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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2019)
WEST East Oregonian A2 Saturday, April 13, 2019 Growing number of states Case of abandoned foster move to shield lottery winners child raises lawmakers’ ire spokesman saying Demo- cratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham decided to priori- tize transparency. “To be sure, the governor is clear about the concerns raised by proponents, i.e., that certain bad actors could take advantage of lottery winners if their names are made public,” spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said in a statement. But “New Mexi- cans should have every con- fidence in the games run by the lottery.” Arizona’s governor hasn’t weighed in on the proposal before him. The Arizona Lottery took no official position, but spokesman John Gillil- and said “it is important that we have that transparency, because the lottery is noth- ing without integrity.” “And the only way the public has an absolute guar- antee of integrity as far as real people winning these prizes is to be able to know who wins these prizes,” he said this week. Republican state Rep. Nancy Barto introduced the measure, saying she wanted to protect winners from harassment. State Rep. John Kavanagh pushed for cur- rent law that shields win- ners’ names for 90 days but By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX — A grow- ing number of states are moving to allow the win- ners of big lottery jackpots to stay anonymous as pri- vacy concerns are increas- ingly trumping lottery groups’ wishes to publicize winners to boost sales and show that the games are fair. Arizona could be the next state to join at least nine others with laws that let winners keep their names secret under a pro- posal headed to Republi- can Gov. Doug Ducey. Four years ago, just five states allowed anonymous win- ners, and a handful of oth- ers allowed trusts to claim prizes. At least eight state leg- islatures considered mea- sures shielding winners’ names this year. Virginia’s governor signed legislation allowing winners of $10 million or more to remain anonymous. Proposals in Arkansas and Connecti- cut failed, while efforts in Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon are still being considered. New Mexico’s gov- ernor last week axed a similar proposal, with a said this week that it doesn’t go far enough. “After 90 days, the per- son is then subjected to all sorts of people hitting them up for loans, investment advisers trying to make them a client and the poten- tial to be victimized by a burglar or, if it’s a massive amount, having their kid kidnapped,” the Republican said. Balancing those con- cerns against the Lottery’s interests in transparency isn’t a close call, he said. That’s in line with a New Hampshire judge’s decision last year to allow the win- ner of a nearly $560 million Powerball jackpot to stay anonymous. The woman signed the ticket before she realized that state law would let her create a trust to shield her identity. The judge noted that she could be harassed or solicited for money. Trusts are allowed in at least two other states besides New Hampshire, while a policy from South Carolina’s lottery board allows anonymity. The win- ner of a $1.5 billion ticket bought at a South Carolina convenience store last year remains unknown under that policy. Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY Spotty afternoon showers Mostly cloudy, a shower; breezy Mainly cloudy, a shower; cool Some sun, then clouds, a shower Partly sunny 56° 38° 52° 38° SALEM (AP) — Ore- gon lawmakers are demand- ing answers from the state’s child welfare agency after a report that a 9-year-old girl in foster care was sent to a Montana facility for six months and injected with Benadryl to control her behavior. A legislative hearing Thursday largely focused on the news report this week by Oregon Public Broadcasting that also revealed casework- ers didn’t visit the girl for months. OPB learned of the case through the child’s pub- lic defender. Officials are now working to bring the girl back amid growing concern over the state’s embattled foster care system. Eighty-five children are currently living in out- of-state facilities, a num- ber that’s more than doubled since 2017, OPB reported. Sen. Sara Gelser, a Cor- vallis Democrat, said when she first received the list of the providers housing Ore- gon’s children, she started searching the names online. Stories of licensing viola- tions, arrests, sexual assaults and overuse of restraints all started coming up. Gelser also wondered how the state would know if there were other foster care children housed out-of-state who had similar experiences to the 9-year-old child. That case came to light because the child’s family remains involved and because her public defender made per- sonal contact with her in Montana and learned about the injections. AP Photo/Anna Reed, File In this March 3, 2016, file photo, Oregon state Sen. Sara Gels- er listens to a live stream as members of the House of Repre- sentatives finish business before adjourning the 2016 legis- lative session at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. The state is spending about $35,000 a day on the foster care kids out of the state, she said. “Something here has gone very, very wrong,” said Gelser, who chairs the Sen- ate Committee on Human Services and convened the hearing. “We cannot ignore it and we have to keep this issue front and center until we are satisfied each of these kids are safe.” During the hearing, fos- ter care officials announced they plan to stop sending children to facilities owned by Tennessee-based Acadia Healthcare, an organization facing several accusations of neglect and abuse, although some children still remain there. Gretchen Hommrich, Acadia’s director of