WEATHER
East Oregonian
Page 2A
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
How could toll revenue be used in Oregon?
able to come up with another
resource for how we would
pay for these extremely
expensive seismic resiliency
projects and congestion
reduction projects,” Brown
said during a phone confer-
ence call with reporters Aug.
17.
Brown, who grew up in
Minnesota, brought up the
collapse of the Interstate 35
West bridge in Minneapolis
during rush hour on Aug. 1,
2007. Vehicles plummeted
onto the banks of the Mis-
sissippi River, killing 14 and
injuring 145 people.
“My family wasn’t indi-
vidually impacted. My fam-
ily had friends who were
impacted,” Brown said. “I
don’t want to see that hap-
pening under my watch, and
I don’t think any Oregonian
would want that to happen
here. We have to invest in our
transportation infrastructure,
and projects like the Aber-
nethy Bridge significantly if
we want not to be devastated
after a 9.0 earthquake.”
Under the Oregon Con-
stitution and state statute,
toll revenue may be used
to pay for seismic upgrades
and widening of bridges and
almost any road improve-
ment imaginable.
The Constitution states
that revenue from any tax or
fee on the ownership, oper-
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — If it cost
$3.50 when a driver crossed
Interstate 205’s Abernethy
Bridge, the toll would yield
about $50 million per year
and support the sale of
enough bonds to pay for a
significant share of the wid-
ening and seismic reinforce-
ment of the bridge, accord-
ing to an analysis by WSP
USA.
That project — which
includes adding a third lane
to segments of I-205 where
there are only two — is esti-
mated to cost about $500
million.
The Oregon Transpor-
tation Commission voted
unanimously Aug. 16 to
seek approval from the Fed-
eral Highway Administra-
tion to toll the bridge and all
lanes of Interstate 5 between
Northeast Going Street/
Alberta Street and South-
west Multnomah Boulevard.
Meanwhile, commissioners
have instructed the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion to conduct a feasibil-
ity study of tolling all seven
interstates to form a “seam-
less loop” around Portland.
Gov. Kate Brown said she
is supportive of the commis-
sion’s work so far on tolling.
“No one else has been
Pamplin Media Group
Gov. Kate Brown says she wants tolling revenue to help pay for seismic upgrades to the state’s bridges, but a lot
of other ideas also are under consideration.
ation or use of motor vehi-
cle “shall be used exclu-
sively for the construction,
reconstruction, repair, main-
tenance, operation and use
of public highways, roads,
streets and roadside rest
areas in this state.”
It’s still unclear whether
the commission could legally
use the money to enhance
public transit services or to
give incentives to drivers for
carpooling and hence, reduc-
ing the amount of traffic on
the interstates.
ODOT officials are seek-
ing guidance from the Ore-
gon Department of Justice,
which has yet to complete
its analysis, said ODOT
Assistant Director Travis
Brouwer.
Another unknown is
whether the commission will
place restrictions on the use
of tolling revenue.
For instance, could the
proceeds from an I-5 toll be
used to pay for electronic
Forecast for Pendleton Area
Health officials confirm
second measles case linked
to Portland airport cafe
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Smoky with hazy
sunshine
Breezy with hazy
sunshine
Hazy, breezy and
not as warm
Mostly sunny
Breezy with clouds
and sunshine
91° 63°
88° 56°
89° 63°
91° 56°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
77° 49°
77° 55°
76° 57°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
81° 54°
80° 57°
OREGON FORECAST
79° 58°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Olympia
73/57
85/55
86/55
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
86/66
Lewiston
89/57
89/62
Astoria
71/58
Pullman
Yakima 87/56
87/53
92/62
Portland
Hermiston
94/58
The Dalles 89/63
Salem
Corvallis
87/53
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
87/53
Bend
91/52
88/51
88/53
Ontario
90/55
Caldwell
Burns
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
96/58
0.00"
0.03"
0.14"
5.13"
6.65"
6.06"
WINDS (in mph)
89/55
87/45
Today
Thu.
SW 4-8
WNW 4-8
WSW 10-20
WSW 10-20
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
87/46
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
6:04 a.m.
7:52 p.m.
5:54 p.m.
2:23 a.m.
Last
New
First
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 108° in Needles, Calif. Low 30° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
Aug 26
Sep 2
Sep 9
Sep 16
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
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
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.
Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group
60s
cold front
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
PORTLAND (AP) — State health offi-
cials say a second case of measles has
been confirmed in Portland.
The Oregon Health Authority on Tues-
day said a person who was diagnosed
Sunday had been in contact with a person
who was diagnosed with the measles ear-
lier in August.
People at most risk in the second case
would have been at the Portland Inter-
national Airport between 9:15 and 10:45
a.m. Friday; and between 8 and 11 a.m.
Saturday at Marco’s Cafe and Espresso
Bar in Portland.
The agency says the virus spreads eas-
ily to those who aren’t vaccinated, and
people infected can spread it even before
symptoms appear.
