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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2020)
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Pendleton blows out Redmond at home | SPORTS, B1 E O AST 144th year, No. 78 REGONIAN WEDNESDAy, FEBRUARy 5, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File Aaron Roark pumps gas at the Sinclair station on Southgate in Pendleton on Nov. 7, 2019. City Council puts gas tax on ballot By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Terry Snider pours grain from a bucket into a funnel while preparing samples of wheat on Tuesday afternoon at Morrow Coun- ty Grain Growers’ Hogue-Warner grain elevator in Irrigon. Morrow County launches internship program Businesses are hoping the program will link employers with workers in a variety of fields By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian B OARDMAN — Businesses are brewing a new plan to recruit and retain young tal- ent in Morrow County this summer. It’s called the Columbia Summer Works Summer Internship Program, and applications for posi- tions went live last month. The program was recently devel- oped in collaboration with the Port of Morrow and Morrow County cham- bers of commerce. It serves as a hub for businesses in Morrow County that are interested in providing paid intern- ships, or that might already have those opportunities. “We feel like our role is to make connections. Here’s everything we know about internships in one place,” said Port of Morrow Workforce Train- ing Manager Kalie Davis. “People don’t know where to look. This makes it as easy as possible.” This year there are 58 positions up for grabs, from digital media mar- keting to vector control. Some part- ners involved, like Umatilla-Mor- row County Headstart, haven’t had an Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Brian Rust takes a sample from a grain truck as it dumps wheat at Morrow County Grain Growers’ Hogue-Warner grain elevator in Irrigon on Tuesday afternoon. internship program in the past. With unemployment at a histor- ically low 3.7% statewide, and in the midst of continuous population growth across Morrow County — including a near 7% boost over the last year, according to Portland State University estimations — businesses are hoping the summer employment opportunities could help keep jobs filled and allow people to try out life in the county. “We really wanted something that is a career pathway for employers,” Davis said. “And people to have an opportunity to try career paths out.” Finding places to stay for incom- ing interns is not an issue far from the minds of those behind the Colum- bia Works effort. Twenty new houses were under construction in Boardman at the end of 2019 alone. Davis said that agricultural employers involved will help provide housing to summer interns, and the recently built Port View Apartments See Internship, Page A8 PENDLETON — Come May 19, more than half of the Pendleton City Council will share a ballot with one of their top priorities: a gas tax. At a meeting Tuesday, the council unanimously approved asking voters for a 4-cent gas tax in the May primary election to help repair and maintain the city’s deteriorating street system. During the public hearing, no one spoke for or against the resolution, but the gas tax has been a contentious issue in the past. The council pursued a 5-cent gas tax in 2015, only to see nearly two out of three voters reject the proposal. The petroleum industry opposed the 2015 proposal and local oil distributors have already indicated their distaste for another gas tax campaign. The gas tax is a part of the council’s multi-pronged approach to raise more than $1 million in annual funding for street maintenance. The council held a first reading for a $3 increase to the street utility fee and could approve it as soon as its Feb. 18 meeting. Members also want to implement a $2 hotel room tax, but the council is giving staff more time to research how to implement the tax. The council also committed to cut- ting $110,000 from the general fund budget and redirecting it to streets. While these new taxes and fees could affect the street system’s long- term outlook, the city is already pre- paring for this year’s maintenance season. The council unanimously approved a $72,374 bid from BCV Inc. of Wenatchee, Washington, to do crack seals and a $190,203 bid from Black- line Inc. of Vancouver, Washington, to do slurry seals over the summer. Public Works Director Bob Patter- son said the bids came in significantly below the city’s estimates. If staff is able to negotiate more street segments into the seal packages while remaining under budget, Patterson said staff may return to the council with a change order. WEATHER Humans remain vital to forecasting weather Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a four-part series on the National Weather Service. By PHIL WRIGHT EO Media Group PENDLETON — The National Weather Service relies on cutting-edge satel- lites, advanced radar tech- nology and computer mod- eling of weather to help forecasters. But as impressive as the tech is, there are limits. Marc Austin, the warn- ing coordination meteorol- ogist at National Weather Service in Pendleton, said the station’s dual-polariza- tion radar captures weather systems in three-dimen- sions, except for the “cone of silence.” The radar scans a few degrees in elevation at a time to create the imagery that appears on forecaster computer screens. But the radar cannot scan the space directly above it, thus leav- ing a blind spot at the top. The crew at the Pendleton office recounted a story of a forecaster who reported all clear when a storm descended due to misread- ing that spot. And while the satellites can track a storm forming in the Pacific Ocean days before it drops 6 inches of snow in Eastern Oregon’s Blue Mountains — a tem- pest sprawling thousands of square miles is tough to miss from a vantage point of 22,300 miles — they might not detect a local temperature inversion. So twice each day, according to the NWS, staff at almost 900 sites worldwide simul- taneously release weather balloons. The balloons are latex or neoprene and filled with hydrogen or helium and carry sensors to about See Weather, Page A8 Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File Rob Brooks, a forecaster at the National Weather Service sta- tion in Pendleton, indicates a blank spot directly above the station where the radar is unable to track weather patterns.
