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
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