NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, June 12, 2021
GOP lawmaker expelled over state Capitol breach
body armor — arrived at the
Capitol for a protest, with
the intent to illegally enter
SALEM — Republi- and presumably occupy the
can lawmakers voted with building and interrupt the
majority Democrats in the proceedings of the Oregon
Oregon House of Represen- Legislature,” Holvey said.
tatives to take the historic “Staff and legislators were
step of expelling a Repub- terrified. We can only specu-
lican member who
late what would have
happened if they
let violent, far-right
were able to get all
protesters into the
state Capitol on Dec.
the way in.”
Nearman said he
21.
Legislators said
let the protesters in
on the House floor
because he believes
this could be the
the Capitol, which
most important vote
Nearman
has been closed to
they ever cast. They
the public to protect
then proceeded Thursday, against spread of the corona-
June 10, to expel an unapol- virus, should have been open.
ogetic Rep. Mike Nearman The assault happened during
with a 59-1 vote, marking a peak of the pandemic.
the first time a member has
But even Republicans,
been expelled by the House who are often bitterly
in its 160-year history. The opposed to Democratic
only vote against the resolu- initiatives on climate change
tion for expulsion was Near- and some other bills, said
man’s own.
the crowd outside the Capi-
Rep. Paul Holvey, a tol that day was not made up
Democrat who chaired a of constituents who wanted
committee that earlier unan- to peacefully engage in the
imously recommended Near- democratic process.
man’s expulsion, reminded
Some were carrying
lawmakers of the events of guns. Some shouted false
Dec. 21, which were an eerie QAnon conspiracy theories
foreshadowing of the much about Democrats kidnapping
more serious Jan. 6 assault on babies. They carried Ameri-
the U.S. Capitol.
can flags, banners for former
“On the morning of President Donald Trump and
Dec. 21st, a couple hundred a sign calling for the arrest
protesters — some of them of Democratic Gov. Kate
heavily armed and wearing Brown. They broke windows
By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press
Andrew Selsky/The Associated Press
The Oregon House of Representatives gets set to open a session on the evening of Thursday,
June 10, 2021, to consider expelling member Rep. Mike Nearman for letting violent protest-
ers into the Oregon Capitol in December.
and assaulted journalists.
“Nobody should have
opened the door to the people
who were here that day,”
said Rep. Daniel Bonham, a
Republican and a member of
Holvey’s special committee.
The final straw for Repub-
lican House members came
on June 4, when video
emerged showing Near-
man choreographing how
Forecast for Pendleton Area
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SUNDAY
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MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
he would let protesters into
the Capitol a few days before
it actually happened. For
his fellow lawmakers, that
was proof it was a premed-
itated act, which Nearman
acknowledged. All 22 of
his fellow House Republi-
cans wrote him on June 7,
strongly recommending he
resign.
As lawmakers gathered to
Mandatory minimum prison sentences
won’t change this legislative session
By CONRAD WILSON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Pleasant with
clouds and sun
Sunshine and
patchy clouds
Sunshine and
patchy clouds
Not as warm;
breezy in the p.m.
Pleasant with
plenty of sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
83° 60°
90° 58°
87° 57°
80° 52°
75° 48°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
86° 62°
94° 60°
90° 59°
83° 53°
80° 50°
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
72/59
72/57
80/62
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
82/62
Lewiston
76/61
86/66
Astoria
70/58
Pullman
Yakima 85/66
75/58
82/62
Portland
Hermiston
78/63
The Dalles 86/62
Salem
Corvallis
74/58
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
79/58
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
79/59
80/55
79/55
Ontario
85/58
Caldwell
Burns
74°
49°
78°
52°
104° (1934) 40° (1973)
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
76/59
Trace
Trace
0.27"
1.70"
1.43"
5.38"
WINDS (in mph)
81/56
78/51
0.00"
Trace
0.59"
4.03"
7.93"
7.10"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 79/57
79/62
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
83/60
85/64
76°
46°
77°
51°
103° (1934) 31° (1904)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
74/56
Aberdeen
73/58
77/61
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
75/59
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
81/61
Sun.
NNE 4-8
NNW 4-8
N 6-12
NNE 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
78/49
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:05 a.m.
8:45 p.m.
6:42 a.m.
11:06 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
June 17
June 24
July 1
July 9
decide Nearman’s fate, a few
dozen people waving Amer-
ican flags and one carrying
a sign saying “I am Mike
Nearman” gathered outside
the Capitol. One repeatedly
kicked a metal door, sending
booms through a marble hall-
way of the building.
Nearman was seen on
security video opening a
door to protesters on Dec.
