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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2017)
WEATHER East Oregonian Page 2A REGIONAL CITIES Forecast SATURDAY TODAY A t-storm in spots in the p.m. Hazy sunshine 85° 62° 82° 56° SUNDAY MONDAY Pleasant with partial sunshine Mostly sunny PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 77° 50° 84° 54° 87° 54° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 84° 55° 88° 65° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 85° 81° 100° (1932) 62° 52° 32° (1910) 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" 0.11" 11.37" 7.69" 8.49" through 3 p.m. yesterday HIGH LOW 84° 82° 101° (1955) 59° 51° 32° (1929) 0.00" 0.00" 0.08" 6.65" 5.40" 6.20" SUN AND MOON Sep 12 Sep 19 First 6:25 a.m. 7:20 p.m. 8:54 p.m. 8:57 a.m. Full Sep 27 Oct 5 John Day 86/57 Ontario 89/58 Bend 79/50 Burns 84/46 Caldwell 89/62 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 67 86 79 68 84 85 75 83 88 86 79 85 81 77 64 66 89 87 85 75 81 76 83 84 75 84 87 Lo 52 51 50 56 46 55 54 60 65 57 45 56 52 57 52 53 58 59 62 58 47 57 60 52 56 65 56 W c pc pc c pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc c c pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Sat. Hi 65 84 78 69 85 81 73 80 84 84 80 82 78 80 63 67 88 83 82 72 79 72 77 79 69 81 80 Lo 51 45 46 58 44 50 52 54 55 51 45 49 46 54 51 53 57 48 56 57 43 54 51 47 57 58 49 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W c pc pc pc pc t pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc s pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc WORLD CITIES Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Hi 89 89 88 65 69 58 66 79 83 68 80 Lo 68 79 69 50 56 46 52 61 64 49 68 W pc c s r pc c c pc pc s r Sat. Hi 87 88 89 64 63 62 65 78 83 66 81 Lo 69 81 69 49 54 51 49 68 66 49 70 W c t s t t c t s pc s pc WINDS Medford 77/57 PRECIPITATION Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Last New Albany 76/55 Eugene 75/54 TEMPERATURE 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 89° 51° Spokane Wenatchee 83/60 83/61 Tacoma Moses 73/51 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 87/60 82/58 67/54 73/50 87/56 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 74/54 84/65 Lewiston 89/64 Astoria 86/62 67/52 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 75/58 Pendleton 85/55 The Dalles 88/65 85/62 82/61 La Grande Salem 85/56 76/57 Corvallis 75/53 HERMISTON Yesterday Normals Records 85° 51° Seattle 73/56 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 80° 48° Today TUESDAY Sunny and delightful Friday, September 8, 2017 (in mph) Boardman Pendleton Klamath Falls 79/45 REGIONAL FORECAST Eastern and Central Oregon: A shower or thunderstorm in spots today, except dry near the Cascades. Western Washington: Mostly cloudy today with a shower in places. Partly cloudy tonight. Eastern Washington: Smoky today with hazy sunshine; a shower or thunderstorm in spots in the north. Cascades: Smoky today with intervals of clouds and sunshine. Clear to partly cloudy tonight. Northern California: Sun and clouds today; a thunderstorm in spots in the interior mountains. Saturday WSW 8-16 W 8-16 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Coastal Oregon: Cloudy most of the time today; a shower in spots across the north. Today WSW 8-16 W 7-14 1 3 5 5 211 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 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. 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 Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 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 — 3 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: Another cool and damp day is in store for the Northeast today while the central and southern United States enjoy a sunny end to the week. Storms in the Rockies will do little to squelch wildfires in the West. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 106° in Needles, Calif. Low 28° in Bodie State Park, Calif. 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 79 75 74 89 79 90 75 83 74 67 67 87 88 66 92 64 71 88 86 78 83 83 91 81 82 Lo 63 60 56 52 61 59 64 56 64 51 52 54 65 58 47 66 40 51 76 64 55 73 60 72 59 64 W pc s s s s s pc pc s pc pc sh s pc c s c s pc s pc s s pc s pc Sat. Hi 87 79 72 71 92 81 85 69 79 72 70 67 87 90 66 91 62 77 88 87 74 81 83 85 81 83 Lo 62 61 56 51 63 60 59 56 65 49 50 48 65 60 47 65 42 60 75 66 50 72 62 72 59 66 Today W pc s s s s s pc pc pc s s s s s s s c s pc s s t s t s pc 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 79 80 93 65 69 78 84 73 84 86 74 96 72 75 79 84 83 86 83 93 77 72 73 92 75 87 Lo 57 60 81 53 51 56 69 56 59 61 56 77 52 54 55 55 54 59 61 68 68 61 56 71 58 61 W s s pc pc s s s pc s pc pc pc pc pc s pc pc pc s t pc pc c t pc s Sat. Hi 75 82 88 66 73 81 86 69 84 86 72 96 69 72 77 87 83 89 81 86 78 74 65 91 73 86 Lo 53 60 78 53 59 54 71 55 60 66 55 79 51 53 54 56 56 61 60 63 68 61 57 69 56 62 W s s r s s s s pc pc pc pc t pc pc s s s s s s pc pc c t s pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. 