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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Climate: GOP Senate strike
in Oregon enters 5th day
Continued from Page A1
The legislation would
dramatically reduce green-
house gases in Oregon by
2050 by capping carbon
emissions, and then requir-
ing businesses to buy or
trade for an ever-dwin-
dling pool of pollution
“allowances.”
Democrats say the pro-
gram, which would be the
be the second of its kind
after California, is critical to
make Oregon a leader in the
fight against climate change
and will ultimately cre-
ate jobs and transform the
state’s economy. Opponents,
including the struggling log-
ging industry, say it will kill
jobs, raise the cost of fuel
and gut small businesses in
rural parts of the state.
The walkout attracted
national attention after a
tumultuous weekend that
began with Senate President
Peter Courtney ordering the
Capitol closed because of
a “possible militia threat”
from far-right groups, who
threatened to join a peace-
ful protest organized by
local Republicans. One of
those groups, the Oregon
Three Percenters, joined an
armed takeover of the Mal-
heur National Wildlife Ref-
uge in 2016.
The threat, however,
never materialized and
fewer than 100 people
showed up.
Democrats have an 18
to 11 majority, but need 20
members to conduct busi-
ness under state law.
Negotiations
remain
between Senate Republican
leaders and the Senate pres-
ident, the governor’s office
confirmed. Sen. Herman
Baertschiger, the minority
leader, said in a statement
that he has remained in con-
tact with Senate leadership,
but that “no deal with the
Democrats has been made.”
The discussion has
quickly morphed into some-
thing far beyond a discus-
sion on climate change.
Sen. Michael Dembrow,
the lawmaker behind the
climate bill, said Republi-
cans have used language
that’s “irresponsible and
dangerous.” He referenced
comments from Sen. Brian
Boquist, who threatened
state police to “send bach-
elors and come heavily
armed” when troopers come
to bring him back to the
Oregon Capitol. Boquist’s
comments caught the atten-
tion of the Oregon Three
Percenters, who offered safe
passage to senators on the
run over social media.
“I’m really worried that
this particular bill is being
used to stir up the worst sen-
timents, the most dangerous
sentiments we can imagine,”
said Dembrow, adding that
he hopes Republicans “can
find a way to reject this path
that Sen. Boquist has taken
them on and come back to
do the people’s business.”
Boquist’s
comments
came under heavy media
scrutiny and drew a rare
rebuke from both the Senate
president and Speaker of the
House, who are both Dem-
ocrats. No Republican sen-
ator has publicly spoken out
against Boquist’s comments
or the threat of violence over
the weekend.
The
Oregon
GOP,
responding to the state-
house closure, sarcastically
tweeted a picture of peace-
ful protesters and joked
that the rally-goers were a
“heavily armed militia” lay-
ing siege upon the Capitol
while “Senate Democrats
cower in fear.”
The tweet was widely
spread and misinterpreted,
even garnering a response
from national politicians
including U.S. Rep Alexan-
dria Ocasio-Cortez, a Dem-
ocrat from New York, who
offered to help Republicans
“find a therapist.”
Wildhorse: Arcade, food court,
24-lane bowling alley are coming
Continued from Page A1
the Pendleton area and one
of the biggest in Umatilla
County.
But the expansion’s orig-
inal vision was even more
ambitious.
When
Wildhorse
announced its $85 mil-
lion expansion in 2017, it
included a four-screen addi-
tion to the cineplex, a park-
ing garage, an outdoor arena,
and a 32-lane bowling alley.
But project setbacks
forced Willdhorse to either
shrink the scope of some
features or nix them entirely.
Wildhorse announced in
December that it was scal-
ing down the project to keep
it within the budget as the
price of steel surged.
Additionally,
Lydig
reported that a widespread
shortage of contractors
made them more expensive
due to their high demand.
But even as Wildhorse
has dealt with some obsta-
cles, its expansion continues
in other ways.
