BUSINESS
East Oregonian
Page 8A
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Verizon makes changes as
lawmakers decry firefighters’ woes
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
— Verizon rolled out
changes Friday as state law-
makers said they were out-
raged to learn the telecom-
munications company had
slowed firefighters’ inter-
net service while they bat-
tled what became the larg-
est wildfire on record in
California.
Verizon said it removed
all speed cap restrictions for
emergency workers fighting
wildfires on the West Coast
and for those in Hawaii,
where emergency crews
were rescuing people from
areas flooded by Hurricane
Lane.
The company promised
to lift restrictions on public
safety customers and pro-
vide full network access
when other disasters arise.
The
announcement
came hours before the state
Assembly Select Commit-
tee on Natural Disaster,
Response, Recovery, and
Rebuilding held an infor-
mational hearing on the
incident.
The goal is to determine
“how we ensure that all pub-
lic safety has the tools they
need in some of our hard-
est moments in California’s
history battling these nat-
ural disasters,” said Dem-
ocratic
Assemblywoman
Monique Limon of Santa
Barbara.
The Santa Clara County
Fire Department has said
Verizon slowed its inter-
net communications at a
wildfire command center
three weeks ago, crippling
an emergency communi-
cations truck’s data speeds
and forcing firefighters to
use other agencies’ internet
connections and their per-
sonal cellphones.
The county disclosed
the problem last week in a
AP Photo/Noah Berger, File
In this Aug. 7, 2018 file photo, firefighters monitor a backfire while battling the
Ranch Fire, part of the Mendocino Complex Fire near Ladoga, Calif. A nationwide
telecommunications company that slowed internet service to firefighters as they
battled the largest wildfire in California history says it has removed all speed cap
restrictions for first responders on the West Coast.
lawsuit brought by 22 state
attorneys general seeking to
restore net neutrality rules
repealed by the Federal
Communications Commis-
sion. The court filing alleges
that the slowdown was
caused by the FCC’s action,
which allows telecommu-
nications to slow internet
speed to selected customers.
California
lawmakers
are considering a bill that
would require internet com-
panies to restore net neu-
trality in California, requir-
ing equal data access to all
customers.
Meanwhile, U.S. House
Democratic Leader Nancy
Pelosi, U.S. Rep. Anna
Eshoo, a senior member
of the Energy and Com-
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AWD LE
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merce Committee, and 11
other Democratic members
of Congress sent a letter
to the Federal Trade Com-
mission calling Verizon’s
action “unacceptable” and
demanding an investigation
into whether it amounted
to “unfair or deceptive”
practices.
Dave Hickey, Verizon’s
vice president of business
and government sales, told
lawmakers the error by the
company had nothing to do
with net neutrality.
Rather, the county had
used up its monthly data
capacity under an internet
plan that allows Verizon to
significantly slow service.
The department bought a
government
high-speed
377
$
wireless data plan that pro-
vides an unlimited amount
of data at a set monthly cost,
but the company reduces
speeds if the buyer exceeds
certain levels of use during
that billing cycle.
Santa Clara County Fire
Chief Anthony Bowden
called unlimited data flow
critical to public safety but
said public agencies do not
have unlimited funds and
try to find an affordable plan
that will meet their needs.
He also called for
increasing protections to
cell towers in fire-damaged
or fire-prone areas to main-
tain critical communica-
tions and warnings to area
residents as well as first
responders in emergencies.
BRIEFLY
Lamb Weston
wants change to
pollution permit
BOARDMAN
—
Lamb Weston wants to
update its air pollution
permit for its Boardman
potato processing plant to
discharge 36 percent more
volatile organic com-
pounds a year. The public
has until Sept. 11 to com-
ment on the proposal.
VOCs are organic
compounds that combine
with other elements in
the atmosphere to cause
ozone or smog. The Ore-
gon Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality allows
the Lamb Weston plant at
750 Columbia Ave. N.E..
Boardman, to discharge
up to 39 tons of VOCs a
year. That permit is five
years old. The company is
renewing the permit and
wants to discharge up to
53 tons of volatile organic
compounds a year.
Lamb Weston has
upgraded the plant with
new equipment and pro-
cessing lines since the
DEQ issued the permit
in 2012. The new per-
mit would reflect those
changes.
The DEQ announced
the public can submit
comments for the record
regarding the air qual-
ity permit renewal by 5
p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 11.
The public can send those
comments to: Nancy
Swofford, Permit Coordi-
nator, 475 N.E. Bellevue
Dr., Suite 110, Bend, OR
97701. Email: swofford.
nancy@deq.state.or.us
Markets indices
close at record
highs on Friday
NEW YORK (AP) —
The benchmark S&P 500
index closed at an all-
time high, just two days
after the current bull mar-
ket in U.S. stocks became
the longest in history. The
Nasdaq composite and the
Russell 2000 indexes also
ended the day at all-time
highs.
Technology
compa-
nies, the best-performing
sector in the market this
year, accounted for much
of the gains. The price of
oil snapped a seven-week
losing streak, finishing
this week about 5 percent
higher.
The
rally
capped
another solid week for
the stock market, which
has been riding a wave of
strong corporate earnings
even amid uncertainty over
simmering global trade
tensions.
“It appears that the mar-
ket is really focusing on
fundamentals,” said Rob
Eschweiler, global invest-
ment specialist at J.P. Mor-
gan Private Bank.
Heppner chamber
meeting includes
agencies overview
HEPPNER — The
upcoming Heppner Cham-
ber of Commerce meeting
will feature an all-entities
report.
People will receive
a variety of updates
from those who present
information.
The meeting is Thurs-
day, Sept. 6, at noon in the
Heppner City Hall confer-
ence room.
The no-host lunch,
which is catered by Tacos
Hometown, costs $10.
The menu offers a choice
of a beef or chicken bur-
rito, and includes chips,
salsa and dessert.
Those planning to
attend need to RSVP by
Friday, Aug. 31, to ensure
there’s adequate seating
and enough food (include
beef or chicken prefer-
ence). For more informa-
tion or to reserve a meal,
contact 541-676-5536 or
heppnerchamber@centu-
rytel.net.
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