OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
MEASURE 101: ‘This is an overwhelming victory for everyone who counts on Medicare’
to band together against
anyone who tries to take
their health care away.”
On Tuesday morning,
Parrish said was still unsure
what voters would decide.
She suspected the timing of
the special election could
hinder turnout and chided
Democratic colleagues for
placing the measure on the
January ballot instead of the
November general election.
“I have no sense of what
tonight’s outcome will be,”
Parrish said. “Win or lose,
health care is a mess. My
colleagues have kicked the
can down the curb to the
next biennium.”
The lawmaker, whose
cell phone number appeared
in the special election voters’
Continued from 1A
“This is an overwhelming
victory for everyone who
counts on Medicare for
their health care,” she said.
“Everyone deserves afford-
able health care.”
In recent weeks Wentz
stumped for the measure,
saying the fate of more than
350,000 people added to the
Oregon Health Plan as part
of Medicaid expansion was
uncertain if the measure
failed. She also feared
losing federal matching
funds if the measure went
down. With it, she said, the
state puts up the $210 to
$320 million it raises from
the tax and it gets matched
and expanded to $1.3 billion
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Dan Lonai, Umatilla County Department of Adminis-
trative Services director, verifies a ballot total while
counting ballots Tuesday at the Umatilla County Court-
house in Pendleton.
by federal dollars.
Wentz said the election
result was a clear message
that “Oregonians are going
pamphlet,
maintained
throughout the campaign
that most of the $320 million
shortfall could instead come
from elsewhere and that
the tax hurts individuals,
small businesses, school
districts, college students
and non-profits, while
exempting unions and
corporations like Nike.
“We set out to let the
voters vote,” Parrish said.
Sen.
Bill
Hansell,
R-Athena, learned the
results during a surprise
birthday party thrown for
him by friends. It was the
only sour note of the night
for him.
Hansell opposed the bill
for two reasons. First, he
said, he worries that this
type of assessment, which
he believes is really a tax,
could become a funding
model for other programs.
Secondly, the ballot measure
language wasn’t written by
the Attorney General, but
rather by legislators who
supported it.
“If you could write your
own measure, then you can
present it in a way that’s to
your advantage,” Hansell
said. “I think that’s what
happened here. This whole
process was flawed and
nontransparent. A lot of
voters in rural Oregon saw
through that.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 941-966-0810.
Undersea quake sends Alaskans fleeing from feared tsunami
By MARK THIESSEN
and BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
— A powerful undersea
earthquake sent Alaskans
fumbling for suitcases
and racing to evacuation
centers in the middle of the
night after a cellphone alert
warned a tsunami could
hit communities along the
state’s southern coast and
parts of British Columbia.
The monster waves never
materialized, but people
who fled endured hours of
tense waiting at shelters
before they were cleared to
return home.
“This was a win as far
as I could tell,” said Marjie
Veeder, clerk for the city of
Unalaska, which is home
to the international fishing
port of Dutch Harbor in the
Aleutian Islands. “We got
advance warning and were
so thankful for that.”
The magnitude 7.9 quake
in the Gulf of Alaska trig-
gered the jarring alert that
roused people shortly after
midnight Tuesday. Fleeing
motorists clogged some
highways in their rush to
higher ground. Many took
refuge at schools or other
shelters.
Even for Alaskans accus-
tomed to tsunami threats and
tsunami drills, the phone
message was alarming. It
read: “Emergency Alert.
Tsunami danger on the
James Poulson/Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP
People line the hallway at Sitka High School Tuesday, in Sitka, Alaska after tsunami
sirens and cell phone messages told residents to find higher ground after a 7.9 mag-
nitude earthquake struck in the Gulf of Alaska.
coast. Go to high ground or
move inland. Listen to local
news.”
There were no reports of
damage, not even on Kodiak
Island, the closest land to
the epicenter. Only after
the all-clear was sounded
did a little levity emerge.
In Kodiak, a customer’s
Facebook post suggested
a post-evacuation meal at
King’s Diner: “Hungry?
Tsunami got you up early?”
Eleanor King opened the
diner at the usual time of 6
a.m. By the time customers
started arriving, the excite-
ment had passed and people
just sat around quietly eating
their meals, speaking little of
the quake.
