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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Lawmakers try to make it harder to send some inmates to state hospital and misdemeanors.” Disability Rights Ore- gon Legal Director Emily Cooper said it’s a step in the right direction. “We should be encour- aging local courts to send people to local treatment options when they’re found unable to aid and assist in their defense,” Cooper said in a statement. “But we also need to make sure that there are local treatment options to send people to. Currently, there’s a huge gap.” Many counties in Oregon lack mental health services. That means, in some cases, the state hospital is the only place where people can first get a psychological evalua- tion and then mental health treatment while they move through the criminal justice system. “Until we create more local mental health care treatment options, we won’t be able to create a more humane and effective sys- tem for people with mental illness in the criminal jus- tice system,” Cooper said. A 2002 federal court order currently requires defendants who can’t assist in their own defense to be admitted to the state hospital within seven days. at the Oregon State Hospi- tal is absolutely unaccept- able,” state House Majority Leader Jennifer William- son, D-Portland, and state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said in a joint statement on Wednesday. “Failure to properly address this issue has led the state to a perilous point.” The lawmakers, who chair the judiciary com- mittees in their respective chambers, said they plan to “strengthen” legislation in SB 24, which passed the House on Tuesday. The lawmakers said their changes “will significantly restrict the ability of individ- uals who go through munic- ipal courts or are charged with misdemeanors to be sent to the state hospital.” The lawmakers also said SB 24 was an attempt to address the same issues Judge D. Charles Bailey highlighted in his contempt ruling. “It saves the state hos- pital beds for people who are truly dangerous,” Wil- liamson said in an inter- view with OPB. “It solves the problem only if we fund community mental health providers who can address the needs of people who are accused of violations By CONRAD WILSON Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon lawmakers say they’re going to amend leg- islation and make it more difficult for judges to send people to the Oregon State Hospital for psychological evaluation and treatment. The decision comes a day after a Washington County Circuit Court judge found the state hospital “willfully violated” court orders for not transporting people from the Washing- ton County Jail to the state hospital for treatment within seven days. Judges can order defen- dants in criminal cases to be sent to the Oregon State Hospital for psychological evaluation or to be treated until it’s determined the person can aid in their own defense. Mental health advocates and attorneys across the state say there are dozens of people unable to aid in their own defense because of mental illness and are await- ing treatment at the state hospital. They say those people languish in jail, often becoming iller while they wait. “The current situation Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Clouds and sun with a t-storm A shower in the afternoon Episodes of sunshine Partly sunny and warmer Times of clouds and sun 66° 43° 63° 45° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 70° 43° 78° 47° 85° 58° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 73° 49° 70° 49° 77° 47° 83° 50° OREGON FORECAST 90° 58° 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 58/49 Kennewick Walla Walla 66/48 Lewiston 60/48 74/48 Astoria 59/47 56/40 69/41 Longview 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Pullman Yakima 72/45 62/44 60/45 Portland Hermiston 64/50 The Dalles 73/49 Salem Corvallis 61/47 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 56/39 Bend 64/45 60/34 55/37 Ontario 74/48 0.00" 0.00" 0.14" 4.42" 4.96" 5.25" WINDS (in mph) Caldwell Burns 76/48 57/35 Restraining order issued against Hammonds’ grazing permit By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press PORTLAND — A fed- eral judge has issued a tem- porary restraining order prohibiting two Oregon ranchers pardoned last year on arson charges from graz- ing cattle on four federal allotments. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ruled on June 4 that environmental groups are likely to prevail on their claim that the fed- eral government violated its own regulations by restor- ing the grazing permit of Steven and Dwight Ham- mond of Diamond. Simon also determined the 28-day restraining order is justified because the envi- ronmental plaintiffs — Western Watersheds Proj- ect, Center for Biological Diversity and Wildearth Guardians — have shown a substantial likelihood of irreparable harm if cattle are turned out on public land allotments on June 7 and July 1 as planned. The plaintiffs and the U.S. Interior Department, which oversees the allot- ments, are expected to engage in further argu- ments on June 28 regarding a longer-term preliminary injunction against grazing while the lawsuit is pending. Both men were convicted in 2012 of setting fire to fed- eral land, but were sen- tenced to, and served, terms less than the five-year min- imum sentence required by law. In 2016, the Hammonds were returned to prison after 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found they must complete the minimum sen- tences. Last year, President Donald Trump issued the ranchers full pardons and released them from prison. Shortly before leav- ing office in January, for- mer Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage- ment to reinstate the Ham- monds’ grazing permits for four allotments abutting their ranch. The environ- mental groups filed a law- suit opposing Zinke’s order. During oral arguments in Dwight Hammond Steven Hammond Portland on June 4, the fed- eral government claimed the environmentalists lacked justification for a temporary restraining order. It’s unlikely the plaintiffs can prove that grazing will cause irreparable injury to the greater sage grouse and redband trout, which are sensitive species in the area, said Stephen Odell, the gov- ernment’s attorney. Their allegations of irreparable harm are based on “generic” testimony of the plaintiffs’ expert, Clait Braun, who did not distinguish between proper and improper graz- ing or visit the allotments, Odell said. “He’s never examined the habitat about which he’s purporting to make expert assertions,” Odell said. The environmental groups also requested the temporary restraining order several months after the Hammonds’ grazing per- mit was renewed and sev- eral weeks after cattle were first turned out onto one of the allotments, he said. A temporary restraining order cannot be based on an emer- gency that the plaintiffs brought about themselves by waiting for so long to take legal action, according to the government. Most rangeland health standards have been met for the Mud Creek Allot- ment, where the plaintiffs seek to prevent cattle from being released on June 7, the government said. While the allotment has fallen short of the rangeland health stan- dard for protected and sen- sitive species, that wasn’t caused by grazing but rather due to sagebrush habitat suf- fering from the encroach- ment of juniper, invasive weeds and fire, the agency said. Even before the Ham- monds’ grazing permit was revoked in 2014 due to their earlier arson convictions, evaluations of the allot- ments found that grazing levels weren’t improper or excessive, according to the government. The environmental groups argued the Ham- monds’ grazing permit was restored even though they lacked a “satisfactory record of performance” due to an abrupt decision by Zinke on his last day in office in early 2019. Associated doc- uments were not released to the plaintiffs until grazing had already begun on one of the allotments in April, said David Becker, attorney for the environmental groups. Authorizing the Ham- monds’ grazing permit vio- lates federal regulations and will encourage the ranchers to again set fires and oth- erwise harm the four allot- ments, which have been recovering during the past five years without grazing, the plaintiffs said. A temporary restraining order is justified because the plaintiffs are likely to prove the grazing permit was renewed due to the par- dons rather than the Ham- monds’ track record, which is contrary to federal envi- ronmental and land man- agement laws, the environ- mental groups claim. Zinke should also have performed an environmen- tal analysis of renewing the grazing permit instead of “categorically excluding” it from such review, which didn’t account for the eco- logically important area in which the allotments are located, the plaintiffs said. Grazing in the allot- ments will damage sage grouse habitat and streams occupied by redband trout, while the Hammonds won’t suffer much financial dam- age since they can graze cattle elsewhere, as they did before the permit was renewed, according to the environmental groups. The temporary restrain- ing order against grazing is necessary because June is a critical month for the sage grouse, whose chicks for- age near nests and depend on vegetative cover to pro- tect them from predators, Becker said. “It increases the likeli- hood they won’t survive,” he said. PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene 87° 57° 77° 51° 101° (1969) 39° (1976) 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 63/47 through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 54/34 63/47 0.00" 0.00" 0.30" 9.28" 6.07" 6.81" HERMISTON Enterprise 66/43 67/50 81° 52° 75° 51° 96° (2016) 37° (1910) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 61/46 Aberdeen 61/42 68/49 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 61/49 Thursday, June 6, 2019 Today Fri. Boardman WSW 10-20 Pendleton WSW 7-14 Medford 68/44 WSW 12-25 W 10-20 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 63/30 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 5:07 a.m. 8:41 p.m. 8:23 a.m. none First Full Last New June 9 June 17 June 25 July 2 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 108° in Needles, Calif. Low 28° in Gothic, Colo. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY BRIEFLY Oregon Legislature endorses popular vote SALEM — Oregon is on its way to joining a move- ment to ignore the Elec- toral College in favor of the popular vote in presidential elections. Senate Bill 870 passed the House 37-22 on Wednes- day after passing the Senate nearly two months ago. The bill joins Oregon in a group of 15 states supporting the effort to have the popular vote reflected in ballots cast in the Electoral College. The bill now goes to Gov. Kate Brown, who has supported the popular vote since her time as secretary of state. She will sign it, a spokes- woman said. With Oregon, the states would control 196 electoral votes. The compact would only go into effect if enough states joined to reach the 270 electoral college votes needed to decide an election. Another eight states have passed national popular vote bills through at least one leg- islative chamber. If all eight states passed it, that would add another 75 votes, accord- ing to the movement’s web- site. That would be one more electoral vote than needed. Oregon police cleared of killing man PORTLAND (AP) — A grand jury has deter- mined two Oregon police officers were justified in fatally shooting a man who was holding a woman at knifepoint. KPTV reported Tuesday that Portland Police Bureau Sgt. James Mooney and Officer Michael Gonzalez killed 42-year-old Jeb Col- lin Brock on April 29. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office says the grand jury deter- mined the deadly force was “a lawful act of self-de- fense and/or defense of a third person.” Authorities say a third officer used nonlethal force against Brock when police responded to a report of a stabbing at a Portland home. Police say four stabbing victims were transported to a hospital. A 1-year-old child who was in the room during the shooting was later reunited with the mother. Investigators have not revealed a motive for the stabbings. Bicyclist killed in Tigard TIGARD (AP) — Author- ities say a bicyclist was killed after crashing with a car in Tigard. Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue said the crash took place Tuesday just before 8:30 p.m. KOIN reports the bicy- clist was a male. Authorities said the driver of the vehicle stayed at the scene and was cooperating. 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 ice 50s 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. 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