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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Thursday, October 11, 2018 Brown, Buehler spar in final debate before Election Day PORTLAND (AP) — Distinctions emerged between Oregon’s leading gubernatorial candidates in their final debate as the two clashed on public pensions, immigration, the state’s housing crisis and several other hot-button issues. The Oregonian/Ore- gonLive reports that Rep. Knute Buehler on Tuesday sought to make the case a Republican can lead a dis- tinctly Democratic state, declaring flatly he would approve no new restrictions on reproductive rights as governor. He accused Dem- ocratic Gov. Kate Brown of being ineffectual during her long stint in state govern- ment, noting that Oregon school districts are cutting teaching positions despite record revenue. “The most import- ant question facing all of us right now is our under- performing K-12 educa- tion system,” Buehler said, arguing that Oregon’s pub- lic pension obligations are siphoning money away from school spending. “Those dollars aren’t get- ting into the classroom,” Buehler said. For her part, Brown sought to undercut Bue- hler’s credibility — attack- ing his positions on the environment, school spend- ing and for courting the vote of abortion oppo- nents before he became the Republican gubernatorial nominee. “Rep. Buehler tells some voters one thing and other voters another,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, that game won’t work tonight because the whole state is watching.” Beyond the rhetoric, the candidates took substan- tive, divergent positions on key topics. The candidates returned repeatedly to the Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP Rep. Knute Buehler, left, shakes hands with Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday at their final debate at KGW-TV studios in southwest Portland. state’s public pension cri- sis, the state’s biggest fis- cal issue. Buehler said he wants to transition state employees to a private-sec- tor style, 401(k) retirement plan and accused the gover- nor of “pandering” to pub- lic employee unions by raising pay before institut- ing broad pension reform. While Brown said public employees “need to have some skin in the game,” and pay some of their own pension costs, she didn’t answer a direct question of how much they should pay. The governor resisted the notion of wholesale cuts, attacking Buehler directly: “I think it’s easy for a mil- lionaire to say he’s going to cut the retirements of hard-working Oregonians. I’m not willing to do that.” The candidates were in broad agreement that politi- cal discourse must improve, and both faulted Presi- dent Donald Trump for his words and actions. They also endorsed the scientific consensus around climate change, though Brown endorsed stricter rules gov- erning carbon emissions, while Buehler said he wants more flexibility. Audit: Problems cleaned up in Oregon Department of Energy officials implemented recommendations made earlier by state and private auditors and state lawmakers. Auditors found the Energy Department had changed Department of Energy has cleaned up its process, state auditors say. The state Audits Division report, released Wednesday, assessed whether energy By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — In the wake of a scandal over the state’s handling of energy tax incentives, the Oregon Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Plenty of sunshine Plenty of sunshine Plenty of sunshine Plenty of sunshine Sunshine and patchy clouds 61° 37° 67° 37° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 60° 31° 61° 33° 65° 36° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 64° 35° 70° 35° 65° 32° 63° 32° OREGON FORECAST 67° 35° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 65/45 57/35 65/35 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 62/42 Lewiston 64/36 68/43 Astoria 65/46 Pullman Yakima 63/36 64/39 62/38 Portland Hermiston 70/44 The Dalles 64/35 Salem Corvallis 70/39 La Grande Yesterday Normals Records 57/30 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 71/36 58/31 58/33 Ontario 63/33 Caldwell Burns 62° 49° 68° 40° 87° (1934) 26° (1931) 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 71/39 Trace 1.14" 0.17" 6.29" 7.04" 6.73" WINDS (in mph) 61/33 57/23 0.01" 1.39" 0.31" 7.91" 12.36" 9.25" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 55/29 71/42 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 61/37 67/38 57° 46° 66° 41° 88° (1934) 24° (1916) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 63/40 Aberdeen 57/37 63/42 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 64/46 Today 74/39 Fri. SW 3-6 NW 4-8 Boardman Pendleton Medford W 4-8 W 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 62/27 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:06 a.m. 6:17 p.m. 9:48 a.m. 8:09 p.m. First Full Last New Oct 16 Oct 24 Oct 31 Nov 7 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 95° in McAllen, Texas Low 8° in Bodie State Park, Calif. its operations to enact the recommendations. The steps ranged from seemingly trivial — agency officials no longer use whiteout, as a precaution against document manipulation— to more significant. For example, the agency hired an internal auditor to keep tabs on agency activities. Other state agencies can learn something from the Energy Department’s trials, auditors said. “Without reflection on how Oregon’s various tax credit programs may be failing to operate as intended, the state runs the risk of continuing to pour millions of dollars into flawed projects or falling prey to fraud and bribery schemes,” the state Audits Division said in its report. Auditors cited an example of a state tax credit gone awry: Business Oregon approved $12 million in state tax credits for a wind project in Cave Junction, despite red flags. