Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2020)
SNOW ZONE SAFETY PROJECT TO INCLUDE NEW, LARGER MESSAGE BOARDS PREP BASKETBALL: RIVERSIDE GIRLS ESCAPE IRRIGON REGION, A3 SPORTS, B1 E O AST 144th Year, No. 65 REGONIAN FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Your Weekend Helping out • BINGO FUNDRAISER, Hermiston Public Library • CRAFTS FOR ALL AGES, Pendleton Center for the Arts • YARN CLUB, Hermiston Public Library FOR TIMES AND LOCATIONS CHECK COMING EVENTS, A5 Weekend Weather FRI SAT SUN 38/33 41/34 42/29 Council still pondering housing incentives By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Neighbors and businesses pitch in to help stranded drivers By ALEX CASTLE East Oregonian A THENA — Tygh Campbell was just trying to feed the cows at his Athena ranch Wednesday night when he hopped on his tractor to brave the treacherous winds and whiteout con- ditions along Highway 334. Though most of the region’s snow had fallen the day before, driving con- ditions only worsened by Wednesday night as 40 mph winds covered the already frozen roadways with fl urries of snow that greatly reduced visibility. The conditions forced the Ore- gon Department of Transportation to keep Interstate 84 between Pendleton and Ontario and Highway 11 between Pendleton and Milton-Freewater closed overnight, leading to many people opting for alternative routes off the major roadways. By Wednesday night, many of those trying to traverse the county’s back roads found themselves stuck in dangerous conditions, where they had to rely on emergency personnel and friendly neighbors like Campbell to Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Tygh Campbell, with the company of his dog Shank, uses his tractor to clear a section of Gerking Flat Road near Athena on Thursday afternoon. save them from being stranded. “You always have to make sure your neighbors are taken care of,” Campbell said. While on his way to feed the cows, Campbell saw a number of vehi- cles stuck along Highway 334 and spent the next few hours helping pull vehicles from ditches and plowing the roadway with his tractor so that they could get somewhere out of the elements. Campbell said by the end of the night he had saved at least 10 vehicles. PENDLETON — The city of Pendleton has a fi nger in the pots of nearly all the new, major hous- ing developments in town, and it’s contemplating dipping its toe in another. At a Pendleton City Coun- cil workshop Tuesday, members reviewed a letter from Richland, Washington, developer Justin Pratt, who recently acquired the old U.S. Forest Service offi ce at 2601 S.W. Hailey Ave. with the intention of turning it into a 33-unit apartment complex. The council granted Pratt’s request to change the zoning of the property to allow the project to go forward, but Pratt’s latest ask is for a fi ve-year property tax abatement. In Nov. 18 letter to the council, Pratt wrote that the estimated $2.1 million cost of renovating the build- ing was higher than he expected and he was looking for options to help make the project feasible. “We feel this signifi cant invest- “I don’t need or want any acco- lades,” he said. “Of course, I don’t want to be out there at 10 p.m. dig- ging people out of the snow either. But the last thing I want is to be going out there to retrieve a corpse.” While ODOT crews do what they can to keep major roadways drivable, secondary ones like those near Camp- bell’s ranch are left to the mercy of the weather. “When you live out in our neck of See Help, Page A8 Tygh Campbell plows a section of Gerking Flat Road with his tractor on Thursday afternoon near Athena. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan See Housing, Page A8 Republicans: ‘Nothing is off the table’ in climate fi ght Walkout possible for Oregon Senate Republicans over cap-and-trade bill By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — One question has lingered in political circles in the days since Democratic legisla- tors unveiled their latest plan to limit the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. What do the Republicans think? The GOP holds a shrinking share of seats in the Legislature, but still possesses just enough mem- bers to halt legislative business. Baertschiger Dembrow Findley Senate Republicans made national headlines for tanking last year’s proposal by fl eeing the state, a possibility that looms over the coming session, which begins Feb 3. Hence the interest: Are the slate of changes recently proposed by Democrats enough to get their colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stay in the building? Sen. Herman Baertschiger, Roblan Smith R-Grants Pass, who leads Repub- licans in the Senate, was rather opaque about those odds when taking questions from reporters on Wednesday. “Well, you know, it’s a very fl uid, dynamic situa- tion,” Baertschiger said. “It’s ever-changing. You know, I’m still having conversations, but noth- ing is off the table. And I would not want to speculate one way or the other at this point because it is such a dynamic situation.” On Monday, the interim Sen- ate Environment and Natu- ral Resources Committee heard three hours of testimony on the revamped proposal from invited guests, ranging from the chief operating offi cer of a truck stop company to a policy adviser at the Nature Conservancy. Lawmakers are in Salem this week for a series of interim meetings. In what is — depending on whom you ask — either a break- down in communication between the parties, or the rhetoric of political theater, Republicans con- vey concern that Democrats won’t See Climate, Page A8