21 as lawmakers met in
emergency session to deal
with economic fallout from
the coronavirus pandemic.
Protesters barged into the
building, which was closed
to the public because of coro-
navirus safety protocols, got
into shoving matches with
police and sprayed officers
with bear spray.
“It’s impossible to over-
state the seriousness of the
reason we are here today,”
Holvey said during the
committee hearing. “Rep.
Nearman enabled armed,
violent protesters to enter the
Capitol, breaching the secu-
rity of the Capitol, which was
officially closed to the public,
and also endangered the
authorized staff and legisla-
tors inside the building.”
Hundreds of people
provided written testi-
mony to the House Special
Committee On December 21,
2020, which was composed
of three Democrats and three
Republicans.
Some who testified exco-
riated Nearman as a sedition-
ist. Others praised him for
letting people into the Capi-
tol, saying residents should
be allowed to attend even
though hearings are lives-
treamed on video.
Nearman also faces two
misdemeanor cr iminal
charges, and has said he will
seek a trial by jury.
SA LEM — Oregon
lawmakers won’t make any
changes to mandatory mini-
mum prison sentences this
legislative session.
“At this point, I don’t
see us being able to move
anything forward,” Sen.
Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene,
told Oregon Public Broad-
casting on Thursday, June 10.
Prozanski is the chief
sponsor of Senate Bill 401,
which would have made
sentences for Measure 11
crimes other than murder
presumptive, rather than
mandatory, granting judges
more discretion.
The bill is currently in
the Senate Rules Commit-
tee, where Prozanski said he
expects it to stay.
Voters passed Measure
11 in 1994, setting a stat-
utory floor for how long a
person must spend in prison
for certain convictions, such
as murder, assault, rape and
robbery. Making changes
to Measure 11 requires a
two-thirds vote in the Legis-
lature, meaning Prozanski
would’ve needed to get
several Senate Republicans
on board.
Going into a legislative
session where racial equity
and law enforcement were
major themes, several bills
proposed sweeping changes
to Measure 11. As the session
progressed, however, those
bills each began to drop
potential changes.
With the legislation stalled
and time in the session
running out, Prozanski
quietly pitched a trimmed
version of the bill late last
month. Rather than scrap-
ping Measure 11 altogether,
the amended bill would have
stripped mandatory sentences
for second-degree assault
and second-degree robbery.
The charges are some of the
most common Measure 11
offenses.
The Oregon District
Attorneys Association came
out against the stripped-
back changes to Measure 11,
saying it was too late in the
session to provide guarantees
for crime victims that the bill
wouldn’t have unintended
consequences that could hurt
future victims.
“I don’t know who I’m
really supposed to be nego-
tiating with,” Prozanski said
of the Oregon District Attor-
neys Association. “There are
36 independent elected offi-
cials.”
District attorneys in
Deschutes, Multnomah and
Wasco counties supported
SB 401, and any changes to
Measure 11. Those district
attorneys have taken a more
progressive approach to the
office, and agree that aspects
of Measure 11 have dispro-
portionately affected commu-
nities of color. Prozanski
said he believes that getting
support from district attor-
neys would have helped
in lobbying Republican
lawmakers to support the bill.
The Oregon District Attor-
neys Association and some
Republican lawmakers have
said they’re open to conver-
sations after the session ends,
especially on more narrow
changes to Measure 11.
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 109° in Pecos, Texas Low 20° in Stanley, Idaho
IN BRIEF
USDA funding available
for drought-stricken states
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
PORTLAND — As drought conditions
deepen across the West, farmers and ranch-
ers in four states can apply for $41.8 million
in federal aid to preserve the health of their
working lands.
Funding is available in Oregon, Califor-
nia, Colorado and Arizona through the USDA
Environmental Quality Incentives Program,
which helps producers pay for conservation
projects to protect natural resources and
improve drought resilience.
Applications are due July 12.
EQIP is the agency’s flagship conserva-
tion program, administered by the Natural
Resources Conservation Service. Projects
may include air and water quality, soil health,
protecting wildlife habitat and wildfire
prevention and recovery.
The $41.8 million in targeted funding
will be offered through Conservation Incen-
tive Contracts, a new EQIP option created in
the 2018 Farm Bill to address high-priority
conservation and natural resources concerns
— including drought.
Contracts run from 5 to 10 years, with
producers sharing the cost to implement
conservation practices, such as forest stand
improvement, brush management, prescribed
grazing, pasture and hay planting, livestock
watering systems and cover crops.
NRCS announced it is setting aside $11.8
million directly for drought mitigation.
While the contracts are only available
now in a few select states, NRCS says it will
roll out the program nationwide in fiscal
year 2022.
— EO Media Group
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