A10
OREGON
East Oregonian
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Walmart removes guns from its shelves in Oregon stores
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — It is unclear
why, but Walmart has stopped
selling guns and ammunition in
its Oregon locations.
Walmart could not be
reached for comment, but did
release a statement to KATU
news stating, “We are proud to
serve hunters and outdoorsmen
and women and will continue
to serve them with an assort-
ment that reflects our heritage of
supporting hunting and outdoor
sports.”
The retail giant stopped
selling firearms in Novem-
ber. Before that, the store had
seen some complaints against
it for refusing to sell firearms
to residents under the age of 21,
including residents in St. Helens
and Medford in 2018, who had
tried to purchase a firearm, only
to be turned away by store asso-
ciates.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor
and Industries slapped Walmart
with a fine of $5,000 after refus-
ing to sell a firearm to Hannah
Brumbles, 18, according to
reporting by The Oregonian.
After a circuit court ruled in
favor of Walmart, it was struck
down in the Oregon Court of
Appeals earlier this year, and
returned to the lower court.
Similar retail stores such
as Dick’s Sporting Goods and
Bi-Mart also implemented a
policy where they refuse to sell
firearms to residents under the
age of 21, but continue to keep
ammunition and guns for sale.
Walmart stores in Washington
and Idaho, however, continue to
sell firearms and ammunition
through their stores.
The decision for Walmart to
deny the sales of firearms and
ammunition to those under 21
came after a deadly shooting
in 2018 at Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland, Flor-
ida, which killed 17, includ-
ing 14 students and three staff
members.
It is unclear if the removal
of firearms and ammunition
at Walmart will affect sales on
local gun shops.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Walmart stopped selling firearms in November 2021. Before that, the retail giant
had some lawsuits against it for refusing to sell firearms to residents under the age
of 21, including residents of St. Helens and Medford in 2018.
Meta seeks ways to boost water
reserves in Crook County area
By MICHAEL KOHN
The Bulletin
PRINEVILLE — Crook
County is situated in one of the
driest parts of the state — it’s
one of two counties in Oregon
to be completely in the high-
est level on the U.S. Drought
Monitor. Now, one of the coun-
ty’s biggest employers is trying
to combat the drought with an
aggressive water restoration
program.
Facebook’s parent company
Meta, which operates a data
storage center on the outskirts
of Prineville, is implement-
ing two projects it says will
improve water availability in
Crook County.
The social media giant
reported the projects will help
it to achieve its water conser-
vation goals, which include
being “water positive” by 2030,
meaning it will return more
water to the environment than
it consumes at its facilities.
Meta, which also owns
Oculus, Instagram, Messen-
ger, and WhatsApp, plans to
accomplish this feat by part-
nering with environmental
groups and federal regulators
to restore degraded habitats in
Oregon and five other states. It
also is upgrading its technol-
ogies to make its data centers
more water efficient.
Aquifer recharge
key component
Technological develop-
ments in the last decade, as
well as the use of outside air for
cooling, have allowed Meta’s
data centers “to operate 80%
more water efficiently on aver-
age compared to the industry
standard,” said Melanie Roe, a
spokesperson for Meta.
“We see opportunities for
additional gains in the coming
years, particularly as our infra-
structure grows, and we’ll
need to develop water-efficient
designs for different climates,”
Roe added.
Meta is under a microscope
in the places where it operates
as its data centers use large
amounts of water to cool their
servers and maintain optimal
humidity levels. In Prineville,
data centers source their water
from the municipality.
In Prineville last year, Meta
used 117.5 million gallons of
water — enough water to fill
178 Olympic-sized swimming
pools. Meta’s use of water is
increasing. The data center, a
collection of buildings, still is
under construction and when
complete will be a 4.6 million
Gubernatorial
candidate
Drazan predicts
‘Republican year’
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Alan Brandt/Contributed Photo
A view inside Facebook’s Prineville Data Center.
square foot campus.
To counter that water
use, Meta is helping to fund
an aquifer recharge project
with the city of Prineville. A
second project is restoring the
degraded Ingram Meadow in
the Ochoco National Forest.
