WEATHER
East Oregonian
Page 2A
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
SATURDAY
TODAY
A little rain, maybe
mix, p.m.
Partly sunny
36° 31°
40° 31°
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Times of clouds
and sun
A thick cloud cover
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
51° 39°
51° 32°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
43° 32°
37° 33°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
29°
26°
39°
26°
64° (2002) -22° (1919)
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"
0.08"
0.64"
15.34"
12.47"
12.11"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
LOW
33°
39°
68° (2002)
0.00"
0.01"
0.71"
8.77"
8.77"
9.18"
SUN AND MOON
Dec 26
Bend
43/22
Burns
32/18
Full
7:29 a.m.
4:12 p.m.
4:47 a.m.
3:03 p.m.
Last
Jan 1
Jan 8
Caldwell
34/26
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
49
38
43
55
32
42
40
38
37
45
45
39
37
45
50
51
32
36
36
40
40
43
31
41
41
35
37
Lo
41
26
22
41
18
27
30
31
33
29
22
27
25
32
39
37
25
25
31
36
23
34
24
26
37
31
28
W
r
c
c
pc
sn
c
r
r
r
r
pc
sh
c
r
r
r
c
r
r
r
c
r
sn
c
r
r
c
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
Hi
48
37
36
54
32
34
42
39
43
36
39
35
32
43
49
51
39
39
40
43
38
45
28
34
43
39
44
Lo
43
20
24
42
16
20
33
31
32
28
22
20
19
30
43
39
23
30
31
39
22
38
23
23
40
31
31
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
r
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
c
r
c
pc
pc
pc
r
pc
r
pc
pc
r
pc
c
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
37
71
58
42
74
35
42
59
36
79
50
Lo
20
58
46
32
48
31
35
42
17
71
42
W
pc
c
pc
pc
pc
c
sh
r
c
c
pc
Sat.
Hi
34
65
61
41
70
41
41
54
28
85
59
Lo
17
53
46
35
47
37
33
37
12
71
41
W
s
pc
s
pc
pc
r
pc
sh
pc
pc
pc
WINDS
Medford
45/32
PRECIPITATION
Dec 17
John Day
45/29
Ontario
32/25
30°
27°
-7° (1972)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
Albany
41/33
Eugene
40/30
TEMPERATURE
Yesterday
Normals
Records
50° 35°
Spokane
Wenatchee
31/24
35/28
Tacoma
Moses
44/34
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 33/26
31/24
47/40
47/35
37/28
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
44/38
35/31 Lewiston
35/29
Astoria
36/29
49/41
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
40/36
Pendleton 42/27
The Dalles 37/33
36/31
42/39
La Grande
Salem
39/27
43/34
Corvallis
42/31
HIGH
53° 40°
Seattle
45/36
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
45° 41°
Today
TUESDAY
Cloudy
46° 41°
Friday, December 15, 2017
(in mph)
Boardman
Pendleton
Klamath Falls
45/22
REGIONAL FORECAST
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
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
postal holidays, 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.
Eastern Washington: Cloudy today. A bit
of snow near the Idaho border and in the
mountains; a shower south.
Cascades: Rain, then snow today with
precipitation waiting until afternoon across
the south.
Northern California: Increasing clouds
today. Partly cloudy tonight. Partly sunny
tomorrow.
Saturday
WSW 4-8
WSW 6-12
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Coastal Oregon: Periods of rain today; any
time across the north, in the afternoon in
central and southern parts.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy
today; a little rain and snow spreading in
from the northwest this afternoon.
Western Washington: Periods of rain in
the morning, but any time across the south
today.
Today
SW 6-12
SW 6-12
0
1
1
0
0
0
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 mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1
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
Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group
-10s
SALEM — Oregon
Secretary of State Dennis
Richardson has revised a
proposal to ease restrictions
on qualifying measures for
the Oregon ballot.
The updated proposal
allows petitioners to gather
signatures for an initiative
before the measure’s ballot
title is finalized. The change
could enable more measures
to make the ballot.
Existing rules suspend the
signature-gathering process
until legal battles have been
settled and a title is finalized
for the ballot.
