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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2021)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Thursday, January 21, 2021 Farmworker safety program comes in under budget By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press FSFS funding by county The Oregon Watershed En- hancement Board awarded 305 applications statewide for funding through the Food Safety and Farmwork- er Security Program, provid- ing direct payments to reim- burse farms for COVID-19 worker protections. The number of approved applications are broken down by county: • Hood River — 50 • Marion — 49 • Yamhill — 29 • Wasco — 24 SALEM — A program to reimburse Oregon farms for complying with costly COVID-19 worker protec- tions came in well under budget during the 2020 harvest season. State lawmakers are now considering what to do with millions of dollars that are leftover. Oregon OSH A, the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administra- tion, implemented emer- gency rules last spring to strengthen fi eld sanitation, housing and transportation protocols at labor-intensive farms, such as fruit orchards and vineyards. In response, Gov. Kate Brown allocated $16 million to the Food Safety and Farm- worker Security Program, which provided direct payments to farmers for the expense of meeting the OSHA rule — things like buying or renting additional portable toilets, reconfi gur- ing cabins to ensure 6 feet of social distance, and arrang- ing more buses to transport workers to the fi eld. As it turns out, $16 million was more than enough. Just $5.6 million was spent before the program expired on Dec. 31, 2020, leaving $10.4 George Plaven/Capital Press, File Oregon OSHA implemented a temporary rule to protect ag- ricultural workers from spreading COVID-19, including a pro- vision requiring one portable toilet for every 10 workers in the fi eld. A state program to help farmers buy equipment has expired with millions of dollars left over. million remaining, accord- ing to a Jan. 5 report from the Oregon Department of Administrative Services to the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Emergency Board. It is not precisely known what will happen to that money now. In a statement, Nikki Fisher, press secretary for Brown, said the state is discussing priorities for ongoing COVID-19 relief. “There is a clear need to continue to work to protect migrant and seasonal farm- workers during the COVID- 19 crisis,” Fisher said. “And we know that there are growers who are doing the best they can to mitigate the spread.” The Food Security and Farmworker Safety Program was intended to help Oregon secure its food supply chains while minimizing health risks for frontline workers, Fisher said. It was adminis- tered by the state Watershed Enhancement Board, in collaboration with the state’s Department of Agriculture, Health Authority and Hous- Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY ing and Community Services Department. Met a Lof t sga a rden, OWEB executive director, said 228 farms participated in the program, estimating at least 21,000 farmwork- ers benefi ted from enhanced safety measures. Initially, the program had strict caps in place to ensure there would be enough fund- ing left for late-season crops. Once it became clear that would not be an issue, Lofts- gaarden said those caps were lifted and the program was expanded to cover the cost of face masks and other personal protective equip- ment. Approximately $1.85 million was authorized in Morning fl urries A couple of snow showers 36° 30° 37° 26° Mostly sunny and chilly Snow and rain, mainly later Cloudy, cold; p.m. snow showers PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 39° 26° 36° 26° 37° 27° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 40° 22° 42° 26° 39° 29° 40° 29° 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 46/38 36/29 39/31 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 35/30 Lewiston 46/38 39/31 Astoria 48/38 Pullman Yakima 40/27 44/36 40/34 Portland Hermiston 49/37 The Dalles 37/31 Salem Corvallis 48/38 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 38/29 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 50/39 45/26 41/29 Ontario 40/31 Caldwell Burns 43° 25° 42° 29° 60° (2010) -32° (1930) 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 48/39 Boardman Pendleton Medford 50/37 0.00" 0.34" 0.84" 0.34" 0.13" 0.84" WINDS (in mph) 40/26 40/25 0.00" 0.44" 1.00" 0.44" 0.86" 1.00" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 37/29 46/36 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 36/30 43/36 42° 28° 42° 28° 67° (1968) -18° (1930) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 44/35 Aberdeen 35/23 37/27 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 46/38 Today Fri. NNE 4-8 NNW 4-8 NNE 4-8 NW 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 46/28 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:28 a.m. 4:46 p.m. 11:40 a.m. 12:58 a.m. Full Last New First Jan 28 Feb 4 Feb 11 Feb 19 FAREWELL BEND — A dark and remote stretch of Interstate 84 east of Baker City is considerably brighter in 2021. Plus you can buy fried chicken. And there are fuel pumps and restrooms for potentially more pressing needs. The Huntington Travel Plaza, part of the national TravelCenters of America network, recently opened beside the freeway at Farewell Bend, about 50 miles from Baker City. The plaza fi lls a retail void dating back nearly a decade in the mostly unsettled 73-mile stretch of freeway between Baker City and Ontario. The former truck stop at Farewell Bend, which included a motel, closed in May 2011 and the buildings were later removed. That truck stop opened in the 1970s. For much of the time since the truck stop closed, the only place to get a meal and High 78° in Fullerton, Calif. Low -17° in Silver Bay, Minn. