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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Friday, January 4, 2019 Two more Puget Sound orcas predicted to die by summer SEATTLE (AP) — Two more Puget Sound orcas are ailing and probably will be dead by summer, accord- ing an expert on the criti- cally endangered popula- tion of killer whales that live in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Drone photography taken this past September showed the ailing population of orcas known as the southern res- idents went into the winter thinner than they were when the whales arrived in the San Juan Islands last summer. They also are thinner than Puget Sound’s so-called northern resident popula- tion of killer whales, which have been steadily grow- ing in population for the past 40 years in their home waters primarily in north- ern British Columbia and southeast Alaska, where they have access to more fish and cleaner and quieter water. The northern residents gave birth to 10 new calves last year. The Seattle Times reports Center for Whale Research founding director Ken Bal- comb said photos taken of a southern resident orca known as J17 on New Year’s Eve showed the 42-year-old female has so-called peanut AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File In this Sept. 10, 1979, file photo, NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien, right, shakes hands with Lawrence Weinberg, president of the Portland Trail Blazers, before a hearing in New York. Former Trail Blazers owner Larry Weinberg dies at 92 PORTLAND (AP) — Larry Weinberg, one of the founders and origi- nal owners of the Portland Trail Blazers, has died. He was 92. Weinberg’s death was announced Wednesday by the American Israeli Pub- lic Affairs Committee. KATU reports that Weinberg was one of three partners who got the fran- chise started as an NBA expansion team in 1970 to the tune of $3.7 million. Weinberg, a veteran of World War II, real estate developer, and a pro-Is- rael activist, sold the team to the late Paul Allen in 1988 for $70 million. In a tweet the Trail Blaz- ers said the team “was saddened to hear of the passing of our original owner.” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said via Twitter that Weinberg was “a true mensch ... and like many, I will mourn his passing.” Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Mostly cloudy Cloudy A little rain in the afternoon Showers of rain and snow Remaining cloudy 49° 34° 44° 38° 54° 32° 44° 39° AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, an endangered southern resident female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget Sound, west of Seattle. head — a misshapen head and neck caused by starva- tion. In addition a 27-year- old male known as K25 is failing, also from lack of sufficient food. He lost his mother, K13, in 2017 and is not successfully foraging on Funding for Columbia River jetties, dredging included in Army Corps budget PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 49° 36° By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group 48° 40° 45° 36° his own. Several southern resident whales were documented to be pregnant in September, but so far there has been no sign of babies. The south- ern residents have not had a successful pregnancy in HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 50° 36° 44° 39° 48° 36° OREGON FORECAST 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 51/41 42/33 52/30 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 53/36 Lewiston 51/39 56/32 Astoria 53/41 Pullman Yakima 52/32 50/37 45/33 Portland Hermiston 52/40 The Dalles 54/32 Salem Corvallis 49/36 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 40/30 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 51/35 51/31 46/32 Ontario 38/25 Caldwell Burns 44° 31° 39° 27° 60° (1996) -3° (1952) 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 51/36 0.01" 0.01" 0.12" 0.01" 0.00" 0.12" WINDS (in mph) 42/25 35/15 0.02" 0.02" 0.18" 0.02" Trace 0.18" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 40/26 51/37 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 49/34 50/35 51° 36° 40° 26° 60° (1989) -9° (1910) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 53/35 Aberdeen 42/30 44/32 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 53/41 Today Medford 48/32 Sat. SW 4-8 SSE 6-12 Boardman Pendleton NNE 6-12 ESE 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 44/28 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:36 a.m. 4:24 p.m. 6:22 a.m. 3:34 p.m. New First Full Last Jan 5 Jan 13 Jan 20 Jan 27 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 88° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -33° in Waverly, Colo. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY three years. The southern resident population is at a 35-year low after three deaths in 2018. There are only 74 left. Losing J17 would be a blow to the southern resi- dents because she is a female still of reproducing age, said Deborah Giles, research scientist for University of Washington Center for Con- servation Biology. Giles said she was not surprised to hear about K25. The social dynamics of the southern residents, in which older females help their pod, and especially their sons by sharing food, is both a bless- ing and a curse if that female dies, Giles said. “These large, adult, hun- gry males benefit by the females in their family,” Giles said. “There probably is still family foraging going on, but not like he had when his mom was alive.” The coming year is not looking any easier for the southern residents in terms of their food supply. The whales mostly eat chinook salmon. Ocean conditions and poor river migration, with warm water and low flows, have hurt chinook salmon returns in the past several years. The federal agency in charge of maintain- ing navigation for cargo ships on the Colum- bia and Snake rivers will receive increased funding in 2019 for key infrastructure improvements, including major rehabilitation of three jetties at the mouth of the Columbia River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its latest work plan and budget in November for fiscal year 2019, earmarking $28 million for the jetties as well as $64 mil- lion for maintenance dredging, pile dikes and other projects on the Columbia and Lower Willamette rivers below Portland and Van- couver, Wash. The $28 million for jetty repairs is an increase over funding levels of $11 million in fiscal year 2018, and $21.9 million in fis- cal year 2017. Operations and maintenance on the Columbia and Lower Willamette riv- ers also got a boost over $53.2 million in fis- cal year 2018, and $42.8 million in fiscal year 2017. The Corps’ budget drew support from the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, a nonprofit trade organization that represents ports, businesses and agricultural groups in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Heather Stebbings, government relations director for the PNWA, emphasized the importance of the river system to the region’s farmers, who depend on water transportation to move and sell their products overseas. “Our projects out here did pretty well,” Stebbings said. “We definitely have a lot of good news.” It all starts and ends at the jetties, which were built between 1885 and 1939 and serve as the gateway to and from the Pacific Ocean. Together, the North Jetty, South Jetty and “Jetty A” protect ships entering and leaving Oregon State Police seek killer of adult bald eagle ROSEBURG (AP) — Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife officers are seek- ing information on the person or people who shot and killed an adult bald eagle in Doug- las County. Tips that lead to an arrest could lead to the estuary, ensuring safe passage. Over the years, storms packing up to 30-foot ocean waves have regularly battered the jetties and receded the sand spits on which they are built. If the structures are breached, it could risk shutting down all commercial nav- igation inland. “That’s what we’re trying to avoid,” said Kristin Meira, PNWA executive director. “All the good work inland is for naught if we can’t keep the entrance to the system open.” In 2012, the Corps completed its Major Rehabilitation Report for the jetties, estimat- ing the total cost of repairs at $240 million. Construction on Jetty A was finished in 2017, while the timeline for completion on the North Jetty is 2020, and 2023 on the South Jetty. The PNWA has also lobbied for funding to maintain dredging the 110-mile Columbia River shipping channel at a depth of 43 feet needed to fully load ocean vessels. The chan- nel dredging project was completed in 2010, and has already attracted more than $1 bil- lion in business investments, according to the organization, including a $230 million export grain terminal in Longview, Wash. — the first new grain facility built in North America in 25 years. The Columbia River is the third larg- est grain export gateway in the world. Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Com- mission, said most of the wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest is exported, including 60 percent from Idaho, 90 percent from Washing- ton and roughly 85-90 percent from Oregon. Squires described the Columbia River as a “national highway of commerce,” and said the industry is appreciative of funding from Washington, D.C., to keep the system in shape. “The jetties are critical,” Squires said. “the ships would have a hard time if one of those failed. It’s a big issue.” an award. OSP said Thursday the eagle was found shot in the neck with a small caliber rifle from Lower Cow Creek Road approximately 2 miles south of Doe Creek Road. The shoot- ing happened sometime in November. The suspect was driving a newer red or maroon compact four-door truck — likely a Nissan Frontier or a similar model. 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 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — 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 EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to 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. 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