Meta says the aquifer
recharge project utilizes the
natural storage found under-
ground in the city to store
water during cooler, wetter
winters. A portion of the water
can be recovered during hotter
summer periods when water is
less available.
The project, which became
operational earlier this year,
works by conveying a portion
of winter stream flows in the
Crooked River to the local
groundwater supply through
injection and extraction wells.
Authorities in Prineville are
confident the work won’t leave
Prineville high and dry.
“The water management
tool allows the city to meet
peak demands by taking
advantage of the natural stor-
age space found in geologic
formations underground,” said
Eric Klann, Prineville’s city
engineer.
Klann said the project
recharged 34 million gallons of
water in 2020 and 98 million
gallons this year. Next year,
140 million gallons will be
recharged, he said.
The system is cost-effective
and resilient, said Klann, and
he sees it as a good long-term
solution for the city to manage
its water needs.
“We are committed to
continually exploring ways to
support the community’s water
needs in an environmentally
sustainable way,” he said.
Apple water project
also helps
Bruce Scanlon, manager
for Ochoco Irrigation District,
added he is not aware of
any impacts on local water
resources that can be attributed
to the data centers.
“My guess is that if we
were going to see something, it
would have become clear last
year because of the severity of
the drought,” said Scanlon.
Meta’s other project in the
area, the Ingram Meadow
Restoration Project, spans
15 acres in the headwaters of
Auger Creek, in the Ochocos
northwest of Prineville.
Logging and overgrazing
dried out most of the meadow
in the early 1900s. Meta’s goal
here is to refill the water table
and increase water availability
in the late summer months.
Meta says in addition to
improving a water source for
humans, rehabilitating Ingram
Meadow also will benefit elk,
as well as fish in the streams
and creeks downstream from
Auger Creek.
Prineville also has received
help from Apple, which has a
data center in the city. Simi-
lar to the Meta project, the
Apple-sponsored program
stores drinking water in
the airport area aquifer for
use during peak demand in
summer.
These and other conser-
vation projects have helped
Prineville keep a lid on its
water use. In 2008 the city
used 625 million gallons of
water from its Valley Floor
Aquifer. In recent years the
city’s demand has ranged from
582 million gallons in 2019 to
665 million gallons in 2020,
according to data provided by
Klann.
While Prineville residents
may be concerned about the
data center’s water use, few
in town question the positive
impact these massive facilities
have on the local economy.
Since Meta opened the data
center in 2011, the company has
invested $2 billion in the facilities
and employed hundreds of work-
ers. Prineville now boasts more
than 370 jobs in data processing,
hosting, and related services,
according to the Oregon Employ-
ment Department.
REDMOND — Surging homelessness and
excessive regulation have primed Oregon voters
for Republican leadership, according to Rep.
Christine Drazan, R-Canby.
Drazan aims to take advantage of that opportu-
nity and urged farmers to support her candidacy
for governor in what’s expected to be a crowded
Republican primary race.
“I would not get into this race if there were
not a path to victory,” Drazan said at the Oregon
Farm Bureau’s convention in Redmond on Thurs-
day, Dec. 9. “This is a Republi-
can year in the state of Oregon. It
is a Republican year across this
nation.”
The lack of an incumbent
in the race and low approval
numbers for the Biden adminis-
tration bode well for Republican
Drazan
chances, she said.
The unaffiliated campaign of
Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, also is likely
to give the Republican candidate a boost, Drazan
said. “You’re going to split even farther that part
of the vote.”
Drazan drew a clear distinction between
herself and Johnson, saying she’d be “all in” on
issues important to farmers.
In comparison, Johnson is “working on getting
you a little better on a bad deal,” said Drazan, the
House minority leader.
Her harshest criticisms were reserved for the
Democratic supermajority in the state legislature,
which Drazan said is more interested in an “exer-
tion of power” than serving Oregonians.
“There’s not going to be change without a
change in the governor’s office,” she said. “The
metro area, the I-5 corridor, think they are Oregon.
What’s good for them is good for everyone.”
When asked how she would handle state agen-
cies such as the Water Resources Department,
Drazan said she’d “clean house” by replacing
agency heads.
“That is absolutely what we need down the
line. What we have now is a state government that
is pushed by agendas,” she said. “There is going
to be a bloody Monday. You won’t make change
unless you make someone cry.”
