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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Thursday, August 3, 2017
ODOT confirms Portland traffic is getting worse Euthanasia used for
4.5 percent of deaths
in the Netherlands
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — It’s not your
imagination: Traveling on
Portland-area highways and
interstates takes longer than
it used to, according to a new
report by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation.
In-migration and the
state’s better-than-average
economic prosperity has
exacerbated
congestion,
crashes and delays in six
highway corridors: Interstate
5, Interstate 84, Interstate
205, Interstate 405, U.S. 26
and Oregon 217.
“The region’s infrastruc-
ture is now tasked with
accommodating additional
traffic as more residents
travel for work and daily
activities and more busi-
nesses need to move goods
and services on the highway
system,” the report states.
The intensifying bottle-
necks, unforeseen road
conditions and unreliable
travel times took an economic
toll. In the I-5 corridor alone,
congestion, crashes and
delays caused more than $80
million in lost productivity.
The report by ODOT staff
and consultants shows travel
times took longer because
average speed declined on
all Portland-area highways
between 2013 and 2015.
The most dramatic drop
in speed was on northbound
Interstate
205,
which
decreased by more than 7
mph, from 42.6 mph to 35.4
mph.
Meanwhile, congestion
has intensified even during
non-peak travel times. That
has interfered with freight
delivery schedules and driven
up the cost of shipping, the
report found.
By MARIA CHENG
AP Medical Writer
Courtesy Oregon Department of Transportation
A new report released by ODOT confirms what drivers already know — traffic
around Portland is getting worse. The congestion has increased commutes and has
caused freight delays and other economic impacts.
“Traffic congestion in
the Portland region can now
occur at any hour of the
day, including holidays and
weekends; it is no longer
only a weekday peak hour
problem,” the report states.
During the same period,
bottlenecks
mushroomed
by 13 percent and crashes
multiplied in tandem with
increasing congestion.
Congestion
has
not
increased response times
for ambulances, said Rob
McDonald,
operations
manager for AMR in
Portland. However, the
increasingly difficult traffic
conditions have forced the
company to hire more medics
and deploy more ambulances
in a greater number of stra-
tegic locations in order to
maintain its target response
time, McDonald said. The
number of staff increased
about 7 to 9 percent per year
between 2013 and 2015, he
said. Those staff increases
and downstream expenses
such as more ambulances
have fueled the cost of doing
business, he said.
RealTime signs that
notify motorists of crashes
and delays and auxiliary
lanes have helped stabilize
or lesson the frequency of
crashes in certain corri-
dors, the report found. For
example,
the
auxiliary
lane between the on-ramp
and off-ramp at Northeast
Halsey Street on I-84 East
had a 14 percent decrease
in crashes and a 10 percent
decline in delays. Auxiliary
lanes are designed to prevent
crashes caused by merging
and weaving between exits,
said ODOT spokeswoman
Kimberly
Dinwiddie.
Meanwhile, RealTime signs
activated in 2014 on Oregon
217 reduced crashes by 21
percent in one year.
ODOT is in the design
phase of projects to:
• Extend a northbound
auxiliary lane on I-205
between Powell Boulevard
and I-84;
• Build northbound and
southbound auxiliary lanes
on Oregon 2017;
• Install RealTime signs
on I-205 between Sunnyside
and the Glenn Jackson
Bridge.
Construction already has
started on expanding Real-
Time signs along U.S. 26 and
I-84.
The $5.3 billion transpor-
tation funding bill approved
by the Oregon Legislature
last month is expected to yield
similar projects intended to
improve safety and relieve
congestion, Dinwiddie said.
LONDON — Eutha-
nasia
has
become
“common practice” in the
Netherlands, accounting
for 4.5 percent of deaths,
according to researchers
who say requests are
increasing from people
who aren’t terminally ill.
In 2002, the Netherlands
became the first country in
the world that made it legal
for doctors to help people
die. Both euthanasia,
where doctors actively
kill patients, and assisted
suicide, where physicians
prescribe patients a lethal
dose of drugs, are allowed.
People must be “suffering
unbearably”
with
no
hope of relief — but their
condition does not have to
be fatal.
“It looks like patients
are now more willing
to ask for euthanasia
and physicians are more
willing to grant it,” said
lead author Dr. Agnes
van der Heide of Erasmus
University Medical Center
in Rotterdam.
The 25-year review
published in Thursday’s
New England Journal
of Medicine is based on
physician questionnaires.
The use of euthanasia and
assisted suicide “to relieve
end-of-life suffering has
become common practice
in the Netherlands,” the
authors said in the report.
The review shows that
in 1990, before it was legal,
1.7 percent of deaths were
from euthanasia or assisted
suicide. That rose to 4.5
percent by 2015. The vast
majority — 92 percent —
had serious illness and the
rest had health problems
from old age, early-stage
dementia or psychiatric
problems or a combination.
More than a third of those
who died were over 80.
Requests from those
who aren’t terminally ill
still represents a small
share, but have been
increasing, Van der Heide
said.
“When assisted dying is
becoming the more normal
option at the end of life,
there is a risk people will
feel more inclined to ask
for it,” she said.
About 8 percent of the
people who died in 2015
asked for help dying, the
review showed. Van der
Heide said about half of all
requests are approved now,
compared to about a third
in previous years.
Scott Kim, a bioethicist
at the U.S. National Insti-
tutes of Health who was
not part of the study, said
the report raises concerns,
particularly in regards to
people seeking euthanasia
due to age-related issues.
“These are old people
who may have health prob-
lems, but none of them are
life-threatening. They’re
old, they can’t get around,
their friends are dead and
their children don’t visit
anymore,” he said. “This
kind of trend cries out for
a discussion. Do we think
their lives are still worth-
while?”