“Legal challenges often
create delays of two to three
months, or even longer, which
is unnecessarily burdensome
for grassroots petitioners that
do not have the resources to
hire a signature gathering
service,” said Alyssa Orlando,
Richardson’s spokeswoman, suggesting the revisions “to
in a statement Wednesday.
ensure voters have a clear idea
Under the proposal, of what they are signing.”
petitioners may circulate the
He has reopened the
ballot title issued
public comment
by the state attorney
period until Dec.
general’s
office
21
to
accept
even if the title has
feedback on the
been challenged in
revisions.
court.
The Republican
The ballot title is
secretary of state’s
a short description
proposal has trig-
for ballot measures
gered opposition
intended to be
from some Demo-
informative
and
crats and from the
unbiased.
Both Richardson
former executive
petitioners
and
director of labor-
opponents can appeal the backed advocacy group Our
description to the Oregon Oregon.
Rep. Dan Rayfield,
Supreme Court.
The changes proposed D-Corvallis, an attorney,
Wednesday, Dec. 13, were said Richardson may lack
based on public comments the legal authority to make
Richardson has received the changes, which could
since he made the original spark a legal challenge.
Opponents argue that
proposal in late August.
Richardson
credited gathering signatures before
members of the League of finalizing ballot title would
Women Voters of Oregon for allow petitioners to circulate
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho
officials have reached a tenta-
tive agreement approving
a utility company’s $216.5
million
in
relicensing
expenses for a three-dam
hydroelectric project on the
Snake River on the Idaho-Or-
egon border.
The Idaho Public Utilities
Commission on Wednesday
said it’s taking public
comments through Jan. 5 on
the proposed agreement with
Boise-based Idaho Power
involving the Hells Canyon
Complex.
“It represents a compro-
mise for both sides,” said
commission spokesman Matt
Evans. “It’s less than Idaho
Power initially requested.”
The proposed agreement,
which Evans said could be
approved in February at the
earliest, doesn’t call for a rate
increase. That would take a
separate request from Idaho
Power also requiring the state
commission’s approval.
The
company
in
December 2016 requested
about $220 million to cover
costs from 2003 to the end of
2015 as it seeks a new license
from the Federal Energy
Regulatory
Commission.
The company’s 50-year
license expired in 2005, and
it has been operating the
dams under annual licenses
renewed each August.
A significant hurdle to
getting a longer license is that
Oregon officials are refusing
to agree to the relicensing
until salmon and steelhead
can access four Oregon
tributaries that feed into the
Hells Canyon Complex, as
required by Oregon law for
the relicensing.
But Idaho lawmakers
have prohibited moving
federally protected salmon
and steelhead upstream of
the dams, which could force
restoration work on Idaho’s
environmentally degraded
Corrections
middle section of the Snake
River.
“The states of Idaho
and Oregon are working to
resolve those issues,” said
Idaho Power spokesman
Brad Bowlin. “It’s one of the
last remaining obstacles.”
Another problem is that
elevated mercury levels
blamed in part on agricul-
tural runoff extend 60 miles
downstream of the Hells
Canyon Complex to the
Salmon River confluence.
The company has been
working with farmers to
try to reduce agricultural
runoff, including switching
from flood irrigation to more
efficient sprinkler systems.
That work is included in the
$216.5 million.
In January, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commis-
sion rejected the company’s
request to exempt the Hells
Canyon Complex from the
Oregon statute. The company
had argued the Supremacy
Clause of the U.S. Consti-
In a Dec. 13 story about the economic impact of Oregon’s state parks, The Associated
Press reported erroneously that park employees earn a combined salary of $550 million. The
parks generate $550 million in salaries for those in the parks’ host communities.
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.
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: Spotty snow is forecast from the northern Plains to the central
Appalachians today. Rain will extend from northern Florida to South Texas. Rain and moun-
tain snow will fall on Washington and Oregon.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 86° in Camarillo, Calif.
Low -15° in Silver Bay, Minn.
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
47
49
37
34
52
47
32
30
65
39
33
29
59
61
29
54
23
33
78
57
37
73
49
63
56
79
Lo
25
30
30
23
32
28
25
23
36
26
27
23
37
35
23
28
19
26
66
40
26
44
34
42
31
52
W
s
pc
sn
c
c
s
c
pc
c
c
c
sf
s
pc
sf
s
pc
sn
sh
c
c
c
s
pc
s
s
Sat.