If she became governor while Democrats still
dominated the Legislature, Drazan said she’d be a
in a position to force them to compromise.
The possibility of a Republican veto also would
help stop the “runaway train” of left-leaning bills,
she said.
“I think Oregon could use some deadlock right
now,” Drazan joked.
However, Drazan said she’s optimistic Repub-
licans also will pick up legislative seats due to
voter disaffection with the current leadership.
“Supermajorities — I don’t care who the party
is — are not good for the state,” she said.
Denver Pugh, a Linn County farmer, said he
expects Drazan to get a lot of support in the agri-
cultural community.
Pugh said he likes Johnson, who also spoke at
the convention, since “she doesn’t hide anything
and she tells it like it is.”
However, he’s leaning toward supporting
Drazan because he shares her optimism about
Republican chances in 2022.
Kotek backed for governor by group that gave Brown $800K in 2018 race
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — A group that gave
Gov. Kate Brown $800,000 in her
2018 re-election bid has endorsed
House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Port-
land, for governor in 2022.
EMILY’s List, a Washington,
D.C. based group that advocates
for progressive women candidates
to run for political office, said early
Friday, Dec. 10, that Kotek was their
candidate to succeed Brown as the
next governor.
“Tina Kotek is a proven fighter
for opportunity and justice,”
Laphonza Butler, EMILY’s List
president wrote in statement
announcing the endorsement.
EMILY’s List is a acronym
for “Early Money Is Like Yeast,”
comparing initial fundraising to
yeast that makes dough rise.
The organization was formed
in 1985 to prime the pump of
campaign donations for female
candidates running for local, state
and federal office. The founders
believe women were at a disadvan-
tage in drawing crucial early dona-
tions that can motivate other donors
to give.
EMILY’s List has grown to
five million members and raised
$700 million for successful
campaigns by 1,500 officehold-
ers across the nation. Their list of
victories include Vice President
Kamala Harris, 16 governors, 26
U.S. Senators and 159 U.S. House
members.
The endorsement cited what the
group said was Kotek’s support
for affordable housing and health
care, raising the minimum wage,
ensuring pay and benefit equity, and
championing a reduction in carbon
emissions that cause global warm-
ing.
Maya Krishna-Rogers, the
communications director for
EMILY’s List campaign efforts,
said the group does not disclose
what it plans to spend on any given
race.
2018 race raised $40M
EMILY’s List was one of the
largest backers of Brown’s 2018 race
against the Republican nominee,
former state Rep. Knute Buehler,
R-Bend. A campaign wallet war
raged, with Buehler receiving $2.5
million from Nike founder Phil
Knight. Brown was able to match
the pace in part through repeated
refilling of her coffers by EMILY’s
List, which had given $800,000 by
the November election.
Together they raised nearly
$40 million for the race, which
some political websites in late
October rated as “too close to
call” despite voters having last
elected a Republican governor
in 1982. Brown won 50.1% of
the vote, while Buehler received
43.7% and the remainder went to
minor party candidates.
The endorsement of Kotek
noted she would be the nation’s first
openly lesbian governor and a force
for progressive policies in Salem.
“Oregon will reckon with the
legacies of injustice, move past the
politics of division, and become a
better place for families to work and
live,” the EMILY’s List endorse-
ment said.
Kotek was cast as one of the
“left-wing liberal” candidates
running against “right-wing Trump
apologist” Republicans by Sen.
Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, when
she announced last month she was
planning to run as an independent
in 2022.
Buehler endorsed Johnson on
Dec. 7, saying she was the only
alternative who could break the
streak of Democratic victories made
easier by the rightward tilt of the
Republican Party that was out-of-
step with the moderate majority of
Oregon voters.
“It is vital that we break the iron
grip monopoly of the radical left on
power, politics, and policy in our
state,” Buehler said of Johnson.
Buehler’s endorsement raised the
question of whether Knight might
support Johnson in a governor’s
race where spending might blow
past the totals from 2018. Knight
has not expressed a public prefer-
ence for any candidate for governor.
Even without Knight’s millions,
Johnson had a built-in advantage in
running as an independent.