56/41
BOY SCOUTS
TO ALLOW
GIRLS
DEADLY CALIF.
FIRES EXPLODE
AGAIN
NATION/6A
NATION/7A
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2017
141st Year, No. 258
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
ECHO
Canadian company plans Nolin Hills wind farm
350-MW project would be built on private land
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
A Canadian energy company
is looking to develop its largest
wind farm to date on private farm-
land four miles south of Echo in
Umatilla County.
Capital Power Corporation,
based in Edmonton, Alberta,
recently notifi ed Oregon regula-
tors it will pursue the Nolin Hills
Wind Power Project, which would
generate approximately 350 mega-
watts of renewable electricity.
The company fi led what’s
known as a Notice of Intent with
the Oregon Department of Energy
in September, announcing it will
apply for a site certifi cate to build
the project. Preliminary informa-
tion shows the facility would be
located on 44,900 acres with an
18-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission
line to connect onto the energy
grid. The precise number, size and
layout of turbines has not yet been
determined.
Paul Wendelgass, director of
business development for Capital
Power Corporation, said the
company hopes to have the wind
farm completed by 2020 in order to
qualify for the federal production
tax credit, which currently pays
2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour but will
phase down by 20 percent per year
through 2019.
The Department of Energy
anticipates Capital Power will
submit its application for a site
certifi cate by February 2018. For
now, the public has until Monday,
Nov. 6 to provide comments on the
Notice of Intent.
“We’ve
been
conducting
environmental studies at the site,”
Wendelgass said. “We’re working
on studies to refi ne our site layouts,
evaluate constraints from an
environmental perspective and do
our best to avoid or mitigate the
impacts where we can.”
Capital Power, listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange, traces
its history back to the Edmonton
Electric Lighting and Power
Company, formed in 1891. The
company became an independent
See WIND/8A
Noor
out as
Oregon
schools
chief
By STEVEN DUBOIS
Associated Press
Blues expected to turn white
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Shafts of light shine through the clouds illuminating the foothills of the Blue Mountains on Wednesday east of Pilot Rock. A low pressure sys-
tem moving through Eastern Oregon will bring rain in the lower elevations and snow in the higher elevations. The National Weather Service
is forecasting scattered snow showers in the mountains Thursday morning and more signifi cant snow by late in the day and into Friday. The
service expects travel impacts on mountain roads, especially Interstate 84, U.S. Highway 395 and Oregon Route 204.
PORTLAND
—
Oregon schools chief
Salam Noor resigned
Wednesday after less
than 2 ½ years on the
job.
Gov. Kate Brown
announced the news
in a statement, saying
Colt Gill will serve as
acting chief during the
search for a permanent
replacement.
Noor’s resignation
comes about a month
after test results showed
Oregon
students
declining in reading,
writing and math. Noor,
whose offi cial title was
deputy superintendent
for public instruction,
did not immediately
return a phone message
seeking comment.
Brown was out of
the country on a trade
mission and unavail-
able for comment.
See NOOR/8A
PENDLETON
Forestry wants more money for fi res Sexual
predator’s
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SILVERTON — Oregon’s
forestry department may ask
legislators in the upcoming
session for more money to
deal with escalating wild-
fi res.
State Forester Peter
Daugherty told the Board
of Forestry Wednesday that
there is “big interest” in the
Legislature in addressing fi re
policy, particularly when it
comes to fi res on Oregon’s
federal land.
“They all want to do
something, and I don’t know
quite what it is they want to
do,” Daugherty said. “But
they have created a fi re
caucus, and there will be a
fi re policy discussion at their
next legislative session.”
The timing may be right
for the forestry department
to make its case to legisla-
tors. While Oregon’s rural
communities
consistently
see fi re’s effects up close,
the state’s major cities got a
dose of smoke and ash from
wildfi res this summer.
The Eagle Creek Fire,
which began in early
September and is still
burning on the scenic
Columbia River Gorge
east of Portland, caused
particular distress. And this
week, more than 20 people
have perished as a result of
wildfi res in California wine
country.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
was also “very engaged” in
See FIRE/8A
return to town
sparks an alarm
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard via AP
In this Aug. 24, 2017, photo, Hannah Blackstock scouts a wild-
fi re in the Willamette National forest northeast of Lowell. Fire
season has cost an estimated $38.9 million in 2017.
Sexual offender Steven “Max” Duggan in
September announced on Facebook he was
moving back to Pendleton. Dan Logman alerted
to the post like a guard
dog to an intruder and
has been barking about it
since.
Logman said Duggan
back in 2009 harassed
his girlfriend, now wife,
Vanessa Logman. When
he told Duggan over the
phone to stop, he said
Duggan showed up 90 Duggan
minutes later at their front
door. That was enough for Logman to determine
he was dangerous.
“That’s when I started researching who he
was,” Logman said.
He found Duggan’s criminal past, which
includes 1990 and 2001 Umatilla County convic-
tions for rape and sodomy. Police told him to treat
Duggan as a serious threat, Logman said.
Logman, a burly man who bench presses
more than 400 pounds, said he kept track of
Duggan after that. Duggan ended up in prison
in Washington for drug crimes, then got out in
See DUGGAN/8A