THE WEST
THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A5
Deaths tied to Northwest’s
unprecedented heat wave
■ Officials say about a dozen deaths in Oregon, Washington linked to hot weather
By Nicholas K. Geranios
and Andrew Selsky
Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. — About
a dozen deaths in Washington
and Oregon may be tied to
an intense heat wave that
brought scorching tempera-
tures to the Northwest and
caused one power utility to
impose rolling blackouts amid
heavy demand.
The dangerous weather
that gave Seattle and Portland
consecutive days of record high
temperatures exceeding 100
degrees Fahrenheit eased in
those cities on Tuesday, June
29. But inland Spokane, towns
in Eastern Oregon and cities
in Idaho saw temperatures
spike.
The National Weather Ser-
vice said the mercury reached
109 on Tuesday in Spokane —
the highest temperature ever
recorded there.
About 9,300 Avista Utilities
customers in Spokane lost
power on Monday and the
company said more planned
blackouts began on Tuesday
afternoon in the city of about
220,000 people.
“We try to limit outages
to one hour per customer,”
said Heather Rosentrater,
an Avista vice president for
energy delivery.
She said about 2,400 cus-
tomers were without power as
of shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday,
mostly on the north side of
the city, and those customers
had been alerted about the
planned outage. About 21,000
customers were warned Tues-
day morning that they might
experience an outage, she said.
Rosentrater said the outag-
es were a distribution problem,
and did not stem from a lack of
electricity in the system.
Meanwhile, authorities said
multiple recent deaths in the
region were possibly related to
the scorching weather.
The King County Medical
Examiner’s offi ce said two
people died due to hyperther-
mia, meaning their bodies had
became dangerously overheat-
ed. The Seattle Times reported
they were a 65-year-old Seattle
woman and a 68-year-old
Mark Graves/The Oregonian
As a heat wave cooked Portland on Friday, June 25, 2021, people took to the Willa-
mette River for relief.
“Anybody ever believe you’d turn on the news and
see it’s 116 degrees in Portland, Oregon? But don’t
worry — there is no global warming because it’s just
a fi gment of our imaginations.”
— President Joe Biden
Enumclaw, Washington,
woman.
And the Snohomish County
Medical Examiner’s Offi ce on
Tuesday told the Daily Herald
in Everett, Washington, that
three men — ages 51, 75 and
77 — died after experiencing
heat stroke in their homes.
They were from Everett,
Granite Falls and Marysville
in Washington.
The heat may have claimed
the life of a worker on a
nursery in Oregon, the state’s
worker safety agency, known
as Oregon OSHA, said on
Tuesday.
The man who died was from
Guatemala and had apparent-
ly arrived in the United States
only a few months ago, said
Andres Pablo Lucas, owner of
Brother Farm Labor Contrac-
tor that provided workers for
the nursery, including the man
who died.
The man, whose name
was not disclosed, died at
Ernst Nursery and Farms, a
wholesale supplier in St. Paul,
20 miles north of Salem, on
Saturday amid sweltering
temperatures. An Oregon
OSHA database listed the
death as heat-related.
“The employee was working
on a crew moving irrigation
lines. At the end of the shift he
was found unresponsive in the
fi eld,” said agency spokesman
Aaron Corvin.
Speaking in Spanish, Pablo
Lucas said when workers
gathered together shortly after
noon Saturday, they noticed
one of them was missing. They
began searching and found
his body. Pablo Lucas said he
didn’t remember the man’s
name.
Pablo Lucas said the labor-
ers often have the option to
start working near sunrise
when it is cooler and can stop
around midday, but some want
to stay regardless of the heat.
“The people want to work, to
fi ght to succeed,” he said. “For
that reason, they stay.”
Offi cials in Bremerton,
Washington, said heat may
have contributed to four
deaths in that Puget Sound
city. But Vince Hlavaty,
Bremerton’s medical offi cer,
told the Kitsap Sun that fi re-
fi ghters cannot say defi nitively
whether the heat was the
cause of death.
In Bend, Oregon, authori-
ties said the deaths of two
homeless people in extreme
heat may have been weather-
related.
The United Farm Workers
urged Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee to immediately issue
emergency heat standards
protecting all farm and other
outdoor workers in the state
with a strong agricultural
sector.