Symptoms include coughing, fever,
runny nose and rash. It can cause ear and
lung infections, diarrhea and brain swell-
ing if not treated.
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
85°
55°
87°
56°
101° (1977) 41° (1945)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
91/52
0.00"
Trace
0.29"
6.49"
11.37"
8.24"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 83/49
92/52
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
91/63
97/64
81°
51°
86°
56°
106° (1897) 37° (1904)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
87/53
Aberdeen
81/58
84/63
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
85/57
in another corridor. That’s
not a question that has been
answered at this point.”
An initiative proposed
for the 2020 ballot would
require voter approval for
any tolls that don’t raise rev-
enue that goes directly to
adding capacity to the inter-
states, such as building new
lanes. Passage of that mea-
sure — should it make it
onto the ballot — could fur-
ther restrict how the money
could be used.
BRIEFLY
TODAY
Seattle
tolling infrastructure on
Interstate 84?
“That would certainly
be an eligible use because
under the Constitution and
state statute, you could use
that money on any road,”
Brouwer said. “The question
would be what restrictions
would the Oregon Trans-
portation Commission place
on the revenue, whether the
revenue would be restricted
to the corridor where it’s
collected or could be used
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
high
110s
Idaho gets $3.2M in grant
money for election security
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho is receiv-
ing $3.2 million from a federal commis-
sion to secure and modernize its elections
systems.
The U.S. Election Assistance Com-
mission released a report Tuesday show-
ing how states plan to spend $380 mil-
lion allocated by Congress last spring to
strengthen voting systems amid ongoing
threats from Russia and others under the
Help America Vote Act.
All but a fraction of the money has
already been sent to the states, the Dis-
trict of Columbia and U.S. territories. The
largest chunk — roughly 36 percent — is
being spent to improve cybersecurity in
41 states and territories.
More than a quarter of the money will
be used to buy new voting equipment in
33 states and territories, although the bulk
of this is unlikely to happen until after the
Nov. 6 midterm elections.
Idaho’s plan to spend the federal money
includes devoting $1 million to upgrade
the state’s election system and voter reg-
istration database.
The updated system will include new
election night reporting, campaign finance
reporting and lobbyist registration. The
project is estimated to cost $4 million
over five years, meaning the federal dol-
lars will help pay for nearly a quarter of
the project.
The Secretary of State’s office has said
further details of the contract — as well
as the plan to cover the remaining costs of
the project — will be disclosed once the
contract is signed.
low
Subscriber services:
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1
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
Single copy price:
$1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday
Circulation Manager:
Marcy Rosenberg • 541-966-0828 • mrosenberg@eastoregonian.com
ADVERTISING
Regional Publisher and Revenue Director:
Christopher Rush
541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com
Advertising Services: Grace Bubar
541-276-2214 • gbubar@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
Meanwhile, $581,000 of the federal
funds will be spent on tightening cyber-
security and $700,000 for election audit-
ing — both of which will cover training
for county election officials in the upcom-
ing months.
Ashland City Council
considers ride-sharing
services, like Uber and Lyft
ASHLAND (AP) — The Ashland City
Council is considering updating its poli-
cies to allow ride-sharing services such as
Uber and Lyft within city limits.
The Daily Tidings reported Tuesday
that Uber reached out to the small city
and asked it to consider a policy similar
to nearby Medford’s because the two cit-
ies are so close.
The city council will hear a first read-
ing of an ordinance that would replace the
current taxi code and address ride-sharing.
The recommended ordinance closely
mirrors Medford’s, but also incorporates
some safety measures used in larger cit-
ies, such as a 10-year search for criminal
convictions, and required vehicle safety
inspections.
Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Bend,
Roseburg, Medford and Eugene now use
vehicle-for-hire services.
Ashland attracts 400,000 tourists a
year, mostly because of its well-known
Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
State lawmaker calls
journalists ‘dirty, godless,
hateful’ at gun-rights rally
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A Wash-
ington state lawmaker lashed out at the
media at a gun-rights rally by calling jour-
nalists “dirty, godless, hateful people.”
The Spokesman-Review reports that
Republican Rep. Matt Shea of Spokane
Valley made the comments Saturday at
what was initially a protest against a gun
control ballot measure tightening sales.
The ballot measure was tossed by a
judge days before over technicalities and
is now in limbo with an appeal of that
decision ahead of the November election.
Gun advocates gathered Saturday at
Franklin Park to rally.
Shea addressed the crowd, defend-
ing gun rights and free speech while also
slamming the media.
Shea is also on the Washington Legis-
lature’s public records task force, a group
set to meet next month — and includes
representatives of the media — to discuss
the state’s disclosure laws in the wake of a
lawsuit by a coalition of news groups, led
by The Associated Press. In a tweet Tues-
day, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the
comments should disqualify him from the
task force.
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases:
call 541-966-0818 or 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 sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
Business Office Manager: Janna Heimgartner
541-966-0822 • jheimgartner@eastoregonian.com
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Production Manager: Mike Jensen
541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com