NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Truck crashes on I-84 climb after speed limit raised
By DICK MASON
The (La Grande) Observer
The wreckage in the
aftermath of a semi truck
accident Aug. 3 on Inter-
state 84 five miles west of
La Grande caused jaws to
drop. The truck’s trailer was
shredded, but the driver was
fortunate enough to walk
away unharmed.
Law enforcement may
have been surprised by the
driver’s lack of injuries, but
they were very familiar with
where the crash occurred.
The semi truck, which
was carrying recyclables,
crashed violently at about
1:15 p.m. while traveling
west through River Canyon,
a curvy eight-mile stretch
that runs from La Grande to
a quarter-mile east of Hilgard
State Park.
The crash left more than
destruction in its wake. It
also littered the ground adja-
cent to the road’s shoulder
with about 100 square feet of
plastics and paper.
Oregon State Police
Trooper Danny Routt was
not mystified by the cause
of the crash after examining
tire tread marks at the scene
on the sweltering summer
afternoon.
“The only explanation is
that he was going too fast,”
Routt said.
Unfortunately,
wrecks
like this one are becoming
more common in River
Canyon. Routt said the
Dick Mason/ The Observer
First responders examine a semi truck after it crashed on Interstate 84 five miles
west of La Grande on Aug. 3. The driver of the semi truck was not injured.
number
of
accidents
involving tractor-trailer units
hauling commercial freight
in River Canyon between
March and October over
the past two years is up 350
percent since 2015.
While the actual number
of accidents is relatively
small, “a 350 percent
increase is staggering,” Routt
said. “This type of a spike is
alarming. It indicates a large
problem for traffic safety.”
Routt traces the increase to
2015 legislation that boosted
the speed limit between The
Dalles and the Idaho border
on Interstate 84 beginning
March 1, 2016. The speed
limit for trucks jumped from
55 to 65 miles per hour, and
the speed limit for passenger
vehicles rose from 65 to 70
miles per hour.
Trucks traveling at higher
speeds are vulnerable to
crashing in River Canyon
because their high center of
gravity makes it difficult for
them to negotiate the many
tight curves in the eight-mile
stretch.
“Truck
drivers
are
attempting to negotiate the
curves while going too fast,”
Routt said.
Truckers may believe
they are safe while driving
through River Canyon at 65
miles per hour because the
speed is legal, but they are
sadly mistaken, according
to Routt. He explained some
types of truck-trailer combi-
nations are at risk of crashing
while traveling 65 miles
per hour even when driving
Oregon’s non-unaimous jury law under scrutiny
Oregon’s long-time law allowing felony
convictions by non-unanimous juries could
be tested if the U.S. Supreme Court accepts a
case challenging a similar law in Louisiana.
Only in Oregon and Louisiana can a
defendant be convicted of a felony with a
10-to-2 jury vote. All other states and the
federal government require a unanimous
verdict.
Lawyers for defendant Dale Lambert
argue that the court should overturn its
previous rulings that Louisiana’s and
Oregon’s non-unanimous jury laws are
constitutional.
The statutes deprive certain defendants
of equal protection under the law and deny
them the right to have accusations confirmed
by a jury of 12 of their peers, according to
Lambert’s petition.
“This law essentially eviscerates the idea
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — As wildfire
season continues across
Oregon, the state’s forestry
department had spent $21.9
million on firefighting costs
as of Aug. 31, a department
official said Tuesday.
With the Eagle Creek fire
accelerating on the Columbia
River Gorge, and other fires
continuing across the state
from Brookings to Sisters,
firefighting costs are poised
to grow higher.
Property owners with
land classified as forest pay
a state assessment to help
cover firefighting costs in
addition to money the Legis-
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.
lature appropriates from the
general fund. The state has
also purchased an insurance
policy most years since 1973
to help cover firefighting
costs.
But before it can tap
that coverage, the state has
to spend $50 million of
its own money, according
to Ken Armstrong, public
affairs director at the Oregon
Department of Forestry.
