STARFISH 50 YEARS LATER,
MAKING ICE BOWL STILL
COMEBACK BRINGS CHILLS
31/28
NORTHWEST/2A
SPORTS/1B
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2017
142nd Year, No. 50
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Several crashes, but
no closures yet on I-84
ODOT has used more than 700 tons of salt so far
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
The snow was a little later this year
than last, but it showed up in time for
Christmas — and to cause some acci-
dents on Interstate 84.
To combat icy roads this year, the
Oregon Department of Transportation
began using rock salt on the roads when
necessary between Boardman and the
Idaho border.
Peter Murphy, a spokesman for
ODOT, said the department had been
using salt since Dec. 1 between the
Idaho border and the top of Deadman
Pass, near Meacham.
Murphy, who is based in Bend, said
he spoke to one of the managers for the
region about road conditions in Eastern
Oregon.
“He said it’s been working well,”
See ROADS/12A
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
A salt shed is being constructed off Exit 193 in Echo. It
is one of several in Eastern Oregon being constructed
by ODOT to help with icy roads in winter.
MILTON-FREEWATER
Voters to
get say on
how state
pays for
Medicaid
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
distinctive terroir in America” for
its rugged, stony soils.
The wines themselves are also
receiving acclaim, with 25 local
wineries scoring 90-plus points out
of 100 with Wine Spectator. Critics
are especially impressed with the
quality of Syrah varieties.
“When you can taste the
On Jan. 23 Oregon voters
will have a chance to weigh
in on Measure 101, helping
decide how the state pays for
its Medicaid program.
President Donald Trump
noted earlier this year that
“nobody knew that health
care could be so compli-
cated” and this measure,
which deals with insurance
premiums, managed care
organizations and federally
regulated hospital taxes, is
not an easy read. Here are the
basics:
• When do I need to
understand this? Ballots
will be mailed to voters
between Jan. 3 and Jan. 9,
according to the Secretary
of State’s Offi ce. Ballots
must be received by elections
offi cials by 8 p.m. Jan. 23.
• Why is this on the
ballot? This summer, Demo-
crats in the Oregon Legis-
lature pushed through a bill
providing temporary funding
for the state’s Medicaid
system. Three Republican
lawmakers — State Reps.
Julie Parrish, of West Linn;
Cedric Hayden, of Roseburg;
and Sal Esquivel, of Medford,
decided they wanted to refer
parts of the law to voters.
They led a petition campaign
to gather signatures and are
now urging voters to vote
“No” on the measure, which
would repeal those parts of
the state’s Medicaid law.
• Remind me. What’s
Medicaid? Medicaid is
a government healthcare
See WINE/12A
See MEDICAID/12A
Courtesy Rocks District Winegrowers
Dramatic cobblestones are what distinguishes The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, Oregon’s newest American Viticultural Area, which
was designated Feb. 9, 2015.
Life on the rocks
Oregon’s newest American Viticultural Area attracting development
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
Three years after it was desig-
nated Oregon’s newest American
Viticultural Area, Steve Robertson
says big things are beginning to
happen in The Rocks District of
Milton-Freewater.
Robertson, owner of SJR Vine-
yard and Delmas Winery, was a key
fi gure in establishing The Rocks
District, which was approved by
the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and
Trade Bureau in February 2015.
He serves as president of the Rocks
District Winegrowers, a nonprofi t
formed last summer to promote the
unique landscape and wines within
the district.
“We’ve been busy,” Robertson
said. “There’s been quite a bit of
progress made over the last couple
of years now.”
It can take decades for a new
AVA to gain acceptance in the wine
world, Robertson said, though
The Rocks District is already
garnering recognition from some
of the industry’s biggest names.
Harvey Steiman, longtime editor at
Wine Spectator magazine, recently
described the district as “the most
HERMISTON
New fi nance director fi nds hospitality up north
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Mark Krawczyk, left, and his wife Tammy at city hall.
Hermiston’s brand new fi nance
director is still getting settled in, but he
and his wife can’t stop marveling about
how friendly everyone is.
“It’s a very welcoming community,”
Mark Krawczyk said. “Other places
I’ve been to, you have to be there six
months to a year to get people to talk
to you. Here I’ve never met a stranger.”
His wife Tammy Krawczyk had the
same fi rst impression when she arrived
in Hermiston for the fi rst time.
“He had some training to do, so I just
roamed around, and I never met a rude
person,” she said.
Mark grew up in Oklahoma and
Tammy grew up in Florida and they had
“Other places I’ve been
to, you have to be there
six months to a year to get
people to talk to you. Here
I’ve never met a stranger.”
— Mark Krawczyk, Hermiston’s
new fi nance director
been living in Texas. This is their fi rst
time living in the Pacifi c Northwest.
They moved away from three children
in Texas but will be closer to their other
two in Washington and Idaho.
“We kind of left one half of the
family to be closer to the other half,”
See KRAWCZYK/12A