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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Merkley: ‘We need to provide a lot of support for rural housing’
microwave relays, which
unlike satellites, can carry
a much higher bandwidth at
lower cost.”
He also touched on the
growing housing crisis and
how it impacts rural Orego-
nians who are getting priced
out of the real estate market,
or are facing homelessness
as rents and real estate prices
continue to increase. Those
real estate changes have also
hurt the economy as busi-
nesses struggle to attract
workers in areas where hous-
ing costs have far outpaced
wages.
“Almost every commu-
nity is wrestling with many
aspects of housing. From
housing homeless individ-
uals to services related to
some kind of addiction or to
mental health, or the fact that
it’s getting too expensive for
middle-class Americans to
buy homes, or there’s just no
homes built,” Merkley said.
“There’s no easy solution.
We need to provide a lot of
support for rural housing.”
Continued from Page A1
the state that were hit hard
by the Bootleg Fire. Still, it’s
a matter of when, not if, a
fire breaks out and threatens
Eastern Oregon’s landscape.
“It is essential to recog-
nize that with the drought,
the warmer temperatures
and the longer season that
we’re going to see a lot of
problems, and we need to
prepare wherever we can,”
Merkley said. “Particularly
we need to focus on areas
close to towns because if that
forest is treated, maybe we
can stop the fire before it gets
to a town or city.”
Of those options, Merkley
said he was working toward
training National Guard
members to assist fire chiefs,
as well as fighting for better
pay for fire teams to combat
high turnover. Merkley also
said that his team was trying
to see if “fire teams can be
hired to do forest manage-
ment work when they’re not
fighting fires so they can
have year-round work.”
Closely related to the
fire season is the ongoing
drought. The senator said
that the irrigation district’s
top goal has been to improve
the efficiency of their distri-
bution systems across
Oregon.
“I have worked to get
about $130 million in
Oregon for piping for irri-
gation systems,” Merkley
said. “Obviously, the task of
piping is much larger than
that, but that is still a huge
effort of an unusual possi-
Mike McMillan/U. S. Forest Service
The sun sets in the summer of 2021 over a stand of burned trees from the Bootleg Fire in the Fremont-Winema National For-
est. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley in March 2021 spoke about the need to address forest resiliency and management in Eastern
Oregon, and has announced a $1.8 million grant project for precommercial thinning, fuels reduction, prescribed burning and
mowing to reduce wildfire risk.
bility for that much funding
to help irrigation districts.
(We’ve) really been focused
on that program.”
Merkley also said that he
was looking into agricul-
tural research related to how
to grow crops that are better
in drier environments.
“The ag r icult u ral
research station is doing a
lot more work on how to
conserve water in La Grande
for our dry wheat farming,
and what versions of wheat
will do better in drier condi-
tions,” he said.
Access to internet
and housing
Among those infrastruc-
ture projects are increased
access to broadband inter-
net in rural areas that have
relied on satellite internet
connections. An increas-
ing number of companies
are installing fiber-optic
cables, but those solutions
can be expensive and have a
low return on investment for
network providers if they lay
a line to rural areas outside of
a municipality. A proposed
solution, Merkley said, could
be in newly developed micro-
wave repeater networks and
technology that keeps infor-
mation signals terrestrial.
“Laying fiber becomes
too expensive for just a
couple of houses,” Merkley
said. “Many counties are
designing their system using
Build Back Better
Noting the omnibus infra-
structure spending plan
approved by the Senate, the
Build Back Better act, Merk-
ley said he is fighting to get
projects approved in rural
areas of the state.
“The question is how many
applications can we get in,” he
said. “I’m going to fight to get
those applications funded,
and we’re hoping there will
be projects throughout rural
Oregon as a result of the infra-
structure bill.”
Fire:
Continued from Page A1
Greg Lehman/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
The afternoon Alaska Airlines flight sits outside the Walla
Walla Regional Airport on Friday, April 1, 2022.
Airport:
have positioned ourselves to
accommodate larger aircraft
so the transition will be seam-
Continued from Page A1
less.”