Already in the midst
of renovating its own
golf course, the CTUIR
announced in May that it
had purchased the Pendle-
ton Country Club course.
Located south of Pendleton,
the course will be operated
by Wildhorse staff.
With construction com-
mencing in the area around
the cineplex, George said the
bowling alley, movie theater
improvements, arcade, and
entertainment center have
an estimated completion
date of August or Septem-
ber 2020.
With work starting rel-
atively late in construction
season, George is hopeful
that they will have the con-
tractors they need to get the
project done.
The expected comple-
tion of the hotel addition has
been pushed out to 2021.
Suspensions: Federal judge
dismisses lawsuit from locals
Continued from Page A1
state has suspended the
licenses for as many as 10
percent of Oregonians, or
more than 300,000 people.”
About 13 percent of the
state’s population — more
than 536,000 people — live
below the poverty line, the
law center asserted, and the
suspensions land the hardest
on those without the ability
to pay, yet the DMV does
not take that into account
when yanking driving priv-
ileges. That amounts to vio-
lating constitutional rights
due to prices and equal pro-
tection, according to the
complaint.
“The
DMV
should
refrain from suspending the
driver’s licenses of low-in-
come individuals who can-
not afford to pay their traffic
debt,” the pleading asserted,
and “implement an abil-
ity-to-pay
determination
process that comports with
due process and equal pro-
tection prior to suspending
driver licenses for failure to
pay traffic debt, and provide
subsequent opportunities to
lift suspensions because of
indigence.”
The lawsuit named key
transportation officials as
defendants: Matthew Gar-
rett, director of the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion; Tammy Baney, chair of
the Oregon Transportation
Commission; Sean O’Hol-
laren, Bob Van Brock-
lin and Martin Callery, all
members of the transporta-
tion commission; and Tom
McClellan, administrator of
Driver and Motor Vehicles
Division, which is under
ODOT’s roof.
Ganuelas in a declaration
to the court stated her driv-
ing trouble started in 2012
when she was not able to
pay the Pendleton Municipal
Court $150 for failure to dis-
play plates. The court noti-
fied the DMV, which sus-
pended her license.
She received several cita-
tions for driving while sus-
pended and in July 2018 lost
her bartending job, where
she earned about $400 a
week in wages and tips,
because of transportation
difficulties. The loss of her
driving privileges makes it
hard to find new work and
affects her daughter, who
has been unable to partici-
pate in youth sports because
of unreliable transportation.
Ganuelas stated she owes
more than $750 to three
courts, according to the
statement, but she cannot
afford to pay the debts, and
no one at the DMV asked
about her ability to pay fines.
Heath in her declaration
stated she lost her license in
1995 after missing court for
an out-of-state ticket. That
led to suspensions for fail-
ure to pay fines. That debt
has expired, but she told the
court she lives on a fixed
income and cannot pay the
$149 fee to reinstate her
license.
The East Oregonian was
not able to contact Ganu-
elas or Heath, and a lawyer
for the Oregon Law Center
did not return a call before
deadline.
The Oregon Law Center
also asked the federal court
for an injunction to com-
pel the state to remove the
suspensions on the plain-
tiffs’ driver’s licenses for
nonpayment of traffic debt
and waive reinstatement
and issuance fees. The cen-
ter also asked the court to
ensure Oregon does not sus-
pend the plaintiffs’ licenses
again for failure to pay
traffic debt “unless and
until plaintiffs have had
the opportunity to demon-
strate their inability to pay
… through a procedure that
comports with due process.”
United States District
Judge Marco A. Hernandez
in a December ruling denied
the injunction in a 63-page
ruling, concluding: “I rec-
ognize that Plaintiffs’ eco-
nomic situations are mar-
ginal and the loss of their
driver’s licenses for their
inability to pay their traffic
debt burdens their lives with
little chance that the state
will actually collect full
payment. Nonetheless, their
predicaments, as desperate
as they may be, do not raise
constitutional claims.”
