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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Thursday, June 27, 2019 BAKER CITY Two motels get shut down both motels Tuesday, but that corrective work had not started. On Tuesday afternoon Christina Scott, public relations manager for the motels, sent the Herald a statement from the owners. “We at the Super 8 and Motel 6 want to express our concern for the Baker com- munity and the guests we serve. We want to thank the fire chief and city officials for informing us of the possi- ble danger our hotels faced. We keep safety as priority one at all of our properties and we are doing everything in our power to remedy this situation as quickly and effi- ciently as humanely possi- ble,” said in the statement. “We want to assure our fellow Baker tourism busi- nesses, we will not allow this to affect upcoming events and meetings. We have been striving to be beneficial to all of our tourism family. We want to thank the com- munity for your support and understanding during this time! We will be back in full operation and serving the community in no time.” Clark said he can’t esti- mate how long it might take to fix the violations, although he believes the problems at the Motel 6 (for- merly the Always Welcome Inspectors found fire alarms systems intentionally disabled in both motels By JAYSON JACOBY Baker City Herald BAKER CITY — The Baker City Fire Depart- ment on Monday closed the Super 8 motel and Motel 6 in Baker City after inspec- tors found the fire alarm sys- tems had been intentionally disabled at both motels, and that the sprinkler system was partially dismantled at the Super 8. “These system disable- ments pose a significant life safety risk to occupants of the motels, particularly guests that sleep in these facilities,” Baker City Fire Chief John Clark said. Clark told the Baker City Herald that both motels, which are owned by the same group and which between them have 112 rooms, will remain closed until the owners have cor- rected all the violations of the Oregon State Fire Code. Clark said the owners brought in a contractor from Meridian, Idaho, to look at Inn, at 175 Campbell St.) would be simpler to rectify. “I don’t see the Super 8 as being a quick fix,” Clark said in a Tuesday interview. The issues at the Super 8, a 72-room motel at 250 Campbell St., are more com- plicated because that motel, which was built in 1991, has a sprinkler system, Clark said. Motel 6, which has 40 rooms and was built in 1997, was not required to have a sprinkler system in part because all its rooms have exits to the outside, Clark said. Clark said he has given the owners a list of work they need to do before the motels could reopen. “They have a clear path on what they have do to,” he said. Clark said he will be available at any time to inspect any work done at the motels. “We’re not going to hold them up,” Clark said. The Super 8 has both a wet and dry fire suppression system, Clark said. Somebody removed parts from the systems, including piping that allows firefight- ers to connect to the sprin- kler system and keep water flowing through it during a fire, he said. Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Periods of sun, a t-storm; cool A blend of sun and clouds Partly sunny and pleasant Mostly sunny and pleasant Intervals of clouds and sunshine 70° 48° 74° 49° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 80° 51° 84° 55° 86° 56° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 77° 54° 79° 51° 85° 55° 90° 59° 91° 60° 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 64/52 66/44 73/47 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 72/51 Lewiston 64/52 77/54 Astoria 63/52 Pullman Yakima 75/50 64/48 71/49 Portland Hermiston 67/54 The Dalles 77/54 Salem Corvallis 64/49 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 64/42 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 66/48 64/40 64/44 Ontario 81/56 Caldwell Burns 80° 50° 83° 55° 105° (2015) 39° (2007) 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 65/51 Trace Trace 0.54" 4.42" 5.10" 5.65" WINDS (in mph) 79/53 67/38 0.04" 0.13" 1.00" 9.41" 6.49" 7.51" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 62/40 65/52 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 70/48 72/52 73° 49° 83° 54° 104° (2015) 39° (1976) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 66/49 Aberdeen 69/47 71/53 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 68/53 Today Medford 71/48 Fri. SW 7-14 W 7-14 Boardman Pendleton Capital Press Photo/Craig Reed Nathan Jackson, left, president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association and manager of the K-Bar Ranches, and Veril Nelson, right, a red Angus rancher, visit with Ethan Lane, a lobbyist who deals with issues on public and federal lands. Lane was a guest speaker at the OCA’s Mid- Year Conference on June 24-25. Ranchers urged to be part of resource discussions By CRAIG REED For the Capital Press CANYONVILLE — When governmental regu- lations are being considered regarding any number of issues, “we need to make our- selves part of the discussion,” said Ethan Lane. The “we” Lane referred to are those folks who are involved in agriculture. Lane is executive direc- tor of the Public Lands Coun- cil and the senior executive director of National Cattle- men’s Beef Association Fed- eral Lands. He has almost 20 years of experience in natural resources and land use issues. Lane was a guest speaker at the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Mid-Year Con- ference on June 24-25. He emphasized to the gathering of livestock producers that when issues involving the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Pol- icy Act, critical habitat areas, grazing on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. For- est Service