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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2018)
RODEO: Round-Up wins fourth straight PRCA award | PAGE 1B FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 143rd Year, No. 37 One dollar WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD HERMISTON Your Weekend BOARDMAN Port nets $19M grant Family • Winterfest Day, Pendleton in Pendle- • Concerts ton, Echo, Hermiston Pendleton • “Rumors,” High School More info at www.easter- noregonevents.com Weekend Weather Fri Sat Sun Rail upgrades will open door for new business By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian 32/23 36/24 38/29 Brown directs $247M to rural Oregon Budget has money for broadband, housing, dam at Wallowa Lake By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — On the campaign trail, Gov. Kate Brown was eager to tell voters she would rep- resent all regions of the state. “I’m the only candi- date in this race with a track record of bringing Republicans and Dem- ocrats together, urban and rural Oregonians together, to tackle the problems facing Ore- gon,” Brown said during one debate. A month after her reelection, she has laid out a plan to follow through on that claim. Brown’s proposed budget, released last week, includes more than $247 million for rural infrastructure proj- ects and other increased spending to benefit rural residents. “I also believe that the work we are doing to continue to grow the economy by investing in infrastructure, housing, broadband, water and of course, career and techni- cal education will benefit See BUDGET/10A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Santa, aka Hermiston City Councilman Doug Primmer, flips the switch to turn on the city Christmas tree on Thursday night on Festival Street. FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Downtown kicks off another Christmas season with tree lighting By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian L ights and smiles lit up Hermiston’s new fes- tival street Thursday night. The tree lighting cere- mony brought crowds down- town for entertainment, food and a chance to get a picture with Santa Claus. City manager Byron Smith said the city was excited about the chance to hold the event for another year as it “grows and gets more popular all the time.” While the city has placed a giant tree on Second Street every year since 2015, this is the first year since the block was transformed into a more pedestrian-friendly “festi- val street” with brickwork, trees, benches and other fea- tures. This year’s tree is the tallest so far, at 40 feet, and is decorated with approxi- mately 2,000 lights. Greater Hermiston Area Chamber of Commerce director Debbie Pedro asked the crowd if they noticed the extra lights, flowers and other improve- ments to downtown Hermis- ton that the city and Herm- iston Downtown District have been adding through- out 2018. “I hope you guys are really proud of what you’re seeing down here,” she said, prompting applause. In addition to Christmas lights, businesses decorated their storefronts for a holi- See LIGHTS/10A Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Christmas tree glows on Thursday night on Festival Street shortly after Santa switched it on during the tree lighting ceremony. In the next five years, the Port of Morrow will see mas- sive railroad expansions with the hopes new jobs and indus- tries may soon follow. The project will be funded by a $19 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Uti- lizing Investments to Lever- age Developments (BUILD) program. The money will fund the port’s Columbia River Barge Terminal Rail Access Proj- ect and will be supplemented by a $6.5 million grant from the state specifically for rail improvements. Lisa Mittelsdorf, the eco- nomic development director for the port, said this is the third time the port has applied for the grant (formerly known as the TIGER grant), but the amount offered this year was more than in years past. She said the federal grant offered money for rural infra- structure projects in general, but the port knew right away they wanted to fund a rail expansion project. “It will be beneficial to existing businesses, which will have the availability to move cargo, whether bulk movement or containerized,” she said. According to an appli- cation summary, the project will include constructing rail infrastructure to four separate barge terminals within the port’s industrial park, road See PORT/10A STDs surge across the country Oregon had sixfold increase in gonorrhea since 2000 By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian In the lobby of the Umatilla County Health Department, among the Christmas decora- tions, is a sign that announces “FREE CONDOMS.” This isn’t Christmas cheer gone wild, but rather part of an effort to reduce STDs. The United States is experienc- ing what the Centers for Dis- ease Control and Preven- tion calls “steep and sustained increases in sexually transmit- ted diseases.” The report shows gonor- rhea, chlamydia and syphilis all trending alarmingly upward. “Oregon is following the national trend,” said Tim Menza, who manages the state’s HIV/STD prevention program. “We logged 6,000 cases of gon- orrhea in 2017, up from 1,000 in the year 2000 — that’s about a sixfold increase.” The gonorrhea spike is espe- cially alarming. The CDC received reports of 555,608 cases in 2017, an increase of 75.2 percent since 2009 and 18.6 percent over the previ- ous year. The increase involved both men and women, and all racial and ethnic groups. Gonorrhea can lead to scar- ring, infertility, arthritis, heart valve damage and inflamma- tion in the lining of the brain. The last time gonorrhea rank- ings came out in 2017, Uma- tilla County had the third high- est rate in the state. “Our rates were pretty low, but in 2013, they started pick- ing up,” said Joe Fiumara, director of Umatilla County’s public health department. Umatilla County had a low of four cases in 2012, increas- ing to 88 by 2016, then drop- ping to 67 the next year. With 82 cases so far in 2018, Fiu- mara said, the county is on pace to equal or slightly surpass 2016 numbers. Chlamydia and syphilis also increased nationally and state- wide last year. Chlamydia is most com- mon. The CDC received reports of 1.7 million cases of chla- mydia, compared with 1.6 mil- lion in 2016. In addition, syph- ilis diagnoses rose steeply from 17,375 cases to 30,664. In the ’90s, some thought syphilis had disappeared until it came back strong. Again, Umatilla County isn’t exactly following the wider trend. Instead of increas- ing, numbers dipped a bit. Last year, the county reported 323 cases of chlamydia compared with 264 cases so far this year. There were zero cases of syph- See STDS/10A Staff photo by E.J. Harris Bags of free condoms sit in a holiday display in the front office at the Umatilla County Health Department in Pendleton. Friday DECEMBER 7 th , 2018 Evening Gala | 6:00 pm Saturday DECEMBER 8 th , 2018 Family Day | 10am-2pm Pendleton Convention Center LOCATED AT THE For more information or to purchase tickets, contact St. Anthony Hospital Foundation at 541-278-2627