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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Sen. Ted Ferrioli appointed to regional power council
By RICHARD HANNERS
EO Media Group
and salmon.
“We can’t have any species go
extinct on our watch,” he empha-
A major shakeup is in the works sized.
Ferrioli said he’s not a climate
for Oregon Senate District 30.
Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John change denier.
“The question of anthropogenic
Day, was recently appointed to
impacts is like asking
represent Oregon on the
how many angels can fit
Pacific Northwest Elec-
on the head of a pin,” he
tric Power Planning and
said. “What difference
Conservation
Council.
does it make? The fact is
His appointment must be
that adding carbon to the
confirmed by the Senate
environment has been a
Rules Committee, which
concern of Oregonians
will take up the appoint-
for a decade.”
ment Nov. 13-15.
Ferrioli noted that the
Ferrioli told the Blue
regional power council
Mountain Eagle he wants
has focused on carbon
to see the security of Ferrioli
reduction by way of
the regional power grid
enhanced to protect it from cyber- conservation, which he character-
attacks and even an electromagnet- ized as the “cheapest solution.”
Political musical chairs
ic-pulse attack by North Korea.
If confirmed by the senate,
“Power distribution systems are
a favorite target,” he said. “The Ferrioli will submit his resignation
Pacific Northwest has long known and a 30-day window will open
for his replacement, according to
a sense of peace and security.”
He also cited his work on the Oregon Legislative Counsel.
the Senate’s Natural Resources Republican precinct committees in
Subcommittee protecting steelhead his district will submit the names
of three to five candidates to the
county courts or commissions in
his district. The commissioners
will then choose Ferrioli’s replace-
ment, with the votes apportioned
by the total number of electors in
each county.
Senate District 30 is the state’s
largest, encompassing 36,000
square miles, including six coun-
ties and parts of five more.
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario,
whose House district includes
Grant County, told the Eagle he’s
interested in filling Ferrioli’s posi-
tion. If appointed, Bentz would
need to run for election in 2018 to
finish Ferrioli’s four-year term.
Replacing Bentz in the House
would involve a similar process.
Grant County Judge Scott Myers
described it as “political musical
chairs.”
Democratic Gov. Kate Brown
appointed Ferrioli and Sen.
Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin, to the
regional power council in October.
Both have served in the Senate
since 1997.
Established by federal law in
1980, the power council is made
up of two gubernatorial appointees
each from Oregon, Washington,
Idaho and Montana, backed by
a full-time staff. Oregon council
member serve three year terms,
with appointees limited to three
consecutive terms.
Funded by the Bonneville
Power Administration, the council
helps develop strategies aimed
at balancing the needs of power
production and conservation with
fish and wildlife protections.
Council members are considered to
be full-time state public officials.
A Senate legacy
Ferrioli moved to John Day in
1994 to become executive director
of Malheur Timber Operators Inc.,
retiring in 2010 to a ranch near Mt.
Vernon. He was elected to the state
Senate in 1996 and is serving his
fifth term.
Ferrioli has served as chairman
or vice chairman of legislative
committees dealing with natural
resources, stream restoration and
species recovery, water and land
use, revenue and rules.
He also served on the Oregon
Broadband Advisory Council
and the Commission on Indian
Services.
Looking ahead to the council
Regional power issues can be
complex, and Ferrioli said he’ll
rely on his predecessors and the
power council’s professional staff
to handle the learning curve.
Outgoing council members
from Oregon include Henry
Lorenzen, a farmer and attorney
from Pendleton, and Bill Bradbury,
a former state senator and Oregon
Secretary of State.
Ferrioli noted that Gov.
Brown had made a wise choice
in appointing a Republican and a
Democrat to the power council.
“There’s symmetry to the
choice,” he said. “Sen. Devlin is
more of an expert on budgets, and
I have extensive experience with
natural resource issues.”
Ferrioli said he supports regula-
tion of power markets.
“Unregulated energy leads to
Enron-type companies — energy
buccaneers,” he said.
National security leaders
say war authority sufficient
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Chris Dacus holds a K2 meter close to a headstone as his wife, Ashlee, watches at
Foster Cemetery outside of Stanfield.
PARANORMAL: Spirit activity highest
particularly between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Continued from 1A
The team employs research
and electronic equipment on
their quests, including digital
audio recorders, a full-spec-
trum camera and electromag-
netic fields detectors.
“We have more than
enough to detect anything,”
Durkee said.
The patrol has a Facebook
page and a number for people
to call if they have a haunting
or other experience they want
to report or is troublesome.
“Our purpose is to help
people, families in need,
anyone with these problems,”
Chris Dacus said.
They have a few places
lined up for investigations
and are open to more. Chris
Dacus, a manager at the Pend-
leton Walmart, said they work
at their own expense, but the
group accepts donations. They
are also considering adding
another member and would
open their investigations to
non-members so people can
witness for themselves what
can happen on a case. Partic-
ularly between about 10 p.m.
and 3 a.m., Chris Dacus said,
when spirit activity is highest.