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 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 SEASON: Nine firefighters have died and 35 have been injured this year Continued from 1A A snowy winter across much of the West raised hopes that 2017 wouldn’t be a dried-out, fire-prone year, but a hot, dry summer spoiled that. Here’s what happened, and how bad things are: How did we get here? Heavy snows last winter brought relief from a long, brutal drought across much of the West and produced a lush growth of natural grasses — thicker and taller than many vegetation experts had ever seen. But the weather turned very hot very fast in the spring, and the snow melted much faster than expected. All the grass that grew high dried out, and so did forests at higher elevations, leaving plenty of fuel for wildfires, said Bryan Henry, a manager at the National Interagency Fire Center, which coordinates wild- fire-fighting. Summer lightning storms then dumped less rain than usual and weather condi- tions kept the humidity low, creating a natural tinderbox in many states. “It was kind of a bad combination of things,” Henry said. How big are the fires? By Thursday, more than 76 large fires were burning in nine Western states — including 21 in Montana and 18 in Oregon, according to the interagency fire center. So far this year, wildfires have burned more than 12,500 square miles nation- wide. In the past decade, AP Photo/Randy L. Rasmussen Pedestrians walk off the Bridge of the Gods, which spans the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon states, as smoke from the Eagle Creek wildfire obscures the Oregon hills in the background near Stevenson, Wash., Wednesday. only two years were worse at this point in the wildfire season: 2015 and 2012. For all of 2015, a record 15,800 square miles burned. In 2012, 14,600 square miles were scorched. What about climate change? It’s making things worse for fires, said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the Univer- sity of Michigan. Hotter and drier weather is a symptom of human- caused climate change, and that’s making fires worse by leaving forests and other vegetation more flammable. “It’s not of course playing the only role,” he said. “There’s natural variability at work.” “Humans are contributing to an ever-increasing degree to wildfires in the West as they emit greenhouse gases and warm the planet and warm the West,” Overpeck said. Tree-eating beetles Two dozen species of beetles have killed trees on nearly 85,000 square miles in the Western U.S. since 2000. They’re responsible for about 20 percent of the 6.3 billion standing dead trees across the West, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Researchers disagree on whether forests with beetle-killed trees are more likely to burn, or if they burn differently, than healthier forests. Any standing dead tree — whether killed by beetles, drought, lightning or other causes — can crash down, posing hazards for firefighters who must adjust their tactics to avoid them. Who’s fighting the fires? More than 26,000 people are fighting the fires, backed by more than 200 helicop- ters, 1,800 trucks and 28 air tankers dropping water and fire-retardant slurry. Three of those tankers are military C-130 planes. The military has also assigned surveillance aircraft and at least 200 active-duty soldiers to fight fires and the National Guard has been called out in at least four states — Cali- fornia Montana, Oregon and Washington. “We’re stretched thin,” Wyden, Merkley block Bounds from U.S. Circuit Court By NICK BUDNICK Portland Tribune Oregon’s two Democratic U.S. Senators on Thursday informed the White House they won’t approve President Donald Trump’s nomination of federal prosecutor Ryan Bounds to sit on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals until he goes through a bipar- tisan review process — essentially vowing to block consideration of Bounds until they give their OK. In a Sept. 7 letter to White House Counsel Don