Euthanasia is also
legal in Belgium, Canada,
Colombia and Luxem-
bourg.
Switzerland,
Germany and six U.S.
states
allow
assisted
suicide.
Some experts said that
the euthanasia experience
in the Netherlands offered
lessons to other countries
debating similar legisla-
tion.
“If you legalize on the
broad basis (that) the Dutch
have, then this increase is
what you would expect,”
said Penney Lewis, co-di-
rector of the Centre of
Medical Law and Ethics at
King’s College London.
“Doctors become more
confident in practicing
euthanasia
and
more
patients will start asking
for it,” she said. “Without
a more restrictive system,
like what you have in
Oregon, you will naturally
see an increase.”
In 1997, Oregon was the
first state to allow physi-
cian-assisted suicide for
those given six months or
less to live. It is now legal
in Colorado, California,
Montana, Vermont, Wash-
ington state and the District
of Columbia.
DRONES: UAS range’s
biggest need going forward
is more hangar space
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Sunny, an 8-year-old Brussels griffon, watches another dog during an awards ceremony of the Umatilla County
Fair 4-H dog show on Wednesday in Hermiston.
DOGS: Results will be published after the fair is completed
Continued from 1A
He uses treats as an incen-
tive.
“Cut up hot dogs and
cheese are his favorite,”
Devin said.
He told Redbear to stay
and then walked about 10
feet away, demonstrating the
golden retriever’s patience.
“He was really well
behaved before, but now he’s
even better,” he said.
Emmy Simmons, also
of Hermiston, also used
hot dogs to train her collie
Maggie. Emmy was sitting
inside the covered cage with
the dog, using a cool damp
towel to keep the collie from
getting overheated after
running through an obstacle
course.
Morgan Brown put her
dog Sadie through her paces
in front of a judge after what
she called “a lot of practicing”
to get ready.
“She did pretty good, but
she could use some work
though,” Morgan said.
Kim Linier judged the
rally portion of the competi-
tion, which put the dogs and
their owners through a course
made up of signs directing
their owners to turn in a
certain direction, walk at a
fast pace or sit.
Unlike other competitions
at the dog show, the American
Kennel Club allows all dogs,
including mixed breeds, to
participate.
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Emmy Simmons tells her collie Maggie to sit during her turn on the rally course at
the Umatilla County Fair dog show.
“I like that the (American Kennel Club)
opened it up to mixed breeds, so us shel-
ter dog owners get to participate too.”
— Kim Linier, judge of the rally portion of the competition
“I like that the AKC
opened it up to mixed breeds,
so us shelter dog owners get to
participate too,” Linier said.
The dog show for the
Umatilla County Fair was
a 4-H event, but Linier said
she participates in dog shows
for all ages, and said the chil-
dren and teenagers partici-
pating in Wednesday’s event
were gaining skills that they
could use throughout their
lives. Often their parents
are appreciative of the more
obedient pets, too.
The rally course was a
more lively event than the
obedience portion, where
dogs and their owners spent a
lot of the time quietly standing
or sitting at attention.
“They can be very enthusi-
astic, you can pat your hands
and talk to the dogs, so it’s
more fun than obedience,”
Linier said.
As a bonus, she said, “the
dogs seem to like it.”
Results of the dog show
will be published with
complete results after the fair
is completed.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at
jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
pounds of water.
Built by a Spanish
company called Singular
Aircraft, the Flyox is being
developed for firefighting,
agriculture and goods
transport, according to the
Singular website.
With the vehicle already
tested in Europe and gener-
ating significant demand,
Abling said Singular is
interested in manufacturing
the aircraft in Pendleton.
The Flyox is expected
to arrive in Pendleton in
October.
• Navmar Applied
Science Corp. is already
familiar with Pendleton,
having recently tested its
ArcticShark drone at the
range.
Abling said Navmar
will return with their
atmospheric
measuring
unmanned aerial vehicle
in August and will bring a
bigger team, transferring
some of its business from
Pennsylvania to Pendleton.
Abling
said
the
ArcticShark will be the
first UAS tested under the
range’s fixed command
center.
The
range
hired
Steve Lawn to helm that
command center. Lawn
previously worked for
Digital Harvest, another
UAS company with an
office in Pendleton.
While excited by the
news, some on the council
wanted Abling to provide a
report with more statistics
to satiate some of the
skeptical members of the
public.
“I’d like to see, at some
point, some documentation
on return on investment,”
Councilor Paul Chalmers
“We’re just starting
to see a mushroom
cloud starting to
develop for the
activity that’s taking
place out there.”
— Paul Chalmers,
Pendleton city
councilor
said. “I know there was a
lot of skepticism. ‘Why is
the city investing all these
dollars’ and yada yada
yada. I understand that
concern. But from every-
thing that I’m hearing and
seeing from this presen-
tation, we’re just starting
to see a mushroom cloud
starting to develop for the
activity that’s taking place
out there.”
Councilor Neil Brown
said he’s also fielded ques-
tions about how many jobs
the UAS range has gener-
ated and a report about that
topic would be useful.
When asked what the
UAS range needed going
forward, Abling said the
“biggest alligator in the
boat” was the need for
more hangar space.
Wayne Green, the
city’s airport engineer,
said the price of building
a new mid-size hangar
ranges between $250,000-
$500,000.
After Abling concluded
his report, the council
continued to lavish praise
on the range, with Coun-
cilor Becky Marks calling
it “phenomenal.”
“This is a snowball,”
Councilor Scott Fairley
said. “It’s going to ripple
throughout this commu-
nity.”