lands, wild horses and burros, wildlife migra- tion corridors, greenhouse gas emissions and others, those involved need to speak up. He said more than 2 mil- lion comments have been submitted against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove federal ESA protections and to delist the gray wolf, while only 265 comments favor the delisting. “That difference is pretty significant,” he said. “Every voice counts. We want to build the strongest case possible to survive a court challenge when there is a delisting.” Lane said career-level fish and wildlife biologists agree 65/35 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today New 5:08 a.m. 8:49 p.m. 2:01 a.m. 3:22 p.m. First Full Last NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 103° in Needles, Calif. Low 29° in Angel Fire, N.M. July 2 July 9 allows a review of any major action on federal lands. That includes renewal of graz- ing permits. He said there is a push to streamline grazing permits when no changes are made from year to year to a continuing action, eliminat- ing the potential for lawsuits against the permits. Lane said the value of grazing is being touted to Congress. He explained cattle grazing on the range or in pas- tures create only 2% of green- house gas emissions. Those against the industry have said that number is much greater. “We’re not a significant contributor to global warm- ing,” Lane said. “We’re always finding improvements in our industry with managed grazing, rotational grazing.” Lane also noted that graz- ing is the most cost-effec- tive wildfire prevention tool, reducing a large amount of highly combustible grass and other forage. He said BLM’s fire prevention treatment cost is from $150 per acre up, depending on conditions. Livestock grazing provides this service at virtually no cost to taxpayers. “Grazing drives rural eco- nomic development,” Lane said. “The footprint of the livestock industry in small rural communities helps keep the lights on at restau- rants, stores, gas stations and insurance agencies. The ag community provides a stable business environment for 12 months a year.” With that in mind, Lane hopes members of the ag community will be inspired to voice their opinion regarding any of these issues and others when proposals and regula- tions are being discussed. SW 7-14 WSW 7-14 BRIEFLY SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls that wolves have recovered and should be delisted. He added that belief goes back to the President Barack Obama administration. Surveys estimate there are 5,000 gray wolves in the Lower 48 states and 50,000 in Canada. Personal comments on the proposed wolf delisting will be taken through July 15. Lane said personal com- ments are better than scripted ones, adding that he suspects the anti-proposal movement is using the latter method. Lane said another issue getting a lot of debate is wild horses and burros on the west- ern rangeland. He admit- ted it’s an uncomfortable and unwanted situation of pit- ting cattle and horse people against one other, “but this issue is more important to us than anybody else regarding that space.” The wild animals graze the ground where ranchers have grazing permits. There is a proposal to Con- gress to fund and provide the authorization to gather and sterilize 20,000 wild horses and burros a year, and to euth- anize any animals in poor health. Lane said there are 88,000 wild horses and burros on the range and 50,000 in off-range facilities, such as pastures and feedlots. He said the wild pop- ulation is expanding at 20% a year. Another issue is wildlife migration corridors and big game winter range in west- ern states. Lane said regula- tions need to authorize states to identify those areas and to manage them. Lane said the National Environmental Policy Act July 16 July 24 NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Oregon city council clarifies rule to stop curbside camping EUGENE (AP) — An Oregon city council has passed a legal clarification that it hopes will end curbside camping. The Register-Guard reported Mon- day that city councilors in Eugene voted 6-0 Monday to allow trespass complaints against people who set up tents on strips of land between sidewalks and streets. Mayor Lucy Vinis is expected to sign the clarification, which will put it into effect immediately. The change is in response to public concerns about homeless people camp- ing or squatting and leaving garbage and other debris on the strips that are visible to residents and passing motorists. The updated rule says adjacent prop- erty owners can request that people leave encampments on the planter strips. Police will be able to issue citations or make arrests for second-degree trespass against people who refuse to leave. Plant that discharged ammonia signs DOJ consent decree PORTLAND (AP) — A company that failed to report a large-scale ammonia dis- charge from its plant near St. Helens, Ore- gon, and annual ammonia emission esti- mates has entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Dyno Nobel has agreed to pay a $492,000 fine and buy $931,500 in fire emergency equipment for area responders to handle environmental emergencies. The Utah-based company’s civil settle- ment with federal officials comes a year after the company paid a $250,000 fine for releas- ing more than 6 tons of anhydrous ammonia vapor into the air from the plant over three days starting on July 30, 2015. The company is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial explosives. A company spokesman said Dyno Nobel has worked cooperatively with the U.S. Envi- ronmental Protection Agency over the past eight years to address these matters. 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. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. 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