Although wildfire is a
reality of summer for many
of Oregon’s rural communi-
Single copy price:
$1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday
Corrections
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 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
Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
FRIDAY
THURSDAY
Dimmed sunshine;
very hot, smoky
Hazy sunshine and
smoky
96° 66°
91° 65°
SATURDAY
Hazy sunshine;
isolated storm
Smoky with hazy
sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
87° 63°
83° 59°
81° 54°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
94° 68°
98° 66°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
84°
82°
99° (1932)
56°
53°
36° (1892)
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"
0.00"
0.07"
11.37"
7.36"
8.45"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
85°
83°
97° (2003)
57°
52°
37° (1956)
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"
0.00"
0.05"
6.65"
5.04"
6.17"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Last
New
Sep 12
Sep 19
First
Sep 27
86° 60°
84° 52°
Seattle
85/63
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
90° 66°
6:23 a.m.
7:24 p.m.
7:54 p.m.
6:40 a.m.
Full
Oct 5
Today
SUNDAY
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
Spokane
Wenatchee
94/63
93/70
Tacoma
Moses
86/59
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 100/60
97/59
71/60
83/58
98/64
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
82/63
96/68 Lewiston
97/61
Astoria
99/66
72/57
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
86/65
Pendleton 96/59
The Dalles 98/66
96/66
95/69
La Grande
Salem
96/54
86/62
Albany
Corvallis 84/61
83/59
John Day
99/59
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
97/59
84/59
91/59
Caldwell
Burns
97/61
97/51
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
72
99
91
69
97
96
84
94
98
99
84
96
95
90
68
70
97
97
96
86
93
86
94
96
84
96
98
Lo
57
52
59
59
51
59
59
64
66
59
52
54
51
63
56
56
59
60
66
65
54
62
63
52
64
68
64
W
c
s
pc
c
s
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
s
s
pc
c
c
s
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
Hi
69
94
82
66
87
92
78
89
94
88
75
90
89
78
65
67
93
94
91
79
83
81
95
89
80
93
96
Lo
56
53
55
58
49
61
56
63
68
57
47
57
55
61
54
55
63
59
65
62
51
59
62
54
61
69
61
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
c
s
t
c
s
s
t
pc
pc
s
t
s
s
t
c
sh
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
88
90
83
65
69
55
68
80
74
66
78
Lo
61
80
64
51
57
52
55
66
64
51
71
W
s
c
s
pc
t
r
c
pc
r
s
r
Thu.
Hi
90
88
83
66
68
65
66
80
81
67
83
Lo
64
80
65
56
57
50
55
63
65
51
71
W
s
sh
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
t
pc
s
sh
WINDS
Medford
90/63
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
84/52
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Some fog in the morning;
mostly cloudy today.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Dimmed
sunshine, very hot and smoky today. Partly
cloudy tonight.
Western Washington: Sun and clouds
today. Fog at the coast in the morning;
smoky elsewhere.
Eastern Washington: Hazy sun today; how-
ever, sunnier in the north; smoky elsewhere.
Mainly clear tonight.
Cascades: Hazy sun and smoky today; not
as warm in the south. Partly cloudy tonight.
Northern California: Mostly sunny today;
a thunderstorm in spots in the interior
mountains.
Today
Thursday
N 3-6
NW 6-12
SW 7-14
WSW 7-14
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
1
ties, cities in the Willamette
Valley also felt the effects
of wildfire over the holiday
weekend and on Tuesday in
smoky air and ash.
The
state’s
forestry
department not only fights
fires on state-owned land but
also on federal and private
land.
“Especially right now,
the way things are this fire
season, we pretty much have
people on just about every-
thing on the landscape,”
Armstrong said.
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.
ADVERTISING
Advertising Director: Marissa Williams
541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com
Advertising Services: Laura Jensen
541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com
Multimedia Consultants:
• Kimberly Macias
541-278-2683 • kmacias@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
Subscriber services:
For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
wide shoulders and many of
the curves have guard rails.
“The availability of safe
places to stop somebody is
limited,” Robert Routt said.
He added that it is also
difficult for police to park
their vehicles in River
Canyon at locations where
they can serve as a deterrent
for speeding drivers.
“It is not safe to park
there,” Robert Routt said.
Another problem is that
there are concrete medians
in the middle of portions of
the freeway. According to
Routt, if a state trooper spots
a speeding vehicle going in
the opposite direction he or
she cannot quickly get to the
other side of the freeway.
A number of the truck
crashes in the River Canyon
have shut down Interstate 84
for hours.
The guard rails, concrete
medians and narrow shoul-
ders mean trucks are more
likely to land in the freeway,
Robert Routt said.
“The likelihood of a
closure is greater because
of greater constriction of the
roadway,” explained Robert
Routt, an accredited accident
re-constructionist.
Because of the curves,
other drivers can encounter a
crash scene before they have
time to react to it.
