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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2019)
E O AST REGONIAN Wednesday, February 27, 2019 A herd of Rocky Mountain elk graze in a snowy stub- ble field off Market Road on Tuesday on the Con- federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton. Staff photo by E.J. Harris 143rd year, no. 95 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Needle swap comes to Pendleton Syringe exchanges intended to cut transmission of HIV and hepatitis C By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian Melissa Cross sat in the parking lot, her wares spread before her on a table and in a white van parked a few feet away. Bundled against the chill, Cross and her part- ner Raul Morales waited for customers to appear. No money would change hands. Instead, they would collect dirty syringes from drug users and exchange them for clean ones. They’d hand out alcohol swabs, bandages, con- doms, antibiotic ointment, miniature biohazard con- tainers and other harm reduction supplies. The point of Satur- day’s needle exchange in front of Pendleton’s East- ern Oregon Center for Independent Living was to help reduce HIV and hepatitis C, a deadly liver disease linked to injection drugs and dirty syringes. Their organization — Blue Mountain Heart to Heart — runs similar exchanges in Walla Walla and Pasco. As Cross sat at a table eating lunch, Morales leaned against the van, ready to fetch syringes from inside the vehi- cle. This was the first exchange and business was slow. Word had not yet spread. Eventually it will, they said, and more folks will show up at the bimonthly exchanges. According to their boss, Executive Direc- tor Everett Maroon, such syringe exchanges bring financial and public health benefits to society. “There’s been 1,500 studies about different See Needles, Page A8 $1.50 Drug bust puts strain on foster system Almost 40 children removed from homes as parents put behind bars By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian Staff photos by Kathy Aney Melissa Cross and Raul Morales, of Blue Mountain Heart to Heart, wait for drug users to come and exchange con- taminated needles for sterile ones Saturday in Pendleton. Such events allow drug users to exchange contaminated needles for sterile ones, thereby lowering the transmission of blood-borne diseases. “WE’RE NOT ASKING ANYONE TO LOVE DRUG USERS ... BUT WE KNOW IT REALLY DOES CUT THE TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND HEPATITIS C.” Everett Maroon, Blue Mountain Heart to Heart Executive Director A display of different types and sizes of syringes sits on a table at Saturday’s syringe exchange in Pendleton. Operation Wildfire, a January drug bust by the Blue Mountain Enforcement Narcotics Team, put 65 peo- ple from Umatilla, Morrow, Union and Gilliam coun- ties behind bars. It also sent a wave of children into the foster care system. According to Court Appointed Special Advo- cates, 38 children entered foster care in Umatilla County in January. At least eight families were involved with the drug bust, said Diane Shockman, the CASA volunteer coordinator for western Umatilla County. “The reason kids were in danger is that non-safe peo- ple were frequenting their home, or they were in the car while mom or dad was selling drugs, reasons like that,” said Shockman. Jesus Rome, the director of CASA, said the bust has had a trickle down effect on families, with many kids taken away from home due to neglect. In his seven years at CASA, he said he’s never seen that many children come into foster care in a single month. CASA works with a variety of organizations — including the Department of Human Services and the courts — as liaisons for fos- ter care children. “One day, we had six shel- ter hearings in Hermiston, See Drug Bust, Page A8 Oregon poised to become first rent-controlled state in U.S. Bill that would limit rent increases and restrict evictions passes mostly along party lines By PARIS ACHEN Oregon Capital Bureau saLeM — House speaker Tina Kotek on Tuesday finally accom- plished her longstanding goal to protect tenants from abusive land- lords with passage of sweeping rent control legislation. The House voted 35-to-25 to cap annual rent increases to 7 percent, plus the change in the consumer price index, and restrict no-fault evictions. The legislation, Senate Bill 608, now goes to Gov. Kate Brown, who has said she would sign it. Her signature would institute the first statewide rent control in the country. “This new law is one of many actions the legislature needs to take to address the housing crisis in Ore- gon,” said Lisa Morawski, a spokes- woman for Brown. “While it will provide immediate relief, we need to focus on building supply in order to address Oregon’s housing chal- lenges for the long term.” Kotek crafted the bill to protect tenants from steep rent increases and prevent large-scale evictions that have displaced Oregonians, especially in the Portland area. But the rent limits don’t apply to rental properties built within the past 15 years, a measure meant to encourage housing development in the state. The legislation allows certain no-fault evictions when a landlord wants to sell, upgrade or move into a property but requires landlords with larger holdings — five units or more — to pay a tenant a relocation fee equaling one month’s rent. Tenants may sue the landlord when there is a violation and receive damages equal to three months’ rent. The legislation passed mostly along party lines with Democratic Reps. David Gomberg of Neotsu, Caddy McKeown of Coos Bay and Brad Witt of Clatskanie voting against the bill. The Senate passed the bill two weeks ago 17-11. Debate on the bill on the House floor lasted for more than an hour Tuesday, with several Republicans opposing it and Democrats speak- ing in favor. Rep. Ron Noble, R-McMinnville, noted that the rent cap is higher than the average rent increase in Oregon between 2016 and 2017. Between the end of 2016 and the end of 2017, rents increased statewide by 0.8 per- cent and in Portland, decreased by 1.5 percent. “What this bill purports to do is provide a solution for our problem,” Noble said. Yet the 7-percent cap would have little effect on low-income rent- ers at risk of becoming homeless, Noble said. Meanwhile, he said, the new policy could scare off investors and prompt landlords to sell their See Rent, Page A8