The temblor reminded
King of a deadly 1964 quake
that generated tsunamis
that killed 129 people and
wreaked widespread devas-
tation — events that remain
vivid in the memories of
many Alaskans.
“It started out just like
the big one,” she said. “It
was very slow and rolling, a
good resemblance to the big
one. That’s what scared us.”
Tuesday’s quake was
recorded at 12:32 a.m. in
the Pacific Ocean about 170
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Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group
FRIDAY
THURSDAY
Cloudy, a little rain;
breezy
Intermittent snow
and rain
51° 33°
47° 36°
SATURDAY
An afternoon
shower
Occasional rain
and drizzle
48° 43°
Cloudy with a little
rain
55° 45°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
50° 35°
54° 32°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
47°
31°
42°
28°
63° (1935) -20° (1930)
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
0.09"
1.24"
1.11"
1.24"
1.33"
1.11"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
39°
30°
43°
29°
60° (1947) -26° (1930)
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
0.02"
0.81"
0.96"
0.81"
1.39"
0.96"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
First
Full
Jan 24
Jan 31
7:25 a.m.
4:50 p.m.
11:19 a.m.
none
Last
New
Feb 7
48° 44°
57° 42°
Seattle
49/37
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
49° 35°
Feb 15
Today
SUNDAY
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
45° 35°
Spokane
Wenatchee
40/30
38/25
Tacoma
Moses
49/35
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 48/30
43/31
48/39
47/36
49/28
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
49/39
51/33 Lewiston
54/33
Astoria
49/35
50/39
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
49/37
Pendleton 43/26
The Dalles 54/32
51/33
48/31
La Grande
Salem
45/25
49/38
Albany
Corvallis 48/37
48/36
John Day
47/26
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
45/32
46/35
45/27
Caldwell
Burns
47/33
42/18
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
50
42
45
48
42
43
46
51
54
47
41
45
43
46
48
49
45
53
51
49
48
49
40
43
49
51
49
Lo
39
25
27
40
18
26
35
32
32
26
23
25
25
32
40
40
32
31
33
37
23
38
30
23
39
33
28
W
r
c
r
r
c
sn
r
r
r
c
r
r
r
r
r
r
c
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
r
sh
Hi
49
41
40
47
36
38
44
45
50
42
37
41
39
45
47
49
45
48
47
47
42
47
38
38
46
46
45
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Lo
8
62
44
42
44
11
44
42
1
73
26
W
s
pc
pc
r
pc
c
c
s
s
c
pc
Lo
39
24
28
40
20
26
35
34
35
31
25
29
28
34
40
39
29
34
36
38
25
37
29
27
38
36
27
W
r
sn
c
r
c
sn
r
sn
sn
c
sn
sn
sn
r
r
r
c
sn
sn
r
c
r
sn
sn
r
sn
sn
Thu.
Hi
26
71
47
50
64
19
49
58
18
83
38
Klamath Falls
41/23
Lo
5
60
37
37
45
17
39
47
0
73
29
W
pc
pc
sh
pc
pc
c
c
pc
c
c
s
(in mph)
Today
Thursday
Boardman
Pendleton
S 6-12
S 10-20
SSW 6-12
S 7-14
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
REGIONAL FORECAST
Eastern and Central Oregon: Cloudy today;
a little rain across the north and near the
Cascades.
Western Washington: Cloudy today with a
little rain. A few showers tonight. Periods of
rain tomorrow.
Eastern Washington: Steady snow with
several inches in the higher elevations of the
north; mainly rain south.
Cascades: Snow much of the time today,
accumulating 3-6 inches with locally higher
amounts.
Northern California: Downpours today,
except snow in the interior mountains.
0
0
1
1
0
NEWS
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call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com
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Business Office Manager: Janna Heimgartner
541-966-0822 • jheimgartner@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
28
71
52
56
66
20
55
59
15
86
43
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Thu.
WINDS
Medford
46/32
Coastal Oregon: Rain, heavy at times today.
Showers tonight. Occasional rain tomorrow.
Corrections
REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
“really, really loud,” and it
became clear quickly they
needed to evacuate, he said.
