OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, January 29, 2022
East Oregonian
A9
ODOT:
closures put up, I told my crew
that we were going to get off
of that section of road.”
Continued from Page A1
Follow road closures to
stay safe
tor for ODOT in Pendleton,
was responding to a stuck
snowplow in the area when
she came across Miller and
gave him a ride home to
Milton-Freewater.
“I was real surprised when
she said, ‘Oh, you know it’s
closed,’” he said.
The next morning, snow
had buried Miller’s car to its
roofl ine.
“It was buried for four
days and we couldn’t fi nd it,”
Miller said.
Conditions among
worst in 28 years
While Miller returned
a week later to dig out his
belongings from the car, it
was not until Wednesday,
Jan. 26, that he was able to
free his vehicle. Miller said
he spent several days digging
and received some help from
passing motorists as he tried
to free the car in the weeks
since.
“I hate even thinking about
what we would’ve found the
following day had she not
gotten to that car,” said Robert
Cash, ODOT transportation
maintenance manager in
Pendleton.
Berheim, said road condi-
tions the night of Jan. 2-3,
were among the worst she had
seen in her 28 years with the
department. High winds and
heavy snowfall resulted in
snow drifts several feet high
and obscured visibility.
“It was almost the whole
length of Highway 11,” she
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A road closed sign on Jan. 3, 2022, blocks access to Spring Hollow Road at its intersection with Highway 11 in Adams.
said. “I’ve seen it probably
that bad around the Athena
area, but I’ve never seen it go
from one end to the other.”
According to Tom Strand-
berg, ODOT Region 5 public
information officer, the
department reported more
than 20 abandoned or stuck
vehicles and tow trucks were
brought in the following day
to help clear the road so snow
removal could resume.
“We were worried sick
about what we would fi nd the
following day with all of those
vehicles that weren’t follow-
ing the road closure,” Cash
said.
Cash said the high wind
speeds meant plow operators
were forced to plow into the
wind, putting them against
the road’s direction of travel.
He added this practice is
usually not a problem when
tion with the paltry experi-
ence required to become a
licensed paralegal.
“Looking at the admis-
sions framework recom-
mendations, a paralegal
would only need 500 hours
of experience working in
the family law arena to
become a licensed parapro-
fessional in family law,” Jo
Posey, a family law special-
ist in Portland with Posey
Law Inc., said in a public
hearing regarding the para-
legal program. “That is the
equivalent of just over three
months of full-time work at
a family law fi rm, and it is
simply not enough time for a
paralegal to gain the knowl-
edge and skill required to
evaluate the scope of poten-
tial family law represen-
tation, let alone to provide
eff ective legal advice.”
Shortages of attorneys
long have plagued rural
areas. Harris said that is a
gap paralegals also can help
cover.
“I think especially in
rural areas,” he said, “this is
going to be a real benefi t.”
the roads are closed, but the
number of people ignoring the
closure meant plows would
have to stop and back up to
allow for oncoming traffi c.
“Generally speaking in
the evenings and wee hours
of the night we don’t have a lot
of traffi c and most of the traf-
fi c we do have is locals who
understand the closures —
that night it just seemed like
we had a nonstop parade of
vehicles,” Cash said.
The road closure, which
began at roughly 4:45 p.m.
and lasted 24 hours, came
about as high winds and
heavy snowfall made it too
dangerous for ODOT employ-
ees to maintain the road to
safe conditions, according to
the department.
“We closed the highway
and started putting signs out,”
Cash said. “Once we got the
Cash urged people to obey
road closure signs where
posted and check tripcheck.
com frequently when inclem-
ent weather arrives.
While ODOT was strug-
gling with staffing short-
ages heading into the winter
months, Cash said more
people would not necessarily
have helped reopen the high-
way any quicker, but rather
equipment limitations were a
more prominent concern.
“Our resources are so
thin,” he said. “We have 450
lane miles to take care of with
fi ve snowplows.”
In addition to plow
concerns, Cash said the
depth of some of the snow-
drifts necessitated bringing
in snowblowers from Elgin,
Meacham and Bend to help
clear the highway completely.
“Just being able to get
enough equipment in to open
up the highway as quick as
possible was a challenge,” he
said. “That all took time.”
ODOT encouraged driv-
ers to be cognizant of road
conditions and be prepared for
inclement weather when trav-
eling in the winter months.
Berheim advised drivers
thinking of going past road
closures to think about the
consequences of their actions
on their safety and the safety
of those working.
“They’re putting them-
selves at risk,” she said. “And
anyone who has to go retrieve
them.”
Paralegals:
Continued from Page A1
same survey found 84.2% of
people who needed a lawyer
were unable to obtain one.
Similarly, Oregon Judi-
cial Department case count
data shows between 2016
and 2021, more than 83%
of all parties in landlord/
tenant cases had no attor-
ney. In dissolution cases 71%
were unrepresented. In other
domestic relations cases 55%
were unrepresented.
“The biggest benefi t will
be in the area of family law
because that’s where the
greatest demand is,” Harris
said. “Right now, we have
so many people coming
to the courthouse who are
just doing their very best to
try and fi ll out these forms
correctly, and it just puts a
huge burden on the court-
house staff to reject a form
and tell them to go back and
do it right.”
The Bar has received
responses to the proposal
through its public comment
portal, and the general
consensus aligns with the
PSU survey data, showing a
number of residents support
the proposition and cite the
high-cost barrier of entry to
legal matters as a principal
cause.
Those who identifi ed as
lawyers, however, were a
mixed bag.
Although nearly all of the
respondents acknowledged
the dearth of services for
low income residents seek-
ing legal aid, some expressed
concern that licensed para-
legals acting as a lawyer
would be akin to a nurse
practitioner performing
surgery. Others took excep-
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