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
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