The state in March asked
the judge to dismiss the case
in a 42-page motion, argu-
ing among other points the
pleading failed to state a
claim. That is, while the
allegations are true, they
do not establish a cause for
legal action.
Hernandez on May 16
sided with the state and dis-
missed the case once and
for all. He cited in part the
injunction ruling and stated
Oregon provides traffic
debtors ways to address the
debt.
“Given the nature of the
right at issue,” the judge
concluded, “the low risk of
erroneous deprivation, and
the strong interest in enforc-
ing traffic fines, the Ore-
gon statutes comport with
procedural due process
requirements.”
The Oregon Law Cen-
ter on June 13 filed a notice
of appeal.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Intern Anya Nelson places a metal band on the leg of a juvenile burrowing owl Wednesday
outside of Hermiston.
Hoot: Expert makes annual trek to Depot
Continued from Page A1
back inside.
Johnson broke apart a pel-
let to see what the owls were
eating and saw evidence of
darkling beetles and other
insects. Usually this time of
year, they would be eating
grasshoppers, but the snow
pushed everything back and
those insects are slow in
arriving this year. That’s one
reason 30 percent of the nests
failed this season, he said, in
the second worst year since
the burrow program started.
Over the years, research-
ers and volunteers banded
more than 1,600 owls and
placed geolocators on many.
Capturing the adults takes
ingenuity. The females are
lured into traps by the call
of young birds on an MP3
player. The males are drawn
into dirt-covered traps
inserted at the entrance to
their burrows.
“To attract males, we play
the call of a pesky, under-
weight male. We appeal to
their male pride,” Nelson
said. “They strut around a
while and then go in.”
Johnson was able to dis-
cover where the owls migrate
in the winter. The results sur-
prised him. The females, as
expected, migrated south.
The males, however, flew
north to Eastern Washing-
ton. Johnson theorized that
they want to stay close in
order to return to the nest-
ing area first to reclaim their
burrows.
One experiment involved
the pipe used to create a tun-
nel connecting the burrow
entrance to the chamber.
They outfitted some burrows
with 4-inch pipe and others
with 6-inch. He found the
owls nested more in the four-
inch burrows, but lost more
babies.
“With the 4-inch pipe,
predators could pick the
chicks off easier,” he said.
“With 6-inch, the chicks run
into the tunnel two abreast.
With the 4-inch tunnels, little
Joey on the end gets it.”
He is in the midst of
researching
the
birds’
vocalizations.
In front of one of the bur-
rows, Johnson picked up a
spadefoot toad. The owls
decorate burrow entrances
with the skeletons and other
artifacts, such as corn cobs,
onion skins, clumps of grass,
pieces of concrete, coyote
scat, fabric and the occa-
sional glove.
Johnson will return next
year to the depot. In the
meantime, he won’t lack for
things to do. After finishing
up on Thursday in Oregon,
he headed to Montana for
an interview with National
Geographic. He is working
on an upcoming Smithso-
nian exhibit on owls and he
works on Global Owl Project
conservation projects all over
the world. He is away from
his Washington, D.C., home
about half the year.
At the depot, Johnson
hopes to eventually work
himself out of the bur-
row-making business. One
day, he hopes, the badger
population will recover and
take over the job.
Wherever he is, John-
son will likely never lose his
fascination with owls. As he
drove between burrows at
the depot on Wednesday, he
spouted cool owl factoids
with unceasing enthusiasm.
“The oldest owl we know
of in the fossil record is 67.3
million years old,” he said
with a look of awe. “They
were here at the time of the
dinosaurs. The largest owl,
extinct now, came from Cuba
and was a little over a meter
tall. The smallest is the elf
owl in the desert southwest.
It’s the size of a sparrow.”
Johnson shook his head
in wonder. This creature
never gets boring, he said.
“Everything about them is so
fascinating.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0810.
501 South Main Street
Pendleton
(541) 276-7411
Excitement on
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