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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2017)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Wednesday, December 27, 2017 Pacific Starfish making comeback BRIEFLY Oregon mother, daughter killed in Christmas crash Millions killed from 2013-2014 due to mysterious syndrome NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Starfish are making a comeback on the West Coast, four years after a myste- rious syndrome killed millions of them. From 2013 to 2014, Sea Star Wasting Syndrome hit sea stars from British Columbia to Mexico. The starfish would develop lesions and then disintegrate, their arms turning into blobs of goo. The cause is unclear but researchers say it may be a virus. But now, the species is rebounding. Sea stars are being spotted in Southern California tide pools and elsewhere, the Orange County Register reported Tuesday. “They are coming back, big time,” Darryl Deleske, aquarist for the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in Los Angeles, told the newspaper. “It’s a huge difference,” Deleske said. “A couple of years ago, you wouldn’t find any. I dove all the way as far as Canada, specifically looking for sea stars, and found not a single one.” Similar die-offs of starfish on the West Coast were reported in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, but the latest outbreak was far larger and more widespread, according to a report by researchers at the University of Santa Cruz. Beginning with ochre stars off Wash- ington state, the disease spread, killing off mottled stars, leather stars, sunflower THE DALLES (AP) — Oregon State Police say a woman and her 12-year-old daughter died in a Christmas Day car crash on Highway 26 in Wasco County. Sgt. Kaipo Raiser says troopers from The Dalles and Portland responded mid-afternoon to the crash in which an eastbound Nissan Versa lost traction and crossed into the path of an oncoming Subaru Outback. The Versa was struck on its passenger side. The driver, 48-year-old Deirdre Mackey of Lake Oswego, and her daughter died at the scene. The two people in the Subaru were taken to a Portland hospital for treatment of injuries not considered life-threatening. Highway 26 was closed or limited to one lane for more than 10 hours. Investigators believe driving too fast for the wintry conditions was a factor in the crash. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File This 2010 file photo, shows a starfish clings to a rock near Haystack Rock during low tide in Cannon Beach. Starfish are making a comeback on the West Coast, four years after a mysterious syndrome killed millions of them. From 2013 to 2014, Sea Star Wasting Syndrome hit sea stars from British Columbia to Mexico. stars, rainbows and six-armed stars. It hit Southern California by December 2013. “When it did (arrive), you just started to see them melt everywhere,” said Deleske. “You’d see an arm here, an arm there.” The recovery has been promising. Four adult sea stars, each about 7 to 8 inches long, were spotted this month at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach. “It’s a treasure we always hope to find,’ said Kaitlin Magliano, education coordinator at the Crystal Cove Conser- vancy. “We lost all of them,” she said. “It’s good to see we have some surviving and thriving ... Maybe the next generation will be more resilient.” The stars aren’t out of danger yet. The wasting syndrome never completely disappeared in Northern and Central California and it has reappeared in the Salish Sea region of Washington state, according to a report. OregonSaves opens to smaller businesses PORTLAND — A state project to get more Oregonians saving for retirement is being so well received it’s being opened up to smaller employers. Oregon is the first state in the nation to require employers make a basic retirement program available to their workers. Under the OregonSaves program, staff are automatically signed up to save 5 percent of their paychecks — but they can opt out. In the six months since the pilot program launched, state officials say about 70 percent of people have stayed in the program. Onion deliveries to be speeded by new transfer site EO Media Group NYSSA — A proposed major rail reload facility in Eastern Oregon that could greatly help the region’s onion industry is on track to be built within three years. The region’s onion shipping compa- nies face constant transportation chal- lenges. Industry leaders say