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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2020)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Wednesday, January 8, 2020 Elgin resident running for Congress Jeff Smith seeking the Republican nomination for 2nd Congressional District said timber compa n ies decades ago could har- vest about 4 billion board feet of Smith wood from the Wal- lowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests, but today the limit is 50-60 million board feet annually on these same lands. This has led to mill closures in Union and Wal- lowa counties and throughout the state. He said in the 1980s Union and Wallowa counties had 10 mills but today three remain, all in Union County. He attributed much of the decline in timber harvests and the mill closures to the listing of the northern spot- ted owl in 1990 as a threat- ened species under the fed- eral Endangered Species Act. The listing meant cutting back on timber harvest on federal land to protect spot- ted owl habitat. Smith said as the 2nd District representa- tive he would work to end the federal Endangered Species Act. He wrote on his website, www.sendjefftocongress. com, the ESA is no longer needed because many states have their own version of it. Smith also said he would work to boost aca- demic achievement in Ore- By DICK MASON EO Media Group ELGIN — Jeff Smith, an Elgin computer program- mer running for Congress, believes his campaign is moving in the right direction. “The response I am receiving is very good. I am very encouraged,” Smith said Sunday. Smith is running for the Republican nomination for the 2nd Congressional Dis- trict, which covers East- ern, Central and a portion of Southern Oregon. The candi- date, who has lived in Elgin almost all his life, is a gradu- ate of Elgin High School and has a degree in manufactur- ing, engineering and technol- ogy from the Oregon Insti- tute of Technology. Smith, who grew up on a cattle ranch outside Elgin, said in Congress he would be a strong advocate for the natural resource indus- tries, including timber and agriculture. Oregon’s timber industry is a particular concern. Smith WHO’S RUNNING The following is a list of candidates who have announced a run to replace Rep. Greg Walden as Oregon’s 2nd Congressional Dis- trict representative: Democratic primary candidates John Holm Jack Howard Alex Spenser gon schools, noting Oregon has poor graduation rates and lower student scores on achievement tests com- pared to other states. He said he wants the state to place more of a focus on vocational education. Many schools focus on getting students to college, he said, but that’s a bad idea for 50-60% of students unless they have significant scholar- ships, because most students emerge from college with large student loan debts. He said a college graduate earn- ing $25,000 a year with a $35,000 loan debt often is not in a good financial situation. “For many it just does not pencil out,” he said. Rather than focusing on higher education at more expensive traditional col- leges, Smith said Oregon schools should develop more vocation education programs to help students develop the THURSDAY FRIDAY Cooler; afternoon fl urries Mostly cloudy with a shower 44° 32° 40° 28° 49° 33° 46° 30° SATURDAY Spotty showers in the afternoon SUNDAY Clouds, rain, mainly early A little snow in the afternoon PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 42° 37° 42° 16° 44° 36° skills they need to land jobs as machinists, electricians, linemen and in construction. He said jobs in these fields offer living-wage jobs and the training will not leave students over their heads in debt. Smith also is concerned about the future of Medi- care, which he said will become insolvent in seven years without action. He said soaring health care costs are endangering the program. “They are rising at twice the rate of inflation and three times the rate of wage growth,” Smith said. He blamed the dearth of medical schools for the shortage of health care pro- viders and cited Oregon as an example. He said Oregon Health & Science Univer- sity, Portland, graduates 150 doctors a year, not enough to allow the state to main- tain a sufficient level of phy- Cincinnati-based company will begin a clearance sale this month By VICKI HILLHOUSE Walla Walla Union-Bulletin HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 43° 38° 47° 19° 47° 38° 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 44/36 39/28 48/26 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 47/33 Lewiston 44/37 51/33 Astoria 45/36 Pullman Yakima 47/28 44/35 49/32 Portland Hermiston 46/38 The Dalles 49/33 Salem Corvallis 46/36 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 41/28 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 48/38 39/26 40/30 Ontario 47/31 Caldwell Burns 58° 49° 40° 28° 65° (1945) -13° (1937) 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 46/36 0.00" Trace 0.28" Trace 0.01" 0.28" WINDS (in mph) 47/32 39/24 Trace 0.15" 0.40" 0.15" 0.04" 0.40" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 39/24 46/37 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 44/32 48/34 57° 47° 40° 26° 68° (1902) -7° (1937) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 43/34 Aberdeen 40/25 43/28 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 45/37 Today Thu. Boardman WSW 10-20 Pendleton WSW 8-16 Medford 45/37 WSW 6-12 W 7-14 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 39/27 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today sicians for its population of almost 4.2 million. He said he would like to see changes at the federal level in policies and funding that would allow more universities to offer medical degrees and more health care provider train- ing overall. He said medi- cal organizations and their lobbyists are preventing the expansion of medical educa- tion programs. “This is the root cause of rising health care costs,” Smith said. “The system is rigged.” Smith is among eight candidates running to suc- ceed incumbent Greg Walden, R-Hood River, who announced in October he will not will not seek re-elec- tion. Walden has