Normals
Records
HIGH
LOW
89°
82°
106° (1958)
46°
55°
40° (2009)
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"
0.28"
0.49"
6.59"
4.64"
5.60"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
First
Full
June 30
July 8
Last
July 16
88° 57°
87° 57°
Seattle
89/62
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
99° 65°
5:07 a.m.
8:49 p.m.
6:00 a.m.
9:24 p.m.
New
July 23
Today
WEDNESDAY
Pleasant with
clouds and sun
Spokane
Wenatchee
87/60
91/63
Tacoma
Moses
90/55
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 93/57
84/56
89/62
92/55
94/58
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
96/60
93/65 Lewiston
95/53
Astoria
90/60
86/58
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
98/67
Pendleton 82/46
The Dalles 96/57
91/58
97/62
La Grande
Salem
86/51
101/61
Albany
Corvallis 101/57
103/60
John Day
89/58
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
93/57
100/57
89/53
Caldwell
Burns
90/52
89/46
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
86
85
89
67
89
82
100
89
96
89
96
86
84
108
80
76
93
95
91
98
93
101
87
84
96
93
94
Lo
58
45
53
54
46
46
57
55
57
58
57
51
49
70
54
56
57
55
58
67
50
61
60
47
65
65
58
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
Sun.
Hi
72
92
97
63
94
91
90
96
102
96
93
94
93
103
64
67
96
100
98
99
100
96
94
94
97
100
99
Lo
55
51
61
54
52
55
56
62
69
64
56
60
58
69
54
56
60
64
69
64
58
60
66
57
62
73
67
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
s
s
s
pc
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
pc
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
78
89
83
72
77
66
80
84
85
64
81
Lo
64
84
64
57
58
51
63
67
70
46
71
W
r
c
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
Sun.
Hi
87
89
87
71
69
67
81
84
83
64
76
Lo
67
83
66
56
57
58
59
68
69
47
71
W
pc
t
s
pc
t
c
sh
s
pc
s
r
WINDS
Medford
108/70
Klamath Falls
96/57
(in mph)
Today
Sunday
Boardman
Pendleton
ENE 4-8
NE 4-8
NE 4-8
NE 4-8
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Brilliant sunshine today;
pleasant in the south. Clear tonight. Not as
warm tomorrow.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Very warm
today with plenty of sunshine. Clear tonight.
Sunshine tomorrow; hot.
Western Washington: Plenty of sunshine
today. Clear tonight. Mostly sunny tomor-
row.
Eastern Washington: Mostly sunny today.
Clear tonight. Sunny much of the time
tomorrow.
Cascades: Very warm today with plenty of
sunshine. Mainly clear and mild tonight.
Northern California: Very hot in central
parts today; areas of low clouds and fog at
the coast.
2
lost everything.”
His
lawyer,
Jim
McDermott, said Shain
denies being a part of any
racketeering
enterprise.
Shain also denies bribing
any government officials,
McDermott said.
The indictment listed 29
witnesses, including state
officials, tax credit recip-
ients, project developers,
accountants and others.
Shain was previously
indicted in August 2016
on charges of forging
documents to improperly
obtain nearly $12 million
in energy tax credits to
support the construction of
solar arrays at Oregon State
University and the Oregon
Institute of Technology.
5
7
7
5
2
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: Torrential downpours and locally gusty thunderstorms will extend
along a push of cooler air from coastal New England to the interior South today. Heat will
continue in the Southwest and build in the Northwest.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 118° in Needles, Calif.
Low 25° in West Yellowstone, Mont.
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
90
82
83
88
74
81
89
87
92
82
75
79
82
72
77
98
73
63
86
89
76
93
80
113
81
80
Lo
66
69
68
64
50
68
60
66
76
59
55
60
72
52
56
73
51
47
72
75
55
74
55
87
62
64
W
t
t
r
r
pc
t
s
r
pc
pc
pc
pc
t
c
pc
t
c
r
sh
t
s
pc
c
s
pc
pc
Sun.
Hi
86
84
81
84
81
83
96
82
87
76
71
75
85
79
73
95
73
68
86
88
73
90
78
113
83
86
Lo
65
63
64
60
55
63
66
63
71
55
54
58
71
55
54
71
50
45
74
73
53
73
55
87
62
66
Today
W
t
c
s
s
s
c
s
s
t
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
pc
c
pc
t
c
pc
c
pc
c
pc
Hi
Louisville
82
Memphis
81
Miami
91
Milwaukee
73
Minneapolis
66
Nashville
84
New Orleans
88
New York City
86
Oklahoma City
82
Omaha
80
Philadelphia
88
Phoenix
115
Portland, ME
85
Providence
87
Raleigh
89
Rapid City
75
Reno
99
Sacramento
97
St. Louis
81
Salt Lake City
90
San Diego
75
San Francisco
70
Seattle
89
Tucson
113
Washington, DC 89
Wichita
82
Lo
59
63
80
54
54
59
75
70
63
52
69
90
59
64
69
42
67
60
62
61
64
57
62
83
70
60
W
pc
pc
pc
c
c
pc
t
r
pc
c
r
s
pc
r
t
pc
s
s
s
s
pc
pc
s
s
r
pc
Sun.
Hi
81
84
91
70
66
82
84
82
82
77
85
115
80
83
86
78
100
90
81
95
77
70
93
108
85
83
Lo
56
64
80
55
51
59
73
64
61
53
64
90
58
61
63
46
65
56
59
65
65
56
60
81
65
62
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
c
c
pc
pc
sh
pc
t
s
c
pc
s
s
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
pc
s
pc
s
c