Hi
48
55
43
45
35
55
33
35
59
50
46
38
65
51
34
57
26
35
78
59
49
64
60
62
62
72
Lo
26
36
34
28
18
38
22
21
37
31
28
27
44
25
25
40
11
23
69
47
34
46
39
41
41
48
Today
W
pc
s
pc
pc
sn
pc
pc
pc
s
s
pc
sf
s
c
sn
s
s
c
pc
c
s
pc
pc
s
s
s
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
42
51
78
30
30
46
55
31
54
48
33
72
26
31
48
59
55
62
46
43
77
60
45
69
37
54
Lo
30
33
60
24
25
30
42
26
33
31
26
46
14
22
27
33
28
43
34
29
53
49
36
40
29
31
W
pc
s
s
c
c
pc
r
sn
s
s
sf
s
pc
sf
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
c
s
pc
r
s
c
s
Sat.
Hi
55
58
79
40
34
56
61
38
62
53
41
69
32
37
52
40
42
63
60
36
66
63
45
68
46
61
Lo
37
42
68
31
22
36
56
27
41
26
29
47
11
21
30
22
20
44
40
24
49
49
41
47
34
40
W
s
s
s
c
c
s
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
sf
pc
s
sn
pc
s
s
sf
s
s
r
pc
pc
s
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
• Grace Bubar
541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com
inaccurate or misleading
information
about
the
proposed measure to the
public.
Rayfield said he could
see a scenario in which peti-
tioners gather signatures for
various iterations of a ballot
title, which could threaten
the integrity of the initiative
petition process.
“You need to make sure
everybody has the same
accurate
non-bipartisan
information when they’re
signing an initiative petition,
and I don’t think this gets to
that ideal,” Rayfield said of
the revisions.
He said he would prefer
any changes to the restric-
tions on qualifying measures
for the ballot to come from
the Legislature.
Comments on the revised
proposal can be emailed to
the secretary of state’s office
at
elections.sos@oregon.
gov until 5 p.m. Dec. 21.
Tentative $216 million deal to relicense Snake dams
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
0s
showers t-storms
Richardson reopens comment on initiative
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
-0s
tution that has to do with
federal authority over states
pre-empted the Oregon law.
Idaho Power has 534,000
customers
in
southern
Idaho and eastern Oregon.
The company generates 39
percent of its electricity from
17 hydropower facilities. The
main producer is the Hells
Canyon Complex.
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
Oil tankers may need tug
escorts on Columbia River
ASTORIA (AP) —
Tethered tug escorts could
provide added protection for
oil tankers on the Columbia
River if tanker traffic
increases due to new marine
terminals, a study commis-
sioned by the Washington
Legislature found.
The study released last
month by the Department of
Ecology said five proposed
bulk terminals could create
up to 1,379 additional
one-way trips, mostly by
tankers, The Daily Astorian
reported Thursday.
The likelihood of a
major oil spill on the
Columbia River is low, but
the consequences would be
high for both Washington
and Oregon. Based on
2006 figures, a large spill
could cost Washington state
$10.8 billion and more than
165,000 jobs.
Each year, about 180 tank
vessels transit the Columbia
River to deliver more than a
billion gallons of gasoline,
jet fuel and other refined
petroleum products. There
are currently no shipments
of crude oil on the Columbia
River by tank vessels.
The study said the
ecology department will
work with a harbor safety
committee to develop stan-
dards for loaded oil tankers
that could be put in place
when a new facility is built
and increases tanker traffic.
“We wouldn’t wait
until those tankers actually
showed up on the river,”
Brian Kirk, of the ecology
department,
told
the
newspaper. “We think that
starting work on that guide-
line sooner rather than later
will help people understand
how to best escort tankers on
the Columbia River.”
Existing collaborative
marine safety programs
represent the best oppor-
tunity to prevent cargo oil
spills on the Columbia River
and Bar, the report found.
“The big things coming
out of the study that there
was a lot more safety
collaboration than Ecology
and legislators were aware
of,” said Dan Jordan, a
Columbia River Bar pilot
who helps guide ships and
assisted the study.
Most of the five proposed
terminal projects are in
Washington state, including
a massive oil-by-rail terminal
at the port of Vancouver that
could receive up to 360,000
barrels of oil and send out
one ship per day to West
Coast refineries.
A state panel last month
recommended that Gov. Jay
Inslee, a Democrat, reject
the permit. The governor
will have 60 days after the
panel sends him their final
report this month.