NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Merkley expects Iran to respond to killing of general
By KYLE SPURR
EO Media Group
REDMOND — At a town
hall meeting Saturday, U.S. Sen.
Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., addressed
the potential for war following
the assassination of Iranian mil-
itary commander Maj. Gen. Qas-
sem Soleimani. Merkley expects
Iran to respond to the attack since
it would be the equivalent of Iran
assassinating the U.S. secretary of
defense, he said.
But Merkley said he is work-
ing in Congress to avoid an esca-
lation into war. He also reminded
the crowd that President Donald
Trump does not have the constitu-
tional authority to take the country
to war, unless he can prove a ter-
rorist connection.
“We have to try to interrupt the
escalation into another major war
that will endanger our national
security and result in thousands of
Americans who will die on battle-
fields and cost another trillion dol-
lars in funds,” Merkley said. “We
have to speak up. We have to do
everything we can to stop that.”
The Redmond town hall inside
the Ridgeview High School audi-
torium drew a couple hundred peo-
ple who were eager to hear from
Merkley on national topics, such as
the impeachment of Trump, health
care and climate change. Most
people in the audience supported
Merkley and gave him a standing
ovation at the end of the town hall
meeting. About 30 Trump sup-
porters protested outside the high
EO Media Group Photo/Ryan Brennecke
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., answers a question from the crowd during a town hall meeting at Ridgeview High
School on Saturday.
school before the town hall.
The gathering was the first of
three scheduled meetings in Cen-
tral Oregon on Saturday. Merkley
also held town hall meetings at the
Madras Performing Arts Center
and at Barnes Butte Elementary
School in Prineville.
Merkley, a Democrat from Port-
land, offered his thoughts at the
Redmond town hall meeting about
the Trump impeachment, which he
said aligns with the protections the
Founding Fathers established in
the Constitution.
“The issues that have been
raised are very consistent with
the founders’ concerns,” Merkley
said. “Is there an abuse of power,
and is there a solicitation of foreign
interference?”
Merkley said he shares con-
cerns with House Democrats who
believe Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell is unwill-
ing to hold a fair Senate trial
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Cloudy with a stray
shower
Cooler; afternoon
fl urries
Mostly cloudy with
a shower
Spotty showers in
the afternoon
Cloudy and windy
57° 41°
44° 32°
59° 43°
49° 35°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
40° 30°
44° 26°
45° 39°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
46° 32°
48° 27°
46° 40°
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
51/39
44/35
54/35
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
56/40
Lewiston
51/40
60/44
Astoria
52/41
Pullman
Yakima 52/37
51/38
52/40
Portland
Hermiston
54/42
The Dalles 59/43
Salem
Corvallis
51/40
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
44/36
Bend
53/42
49/33
51/35
Ontario
45/32
Caldwell
Burns
0.00"
Trace
0.24"
Trace
0.01"
0.24"
WINDS (in mph)
48/35
44/30
Sexual abuse at youth correctional
facility among highest in the nation
By MEERAH POWELL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Although
reports of sexual abuse
in juvenile correctional
facilities across the nation
have declined in past
years, Oregon’s correc-
tional facility for girls and
young women was ranked
among the top facilities
for having the highest
rates of sexual victimiza-
tion in 2018, according to
a federal report.
In the report, 42 girls
and young women at Alba-
ny’s Oak Creek Youth
Correctional Facility were
surveyed; 14.3% reported
being sexually victimized
in 2018. That’s more than
twice the national aver-
age of 7.1%, according
to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics.
The report does not
distinguish sexual abuse
reports in individual facil-
ities made against staff
versus those made against
other youth.
Other Oregon facilities
above the national average
include St. Mary’s Home
for Boys in Beaverton at
11.1% and the Rogue Val-
ley Youth Correctional
Facility in Grants Pass
at 10.3%.
All other Oregon juve-
nile facilities fell below
the national average,
with the Eastern Oregon
Youth Correction Facility
in Burns having the low-
est rate of sexual abuse
reports at 4.3%.