One element of the master
It will also offer Wi-Fi and plan will be remodeling the
inflight streaming of movies terminal area and enlarg-
ing the holding area where
and television shows.
The new jets will be faster, passengers wait for boarding.
20,000 pounds heavier and Offices will also be remod-
will continue to serve the eled.
Some areas in the termi-
same flight destinations
as the Q-400 as a regional nal will be expanded and
carrier.
will have glass walls to
The E-175 is produced better accommodate Trans-
by the Brazilian aerospace portation Security Adminis-
manufacturer Embraer and tration. More room will also
started commercial flights in be needed for large screening
tools used by TSA to check
2005.
Designed for short to passengers.
mid-range flights, the E-175
“This is part of the stan-
has a cruising speed of 495 dards the FAA has set for
mph with a flight
every airport, not
range of 1,800 miles.
just ours,” Skoglund
It can climb to 41,000
said. “The new
feet and is 104 feet in
design will help with
length with a 94-foot
better social distanc-
wingspan.
ing, expand a larger
By comparison,
seating and waiting
the Q-400 has a
area and keep us in
shorter range of 1,114
Skoglund
compliance with the
miles, a lower cruis-
FAA.”
ing altitude of 25,000 feet and
The standards set by the
a cruising speed of 400 mph, federal agency are designed
almost 100 mph slower than to help slow the spread of
the E-175.
COVID-19, among other
The E-175 will get passen- concerns.
gers to and from their desti-
The terminal remodel
nations faster and more project cost is estimated at
efficiently, the company said. $4 million, with nearly half
Part of that efficiency comes of those funds coming from
from the wingtip design that federal coronavirus aid.
improves fuel economy and
Skoglund estimates that
reduces carbon emissions the remodeling could be
by over 6%, Alaska Air has completed by the end of 2022
stated.
but most likely will be into
2023 if not longer.
Terminal remodeling early
The time frame for the
The aircraft fleet change transition from the Q-400
to the Embraer 175 is part of to the E-175 is not set, but
the airport’s larger master Skoglund thinks a mid- to
plan, according to a statement late-2023 launch is possible.
from the Port of Walla Walla.
“We are moving forward
Airport Manager Jenni- on the engineering design
fer Skoglund says the master process for the terminal,”
plan has been preparing the she said. “It is still in the very
airport to accommodate this beginning stages, so there is
type of aircraft, and they will not a lot of information yet.
be remodeling the facilities We are just getting going on
and making infrastructure it.”
When asked about the
improvements before the
switch.
revolving door entrance
“We have been upgrading into the terminal, Skoglund
our pavement and runways to said she is certain it will be
meet current (Federal Avia- upgraded too.
tion Administration) stan-
“The revolving door will
dards,” Skoglund said. “We most likely be removed.”
“In the past five years,
Oregon OSHA has conducted
four inspections of this site,
two of which resulted in cita-
tions. One of the citations
followed an accident investi-
gation,” Corvin said.
In one of the cases, he said,
the employer initially filed an
appeal of the citation but then
later withdrew the appeal.
Missing safety meetings
were among the causes for
citation.
Complaints of
safety problems
Dean said he brought up
major safety hazards to the
directors of the company
while working at Shearer’s.
“I couldn’t get anywhere
with management,” he said.
“They were spending millions
on production and innovation,
but they were spending noth-
ing on the safety department.
Whereas they had an astro-
nomical production budget,
we had roughly just enough
to pay for personal protection
equipment.”
Dean described his
employment as “working
from nothing” and “build-
ing a grassroots program
when there was nothing to
work with.” He said he quit
out of frustration. An “agent
of change in the industry,” he
said he has long worked to
fix safety issues at different
companies. After working
with Shearer’s, he felt he could
not improve safety, as he could
Uber:
Continued from Page A1
drivers weren’t happy with
the deal, staff prepared to
have the city council vote on
the issue at the April 5 meet-
ing.
But sometime before the
meeting, Uber contacted
the city to let staff know it
objected to the proposed ordi-
nance.
“They are not open to
the possibility of working or
operating their business on
a limited-hours basis,” she
said. “I think it’s something
they just don’t do. We’re not
a big enough component that
they would consider doing it
for us.”
