REGION
Thursday, February 8, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Lawmakers weigh in on need to bridge digital divide
Letter requests $40B
for rural broadband
development
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
Members of Oregon’s congres-
sional delegation are joining the
call to close the so-called “digital
divide,” extending high-speed
internet access to citizens in rural
parts of the U.S.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden
joined 16 colleagues from across
the country in sending a letter last
week to President Donald Trump,
requesting at least $40 billion in
infrastructure spending for rural
broadband development.
“In an increasingly intercon-
nected world and global economy,
we must include in our discus-
Walden
Wyden
sion of infrastructure not just roads,
bridges and waterways, but also
high-speed internet access,” the
letter states.
According to the Federal
Communications Commission, 39
percent of Americans who live in
rural areas, or roughly 23 million
people, lack high-speed internet
access, versus just 4 percent of
Americans in urban areas.
“While the vast majority of
Americans have access to high-
speed internet service, there is a
John Brenne receives
posthumous President’s
Volunteer Service Award
said with a laugh.
The council’s remaining
During the first Pendleton seven members later made
City Council meeting since their own tribute when they
his sudden death, Councilor voted on the consent agenda,
John Brenne received a a package of agenda items
considered minor enough
tribute.
Teresa O’Halloran of the that the council votes on them
Oregon state office of the without discussion.
With Brenne known
Corporation for National
to be quick to
&
Community
second a motion
Service presented
for approval, the
the council with
council
simulta-
a
President’s
neously seconded
Volunteer Service
the consent agenda
Award addressed to
before it was
Brenne.
passed.
Fighting back
Contained
in
tears, O’Halloran
the consent agenda
explained
how
was a resolution
Brenne committed
declaring a vacancy
to moving out to Brenne
for Brenne’s Ward
Eastern
Oregon
more than 40 years ago 1 seat, which covers South
because the region was low Hill, the downtown area and
in senior services. He became Riverside.
The council will appoint
the executive director of
Pendleton’s Foster Grandpar- a replacement to fill the rest
of Brenne’s term through the
ents program and never left.
O’Halloran read aloud end of 2018. If the replace-
a letter signed by President ment wants to stay beyond
Donald
Trump,
which the end of the year, he or she
touched on Brenne’s thou- will have to file to run for a
sands of hours of service full term in the municipal
and his contributions to the election by March 6, the same
deadline for potential appoin-
community.
She joked that Brenne, a tees to send their applications.
Retired firefighter John
registered Democrat, would
have been displeased that he Cook is the only person to
had received a commenda- file for the Ward 1 race, but
tion from Trump, of whom he he was noncommittal about
seeking appointment in a
was not a fan.
“He’d kick my butt,” she previous interview.
East Oregonian
The city of Pendleton
pulled its new city planner
out of retirement to replace
its previous planner, who is
retiring.
City planner George
Cress introduced himself
to the council at a meeting
Tuesday, giving members a
brief personal history.
Cress said this actually
marked a return to Pendleton
having already worked as
a land use manager and
economic
development
director for the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
He moved from Pend-
leton several years ago and
became the director of light
and power for Forest Grove.
Cress returned to Pend-
leton 10 months ago, but he
said he was excited to begin
a new job in a city that’s
changed a lot since he left.
This wasn’t the first time
Cress has talked before
the council. In October,
Cress spoke in favor of a
park smoking ban that was
ultimately approved by the
council.
Cress
will
replace
George Clough, who held
the city planner position
since 2016.
trying to get broadband out there,
and we’re trying to get three-phased
power in some of our communities
that have waited three years to get
an (environmental impact state-
ment) to get four power poles on
BLM land. So I think there is an
issue here with siting.”
Closing the digital divide has
made headlines early in 2018 after
Trump signed a pair of executive
orders in January to cut red tape
for rural broadband deployment.
Both orders are intended to make
it easier for private companies to
build broadband infrastructure,
such as radio towers, on federal
property.
