A6
East Oregonian
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Missing: Searchers recover pair missing
Continued from Page A1
Oregon Capital Bureau Photo/Claire Withycombe
Rep. Karin Power, D-Milwaukie, carries House Bill 2020 on the fl oor Monday night. The
cap-and-trade legislation passed the House 36-24 and now moves to the Senate where
the vote margin will likely be slimmer, but it’s expected to pass nonetheless.
Environment: Cap and
trade passes the House
Continued from Page A1
frustrating that the other
side can’t see why this pol-
icy is either imperative or
disastrous.
She’s right in pointing out
how deeply partisan the issue
is. Democrats fi rst intro-
duced carbon pricing leg-
islation in 2007, yet in 2019
they did not secure a single
Republican vote despite 20
committee hearings, many
of which stretched well into
the evening.
Wallan’s words under-
scored the entire 6-1/2 hour
fl oor debate, as Democrats
and Republicans took turns
giving lengthy speeches, all
of which had been brought
up in hearings and testimony
before.
Through the hours, the
once-packed gallery saw
about half its seats empty
as Republicans worked
to draw the debate into
the evening, enhanced by
parliamentary tricks.
Republicans made fi ve
motions to send the bill to
various policy committees.
All failed despite cre-
ative arguments on why the
bill should go to committees
that have already adjourned
for the session and deal with
other issues.
Rep. Christine Drazan,
R-Canby, appealed a rul-
ing by Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, fi nding the bill
is not a tax, and therefore
need a three-fi fths majority.
House Republican Leader
Carl Wilson, R-Roseburg,
made a motion to suspend
the bill indefi nitely. None of
the motions had a chance of
passing, but they did allow
for points to be made on the
record and for Republicans
to hold off a vote for a couple
more hours.
However, in the end some
Democrats did stray.
Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clats-
kanie, said HB 2020 “suf-
fers greatly” and is not the
answer to climate change.
Rep. Caddy McKeown,
D-Coos Bay, also spoke out
against it, saying this isn’t the
fi x to climate change.
It was always known
some House Democrats
might break away from the
pack on this vote, in part
because they face rural con-
stituencies that could be
more impacted by the bill.
While the bill is deeply
partisan, both sides spoke
about how they strongly
believe their point of view
is right for Oregon. Repub-
licans want to protect busi-
nesses in their district, while
Democrats talked about sav-
ing our climate so future
generations can live a life
that resembles current day.
“I love this state, and I
love being an Oregonian,”
Power said. “It is for these
reasons I believe we need
to act and be a beacon of
hope for the rest of the
country.”
The bill now moves to
the Senate where it will get
a hearing later this week,
where it’s unclear is how
Republicans will protest the
bill. Previously, they staged
a walkout over a business
tax bill.
completion of an associate’s
degree.
Holcomb said the sher-
iff’s offi ce did not have much
information about Williams
but was able to get notices to
relatives of the missing about
the situation.
Information about what
happened remained sketchy.
The driver of the boat,
Richard Kirkendall, 41, of
Hermiston, reported Arse-
nault and Williams had been
riding on the dive step of the
boat while he was driving to
shore, according to the sher-
iff’s offi ce. Kirkendall noticed
they were missing when he
arrived on shore. Rowan
said it appears the two adults
lacked life jackets.
The size of the effort
scaled down after the ini-
tial frenzy of the search, Hol-
comb explained, but the work
remains methodical.
Airplanes conducted an
aerial search along the shallow
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A Umatilla County Sheriff ’s department patrol boat pulls a
sonar array in tow while searching for two missing boaters
Monday in the Columbia River.
shorelines where boats could
not gain access. Umatilla
County Fire District members
and volunteers searched along
the shoreline. Teams reported
the water was “pretty murky,”
according Holcomb. She
also said the Columbia Basin
Dive Rescue of Richland,
Washington, provided a tow-
able side-scan sonar to help
search the bottom of the river.
The sensitive equipment pro-
vides valuable information,
she said, and dive teams will
investigate objects of interest
that show up on the sonar.
Holcomb said the team
found Williams’ body at
8 p.m. and Arsenault’s body
shortly before 8:30, both in the
area of Bobby’s Beach. The
remains Monday night were
en route to a funeral home.
Pacifi c Power: Oregon utility
announces wildfi re prevention policies
Continued from Page A1
following the Camp Fire,
which burned the mountain
community to the ground in
the fall of 2018. At the time,
the utility company reported
malfunctioning stations and
downed lines.
Previous California wild-
fi res were also linked to
PG&E, including the Wine
Country fi res of 2017. CalFire
found the utility company
had failed to maintain power
lines or properly remove
potentially fl ammable brush
from the nearby area, which
is required by California
law. There is no such law in
Oregon.
Following the lawsuits,
PG&E recently started imple-
menting power shut-off
during high-wind, high-heat
periods. On June 10 they pro-
actively cut power to over
20,000 residents in Califor-
nia’s Butte and Yuba counties.
Bolton said that Pacifi c
Power’s new policy is not
directly in response to the
lawsuits against PG&E or
the actions they’ve taken, but
are instead in keeping with
best practices that the indus-
try has been discussing for a
while. But the recent increase
in fi res prompted them to act
now.
“Some of the tragedies
we’ve experienced, like the
loss of the city of Paradise
and other fi res we’ve seen
down in California, demon-
strate that we need to take
active measures to protect
communities and Oregonians
who could be in harm’s way,”
Bolton said.
Pacifi c Power serves
587,365 Oregon customer
in pockets across the state,
including part of Portland, the
Willamette Valley, the coast,
and parts of Central, Southern
and Eastern Oregon, includ-
ing Umatilla County. It also
serves a portion of Northern
California, Central Washing-
ton, and parts of Idaho, Wyo-
ming and Utah.
Bolton said it’s unlikely
Pacifi c Power will ever need
to de-electrify their power
lines, and if it does, it would
likely only be in high-risk
areas like Josephine, Doug-
las and Hood River counties.
The company is working with
local emergency management
groups to do outreach on the
subject, and to fi gure out how
to warn residents if a shutoff
seems likely.
PROGRESS
EDITION
We’re taking the pulse of our community
through “deep dive” stories in the areas of:
Education • Healthcare
Labor/Industry • Economics
and more
This special annual edition is a great opportunity to
associate your business with positive news about the
dynamic region where we live, work and play.
Call or email your local rep
for advertising info.
Ask About FREE Color!
DEADLINE: June 17, 2019
PUBLISHES:
www.eastoregonian.com
www.hermistonherald.com
East Oregonian June 29, 2019
Hermiston Herald June 26, 2019
Call Jeanne Today!
541-564-4531
Call Angela Today!
541-966-0827
jjewett@hermistonherald.com
atreadwell@eastoregonian.com
Call Audra Today!
541-564-4538
Call Grace Today!
541-276-2214
aworkman@eastoregonian.com
gbubar@eastoregonian.com