McGahn, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley noted that they had asked the Trump lawyer to direct names of all potential nominees to a committee they were setting up with Walden, one that they said was in keeping with “Oregon’s long bipar- tisan tradition of working together to identify the most qualified candidates for judicial vacancies.” But on Thursday morning the Trump administration announced the nomina- tion of Hermiston native Bounds for the powerful appeals court position along with several other nominees around the country — sparking the two Senators to communicate their displeasure. Wyden and Merkley said they would not provide what are known as “blue slips” approving consideration of Bounds or other judicial nominees until they go through a process that the letter says was described to the White House in May. Blue slips are a Senate protocol providing the two Senators from each state what amounts to veto power over judicial nominees from their state. “Unfortunately it is now apparent that you never intended to allow our longstanding process to play out. Instead, you have demonstrated that you were only interested in our input if we were willing to preapprove your preferred nominees,” Wyden and Merkley wrote. “Disregarding this Oregon tradition returns us to the days of nepotism and patronage that harmed our courts and placed unfit judges on the bench.” said Jennifer Jones, a spokeswoman for the inter- agency fire center. Sometimes the center gets requests for more crews and equipment than it has, so “fire managers on the ground are adjusting their tactics and strategies to accommodate the resources they can get,” Jones said. “We don’t pack up our tents and go home,” she said. How bad are the losses? Nine firefighters have died and 35 have been injured this year, according to the national Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center. Two of the deaths came during training. Fires have destroyed an estimated 500 single-family homes and 32 commercial buildings this year, the inter- agency fire center said. Janet Ruiz of the Insur- ance Information Institute sees a hopeful trend in fewer houses lost to wild- fires in recent years. Ruiz credits better-equipped fire- fighters and homeowners who take steps to minimize the danger such as clearing trees away from buildings and installing screens over dwelling openings to keep embers out. “It’s a better-informed public and fire services better able to fight fire,” she said. What about the smoke? “It’s unusually bad,” said Henry, of the National Interagency Fire Center. Smoke is lingering from northern California and central Nevada to Montana. The air over parts of northern Corrections The Tuesday article “Initiative process puts law in hands of people” incorrectly stated the number of people on the Joint Interim Committee on Refer- endum 301. It is two Democrats and one Republican from both the Senate and the House, for a total of six. The article also mis-char- acterized the 25-word statements on the ballot title as “for” or “against.” The statements explain the result of a yes vote or no vote. 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. California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington is rated very unhealthy on the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency’s AirNow website. It was not clear whether sources other than fires were contributing. The air over the towns of Cottonwood and Port- hill, Idaho, were listed as hazardous, the worst of six categories. Fires spew particulates into the air, which are linked to premature death and cancer and can make asthma and chronic lung disease worse, said Dr. Norman H. Edelman, a senior science adviser to the American Lung Association. “It certainly is bad enough to cause symptoms in people with chronic lung disease but also normal people,” he said. How much has it cost? Federal spending to fight fires appears to be headed for a record. The two main firefighting agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Depart- ment of Interior, report spending of more than $2.1 billion so far. That’s about the same as they spent in all of 2015, the most expensive wildfire season on record. Those figures do not include individual state spending, which no single agency compiles. Montana has spent $50 million, exhausting its firefighting reserve fund in just over a month. Oregon has spent $28 million, but the state expects to be reimbursed for part of that by the federal government and others. 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