A coalition aimed at bridging
the digital divide, called Connect
Americans Now, also launched in
January and is focusing on new
technologies to deliver high-speed
internet in rural America. Specif-
ically, the group is pressuring the
FCC to make TV “white spaces”
available as part of the solution.
When asked about TV white
spaces, Walden said he thinks they
could be harnessed by internet
providers, but he wants to make
sure they do not interfere with
existing users.
“You don’t want to create unin-
tended consequences,” Walden
said. Last year, the National Asso-
ciation of Broadcasters opposed
TV white space technology under
development by Microsoft, saying
it would threaten millions of
viewers with loss of TV program-
ming.
Both the Oregon Farm Bureau
and Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation have joined the Connect
Americans Now coalition, saying
internet is crucial for farmers and
ranchers to use precision farming
tools and remain competitive in the
market.
STANFIELD
Factory receives three odor citations
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
New Pendleton city planner
comes from Forest Grove
stark disparity between urban and
rural America,” the letter continues.
“This digital divide puts many rural
Americans at risk of being left out
of critical technological advance-
ments and economic gain.”
Oregon’s lone Republican
congressman, Greg Walden, has
also honed in on the digital divide,
leading a hearing on broadband
solutions last week in Washington,
D.C.
Walden, who is chairman of
the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, represents most of
rural eastern, central and southern
Oregon. He stressed the need
to reduce what he described as
“unnecessary roadblocks” to siting
new broadband in rural areas,
saying the environmental review
process to build on federal lands is
especially burdensome.
“I run into this issue all the time
on siting,” Walden said. “We’re
The Stanfield factory
that
prompted
citizen
complaints throughout 2017
has been cited by Stanfield
Police for odor three times
in 2018.
Stanfield Police Chief
Bryon Zumwalt said the
pet food plant, owned by
3D Idapro Solutions, has
received three citations in
the past few weeks, and that
each citation costs $435.
Stanfield City Manager
Blair Larsen said the plant
had a court date for one
citation last week, and for
two others Wednesday.
“To my understanding,
they pleaded no contest, and
they have to make arrange-
ments to pay the fines,” he
said.
If the city receives at
least four odor complaints
from different households in
a 12-hour period, it violates
the city ordinance, and the
city can issue a citation.
Mark Johnson, 3D
Idapro’s vice president
of operations, said the
company had no comment
Using it properly and
making sure people know
how to use it is another.”
The
plant,
which
dehydrates potatoes that
are used primarily to make
dog food, was the subject
of many complaints this
summer, when the odor
forced many indoors. In
October, officials from
the company’s midwest
headquarters held a public
meeting in Stanfield to go
over the plan they had to
mitigate odors.
They said they had a
EO file photo
Stanfield Police have cited the pet food plant, owned three-step plan to mitigate
by 3D Idapro Solutions, for odor three times in 2018. odors, which included
putting up a large tent
Each citation costs $435.
in which potatoes could
dry, which they said
about the citations.
they have received, which
Larsen said that in fall of record the name and address would reduce the odors to
2017, plant operators struck of the complainant, the date surrounding areas. They
an agreement with the city and time it was received, also planned to install a new
scrubber, an air purifying
council, which allowed and specific issues, if any.
them until November to
According to the log, the device. The old scrubber
make all their improve- first time the city received was too small, and was
ments before they began enough complaints to fit damaged by a fire in the
issuing citations for odor the nuisance ordinance was plant last February. The
complaints.
on Jan. 18. They received plant has since replaced the
“They were a little enough for two more cita- scrubber.
———
delayed, but they got it done tions on Jan. 20 and 22.
Contact
Jayati
by mid-December,” Larsen
“It’s clear that the
at
said.
problem is not solved,” Ramakrishnan
Larsen said the city has Larsen said. “Having the jramakrishnan@eastorego-
kept a log of the complaints equipment is one thing. nian.com or 541-564-4534
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