the problem is getting worse and the reload facility is sorely needed. “Transportation is a chronic problem for us (and) it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it right now,” said Kay Riley, manager of Snake River Produce, one of 30 onion shipping companies in southwestern Idaho and Malheur County, Ore. Riley said the planned reload facility is so important “it could keep us in busi- ness, and we could go out of business without it.” The facility would allow shipping containers to be transfered between truck and rail. It could benefit a wide range of agricultural commodities grown as far away as southcentral Idaho. Most onions produced here are sold to markets on the East Coast. Shippers must currently truck them 216 miles west to the nearest reload facility in Wallula, Wash, before they begin their journey east. Eliminating that step will reduce the cost of shipping onions, improve timeliness of delivery and possibly open new markets, said Grant Kitamura, general manager of Baker & Murakami Produce, the region’s largest onion shipper. “This is a major game changer for onion shippers,” he said. “It will help us maintain our viability as an industry. Transportation has been a real issue for onion shippers in Oregon and Idaho for many years and it’s been getting worse and hopefully this will help us turn it around.” Bruce Corn, an Oregon farmer, said the facility could markedly speed up delivery times to East Coast markets. “It can result in a substantial savings in transportation costs and also be a much more reliable source of transpor- tation,” he said. The $5.3 billion transportation package passed by the Oregon Legis- lature this year included $26 million for a reload facility in Eastern Oregon. A 400-acre piece of land just north of Nyssa was recently chosen as the facil- ity’s location. The plan for the facility is for it to include dry and cold storage, said Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, who is helping lead the effort to build the facility. “All of a sudden, we become a regional location that can compete against anyone in the world,” said Smith, Malheur County’s economic development director. The plan also includes building the infrastructure needed by food proces- sors, Smith said. “That way, agricultural food proces- sors will have a one-stop location where they can produce and have a shipping hub right at their back door,” he said. The biggest challenge now is making sure the facility is designed and built correctly, Smith said. — 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 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 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. Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group TODAY THURSDAY Mostly cloudy, a little icy mix A little icy mix in the morning 31° 28° 37° 35° FRIDAY SATURDAY Cloudy with a little rain Cloudy with snow showers SUNDAY Mostly cloudy and chilly PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 45° 37° 44° 28° 35° 21° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 35° 33° 29° 27° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 24° 39° 67° (1980) 20° 25° -9° (1924) 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" 0.93" 1.33" 16.19" 13.35" 12.80" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 27° 39° 67° (1980) 22° 27° 5° (1948) 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" 0.53" 1.24" 9.29" 9.13" 9.71" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Full Last Jan 1 Jan 8 7:35 a.m. 4:18 p.m. 12:47 p.m. 12:54 a.m. New First Jan 16 47° 28° 37° 22° Seattle 41/38 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 42° 34° Jan 24 Today Spokane Wenatchee 23/20 22/19 Tacoma Moses 41/37 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 25/21 27/25 43/39 42/37 30/23 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 42/39 30/27 Lewiston 29/24 Astoria 31/28 46/41 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 42/40 Pendleton 37/30 The Dalles 29/27 31/28 36/34 La Grande Salem 36/30 48/40 Albany Corvallis 47/39 50/37 John Day 41/29 Ontario Eugene Bend 33/25 50/36 45/28 Caldwell Burns 34/25 38/16 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 46 34 45 53 38 37 50 33 29 41 45 36 33 49 51 54 33 28 31 42 44 48 23 37 41 30 30 Lo 41 22 28 42 16 30 36 30 27 29 21 30 29 30 45 41 25 24 28 40 25 40 20 29 39 27 23 W r c c c c sn c c c c c sn sn c r c c c sn r c r c sf r sn c Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Lo 21 64 48 31 42 33 31 46 19 69 36 W s s pc c pc c r r s pc s Lo 45 30 39 46 26 35 44 38 33 39 24 35 33 33 48 49 30 30 35 44 34 46 29 36 44 35 30 W r sn c c c sn r c sn sn pc sn sn c r r c sn sn r c r sn sn r sn sn Thu. Hi 43 70 60 40 69 36 42 52 36 83 48 Lo 22 63 50 32 43 32 35 36 30 71 38 W s pc c s pc c pc sh c pc s WINDS Medford 49/30 (in mph) Klamath Falls 45/21 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Mostly cloudy today with a shower in the area. Eastern Washington: Mostly cloudy today; a fl urry in the north during the afternoon. Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy today; a little icy mix across the north. Cascades: Cloudy today. Showers of rain and snow in the morning, then rain and drizzle across the north. Northern California: Mostly sunny at the coast today; clouds and sun elsewhere. Partly cloudy tonight. Western Washington: A rain or snow shower this morning, then a little rain in central parts; a little rain elsewhere. Today Thursday ENE 4-8 NNW 4-8 S 4-8 SSW 6-12 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 0 0 0 0 0 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 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. WORLD CITIES Hi 38 69 61 41 72 35 43 58 28 78 48 Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Thu. Hi 49 35 47 53 38 39 48 40 35 41 43 38 36 48 50 54 34 31 37 46 43 50 30 38 46 38 34 KENAI, Alaska (AP) — Regulators are considering reducing the amount of halibut that fishermen are allowed to catch along the Pacific coast next year. The International Pacific Halibut Commission is expected to consider next month adopting a 24 percent reduction to the annual Pacific halibut quota for fisheries from Alaska to California, the Peninsula Clarion reported. The reduction was recommended due to low recruitment rates among young halibut populations over the last decade and increasing pressure on the fish stocks from commercial, subsistence and recreational fishing, according to a report presented to the intergovernmental organization at its meeting last month. Halibut populations are projected to continue gradually declining for the next few years under the current fishing rates, according to the report. Corrections REGIONAL CITIES Forecast Regulators consider reducing Pacific halibut quota next year 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. 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 Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 The original plan was to start enrolling larger companies. But OregonSaves Executive Director Lisa Massena said they have a new message for smaller businesses: “Everything is working fine. Come on in.” The state has rolled the program out slowly so far. That’s been partly out of concern OregonSaves doesn’t suffer the same fate as Cover Oregon, the botched statewide attempt to implement the Affordable Care Act. About 1 million Oregonians don’t have access to a retirement savings plan at work. — Oregon Public Broadcasting 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 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 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: A cold rain is in store for the Deep South as more lake-effect snow is forecast near the Great Lakes. Snow will fall on the northern Rockies as rain dampens the coastal Northwest. Most other areas will be dry. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 83° in Miami, Fla. Low -36° in Embarrass, 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 59 45 32 31 23 42 33 22 48 26 11 13 42 50 15 66 -6 0 81 46 13 61 16 65 34 75 Lo 31 31 16 12 4 30 24 5 33 8 5 7 28 26 1 37 -19 -3 67 38 4 48 9 43 17 53 W s r pc sf sn c c s sh pc s c c s pc pc s s sh r pc c pc s c s Thur. Hi 58 36 26 28 10 47 36 14 42 29 17 19 44 48 17 70 -15 6 81 50 23 55 29 67 38 79 Lo 29 29 14 13 -1 30 32 4 32 18 11 11 32 25 10 37 -21 -15 68 39 12 43 13 44 22 55 W s i pc pc sn c c s r pc sn c c pc sn s pc sn pc c c r c s c s Today 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 24 33 84 8 5 32 50 26 32 11 30 75 19 23 46 19 57 61 20 43 68 57 41 78 34 27 Lo 13 18 70 3 2 17 42 13 21 4 16 46 -4 6 17 6 29 35 10 32 49 45 38 44 18 18 W pc c pc s s c r pc c pc pc s s s c c s s pc pc s s r pc sf c Thur. Hi 31 38 82 18 13 39 50 23 43 22 26 77 9 17 36 18 57 61 28 46 72 57 47 78 29 41 Lo 21 22 68 9 -2 24 42 13 22 8 16 47 -6 5 20 2 29 33 16 32 49 43 42 45 22 16 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W pc c s sn sn c r s c c pc s s s pc c s s c pc s s r s pc c