investor relations, didn’t immediately return a call Friday. Fariborz Pakseresht, the head of the state Department of Human Services, said her agency had “dropped the ball” in the girl’s case. “I own the mistake. We did make a mistake,” she said at the hearing. Pakseresht told lawmak- ers that part of the issue has been a reduced number of treatment beds available in Oregon. Sen. Tim Knopp, a Bend Republican, asked why Child Welfare officials didn’t bring that to lawmakers’ attention earlier. “I don’t think there is any- body up here in this Legisla- ture that isn’t incredibly con- cerned this happened and we didn’t know it was happen- ing,” he said. PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 55° 38° 60° 40° 58° 43° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 59° 41° 57° 40° 59° 41° 66° 40° 63° 45° 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 52/41 51/37 59/35 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 57/41 Lewiston 58/42 51/39 Astoria 52/42 Pullman Yakima 57/40 51/37 59/43 Portland Hermiston 54/41 The Dalles 59/41 Salem Corvallis 53/40 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 57/35 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 54/41 57/33 58/37 Ontario 66/46 Caldwell Burns 63° 48° 64° 39° 89° (1936) 23° (2011) 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 51/39 Boardman Pendleton Medford 67/45 Trace 0.21" 0.29" 3.80" 3.48" 3.40" WINDS (in mph) 65/47 61/38 0.03" 1.19" 0.51" 7.27" 4.61" 4.47" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 54/33 54/41 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 56/38 58/42 57° 43° 61° 39° 85° (1934) 23° (1903) By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 51/38 Aberdeen 47/35 55/40 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 53/42 U.S. agency reconsidering status of bistate sage grouse Today Sun. WSW 8-16 WSW 7-14 WSW 10-20 WSW 10-20 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 62/36 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 6:14 a.m. 7:39 p.m. 12:42 p.m. 3:15 a.m. Full Last New First Apr 19 Apr 26 May 4 May 11 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 91° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -1° in Burgess Junction, Wyo. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice is revising its plans to protect a type of imperiled game bird found only along the California-Nevada line after a federal judge struck down its earlier decision to rescind a proposal to list it as threatened. The agency announced late Thursday it will reopen the public comment period and reconsider whether to protect the bistate sage grouse under the Endan- gered Species Act through June 11. A judge ruled last May that the agency acted ille- gally in 2015 when it with- drew an earlier proposal to list the bistate grouse as a distinct, threatened seg- ment of the larger popu- lation of the greater sage grouse. The greater sage grouse is at the center of a dispute over Trump administration efforts to roll back protec- tions adopted under Presi- dent Barack Obama across 11 western states. The U.S. Forest Service also is currently being sued over the bistate grouse by off-road enthusiasts in Cal- ifornia and Nevada who say that agency’s protection plans unnecessarily restrict motorized travel and could increase fire danger across rangeland habitat in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest on the Sierra’s east- ern front. Scientists say both types of ground-dwelling, chick- en-sized birds need mul- tiple miles of undisturbed habitat around their tradi- tional breeding grounds known as “leks” free from oil and gas drilling, live- stock grazing, mining and other development. But they say the bistate grouse is more at risk than greater sage grouse with as few as 5,000 remaining across 7,000 square miles of high-desert sagebrush. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thurs- day it was reopening a 60-day comment period on the bistate grouse’s sta- tus and plans to publish a final listing determination by Oct. 1. In the meantime, the bird reverts to proposed listing status, which means other federal land managers must consult with Fish and Wild- life about any development or management plans that could encroach on its habi- tat, the agency said. Pressed by conserva- tionists in court, the Fish and Wildlife Service orig- inally published a proposal in October 2013 to list the bistate grouse as a distinct population segment of the greater sage grouse that was threatened with extinction in California and Nevada. But in April 2015, the agency withdrew that deci- sion based on its conclusion threats to the bistate grouse were “no longer as signifi- cant as believed” and that “conservation plans were ameliorating threats” to the bird, the agency said in Thursday’s notification. Desert Survivors, the Center for Biological Diver- sity, WildEarth Guardians and Western Watershed Projects filed suit over that decision in March 2016 and U.S. District Chief Magis- trate Judge Joseph Spero ruled May 2018 in San Francisco there were “no rational grounds for the ser- vice’s conclusion.” Ileene Anderson, des- ert public lands director at the Center for Biologi- cal Diversity, said Friday the bistate sage grouse “are in deep trouble” and need urgent protection from the Endangered Species Act to survive. “We’re counting on the Trump administration do the right thing and shield these beautiful birds from extinction,” she said. “The goal is to increase the num- ber of birds throughout their range and that means protecting their habitat.” A lawyer for the plain- tiffs in the Forest Service suit didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 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. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. 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