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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 USFWS to review 7 endangered, threatened species Smith’s contract with Baker County to end Officials say decision due to money, not performance By DON JENKINS Capital Press By JAYSON JACOBY Baker City Herald OLYMPIA, Wash. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice will review the status of seven threatened or endan- gered species in Washington state, including four types of pocket gophers found in only two westside counties. USFWS also solicited new information Tuesday about the Oregon spotted frog, Taylor’s checkerspot butter- fly and streaked horned lark. The three are found in Ore- gon, as well as Washington. Washington Farm Bureau CEO John Stuhlmiller said producers should welcome the reviews. “I view this as a very positive thing,” he said. “The review doesn’t make anything tougher on you.” The Endangered Species Act calls for USFWS to look at a listed species every five years. All the species up for review were granted federal protection in 2013 or 2014. USFWS has not proposed any changes in status. Endangered species are populations that are on the BAKER CITY — Baker County Commission Chair- man Bill Harvey and Com- missioner Bruce Nichols say their decision to not extend the county’s contract with economic developer Greg Smith is based on declin- ing revenue, not on Smith’s performance as the county’s contractor over the past sev- eral years. Both commissioners also said they were not con- cerned about potential con- flicts of interests based on Smith’s contracts as an eco- nomic developer with adja- cent counties, or his service as a state legislator. The Baker County Eco- nomic Development Coun- cil, which advises Har- vey, Nichols and the third commissioner, Mark Ben- nett, voted Thursday not to renew Smith’s $96,000-per- year contract when the new fiscal year starts July 1. The reason, both Harvey Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Photo The Yelm pocket gopher is a threatened species found in Thurston County, Washington. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of it and six other federally protected species in Washington. brink of extinction. Threat- ened species are heading that way. The Taylor’s check- erspot butterfly is endan- gered, while the other six are threatened. The Olympia, Ten- ino, Yelm and Roy Prai- rie pocket gophers are sub- species of Mazama pocket gophers. They live primar- ily underground, and there is no practical way to count them or document whether the population is increasing or decreasing, according to USFWS. USFWS considers them threatened because their prairie habitat has been reduced in Thurston and Pierce counties. The sup- pression of fires has allowed forests to expand, and development has brought dogs and cats, predators to the gophers, according to USFWS. SATURDAY Sunshine Sunshine 83° 51° 85° 55° 88° 57° 90° 58° SUNDAY MONDAY Partly sunny TUESDAY Sunshine and delightful Sunshine, breezy and nice PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 90° 58° 82° 48° 87° 59° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 95° 64° 87° 52° 92° 63° 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 62/52 76/50 87/51 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 83/57 Lewiston 69/50 89/55 Astoria 63/52 Pullman Yakima 89/55 72/47 85/58 Portland Hermiston 76/55 Salem The Dalles 88/57 79/54 75/48 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 79/47 PRECIPITATION John Day Bend 78/47 81/45 81/52 Ontario 91/56 Caldwell Burns 99° 62° 79° 53° 99° (2019) 41° (1952) 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 Eugene 0.00" Trace 0.31" 4.42" 5.00" 5.42" WINDS (in mph) 87/55 82/42 0.00" 0.05" 0.67" 9.33" 6.33" 7.18" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. 83/51 76/49 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 Pendleton 76/44 77/48 Corvallis 93° 66° 77° 52° 98° (1974) 35° (1910) Motorcyclist killed in crash in Gresham GRESHAM (AP) — A 19-year-old motorcyclist has died and the driver of an SUV was injured in a crash in Gresham. KOIN reports the crash happened Wednesday afternoon. The 81-year-old driver of the Hyundai SUV involved in the crash was cooperating. No arrests or citations have been issued. Gresham police officers said the SUV driver was turning into a shopping center and then crashed with the motorcycle. The motorcyclist was later identified as Henry Sweeney of Gresham. PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 72/49 Aberdeen 82/56 87/59 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 73/56 and Nich- ols said on Mon- day, is that revenue Smith from a tax collected from guests at motels and other lodging establish- ments has dropped substan- tially over the past fiscal year. That lodging tax revenue is the source of the money for Smith’s contract. The contract, which took effect July 1, 2018, was slated to continue through June 30, 2022. The contract includes a clause allow- ing either party to cancel the agreement with 60 days written notice. That clause also allows the county to end the deal if “funding from federal, state or other sources is not obtained and continued at levels sufficient to allow for the purchase of the indicated quantity of services.” Harvey said Smith “did very good work for us for many years.” The county has con- tracted with Smith, a long- time Republican state leg- islator from Heppner, since 2011. The likelihood that Smith won’t remain as the county’s economic developer is “just economics,” Harvey said. He said the situation is not related to a story by The Malheur Enterprise news- paper in Vale, that exam- ined Smith’s multiple con- tracts to oversee economic development in other coun- ties besides Baker, includ- ing Malheur and Harney. Both Harvey, who was elected as commis- sion chairman in 2014, and Nichols, who was elected in 2016, said they don’t believe Smith’s simultane- ous holding of contracts for economic development in those counties constituted a conflict of interest, or that Smith’s company failed to do the work for which it was hired. “We just can’t afford that position,” Harvey said. Baker County’s lodg- ing tax revenue dropped from $625,000 in the 2016- 17 fiscal year to $538,129 in 2017-18. The majority of that money is paid by guests at lodging establishments in Baker City. The county is projecting a further drop in the lodging tax revenue, to $420,000, for the fiscal year that starts July 1. BRIEFLY Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY Friday, June 14, 2019 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 91/55 Sat. WSW 7-14 W 8-16 W 4-8 WNW 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 85/44 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Man fatally shot at Portland beach PORTLAND (AP) — Police say a man was fatally shot during a fight at a Northeast Portland beach. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the shooter and other people at Brough- ton Beach fled the area after the Wednes- day night shooting, according to Portland police. No arrests have been announced. Officers responded about 9:25 p.m. to the beach, which is on Northeast Marine Drive near Portland International Airport. Police say they tried to save the man but he died at the scene. Police said a large group of people had gathered at the beach and that someone fired a gun during a fight and hit the man who was killed. Police are investigating. Lawsuit: Oregon woman punched in eye sues her ex-boyfriend PORTLAND (AP) — A Bend woman is suing the man she says was her boyfriend for allegedly punching her in the eye and shattering multiple bones. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Gina Bevill says Shawn McCloud should pay for the reconstructive facial surgery she says she will need. She seeks medical costs plus $975,000 for pain and suffering, in the suit filed May 31 in Multnomah County Circuit Court. McCloud hasn’t been charged with a crime and the accusations have been made solely in the civil suit. He says he did not assault Bevill and that “if the facts in this lawsuit were true” he would have been charged with a crime. Bevill’s lawyer Greg Kafoury says McCloud called police after the April 28 incident though Bevill was the one seriously hurt. Kafoury says police took no action. A Bend police spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for information. 5:05 a.m. 8:46 p.m. 6:05 p.m. 3:36 a.m. Full Last New First June 17 June 25 July 2 July 9 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 113° in Needles, Calif. Low 27° in Brimson, Minn. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY 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. 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