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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2019)
DECEMBER 31, 2019-JANUARY 1, 2020 144th Year, No. 53 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD $1.50 Truck crashes declining across Oregon While tragic headlines seem plentiful, crashes involving trucks aren’t happening at the rate you might expect Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series on crashes involving trucks and the inspections completed by the Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation to prevent them. By SAM STITES Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Gagandeep Singh was travel- ing south on Interstate 5 near Woodburn when smoke started boiling up from under his Volvo tractor-trailer and fi lling his driver’s cabin. He pulled to the shoulder and was out inves- tigating when a Freightliner tractor-trailer driven by Rex Hollopeter, 51, of Salem, side- swiped Singh’s. Hollopeter’s truck came to a stop block- ing southbound traffi c as both trucks burned furiously. The wreck, which hospitalized Hollopeter, closed the freeway for hours. Then, another truck accident in the north- bound lanes snarled traffi c even more. The high-profi le crashes in October raised fresh questions about the safety record of an ever-increasing number of commercial trucks rolling down Oregon’s highways. Yet state data shows that despite the increasing miles put on by truckers, their acci- dents rates have held steady and even dipped in recent years. In 2008, Oregon saw 2,113 truck crashes on its roads, according to state Transportation Department data. In 2018 — the most recent year for which data is available — there were just 1,408 crashes. That number is surprising given the number of miles traveled by trucks throughout the state grew by 181 million miles over the decade. Between 2015 and 2018, ODOT data shows there were 5,934 truck crashes. That’s an aver- See Crashes, Page A8 HAPPY NEW YEAR The East Oregonian wishes your family a Happy New Year. The EO will not publish a newspaper on New Year’s Day due to the postal holiday, and will close its offi ce early at 2 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. The newspaper offi ce will reopen for regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Thursday. Wednesday’s comics and other features can be found with the comics in today’s edition. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Cashier Faelynn Spilker bags groceries while checking out a customer at Columbia Harvest Foods in Umatilla on Dec. 19, 2019. As of Jan. 1, 2020, stores will no longer be able to provide single-use plastic bags and will be required to charge at least 5 cents per bag for alternatives From minimum wage increases to strengthening employee protections, Oregon welcomes in a number of new laws By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian MATILLA COUNTY — Sev- eral new Oregon laws take effect with the start of the new year, including measures aimed at making voting as easy as possible for Oregon voters. Others address plas- tic bags, revenge porn and marijuana convictions. When a new year starts, it can be easy to miss the memo on changes to the law. Ignorance of the law is not a defense for breaking it, however, so here are a few handy guidelines for 2020: U Sales tax In July, Washington stopped grant- ing Oregonians an exemption to sales tax at the register. But as of Jan. 1, Ore- gon residents who have been saving their receipts can fi le a tax return for the amount of sales tax they paid to Wash- ington in 2019. Portland Tribune/Jaime Valdez As 2019 draws to a close, the Oregon Legislature passed hundreds of new bills both large and small. To qualify, applicants must be a res- ident of a state that does not have sales tax, must have purchased the items for use outside of Washington, and must be requesting reimbursement for more than $25 in taxes paid (at 6.5% state sales tax, that means spending at least $384.62 on qualifying items). They will have to submit receipts and information about the time and place of each purchase, in addition to proof of residency. Each person is only allowed to apply for reimbursement once per calendar year, for taxes paid in the previous year. According to the Washington Department of Revenue’s media rela- tions offi ce, the necessary forms See Laws, Page A8 OUR NEW NEIGHBORS FoodCorps member gets taste of Umatilla Editor’s Note: This story is part of an annual series by the East Oregonian called “Our New Neighbors,” which introduces the com- munity to people who have moved here in the past year. By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian UMATILLA — The best is yet to come for Ellie Dutcher. Dutcher, who recently graduated from Southern Oregon University, moved to Umatilla this summer to serve as one of nine Food- Corps service members across Oregon. Being part of FoodCorps — an AmeriCorps off- shoot — means whipping up snacks and serving nutri- tious lesson plans at McNary Heights Elementary all year long. During their one-year terms, service members like Dutcher aim to connect kids to healthy food. But what she’s really excited for is growing a gar- den — which will likely house herbs, as well as all the makings for salsa — with the students this spring. “We’ll plant the seeds, and we’ll grow them together,” she said. “And in the spring, we’ll get to eat them together. That’s where I think the magic will happen. When kids are that connected to the food, you see some minds change.” Because part of her role is introducing foods that will be in the cafeteria to Umatil- la’s elementary-schoolers via taste tests, Dutcher knows that kids can be critics when it comes to cuisine. “Kids will look at me like, ‘Oh, that’s gross,’” she said. “I slowly convince them to try something, and their face will light up.” Earlier in the year, she taste-tested pluots — a mem- ber of the stone fruit family See Neighbor, Page A8 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Ellie Dutcher serves banana bread to students at McNary Heights Elementary School in Umatilla on Dec. 19, 2019. Dutcher is one of nine FoodCorps members in Oregon and will be located in Umatilla County until the end of the school year.