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY gas between Baker City and Ontario was at Huntington, which is about a mile off the freeway about 5 miles north of Farewell Bend. Karam Singh of Vancou- ver, Washington, owns the new 12,000-square-foot travel plaza, operating as a franchi- see under TravelCenters of America. “I’m looking forward to becoming part of this commu- nity, bringing new jobs to the area and offering drivers a new place that is like home,” Singh said. The new travel plaza employs about 50 people, said Tina Arundel, director of communications for Trav- elCenters of America in West- lake, Ohio. “There is a need for our services on this busy stretch of highway in Oregon,” said Barry Richards, TravelCenters of America president. Unlike the previous truck stop, the new Hunting- ton Travel Plaza does not have a motel. It does include two restaurants — Champs Chicken and Naughty Chile Taqueria — with a third, the Huntington Bar and Grill, opening soon. Other amenities include 150 parking spots for semi- trailers and 40 for cars, eight diesel fueling and 12 gaso- line fueling stations, and a 3,000-square-foot travel store that includes fresh deli items. For commercial truck driv- ers there is a lounge, six show- ers, a fi tness room and laundry. A truck service center is scheduled to open in 2022, Arundel said. The 40-acre travel plaza is in Malheur County, just east of the Baker County border. The Singh family, which owns three gas stations in the Portland area as well as convenience stores, will buy the property from Amin Alib- hei of Atlanta, who manages the company that owns the property, Deep Singh told the Baker City Herald in Septem- ber 2020. Alibhei’s company bought the property in October 2019 for $775,000, according to the Malheur County Assessor’s Offi ce. The land previously sold for $450,000 in June 2013. IN BRIEF NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) direct payments for farms. ODA and Oregon State University also partnered to distribute 3 million free KN95 masks for agricultural employers with support from the program. Despite coming in well under budget, Loftsgaarden said she is confident the program was marketed aggressively for producers to take advantage. “We never in this state, or in this country, have run a program like this,” she said. “None of us knew up front what the ultimate cost was going to be.” OW EB f u nded 305 total projects through the program. The vast major- ity, 74%, were for fi eld sani- tation, as farmers had to roughly double the number of portable toilets and hand-washing stations avail- able to workers. Some 14% of the applica- tions were for housing modi- fi cations to ensure workers’ beds would be 6 feet apart or separated by an imperme- able barrier, such as Plexi- glass. The remaining 12% was for providing additional transportation, since workers had to be spaced 3 feet apart inside vehicles. Hood River and Marion counties accounted for nearly one-third of the appli- cations awarded. The crops that were covered represent a vast swath of Oregon agricul- ture, including pears, cher- ries, wine grapes, hazelnuts, sweet potatoes, onions, corn, nursery stock, Christmas trees and hemp. “We feel pretty confi- dent, reaching out through (the media) and agricultural organizations, that we got to the folks who needed the program,” Loftsgaarden said. Jonathan Sandau, special assistant to ODA Director Alexis Taylor, said nobody was turned away from the program. “We were prepared, hope- fully, for whatever came at us,” Sandau said. “I think we were able to provide complete assistance.” Truck stop opens at Farewell Bend By JAYSON JACOBY Baker City Herald 37° 31° • Clackamas — 17 • Washington — 11 • Linn — 8 • Polk — 7 • Multnomah — 6 • Umatilla — 6 • Lane — 5 • Malheur — 4 • Douglas — 3 • Klamath — 3 • Jackson — 2 • Josephine — 2 • Benton — 1 • Jeff erson — 1 Blue Mountain Land Trust doubles its protected acreage WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Blue Mountain Land Trust, a local nonprofit, recently acquired a conservation easement on 6,798 acres in Oregon, doubling the agen- cy’s protected acreage across Southeastern Washington and Eastern Oregon. The Land Trust, aimed at protecting fi sh and wildlife habitat, forests, grasslands and agricultural land in the Blue Mountains by collaborating with communities and land- owners, purchased the Wheeler County ease- ment in December 2020 from Terry and Peggy Long. The now-protected acreage will provide protection and preserve the habitat for elk, mule deer, upland birds and other wildlife in the area and will reduce the threat of develop- ment that could disrupt the area’s habitat and geologic features, the Land Trust announced last week. The property is in Mitchell, adjacent to the Painted Hills National Monument, the release stated. The acquisition took more than three years. Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and Natural Resources Conservation Service are the project funders working with the Blue Mountain Land Trust, the release stated. The property contains 3.1 miles of Bear Creek, an Endangered Species Act-listed salmon, and steelhead spawning stream. Restoration efforts have been underway by the property owners, working with other partners, such as The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Wheeler Soil and Water Conser- vation District. — Walla Walla Union-Bulletin 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 ice 50s 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 70s East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 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. Copyright © 2021, EO Media Group 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low Circulation Dept. 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