The family decided to
flee to Alemany’s parents’
home. They had to decide on
the fly whether to take their
dog and three cats. They
didn’t, in spite of their son’s
protestations.
“I’ve never seen so
much traffic on our roads,”
he said. “At 3:30 in the
morning, it was like there
were 4,000 extra people in
town or something because
everybody was headed up
the street.”
The time between the
siren sounding and the
all-clear was tense, and
his son and daughter were
scared. “But in the main, I
think people kind of knew
what they needed to do and
just waited for information,”
he said.
Back in Alaska, people
reported on social media
that the quake was felt
hundreds of miles away, in
Anchorage. Reports varied
about how long the quake’s
shaking lasted, depending
on location.
The quake was the
planet’s strongest since an
8.2 magnitude in Mexico in
September.
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:
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541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
• Angela Treadwell
541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com
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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
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
TODAY
miles southeast of Kodiak,
home to one of the nation’s
largest Coast Guard bases.
It prompted the warning
across thousands of miles
of Alaska’s southern coast,
from Attu in the Aleutian
Islands to Canada’s border
with Washington state.
Kodiak is about 200 miles
south of Anchorage, the
state’s largest city, which
was not under a tsunami
threat.
Elsewhere in the United
States, Washington state,
Oregon, California and
Hawaii were under tsunami
watches, which eventually
were lifted. Officials in
Japan say there was no
tsunami threat there.
The state has an active
tsunami-readiness program,
and many communities have
sirens and evacuation plans.
In British Columbia,
sirens blared and officials
banged on doors to wake
people from their sleep
as a tsunami warning was
issued along a large swath
of the Canadian province’s
coastline.
“I just heard the firetrucks
going around, honking
their horns and on the loud
speaker saying there is a
tsunami warning,” said
Gillian Der, a University of
British Columbia geography
student who is studying on
Haida Gwaii, off the coast
of British Columbia. “It was
very apocalyptic.”
Chris Alemany, who lives
in the Vancouver Island
community of Port Alberni,
Canada, said he was sleeping
soundly with earplugs when
his 10-year-old son barged
into his bedroom and woke
him up.
Alemany had not heard
the sirens, even though they
are a block and a half from
his home. When he took out
his earplugs, the noise was
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. ©2018
-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: Seasonable air is forecast today for the Midwest and East with snow
showers from the upper Great Lakes to the Appalachians. Heavy rain with mountain snow
will fall from Northern California to Washington.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 84° in Hollywood, Fla.
Low -18° in Angel Fire, N.M.
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
52
45
45
45
53
47
38
63
37
34
30
63
51
30
59
-22
28
83
63
33
63
49
60
57
75
Lo
24
32
27
25
31
30
34
20
36
23
25
23
38
31
20
30
-30
20
70
39
23
38
33
40
33
48
W
s
s
pc
s
pc
s
c
pc
pc
c
pc
sf
s
s
c
pc
sn
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
s
pc
Thur.
Hi
50
56
40
42
45
58
44
29
58
42
43
37
65
57
35
62
-24
36
82
63
46
59
59
64
60
63
Lo
27
35
22
23
23
35
31
17
36
27
34
30
48
27
27
34
-30
25
69
48
35
42
43
38
34
46
W
s
s
s
s
c
s
c
s
s
s
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
s
pc
c
sh
pc
s
s
s
pc
s
c
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
39
52
78
31
30
49
56
41
58
41
43
76
35
39
53
47
55
55
45
45
72
56
49
74
48
56
Lo
28
33
64
23
20
27
41
24
34
26
26
49
12
21
29
26
32
41
28
34
52
46
37
43
30
35
W
s
s
sh
pc
pc
s
c
pc
s
s
pc
s
pc
pc
s
pc
r
r
s
pc
s
r
r
s
s
s
Thur.
Hi
50
58
74
39
37
56
59
34
62
51
39
75
22
32
49
54
42
52
60
43
63
54
44
76
43
64
Lo
36
37
66
33
32
33
47
23
43
38
24
46
7
18
29
28
24
38
37
28
53
44
37
42
28
42
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
s
s
pc
pc
c
s
s
s
s
pc
s
s
pc
s
s
pc
sn
sh
s
sn
pc
r
r
s
s
s