You can find out more
about the Paranormal Soul
Patrol on Facebook. And
you can contact the team at
541-969-7754.
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Top U.S. national security
officials on Monday warned
congressional Republicans
and Democrats demanding
a new war authorization
that existing laws governing
combat operations against
terrorist groups are legally
sufficient and that repealing
them prematurely could
signal the United States is
backing away from the fight.
During testimony before
the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson and
Defense Secretary Jim
Mattis urged Congress to
tread carefully. If lawmakers
are compelled to replace the
post-Sept. 11, 2001, laws,
the two secretaries cautioned
them against imposing
restrictions and conditions
on American military forces
that allow their enemies “to
seize the initiative.”
Tillerson and Mattis said
President Donald Trump
doesn’t have permission
from Congress to attack
North Korea, but they indi-
cated the U.S. Constitution
gives him that power in
certain circumstances where
U.S. citizens and national
security interests are being
imminently threatened.
The response troubled
several Democrats who have
expressed concerns over
Trump’s
confrontational
statements toward North
Korea and its budding
arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.,
asked if the act of possessing
a nuclear weapon capable of
striking the U.S. qualified as
an imminent threat, but both
witnesses declined to answer.
“Secretaries Tillerson and
Mattis’s responses to my
questions about the Adminis-
tration’s war powers in North
Korea were very worrying,”
Murphy said. “The fact is,
no president has unlimited
power to start a war without
congressional approval.”
Murphy and several other
Democrats are planning to
introduce legislation that
would prohibit Trump from
starting a pre-emptive war
against North Korea, absent
an imminent threat or without
express authorization from
Congress.
The testimony from
Tillerson and Mattis came
as the deadly ambush in
Niger earlier this month is
igniting a push among many
lawmakers to update the
legal parameters for combat
operations overseas.
Roughly 800 U.S. service
members are in Niger as part
of a French-led mission to
defeat the extremists in West
Africa. There are hundreds
more American forces in
other African countries.
The bulk of the nearly
three-hour hearing centered
on arcane but crucial laws
known as authorization for
use of military force. One, to
fight al-Qaida, was approved
a week after the Sept. 11
attacks.
TREE: ‘Friday was the worst day of my life’
Continued from 1A
“Ivy’s a single mom,”
said Irene Zaragoza, who set
up the page with a goal of
$5,000. “She’s not working
now, she had to take time
off.”
Zaragoza said things are
looking better than they
were the first few days.
“She was really fighting
for her life,” Zaragoza said.
“Ivy said it’s a long tunnel,
but there’s a light at the end
of it.”
Coons agreed.
“Friday was the worst
night of my life,” she said.
Coons said she does not
know much about how the
accident happened.
“I don’t know whose
house it was, I don’t even
know who gave the report,”
she said.
She said she found out
when she was at work, and
one of her daughter’s friends
sent her a message telling
her she needed to come to
the emergency room.
According to Umatilla
County
Undersheriff
Jim Littlefield, property
owners in the 2000 block
of Northwest 11th Street
were cleaning up their
land around 1 p.m. Friday,
and there was an old shed
supporting a tree with
rotten roots.
Littlefield said when the
people on the property tried
to remove the shed, the tree
gave way and fell on Larson.
–——
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan at 541-564-
4534 or jramakrishnan@
eastoregonian.com
OUT OF THE VAULT:
Historical Vignettes from the East Oregonian
By Renee Struthers
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Chris Dacus holds a K2 meter, an electromagnet-
ic field meter, one of many tools used in paranormal
investigations. Allegedly, spirits can manipulate the
electromagnetic field in an area and this meter can
detect those fluctuations.
A second look at the first draft of Umatilla County’s history, from stories of crime
and punishment to natural disasters to the odd and absurd.
NOW AVAILABLE IN THE AMAZON KINDLE STORE.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Community Forum
We need to hear from you
about Mental Health
This Event is FREE
Thursday • November 2nd • 2017
November 9th, 2017 • 5:30 pm - 8 pm
Pendleton Convention Center
1601 Westgate, Pendleton
6:30 to 8:00 PM at Blue Mountain Community College
Room ST 200 • 2411 NW Caden Ave. • Pendleton
GO TO: http://bit.ly/2y0Gw3e
This 90 minute planning session will focus on patient’s experiences with
the current system of care and how we can improve these services!
• Live & Silent Auctions
• See the New PHS Food Truck!
will be provided through KAYAK • details at http://bit.ly/2y0Gw3e
BBQ Tri-Tip, Baked Beans, Hearty Potato Salad,
Fresh Green Salad, Dinner Rolls, Cheesecake
Lifeways, Inc • Blue Mountain Community College
Oregon Washington Health Network • CHI St. Anthony Hospital
and Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center
Advance tickets: $25 each
Available at Pendleton Chamber of Commerce,
Pendleton School District Offi ce, Pendleton Art
+ Frame & from EFP Board Members
Free Bus Transportation
Project Collaborators
For additional information contact
Blue Mountain Community College
at 541-278-5969