SOFTBALL: Hood river overpowers pendleton in 5 innings | SPORTS, A8 E O AST 143rd year, no. 130 REGONIAN Wednesday, april 17, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD State not ready to declare local scenes emergencies By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian The Oregon Office of emergency Management is not ready to declare emer- gencies for two eastern Ore- gon counties due to flooding. state sen. Bill Hansell of athena and state rep. Greg Barreto of Cove, both republicans, wrote a let- ter Monday urging Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency for Uma- tilla and Wallowa counties. Lawmakers detail gas tax credit to offset cap and trade By AUBREY WIEBER Oregon Capital Bureau For months, the conver- sation around Oregon’s pro- posed carbon program has revolved around how it will impact industrial polluters. On Monday, a public hearing focused on miti- gating anticipated gas price increases to soften the new environmental poli- cy’s affect on low-income Oregonians. The public hearing on House Bill 3425 kept the Joint Committee on Carbon reduction busy as legisla- tive lawyers worked through the scores of amendments. Under the cap and trade proposal, the state would limit certain carbon emis- sions. selected industries emitting at least 25,000 met- ric tons of greenhouse gas- ses per year would have to pay for every ton of pollut- ants. To do that, they would buy allowances from the state through an auction. Commodities, such as energy, natural gas and gasoline, are expected to become more expensive. The cap and trade pro- gram has a built-in mech- anism of free allowances to natural gas and electric utilities to keep Oregonians from feeling the full extent of those price increases. after weeks of pub- lic hearings in salem and around the state, the com- mittee repeatedly heard concerns from low-income Oregonians afraid of how the program would push gas prices. The department of envi- ronmental Quality esti- mated that if cap and trade went into effect in 2021, there would be an immedi- ate 15 to 16 cent per gallon See Cap&Trade, Page A7 Hansell said he heard about the flooding from Umatilla County Commissioner John shafer, then reached out Barreto’s office. They con- ferred with more officials in Umatilla, Wallawa and Union counties, and his and Barreto’s office drafted the letter. “i hand delivered it about 11:30 Monday morning,” Hansell said. “These counties are in need of state and federal assistance as they work to combat rising waters and the aftermath of flooding,” the lawmakers stated in the letter to Brown, a dem- ocrat. “a state of emer- gency declaration from your office is needed in order for these counties to prepare and recover from the wide- spread flooding they are experiencing.” Hansell said they also emailed the letter to nik Blosser, Brown’s chief of staff, as well as a link to the city of pendleton’s video showing the flooding along McKay Creek. later Monday, Hansell’s chief of staff, evan Bryan, got a call from andrew phelps, the director of the Oregon Office of Emer- gency Management, who denied the request. phelps explained his office’s decision during a call Tuesday. “There’s just not the jus- tification for it,” he said. Staff photo by Kathy Aney See Flood, Page A7 A shed is enveloped by McKay Creek on Saturday near Com- munity Park in Pendleton. Tripping the light fantastic Staff photo by Kathy Aney Addison Schulberg dances the foxtrot with his partner Sara Sharples, from the Utah Ballroom Dance Company, on the way to winning Dancing With Your Pendleton Stars on Saturday night at the Vert Auditorium. Dancing With Your Pendleton Stars boosts community charities rita rosenberg puts aside worries about her flooded home to dance By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian One of the dancers in saturday night’s dancing With your pendle- ton Stars broke away from her flooded home to perform. The night before, with flooding on the way, rita rosenberg and her sig- nificant other, Kelly Kincaid, family and friends transferred everything in the basement to the upstairs. rosen- berg fell into bed after midnight and got back at it early. Water flowed down their street (southwest 41st) saturday morning and seeped into the basement. six people with shop vacs couldn’t stem the flow, so they added two pumps. a sandbag line formed to place bags delivered by friends and strang- ers into a barrier around the home. Friends helped move furniture and other items inside the house. rosenberg broke away to attend an afternoon rehearsal, having forgotten her costume. “i arrived in muck boots,” she said. “i hadn’t showered.” afterward she returned to the sandbag line until “they kicked me out about 4:30.” she showered at a friend’s house, got hair and makeup done and arrived at the Vert auditorium with 40 min- utes to spare. “The distraction of the flooding See Dancing, Page A7 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Rita Rosenberg and her partner Andrew Gryniewicz, from the Utah Ballroom Dance Company, won most points from judges and $1,000 for her chosen organization during Dancing With Your Pendleton Stars on Saturday at the Vert Auditorium. Addison Schulberg pulled out the win, which along with the judges’ scores included money donated from audience members.