MUSTANGS ADVANCE TO
2A GIRLS BASKETBALL
SEMIFINALS
OREGON BECOMES FIRST
RENT-CONTROLLED STATE NORTHWEST, A2
SPORTS, B1
E O
AST
143rd Year, No. 97
REGONIAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Your Weekend
NOT SICK ENOUGH
Assisted living residents on brink of losing Medicaid benefi ts
• Battle of the Bars,
Pendleton
• Diaper Dash Fun Run/
Walk, Hermiston
• “Godspell,” BMCC
FOR TIMES AND LOCATIONS
CHECK COMING EVENTS, A5
Weekend Weather
FRI
SAT
SUN
29/19
27/18
23/12
As snowpack
increases,
governor
declares
emergency
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — After a slow
start, wintry weather has wal-
loped Oregon, with the snow-
pack surpassing the norm by
as much as 160 percent in some
parts of the state and Gov. Kate
Brown declaring an emergency
Thursday in 10 counties.
Brown directed the Oregon
Offi ce of Emergency Manage-
ment to coordinate the deploy-
ment of the state transportation
department, state police, and
the Oregon National Guard to
support local communities as
needed.
Since early February, the
snowpack rose from 70 per-
cent of normal statewide to 119
percent of normal as of Thurs-
day, according to Scott Oviatt,
snow survey supervisor for the
U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture’s Natural Resources Con-
servation Center. It is already
helping to alleviate a drought
that affected much of the state,
with its severity classifi cation
in southern and central Oregon
reduced this week, Oviatt said.
“Cold air from Canada
and moisture from the Pacifi c
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Jeanne Rhome, a 63-year-old stroke and heart attack survivor, will stop receiving the Medicaid payments that currently allow her to
live at the Sun Terrace assisted living facility in Hermiston. Rhome, who needs assistance doing rudimentary tasks, was deemed by
the Oregon Department of Human Services to no longer qualify for long-term care services.
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
J
eanne Rhome trembled as she gazed at the notice clutched in her hand. The letter from the Oregon
Department of Human Services had come two weeks earlier with dire news for Rhome. She would no
longer receive the Medicaid payments that currently allow her to live at the Sun Terrace assisted living
facility in Hermiston. Benefi ts would cease Feb. 28. The 63-year-old stroke and heart attack survivor cried.
Rhome is not the only one to receive
this news. Others at Sun Terrace and at
facilities around the state have been get-
ting letters, too, saying they no longer
qualify for long-term care services.
Down the hall, Pat Williams got ready
to move out. She no longer fi ts the crite-
ria according to her notice. Williams has
lived at Sun Terrace for three years. Her
family pushed her to move into the facil-
ity as her health worsened.
“I knew it was coming — there were
rumors,” Williams said of the notice.
“But it was still a shock when they told
me I had to leave.”
The 74-year-old, who uses a walker,
looked for apartments, but found nothing
for seniors.
“I don’t know where everyone is
going to go,” she said. “There’s nothing
out there.”
Long-term care for Medicaid patients
isn’t cheap and the cost is rising. The
budget for Medicaid for the 2017-19
biennium was set at $2.7 billion, which
includes both state and federal funds.
In 2017, the Oregon Legislature
directed the state’s Aging and Peo-
ple with Disabilities program to rein in
the rising costs to insure sustainabil-
ity, said APD Director Ashley Carson
Cottingham.
“Costs are continually rising,” Cot-
tingham said. “We have an aging popula-
tion, nationally and here in Oregon. The
Legislature was concerned about costs
increasing too quickly.”
Medicaid clients are assessed annually
to see if they still meet requirements and
to determine the necessary level of care.
See Benefi ts, Page A8
See Emergency, Page A8
Pendleton police spell trouble ‘M-o-s-a’
Owner contends cops visit more
because staff is willing to call
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
The roughest bar in Pendleton was a toss-up
between two downtown joints: Crabby’s Under-
ground Saloon & Dance Hall, and Mosa.
Crabby’s changed hands in 2015 and the
number of calls to police dropped. Pendleton
police Chief Stuart Roberts said disturbances
there are now uncommon.
“But you go downtown to Mosa, and it’s
a train wreck,” he said. “Someone has been
signifi cantly assaulted, and everyone there is
anti-police.”
That goes for patrons and bar staff, he said.
Pendleton police in 2017 responded to 27
incidents at the bar and 34 in 2018, according
to department incident reports. This year, the
number stands at nine as of Feb. 25.
“It’s no question,” Roberts said, “it’s the
most problematic licensed establishment in
town.”
The bar caters to a later-night crowd, not
opening until 8 p.m. and staying open until
2:30 in the morning. That give patrons plenty
of time to get their drink on before even cross-
ing the doorway. Fights and disturbances are
the most common reasons for police interven-
tion, such as the Jan. 28 early morning fi sti-
cuffs in which one patron hurled a pool cue ball
at another, sending the victim to the hospital.
The records also show Pendleton police twice
in 2017 investigated sex crimes involving Mosa
patrons.
Judy Winn owns Mosa and disputes the
police chief’s characterization of her bar. She
See Mosa, Page A8
EO fi le photo
Pendleton Police detective Howard Bowen talks
with a man after a fi ght on Sept. 14, 2018, in front
of Mosa on Main Street in Pendleton. Police say
the downtown bar is the roughest in Pendleton,
leading to common assault complaints.