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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2018)
PGG SELLS FORMER STORE REGION/3A DUCKS LOSE IN LAST SECOND Senate rejects immigration bills NATION/9A SPORTS/1B FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 142nd Year, No. 87 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Wheat industry seeks to re-enter the TPP Squires warns of ‘ripple effects’ of fewer exports By MATTHEW WEAVER EO Media Group If the United States doesn’t re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Northwest wheat exports to Japan could drop by half within a few years, says the leader of the Washington Grain Commission. The Pacific Northwest currently exports roughly 800,000 metric tons of Western white wheat, a popular blend of soft white wheat and subclass club wheat, to Japan each year, commission CEO Glen Squires said. Hard red winter and hard red spring wheat exports would also be impacted, affecting Montana and North Dakota, and other states exporting off the West Coast, Squires said. Japan wants the U.S. in TPP, and is not interested in bilateral agreements, Squires said. Wheat industry representa- tives met in Washington, D.C., last week. Many legislators are aware of the concerns about the Trans-Pacific Partnership proceeding without the United States, Squires said. It will essentially amount to a tariff on U.S. wheat, putting the country at a price disadvantage in key markets compared to competing wheat-producing countries that are remain in the trade pact. Changes under TPP will occur over nine years, but Squires said the impact on ship- ments could be much faster. “This is a massively big deal,” he said. Reduced demand would result in lower wheat prices, Squires said. A national coalition of agricultural commodities is forming to address the situa- tion, Squires said. The industry will appeal to the Trump administration to rejoin the trade deal. “President Trump is the guy who can negotiate, and get us back involved,” Squires said. “It’s clearly a big impact: It’s the equivalent of handing our competitors a $500 million See WHEAT/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris A missing wheelchair ramp at the intersection of Highway 395 and Southwest 30th Street in Pendleton would force a wheelchair user to go out onto the roadway in order to use the crosswalk that traverses the highway. A recent Oregon Department of Transportation audit found that ninety-seven percent of the curb ramps on state highways were not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ramping up curbs 97 percent of curb ramps on state highways not ADA-compliant By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Ninety-seven percent of curb ramps on Oregon’s state highways are not compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, according to a recent inventory, and Umatilla County is no exception to that lack of accessibility. Pendleton, in particular, has a long list of corners along Highway 395 that are missing ramps to allow wheelchair users to access the sidewalk. The city was one of several places in Oregon singled out in a report by advocacy group Disability Rights Oregon, although many ramps in Hermiston are also non-compliant. “I was very concerned about Umatilla County in particular and highlighted Pendleton because I thought it had the most egregious problems, but there were many areas that were concerning,” said Tom Staff photo by E.J. Harris A semi-trailer passes in front of an ADA-compliant wheelchair ramp crossing Highway 395 in Hermiston. Stenson, litigation attorney with Disability Rights Oregon. The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1991 to create federal standards for accessibility, including laws that pedestrian walk- ways must include a ramp where they cross a curb. A settlement between disability rights advocates and the Oregon Department of Transporta- tion approved by a federal judge in March 2017 committed ODOT to creating an audit of all crossings, completing curb ramp upgrades at 30 percent of the locations by the end of 2022, completing upgrades at 75 percent by the end of 2027 and fixing all of the curb ramp locations by December 31, 2032. The audit, completed about a month ago, rated only 3 percent of the curb ramps on state highways as “good.” Some were rated “fair” but most of the rest were rated “poor.” In 20 percent of cases, there was no ramp of any kind. In others, the ramp was at too steep of an angle, blocked by a utility pole, in a place that required going out of the cross- walk and into oncoming traffic to See RAMPS/10A Gene Ann (Tupker) McLean: Dec. 30, 1937 - Feb. 9, 2018 BMCC dean left legacy of kindness By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Professional cowboy Brad Goodrich won’t soon forget his college advisor, Gene Ann McLean. Goodrich arrived at Blue Mountain Community College in the late 1980s with college rodeo on his mind, but not much else. McLean pushed him to get to class, tracked his grades and made him ponder life beyond rodeo. When the teenager found himself without a place to stay, she took him in. Goodrich said McLean’s unique blend of encourage- ment and discipline was impossible to resist. “She kept everyone in line,” Goodrich said. “She was good at motivating you to take care of your business.” Contributed photo Gene Ann McLean as a young woman. Contributed photo Gene Ann McLean, shown here at her retirement party in 1997, shaped the lives of numerous Blue Mountain Community College Students. McLean, who died on Feb. 9 at age 80, had plenty of fans besides Goodrich. Many of them gathered Thursday in BMCC’s Bob Clapp Theatre to celebrate her life. They remembered her grace, sass, patience and the red lipstick she always wore. McLean came to BMCC in 1965 to teach French and serve as dean of women, and later as director of student activities. As part of her duties, McLean advised athletes on the school’s rodeo team, but didn’t limit her influence to tête-à-têtes about academic progress. She attended rodeos, cooked team meals, rode herd and acted as a second mom. Pat Beard, an assistant coach for the team in the ’80s, said many of the cowboys had left their hometowns and ranches for the first time to go to college. “They were, in some ways, ill prepared socially,” said Beard, who now manages the Pendleton Convention Center. “She bucket raised a lot of boys on the rodeo team. She was a little bit mother hen, a See MCLEAN/10A