served in Congress since 1999. Smith spoke highly of Walden’s work in Congress. “Greg Walden has done a good job of looking out for the people of Eastern Ore- gon,” the Elgin candidate said. This is Smith’s second run for public office. He ran in the Republican primary for Oregon governor in 2018, placing fifth in a 10-candi- date field. Knute Buehler, a physician from Bend, won the nomination but lost to incumbent Kate Brown in the general election. Buehler also is running in the Repub- lican primary to succeed Walden. Joining Buehler and Smith in this year’s GOP pri- mary field are state Sen. Cliff Bentz of Ontario; Mark Rob- erts of Medford, a former Independent Party member who ran for a congressio- nal seat in 2018; and Ken- neth Medenbach of Klamath County, who was part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation in 2016; Jason Atkinson, a former state senator who served 14 years; and David Campbell. Four Democratic can- didates are running for their party’s nomination: Jack Howard, a La Grande attorney and former Union County commissioner; Med- ford resident John Holm; and community organizer Isa- bella Tibbetts of Jackson County; and Alex Spenser, of Klamath Falls. Macy’s closing Walla Walla store Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY Isabella Tibbetts Republican primary candidates Jason Atkinson Cliff Bentz Knute Buehler David Campbell Kenneth Medenbach Mark Roberts Jeff Smith Source: Oregon Secretary of State 7:35 a.m. 4:28 p.m. 2:42 p.m. 5:32 a.m. Full Last New First Jan 10 Jan 17 Jan 24 Feb 1 WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Macy’s will pull up the anchor on downtown Walla Walla’s retail core when it closes its store in the historic Liberty Theater. The Cincinnati-based company will begin a clear- ance sale this month that is expected to run about eight to 12 weeks. A closure date was not specified. Employees were report- edly notified Monday. A company media relations director confirmed the closure. “The decision to close a store is always a difficult one, but Macy’s is proud to have served the Walla Walla community over the past 76 years,” the announcement said, referring to the store’s long history before its acqui- sition by Macy’s. The statement is a boiler plate message released by Macy’s on behalf of its store closures, including an announcement last fall for its landmark downtown Seattle spot and Monday for stores all over the country. It is tai- lored to each community to represent how long the com- pany has operated there and to encourage shoppers to redirect their business to the nearest Macy’s store. In this case, that’s the store at Columbia Center in Kennewick, Washington, where Walla Walla officials say local sales taxes leak to outshopping an hour away. Development of shopping options at retail strip Walla Walla Town Center appears to have recovered some of that leakage. But whether it also hurt stores, such as Macy’s, enough to lead to the decision is not clear, Walla Walla City Manager Nabiel Shawa said. In 2017, the community lost an estimated $183 mil- lion in sales tax leakage, according to data from the Port of Walla Walla. That money is what’s calculated as spent outside of the commu- nity on retail goods — every- thing from motor vehicles to furniture, clothing to books. In 2018, came the opening of Walla Walla Town Cen- ter’s first store in April. It was followed throughout the year with the introduction of seven more national big box retailers in the community. For the first time in his- tory, Walla Walla exceeded $1 billion in retail sales in 2018, according to Walla Walla Trends data. The 10.4% spike in taxable retail sales for Walla Walla between 2017 and 2018 was the largest increase since 2004-05 and outpaced the state’s annual growth rate of 9.6%. Macy’s, meanwhile, has been closing stores since 2016. That year, the company announced its plan to close 100 stores across the country as part of a downsizing strat- egy against the rising tide of online competition. Initially, the company focused on locations where leases were ending. But in the case of the Walla Walla store, Macy’s owns the property at 54 E. Main St., adding another layer of uncertainty about what may be the future for downtown retail. “This is absolutely not good news and not what we wanted to hear,” Shawa said. NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 81° in Ramona, Calif. Low -15° in Gunnison, Colo. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY BRIEFLY Warrenton facing fire department safety violations WARRENTON — The city of Warrenton faces nearly $11,000 in fines from the state for safety violations at the Warrenton Fire Department. The Daily Astorian reported the state Occupational Safety and Health Adminis- tration initiated an investigation after anony- mous complaints. It fined the city $7,500 for not ensur- ing a proper respiratory protection program, $2,100 for not ensuring employees wore the right protective equipment, $420 for improper training, $420 for not maintaining a safety committee, $180 for a lack of equipment inspections and $180 for not keeping a hazard communication program. Fire Chief Tim Demers resigned amid the investigation. The findings come shortly after the city hired former deputy fire chief and volunteer Brian Alsbury to replace Demers. Investigators found the city struggles to provide the proper number of trained firefight- ers or maintained equipment for responding to structure fires, and confusion over when to use lights and sirens during responses. The investigation also found a lack of clarity in the city’s standard operating procedures. Investigators called on the city to cre- ate new guidelines and solve the deficiencies by Jan. 23. City Manager Linda Engbretson said in an email that the city has requested an extension on the deadline as it updates inter- nal operating procedures. — EO Media Group and Associated Press 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 E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to EastOregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. 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