The National Survey
of Youth in Custody con-
ducted the report and sur-
veyed more than 6,000
children and young adults
nationally.
Nationwide, the over-
all rate of sexual victim-
ization reported declined
from 9.5% in 2012 to 7.1%
in 2018.
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
60°
37°
40°
28°
60° (2020) -8° (1974)
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
51/41
Trace
0.15"
0.35"
0.15"
0.04"
0.35"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 45/32
52/42
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
57/41
54/40
56°
39°
40°
26°
70° (1914) -6° (1942)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
52/38
Aberdeen
46/35
45/35
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
53/40
regarding impeachment.
“To me, that is a violation of
our constitutional responsibility,”
Merkley said. “And I feel if you
can’t take the oath in an honest and
clear way to do it impartial justice,
then you need to recuse yourself
from participation in the trial.”
Merkley also discussed climate
change in dire terms.
“The issue of carbon pollution
and how it’s affecting our planet is
the biggest challenge human civili-
zation has faced,” he said.
Merkley said climate change
can be felt in the forests, farmland
and ocean. In the summer it pro-
duces intense wildfires, and in the
winter, low snowpack.
“We have got to act quickly,”
Merkley said. “The only good
answer we have is to transition
quickly from fossil fuel-based
energy to renewable energy.”
Three seniors at Ridgeview
High School — Naomi Gates,
Danika Lundgren and Cody
Woods — each asked Merkley
questions during the meeting.
Gates asked about mental health
services, Lundgren asked about
college affordability, and Woods
asked Merkley what he thinks
is his single best contribution to
Oregon.
Merkley said his best contri-
bution was in 2007, when he was
a state representative and helped
pass the Equality Act that pro-
hibited discrimination in Oregon
based on sexual orientation and
gender identity.
“The thing that I think was
the biggest deal was the Equality
Act so that no more doors were
slammed on our LGBTQ commu-
nity here in the state of Oregon,”
he said.
Merkley commended the audi-
ence for having a civil conversa-
tion with him about the nation’s
issues.
“Thank you all for being
engaged,” he said. “Let’s seize the
moment provided in our constitu-
tion to put America back on track.”
Today
Medford
46/37
Wed.
SW 6-12
S 6-12
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 8-16
WSW 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
45/31
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:35 a.m.
4:27 p.m.
2:00 p.m.
4:24 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Jan 10
Jan 17
Jan 24
Feb 1
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 84° in Santa Ana, Calif. Low -12° in Waverly, Colo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
BRIEFLY
Iranian-Americans report
problems entering the U.S.
from Canada
SEATTLE — Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee is pressing federal officials for
information following reports that Ira-
nian-Americans trying to return to
the United States from Canada were
detained at the border for hours over the
weekend.
In a statement Sunday, the Wash-
ington state chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations said more
than 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans
were detained and questioned at the
Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine,
Washington.
“Those detained reported that their
passports were confiscated and they
were questioned about their political
views and allegiances,’’ the statement
said.
But Michael Friel, a spokesman for
U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
said reports that Iranian-Americans
were detained or refused entry because
of their country of origin were not true.
“Based on the current threat envi-
ronment, CBP is operating with an
enhanced posture at its ports of entry to
safeguard our national security and pro-
tect the American people while simul-
taneously protecting the civil rights and
liberties of everyone,” Friel said in a
statement.
Arrests during downtown
Seattle protest
SEATTLE — Four people were
arrested as tensions escalated at a rally
by a conservative group in downtown
Seattle.
KOMO reported that a counter-pro-
tester was detained Sunday and arrested
for a misdemeanor assault after striking
another person with her fist, police said,
while three men were arrested for throw-
ing gravel and debris at officers.
Seattle police also reported that two
of their cars were vandalized during the
downtown protest.
Several counter-protesters came face-
to-face with the right-wing Three Per-
centers group during two scheduled
demonstrations occurring simultane-
ously within each other near City Hall.
Streets surrounding City Hall were
blocked off with Seattle police monitor-
ing the rally
— Associated Press
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