BELUSHI HAPPILY
GROWING POT IN
OREGON
BUCKS TO END
REGULAR SEASON
AGAINST BENSON
NORTHWEST/2A
SPORTS/1B
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018
143rd Year, No. 2
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Audit reveals
PERS vulnerable
to cyberattacks,
natural disasters
Lack of planning has left
Oregon’s public pension
system unprepared
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The state’s public pension
agency isn’t prepared for a major disaster
like an earthquake or flood, and Oregonians’
personal information could be at risk if the
agency doesn’t do more to protect its systems
from attacks, state auditors say.
More than 365,000 Oregonians are in the
Public Employees Retirement System, which
pays about $310 million in pensions every
month.
The long-criticized system is facing $25.3
billion in unfunded retirement obligations,
making it a perennial point of contention in
the Legislature and on the campaign trail.
But a report released Wednesday by Sec-
retary of State Dennis Richardson said PERS
is also beleaguered by a lack of planning for
critical information technology projects.
Auditors found that the agency couldn’t
restore its IT systems after a disaster.
A major disaster — depending on how
long critical systems are unavailable — could
threaten the agency’s ability to issue payments
on time or to the right people.
It could also mean that critical information
is lost.
See PERS/8A
BOARDMAN
Lost Valley Farm
hit with $187,000
fine by regulators
Record CAFO fine stems from
alleged wastewater violations
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
EO Media Group
Oregon farm regulators have issued a fine
of more than $187,000 to a Boardman dairy,
citing more than 220 violations of its waste-
water permit between last December and late
August.
Among the alleged violations by Lost Val-
ley Farm are unauthorized manure discharges,
storing too much manure in lagoons, repeat-
edly applying manure to fields without first
installing required soil moisture sensors and
keeping excessive numbers of mature cattle.
The dairy has until early November to
challenge the civil penalties issued by the
Oregon Department of Agriculture’s confined
animal feeding program before an administra-
See FINE/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Artist Jean Christofori Howton hangs an original painting while preparing for a gallery at her home in Hat Rock on Wednes-
day outside of Hermiston.
Abstract nature
Hat Rock artist
develops an
international
following with
fresh look at nature
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
ean Christofori Howton
sees beauty everywhere.
“Cabbages are won-
derful to paint and draw,”
she said, holding up a small
painting layered in every
shade of green imaginable.
“They’re drowning in deep
shadows.”
She slid the cabbage
painting into a blank section
of wall underneath a draw-
ing of sheep, testing the fit.
She was working Wednes-
day afternoon — as she has
every day this week — to
transform her home into the
Hat Rock Art Gallery ahead
of an open house she is plan-
ning for Saturday.
The house’s architec-
ture already has an art gal-
lery vibe. Visitors walking
J
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Artist Jean Christofori Howton has shown her work at galleries in the Pacific North-
west and in Europe.
through the front door are
greeted by a mirrored wall
underneath a spacious loft
with vaulted ceilings. Nat-
ural lighting filters through
skylights and tall windows
with views of the Columbia
River.
Most noticeable is the
art covering every wall. In
the kitchen, it’s black and
white pencil drawings of lla-
mas and chickens. Upstairs,
large abstract paintings pres-
ent swirling mixes of rich
color in the loft, while the
“skywalk” connected to the
loft features oil paintings of
planets in purple and blue.
On Wednesday, there
were still some blank spaces
to be filled with the paint-
See ARTIST/8A
“I had so many pieces of art tucked away everywhere,
I’m getting everything uncluttered”
— Jean Christofori Howton, artist
PENDLETON
Council ups its stake
in Eighth Street Bridge
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
EO file photo
A construction crew works on building a temporary bridge at the
Eighth Street river crossing on Aug. 20 in Pendleton.
Dismayed at the rising cost, the
Pendleton City Council nonetheless
unanimously voted to increase its con-
tribution to the Eighth Street Bridge
project by $78,837.
The lion’s share of the now $8.6
million project is funded by the Ore-
gon Department of Transportation, but
the city is required to provide a 10.27
percent match.
When ODOT’s estimate rose, the
second time the department has revised
the bridge’s projected budget, the city’s
local match climbed to $883,595.
Community Development Director
Tim Simons attributed most of the ris-
ing costs to ODOT’s decision to delay
the project by a year, which produced
inflationary costs for the construction
materials.
But Simons said ODOT is also deal-
ing with the effects of a federal law-
suit over the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act.
According to The Oregonian, the
state and a disability rights group set-
tled the lawsuit in 2016. As a result, the
See BRIDGE/8A