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143rd Year, No. 203
REGONIAN
REGONIA
TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
CAP AND TRADE
Dems sink
climate bill
Cap and trade’s fate was
sealed by dissent within
Senate Democrats, not
fl eeing Republicans
By AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — A retired nurse, not
fl eeing Oregon state senators, doomed
Gov. Kate Brown’s keystone environ-
mental policy that had been in the
works for more than a decade, accord-
ing to interviews and public records.
When Senate President Peter
Courtney announced in June that his
chamber didn’t have the votes to pass
cap-and-trade legislation, the credit
for its failure fell to 11 Republican
senators and a boisterous Capitol rally
by the timber industry.
But state Sen. Laurie Monnes
Anderson, a Gresham Democrat,
had already quietly told Courtney
she wasn’t the expected yes vote sup-
porters had counted on. Her defection
meant Courtney couldn’t fi eld enough
Democratic votes to pass the ambi-
tious legislation.
Her little-known role reveals the
power of the lobby and the nitty-gritty
of state politics that turns on one-on-
one dealings more than public state-
ments and committee hearings.
This account was the result of
interviews with Monnes Anderson,
other legislators and lobbyists and
public records, such as emails and
text messages.
Monnes Anderson is a 73-year-old
retired nurse who won a House seat
in 2000, then moved to the Senate in
2004. She’s long been a reliable vote
for Democrats, though lobbyists say
she also has a reputation for being
easily swayed.
“Boeing came to me,” Monnes
Anderson said. “People think I am
easily swayed. I think I am objective
and opened-minded about the pros
and cons about important legislation.”
That reputation made her a polit-
ical target as the cap-and-trade plan
appeared headed for legislative
approval.
Democrats had been pursuing the
cap-and-trade program for years, act-
ing out of concern that Oregon play
a role in reducing greenhouse emis-
sions and fi nance environmental inno-
vation. Legislation encapsulating the
idea had failed in one legislative ses-
sion after another, but the 2019 Leg-
islature offered hope the plan would
fi nally become law. Brown won
re-election in part based on promis-
ing to pursue the program and Dem-
ocrats won enough seats in the House
and Senate to push through new laws
over the Republican minority.
That didn’t mean House Bill 2020
was easy going. An interim commit-
tee spent months working up the pro-
posal. During the session, legislators
conducted 23 hearings and consid-
ered 116 amendments. On June 17, the
House passed the measure 36-24 after
a fl oor debate that exceeded six hours.
EO Media Group buys Bend Bulletin
Winning bid of $3.65
million beats out-of-
state competitors
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The auction
lasted 15 minutes Monday and
ended with the EO Media Group
buying the Bend Bulletin.
The $3.65 million winning bid
also covered the price for the Bul-
letin‘s sister newspaper, the Red-
mond Spokesman.
EO Media Group beat two out-
of-state competitors, Adams Pub-
lishing Group out of Greeneville,
Tennessee, and Rhode Island Sub-
urban Newspapers Inc., which did
not send a representative to the
auction but made almost $68,000
on the sale.
Heidi Wright, EO Media
Group’s chief operating offi cer,
said the the company appreciates
the opportunity to continue Ore-
gon ownership of the Bulletin and
Redmond Spokesman.
“It’s reassuring for the future
of community newspapers when
a small independent company
like EO Media Group can prevail,
even when going up against the
big companies that are buying up
newspapers nonstop around the
country,” she said.
Western Communications, the
Bulletin‘s former parent company,
fi led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in January and is selling
all of its assets. EO Media Group
bought two of those assets in June
at auction — The Observer in La
Grande and the Baker City Her-
ald. The Bulletin and Spokesman
acquisitions bring the company’s
total number of newspapers and
journals to 14. Wright explained
why the purchases make sense for
the family-owned business.
“First, the vibrant economy
of Central Oregon, coupled with
See Purchase, Page A7
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
EOCI inmate Marquel Dugas plays with one of the puppies in the prison’s new whelping program.
Inmates run whelping program
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — From a small room
deep inside the Eastern Oregon Correc-
tional Institution came sounds of levity.
Inside, 12 inmates sat on the fl oor,
each with a 25-day-old puppy on his
lap. They played with the tiny Labrador
retrievers, offering toys and grinning at
their antics. This dimly lit room became
Puppy Central a few weeks ago with
the launch of the prison’s new whelping
program.
The inmates began training older
puppies a few years ago to assist vet-
erans and others who have disabili-
ties. Under the guidance of the Salem-
based Joys of Living Assistance Dogs,
the trainers teach dogs to turn off lights,
shut doors, retrieve dropped items, load
and unload washing machines and dry-
ers and perform other tasks.
In the whelping program, the pup-
pies (a dozen of them) came even earlier,
arriving within hours of birth. Their
eyes closed, they snuggled together
under a heat lamp with their mother,
Nala. After a few days, the inmate
trainers started something called early
neurological stimulation — tickling
the puppies’ toes with Q-tips, holding
them in various positions and using wet
heated and refrigerated towels to expose
them to heat and cold.
Since Nala has two more offspring
than teats, two of the pups get bottles.
The inmates track feeding and elimina-
tion for each puppy on a white board.
Each puppy wears a different colored
collar and the color becomes their name
for the next eight weeks.
See Puppies, Page A7
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Inmate Chris Blackwell rubs a Q-tip
across a puppy’s pads during a desen-
sitizing session in the prison’s new
whelping program.
See Climate, Page A7
Korean War veterans honored at Pendleton Air Museum
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — When the
Korean War ended on July 27, 1953,
nine people from Umatilla County had
given their lives in service of the U.S.
military.
With Saturday marking the 66th
anniversary of the armistice, the Pend-
leton Air Museum held an open house
dedicated to honoring local veter-
ans of the war and preserving their
memories.
“We want people to know and
remember the sacrifi ce of our vet-
erans,” said the museum’s president
Chris Sykes.
The open house is one of four the
museum holds annually to commem-
orate the area’s veterans and their ser-
vice during the various wars of Amer-
ican history. On Saturday, the museum
invited four local Korean War veter-
ans to talk with and answer the pub-
lic’s questions.
Of those on hand was Ken Garrett,
who served from 1951-1955 as an avi-
ation structural mechanic in the Navy.
While spending his Saturday
morning at the museum, group leader
of Eastern Oregon’s Quilts of Valor
Anita Zimmerly stopped in to present
Garrett with a special gift. After read-
ing a prepared message, she presented
Garrett with a quilt of his own to com-
memorate his service.
“Thank you,” Garrett said, smiling
as Zimmerly wrapped the quilt around
him. The quilt was made between
quilters in La Grande and Pendleton’s
Marge York.
See Vets, Page A7
CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family Clinic is recognized
as a Patient -Centered Primary Care Home.
What does that mean for you?
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• After-hours nurse consultation.
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3001 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton
WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG
Mon through Thurs, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. • Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Sat and Sun, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are preferred.