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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2019)
‘GRIT AND INK’ CHRONICLES THE HISTORY OF LOCAL NEWS LOCALS PAWS-ITIVELY WILD FOR NATIONAL DOG DAY BUSINESS, A7 HERMISTON’S LERTEN HAS A BIG GAME, SOFT HEART SPORTS, B1 LIFESTYLES, C1 AUGUST 24-25, 2019 WEEKEND EDITION 143rd Year, No. 222 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD B2H power line costs hover near $100 million By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian PENDLETON — The massive Boardman to Hemingway Transmis- sion Line has cost around $100 million without the installation of a single util- ity pole. The 300-plus-mile, 500-kilovolt line will be ready to carry juice as early as 2026 at a cost of $1 billion or more. Idaho Power, Pacifi cCorp and Bon- neville Power Administration teamed up on the project, and Idaho Power is spearheading the local, state and federal permitting work. Sven Berg, Idaho Power spokesperson, explained that is because the company identifi ed the need for a big transmission line in its 2006 Integrated Resource Plan — or IRP — which projects for future electrical needs and how to meet those needs. Idaho Power, however, has the smallest share of the line capacity and thus the project costs at 21%, while the BPA has a 24% share and Pacifi cCorp the remaining 55%. In other words, Berg said, if the line costs an even $1 billion, Idaho Power’s portion of the tab is $210 million. The $100 million the 13-year-old project has cost so far is for staff time, attorneys and the reams of paperwork to wade through the lengthy permitting processes. That includes with the Ore- gon Department of Energy, which on Thursday closed the public comment period on its “draft proposed order” recommending the state Energy Facil- ity Siting Council approve Idaho Pow- er’s application for a site certifi cate for the line. Berg said the company’s team is reviewing the comments. “We’re anticipating a contested case,” he said. That is, opponents to the project, namely the La Grande-based Stop B2H Coalition, who spoke out in a series of public hearings in early summer and provided additional comments in writing by the Thursday 5 p.m. dead- line. Anyone who met either of those requirements has the standing to chal- lenge or contest the proposal. Berg said Idaho Power has until Sept. 23 to respond to those com- ments, then would come the “quasi-ju- dicial” appeals process. EO SPOTLIGHT From 2006 to 2012 Oregon received more than 1.3 billion prescription pain pills Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Hydrocodone pills are laid out on a counting tray to be counted at Murray’s Drug in Heppner on Friday afternoon. By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian Where the drugs went (Opioids in Umatilla, Morrow counties, 2006-12) MATILLA COUNTY — In the year 2006, the world was mourn- ing the death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, arguing about Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and buying their fi rst Blu-ray discs. In the medical industry, doc- tors were being told that too many patients were in pain after being denied their “right” to prescription painkillers known as opioids. “In 2006 there was a lot more focus on pain control,” pharmacist Ann Murray said, calling it a “push” in the early 2000s. Murray, who runs Murray’s Drug in Heppner, Boardman and Condon with her husband, John Murray, said there wasn’t the same level of awareness around opioid addiction back then. Opioid overdose deaths in Oregon peaked that year, at 238. After waging a yearlong legal bat- tle, the Washington Post recently obtained U Rank/location Millions of pain pills 1. Rite Aid, Pendleton 3.1 million 2. Safeway, Hermiston 2.48 2.38 3. Rite Aid, Hermiston 2.14 4. Walmart, Hermiston 2.04 5. Bi-Mart, Pendleton 1.81 6. Good Shepherd Pharmacy, Hermiston 1.51 7. Bi-Mart, Hermiston 9. Safeway, Milton-Freewater 10. Rite Aid, Milton-Freewater 11. Safeway, Pendleton 12. Walmart, Pendleton 0.71 13. Carlsons Drug, Umatilla 14. Murray Drug, Heppner 0.6 15. Boardman Pharmacy, Boardman 0.58 16. Good Shepherd Pharmacy, Boardman Using data from the Drug Enforce- 1.32 ment Administration, the Washington Post 1.31 compiled a database 1.18 accounting for every 1.17 prescription opioid pill in the country between 2006 and 2012. This is how many pills each pharmacy in Umatilla and Morrow counties received during that time period. 1.42 8. Hermiston Drug, Hermiston 0.05 See Pain pills, Page A11 Source: Washington Post EO Media Group graphic See B2H, Page A11 Dems back off threat to fi ne Republicans for walkout Democrats will push bills to change the quorum requirements to a simple majority By AUBREY WIEBER AND CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — More than two months after voting to fi ne protest- ing Republican senators $500 per day for walking off the job, Senate Democrat leaders announced Fri- day they will not make good on the threat. Instead, leaders said they are pur- suing a constitutional amendment to change Oregon’s quorum require- ment from two-thirds to a simple majority. That would allow the Sen- ate to convene with 16 instead of 20 senators out of the body of 30. For- ty-six states use the simple majority requirement, according to a Senate Democrat news release. Twice during the 2019 Legis- lature, Republicans brought the Senate to a halt by walking out in protest. They were able to claim political victories both times. During the fi rst walkout, Gov. Kate Brown killed bills regulating guns and vaccinations to bring them back, and during the second walk- out, Democrats announced they would no longer pursue a controver- sial carbon pricing bill, though they said that died because they didn’t See Walkout, Page A11 AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File Lawmakers convene at the Oregon Senate in Salem on June 29, 2019, after the minority Republicans ended a walkout they had begun on June 20 over a carbon-emissions bill they said would harm their rural constituents.