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY The project shut down after 20 months. The report lists what other agencies could do to safeguard tax incentive programs. These include setting up a compliance program, monitoring the work of accountants attesting to projects receiving incentive funds and performing annual internal audits. At the Energy Department, the program offering tax incentives to businesses to use renewable energy started in 1979, expanded significantly in 2006, and then was shut down by the Legislature in 2014. Two years later, auditors detected suspicious activity in several projects associated with the business energy tax credit. Seattle energy consultant Martin Shain and former energy department employee Joe Colello subsequently were convicted for a scheme to profit from buying and -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 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 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front high 110s low Wildfire costs hit record high of $514.6 million 2018 SALEM (AP) — New data shows the cost of fighting wildfires in Oregon reached an all-time high $514.6 million in 2018. According to data from Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, Ore- gon’s costs skyrocketed past last year’s record-setting total of $447 million. The Statesman Journal reports that all totaled, Oregon had 1,880 fires that burned 846,411 acres or 1,322 square miles — an area larger than Rhode Island. The number of acres burned isn’t a record, but it’s well above historic averages and continues a trend of more extreme fire seasons. The most expensive wildfires were in southwest Oregon, where a mid-July light- ning storm ignited 160 wildfires during a historically hot and dry summer. The biggest conflagration was the com- bination Klondike and Taylor Creek fires, which burned together west of Grants Pass. Combined, they torched 220,000 acres and cost $128 million. PORTLAND (AP) — A Portland woman who says debt collectors keep showing up at her door looking for someone she swears she doesn’t know has filed a $400,000 law- suit to make them stop. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Caitlin Kelly is suing a Portland furniture store called Aaron’s, saying a demand let- ter and slips of paper left at her home indi- 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: Bonny Tuller, 541-966-0828 SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS Submit information to: community@eastore- gonian.com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at 333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-966-0818 with questions. For a complete listing of regional events, visit easternoregonevents.com BRIEFLY Woman sues to stop debt collectors from coming to her door Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. selling the tax credits. ——— Reporter Claire Withycombe: cwithycombe@ eomediagroup.com or 503- 385-4903. Withycombe is a reporter for the East Oregonian working for the Oregon Capital Bureau, a collaboration of EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group, and Salem Reporter. 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 cate the store is trying to collect on a debt owed by Steven. The lawsuit says men from the store have banged on her door nearly a dozen times this year, sometimes in the early morning hours waking her young children. Kelly says she has called store manage- ment to resolve the issue, but she says they don’t believe that he doesn’t live there. Kelly is suing only the local franchise, NW Freedom Corp and not the national chain to which it has ties. A representative for the franchise declined to comment. Police: Officers shoot armed suspect at motel PORTLAND (AP) — Authorities say an armed suspect was fatally shot by police at a motel in southeast Portland. No one else was hurt. Portland Police responded to the motel Wednesday morning. The Oregonian/Ore- gonLive reports that officers had reports of two people fighting near the motel. Police spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley said arriving officers learned one of the subjects was armed with a knife and had attempted to stab another person. Officers learned a man matching the suspect’s description had entered a room and was holding a woman hostage. The suspect was not identified. Corrections 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. 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