“One of our biggest
concerns is a secondary
collision,” Danny Routt
said. “This is when risks
skyrocket.”
State: Fire costs at $21.9 million and rising
that you are entitled to a jury of your peers
when you are a black person who resides in
Oregon, because statistically speaking, you
are lucky if you get even one juror who is
black, and that juror’s voice may just not
count at all,” said Mat dos Santos, legal
director of ACLU of Oregon.
Lambert was convicted of second-de-
gree murder by a 10-to-2 guilty verdict in
connection with the fatal shooting of a man
in Louisiana’s Orleans Parish on March 22,
2013.
His lawyers supported their petition to the
Supreme Court with research by Professor
Aliza Kaplan and law student Amy Saack of
Portland’s Lewis & Clark Law School.
Louisiana’s majority verdict system
was introduced in the 1898 Constitution as
part of measures designed to “establish the
supremacy of the white race,” according
to the researchers’ February article in the
Oregon Law Review.
Capital Bureau
conditions are perfect.
Routt recalled an incident
in which a truck driver
believed to have been
traveling 65 miles per hour
crashed in River Canyon.
Even though he had not
exceeded the speed limit,
the trucker was cited by the
Oregon State Police on a
charge of “violating the basic
rule at or below the speed
limit” because he could not
control his particular vehicle
combination around the tight
curves, Routt said.
Drivers coming around
curves too fast for their trac-
tor-trailer combination often
are not aware of the danger in
time to correct their vehicle
before a rollover begins,
said Robert Routt, a senior
Oregon State Police trooper
(and brother of Danny
Routt). He said that he has
seen videos showing when
a truck goes around a curve
too quickly and triggers a
rollover, the process begins
with the back trailer.
“The tractor flips over
suddenly,” Robert Routt said,
indicating that sometimes the
driver is caught by surprise.
Law
enforcement
agencies
have
limited
options beyond education
for slowing truck traffic in
River Canyon. Stepping up
enforcement is not a viable
option, Robert Routt said.
He explained pulling
over speeding drivers in the
canyon is difficult because
there are few places with
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 and storms will soak the Eastern Seaboard today with localized
flooding possible. Spotty showers will cool the Great Lakes as storms dot the Southwest.
Fall-like air will plunge into the Central states.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 112° in Needles, Calif.
Low 28° 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
88
73
77
71
84
76
98
76
85
70
65
69
86
82
67
90
68
69
88
87
68
85
71
102
78
87
Lo
63
55
62
55
53
53
67
65
65
50
51
53
62
53
50
67
45
51
75
62
50
68
49
80
55
67
W
pc
t
r
r
s
pc
s
r
t
pc
pc
pc
s
s
pc
s
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
t
s
pc
s
pc
Thur.
Hi
86
76
75
74
86
76
94
76
81
69
68
67
86
86
65
92
62
80
88
85
71
85
76
101
78
84
Lo
62
56
58
52
54
55
68
59
62
51
54
53
64
57
50
67
40
48
75
62
53
69
58
77
56
66
W
s
s
pc
pc
s
s
s
r
pc
s
pc
sh
s
s
sh
s
pc
s
s
s
pc
t
s
s
s
pc
Today
Hi
Louisville
71
Memphis
76
Miami
92
Milwaukee
65
Minneapolis
65
Nashville
74
New Orleans
83
New York City
72
Oklahoma City
78
Omaha
71
Philadelphia
74
Phoenix
109
Portland, ME
71
Providence
76
Raleigh
76
Rapid City
75
Reno
90
Sacramento
88
St. Louis
71
Salt Lake City
96
San Diego
80
San Francisco
78
Seattle
85
Tucson
102
Washington, DC 72
Wichita
80
Lo
53
55
80
51
51
51
68
60
55
49
60
84
62
66
55
46
59
63
52
69
69
65
63
74
59
52
W
pc
s
t
sh
pc
s
t
r
s
s
r
pc
r
r
t
s
pc
pc
s
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
r
s
Thur.
Hi
72
77
92
66
73
75
83
74
82
79
74
106
74
77
77
85
82
77
76
94
79
74
78
100
75
84
Lo
54
58
80
54
53
53
68
58
61
56
57
83
53
56
54
50
57
60
56
69
69
62
61
73
58
61
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
t
pc
pc
s
s
sh
s
s
pc
s
r
r
s
s
s
s
s
s
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
s