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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2019)
COLLEGE SIGNINGS: banner day for bucks football | SPORTS, B1 E O AST 143rd year, No. 81 REGONIAN Thursday, February 7, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Cigarette tax increase may go to voters By AUBREY WIEBER Oregon Capital Bureau smokers paying higher taxes would help buy health insurance for low-income Orego- nians under a plan being advanced by Gov. Kate brown. brown is proposing tax increase of $2 a pack of cigarettes, currently taxed at $1.33. backers say the increase would price thou- sands out of smoking. It would save lives and lower health care costs for all. according to projections by Tobacconom- ics, a tobacco-centric economic research firm, the tax hike could get 31,300 Oregonians to stop smoking. Of the Oregonians currently 17 or younger, 13,700 fewer might die prema- ture smoking-caused deaths, according to the projection. Making cigarettes more expensive also would reduce underage smoking and save mil- lions in health care for Oregonians, Tobacco- nomics found. If passed, the tax increase is estimated to generate nearly $300 million in the first two years. but none of those stats matter if the tobacco tax increase isn’t acceptable to Oregonians and their lawmakers. While only an estimated 16 percent of Oregon adults smoke, that group is VELVA THE UNSTOPPABLE See Tax, Page A8 Interim fire chief interested in permanent job at 101, Pendleton woman a role model at roundup athletic Club with two workouts a day By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian V elva denton is almost always in motion. The indomitable 101-year-old rises early every day and heads for her treadmill. she says it’s impossible to stay in bed past 4. “My body gets tired of being in bed,” she said. “It just kind of spits me out.” her body complains a bit, bones aching, but denton bee- lines for her exercise equipment. “I’m stiff at first,” she said, “but the treadmill takes it away.” after breakfast, as soon as the sky lightens, the Pendleton woman drives to the roundup athletic Club for an additional mile on the treadmill and a work- out class. In the afternoon, she returns to the raC for a third exercise session with her “baby sister,” emogene Martindale, in tow. at the athletic club, denton serves as a feisty and energetic role model. Staff photos by E.J. Harris Centenarian Velva Denton gets up on her toes to reach the handles on a lat pulldown machine during a morning circuit training class Monday at the Roundup Athletic Club in Pendleton. Top, Denton works out on the Krank machine during a morning circuit training class. “she’s a legend and an inspi- ration,” said fitness instructor dale Freeman. he stood in the doorway of the trainers’ office. Across the way, in amy smith’s Monday morning circuit class, denton worked an arm machine called the Krank. “I’M WITH YOUNG PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. THEY TELL ME I’M AMAZING. I TELL THEM I’M NOT AMAZING, GOD’S AMAZING.” See Denton, Page A8 The timeline for finding a new Pendleton fire chief is still indefinite, but the position has interest from the man currently leading the department. Interim Fire Chief Paul berardi said Wednesday that he intends to apply for the per- manent position once it opens. “I like what I’ve learned so far,” he said about his time in Pendleton. “It’s a nice place.” While berardi has expressed interest, when he’ll get to apply for the position is still an open question. The city contracted with Berardi Western Fire Chiefs associa- tion to conduct a job search for a new chief. City Manager robb Corbett said the asso- ciation told him it would begin advertising the position after Jan. 1, but he hasn’t heard back about a timeline for the hiring process. Whenever the job is open to candidates, Corbett said he expected the process to go ahead as planned. berardi came to Pendleton in October after a 31-year career as a firefighter for the fire department in Kansas City, Missouri, culmi- nating in a five-year stint as fire chief before retiring in 2017. The Western Fire Chiefs association Velva Denton See Chief, Page A8 Umatilla County tops state with waste collection event 72 pounds of prescription medication among items collected By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian umatilla County col- lected 12 tons of hazardous household waste at its sep- tember drop-off drive, top- ping every other event in the state. The deQ is suggesting other counties emulate the program. Gina Miller in the coun- ty’s planning department planned and coordinated the sept. 22 free disposal of household hazards ranging from old paint to car bat- teries to medications. she delivered a report summa- rizing the event’s outcomes Wednesday to the county board of commissioners. Miller said 502 vehicles arrived that day to the col- lection area at the Pendleton Convention Center parking lot with 24,000 pounds of hazardous household waste, 38 gallons of needles and 72 pounds of prescription med- ications. she said the Ore- gon department of envi- ronmental Quality reported this was the most successful collection event statewide in 2018. “We succeeded and bypassed all of our goals at this second collection event,” Miller said, referring to the prior event from 2016. These waste collec- tions cost $65,000-$80,000, Miller told the board, but a deQ grant covered the cost, and contractor Clean har- bors environmental han- dled all the waste. Mak- ing the event a success, she said, took planning and out- reach beginning in april, and buy-in from community partners. solid waste franchises in the county advertised the event on their billings, See Waste, Page A8 Staff photo by Kathy Aney, File John Orcutt sorts paint dropped off by Umatilla County res- idents during the Sept. 22, 2018, Household Hazard Waste Collection Event at the Pendleton Convention Center.