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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2017)
RIVERSIDE SHUTS OUT CRESWELL 57/37 TWO CHICKEN-RELATED FIRES 3A SPORTS/1B THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017 142nd Year, No. 13 WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD One dollar Forest reform bill passes House Walden applauds effort in conference call By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian For the fi fth time in as many years, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would expedite certain forest thinning projects to lower the risk of destructive wildfi res across the country. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Oregon) hailed it as a big day for the Northwest during a conference call with reporters, saying the bill not only solves the issue of “fi re borrowing” but gives agencies more leeway to thin overcrowded and diseased forests. Fire borrowing refers to the long- standing practice of taking money away from forest management programs to pay for fi re suppression, making it even more diffi cult for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to get ahead of the problem. Instead, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 would create a new account under the Disaster Relief Fund — administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency — to cover fi refi ghting costs. “That way, work can continue on the ground that’s so necessary,” Walden said. The federal government spent a record $2.5 billion fi ghting wildfi res in 2017, including 678,000 acres burned in Oregon. By eliminating fi re borrowing, Walden said more work can be done to lower the size and intensity of fi res moving forward. The bill itself features several provisions to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration, Walden said. For example, thinning projects as large as 10,000 acres could qualify for a categorical exclusion, fast-tracking envi- ronmental review. That limit increases to 30,000 acres if the project is developed by a collaborative group. See BILL/8A EO fi le photo U.S. Rep. Greg Walden speaks during a Hermiston Ro- tary luncheon in September in Hermiston. Insurance sign-up period cut in half By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Dance teams give fall preview ABOVE: Remington Christensen performs with his fellow Pendleton High School Rhythmic Mode dancers during the Fall Preview on Wednesday night at Warberg Court. RIGHT: A young Junior Jam dancer performs with the rest of her group. Staff photos by Kathy Aney HERMISTON Murder defendant asserts innocence in letters to judge as settlement nears By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian As a Hermiston man accused of murder prepares for a settlement conference, he has sent two letters to the presiding judge in the case claiming his innocence and trying to cast doubt on the investigation. Tyree Houfmuse, facing charges for killing Hermiston resident James Cragun in May, wrote the letters to Umatilla County Circuit Court Judge Eva Temple, both of which were then made accessible to the public in Houfmuse’s case fi le on the Oregon State Courts website. Houfmuse, who is being held in the Umatilla County Jail, He also makes Pendleton, has a settlement several accusations conference on Dec. 4. about people related The handwritten letters, to the case, singling dated Sept. 8 and Sept. 11, out a Hermiston police address Temple directly. In offi cer who he claims the fi rst, a 12-page letter, has unfairly targeted Houfmuse tells Temple he him in the past. He is innocent and praises her goes on to accuse the effusively as he defends his offi cer of having sexual Houfmuse own character. relationships with two “Honorable Judge Eva of Houfmuse’s friends J. Temple, I am not a murderer, or while on the job and protecting them some lazy dirt bag that wants to take from arrest to buy their silence. money from the state in lawsuits that After questioning several people should be used for cancer and Aids about the claims, the East Orego- foundations or educational charities,” See HOUFMUSE/8A he wrote. Local insurance agents will be hard-pressed to keep up with demand for their services this year after the federal government shortened the enrollment period for the health insurance exchanges to 45 days. “It’s fast and furious,” said Doug Beamer, a partner at Wheatland Financial Services in Pendleton. The enrollment period for people to sign up or switch insurance plans runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Last year it ran twice as long, through Jan. 31. The deadline applies to anyone who buys their health insurance through the insurance marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act because they do not get health insurance through an employer or the government. Computer-savvy Americans can log in to www.healthcare.gov and shop for and enroll in plans on their own. But many people prefer to consult with an insurance agent before making the decision, and Beamer said with the time crunch this year they should not wait until the last minute to do so. The enroll- ment period also overlaps with the Medicare Part D enrollment period, which ends Dec. 7. “Everything is power-packed into this period,” Beamer said. “We are going to work some Saturdays and we’ll stay late and work through lunch and do everything we can.” To help speed appointments along, Beamer said people can help by getting their own login and user- name set up before they arrive and making sure they have their fi nancial information readily available. A majority of Americans receive their health insurance through their employer, or through govern- ment-sponsored Medicaid or Medi- care. The rest — including those who are self-employed — can sign up for plans via the Affordable Care Act health exchange. In most cases, depending on income level, people who sign up for health insurance via the exchange can qualify for tax credits to help cover some of their premium costs. The enrollment period open now is the only time they can sign up for a new plan or change to a different plan for 2018 unless they have a “quali- fying life event” during the year such as marriage or moving to a new state. Those who already have insurance through the exchanges can have their plan automatically renewed for the next year, but the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services recommends that they still log on to their account to update their fi nancial information and compare plans. “People who do so, instead of automatically being renewed, often save money,” the department wrote in a news release. See INSURANCE/8A