Kerns said she wanted to
write a new ordinance with
Uber’s input and was confi-
dent she could negotiate with
the corporation herself, but
wanted guidance from the
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Equipment was in place Monday, April 4, 2022, to remove sections of debris from the de-
stroyed Shearer’s Foods plant in Hermiston.
not encourage management to
prioritize safety.
“It was a direct problem
of management, in my opin-
ion,” Dean said, “in how they
viewed and prioritized and
felt toward the safety of the
employees at the plant.”
He said he repeatedly
brought up safety concerns
to senior management, but to
no avail. Not only did manag-
ers fail to make changes, they
dismissed his recommenda-
tions entirely.
“Their direct, verbatim,
response to me when I raised
these safety concerns was to
‘calm my tits; they’ve been
doing this for 40 years.’ That’s
the phrase they used,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dean said, the
company was neglecting envi-
ronmental regulations, too.
The one thing he said he
was able to do was to create an
active evacuation plan, some-
thing the company lacked
prior to his employment. He
said he also organized evacu-
ation drills.
“It was difficult to do,
because it affected produc-
tion,” he said.
He added there were addi-
tional concerns, especially
when it came to the treatment
of workers.
“They’d work people till
they couldn’t work anymore,”
he said. This was a safety
concern, he said, because
exhausted workers would
intentionally break lock-
out-tagout safety rules.
Having broken these rules,
management would punish
them with three-day suspen-
sions.
“It was motivation for them
to take their breaks,” Dean
stated.
He said his co-workers
would regularly point out their
own infractions, just to be sent
home for rest or to attend a
funeral or some other neces-
sary event.
council first. She added the
new ordinance would allow
Uber, and other ride-hail
services including Lyft, to
operate in the city 24-hours
per day as a part of a pilot
program.
Mayor John Tur ner
recounted the stakes of the
issue. While Elite may hold
the status as the only taxi
service in town, it also fills a
crucial role in the city’s public
transportation services, hold-
ing a contract to operate trans-
portation programs for senior,
disabled and low-income
residents. The pilot program
would allow the city to study
whether Elite could coexist
with ride-hails and generate
enough revenue to continue
fulfilling its contractual obli-
gation to the city.
“Right now, Uber has no
responsibilities to the city,”
Turner said. “But Elite Taxi
does.”
There was no public hear-
ing attached to the coun-
cil discussion, but audience
members used the public
comment section of the meet-
ing to voice their views on
the issue. Some speakers said
they used the city’s taxi ticket
program, which was inte-
gral for them to get to medi-
cal appointments, Others
connected to the local tour-
ism industry said Pendleton
should allow Uber and other
ride-hailing services because
visitors increasingly expected
them.
Kerns said she expected to
introduce the new ordinance at
the city council’s next meeting
on April 19. She also intended
to request the council hold a
first reading and public hear-
ing on the same night, allow-
ing the council to pass the
ordinance immediately.
The council requested
Kerns set the length of the
trial period at five months,
which would extend the pilot
program past the Round-Up.
While the council took no
action, it did vote on several
other issues.
• The council unanimously
voted to raise water rates,
sewer rates and the street util-
ity fee by 3.3%. Public Works
Director Bob Patterson said
the utility rates and fees are
usually tied to a price index,
but the high rate of inflation
meant if the council didn’t take
action, the rates were set to
rise by 6.7%. A couple of resi-
dents spoke against the rate
increase, arguing that Pendle-
ton’s utility rates already were
too high and didn’t compare
favorably with other commu-
nities in the region.
• The council also unan-
imously agreed to spend
$33,442 to expand the water
line to the future Pendleton
Children’s Center, 510 S.W.
10th St. The move will allow
the nonprofit child care center
to install fire suppression
sprinklers at the old Pendle-
ton senior center ahead of its
planned opening in the fall.
Answers forthcoming
Goff, while working on the
site for the fire district, said
investigators should be able
to remove the roof from an
area they wish to study soon,
barring weather delays. Then,
they should be able to have
answers for the explosion by
late this week, he said.