Several cities in Idaho also
topped 100 on Tuesday with
the hottest spot in Lewis-
ton where the temperature
reached 115.
President Joe Biden, during
an infrastructure speech in
Wisconsin, took note of the
Northwest as he spoke about
the need to be prepared for
extreme weather.
“Anybody ever believe you’d
turn on the news and see
it’s 116 degrees in Portland,
Oregon? 116 degrees,” the
president said, working in a dig
at those who cast doubt on the
reality of climate change. “But
don’t worry -- there is no global
warming because it’s just a fi g-
ment of our imaginations.”
The heat wave was caused
by what meteorologists de-
scribed as a dome of high pres-
sure over the Northwest and
worsened by human-caused
climate change, which is
making such extreme weather
events more likely and more
intense.
CHAMPIONS
Continued from Page A6
Stadler won the 100 backstroke her freshman year
in 2019, and the 100 butterfl y as a sophomore in 2020.
Though facing a smaller pool of talent this year with
just members of the 4A conference (state swim meets
normally consist of 1A-4A competitors), Stadler went
into the state meet with no expectations.
“This was the fi rst meet that times actually would
count for USA Swimming and for colleges because the
other ones for high school weren’t actually sanctioned, I
was just kind of wanting to see where I was at,” Stadler
said.
After competing with her teammates in the 200
medley relay, fi nishing fi fth alongside graduates
Salena Bott, Avril Zickgraf and her fellow incoming
seniors Caitlin Lien and Sydney Lamb, Stadler moved
onto her next event, the 200 individual medley.
Going back and forth with senior Malia Hewitt of
Sweet Home, Stadler touched the wall four-tenths of a
second ahead.
“I almost lost that one,” Stadler said. “There was this
girl (Hewitt) that raced it last year, and she ended up
with a faster time last year than my PR’s. I was ahead
of her in the butterfl y and the backstroke, but I am not
really good at the breaststroke so she passed me on
that. She was really good and it was a really close race
at the end,” Stadler said.
Excited about her victory, Moe saw Stadler go into
a brief moment of bliss, but immediately composed
herself to cheer on the others.
“She is a really shy person, she never brags on
herself, so you can see herself super happy, jumping up
and down, but when she got back to the table, she got
super quiet about it,” Moe said.
Stadler knows how much each swimmer at the state
meet has sacrifi ced in the water to be successful.
“That one (200 individual medley) was really excit-
ing for me because I wasn’t expecting to (win), but I
also try to be respectful of the other athletes because
I don’t want to be overly excited when someone else
might have not had the best swim,” Stadler said.
Stadler returned to the pool to compete in the 100
butterfl y — the same event she won in the 2020 state
meet.
She maintained a sizeable lead for much of the race,
winning by nearly two seconds over runner-up Layla
Bretz of Newport.
“I was actually pretty far ahead, by the fi rst wall I
was either in fi rst or really close to fi rst,” Stadler said.
After winning a single event in her fi rst two trips to
the state meet, Stadler had doubled her title total.
But she said this year felt different, in part because
the experience wasn’t new.
“Freshman year that was like my big, big one be-
cause I won the state record that year in our division,
so that one was defi nitely more exciting,” Stadler said.
“I was happy but I was just mostly happy with my
times, because place wise it wasn’t as competitive (due
to not competing against opponents from 1A-3A confer-
ences).”
“I was really not expecting to PR because we haven’t
been swimming as much, and our season was a lot
shorter, but I defi nitely did better than I thought I was
going to, ” she said.
Now with one year left swimming for Baker,
Stadler’s main focus is improving her times as she
works toward a goal of continuing her swimming
career in college.
“I don’t know exactly where I want to go (to college),
I have been looking at a lot of the higher up D1 schools,
but I need to have just a touch faster of times, which I
think I can do by next year hopefully,” she said.
Stadler said she was proud of her teammates’ perfor-
mances at the state meet as well.
Attorney for Grant County deputy, paid at least $117,000 while on
leave for investigation, threatens to sue to keep records secret
Department of Justice and Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Offi ce.
JOHN DAY — An attorney for
DOJ offi cials determined through
the jail deputy recorded having
dozens of recorded jail calls that
sexual phone conversations with an
Mobley was having sexual conversa-
inmate said there was no public in-
tions with former jail inmate Dar-
terest in the matter and threatened
ren Mortimore but concluded there
to sue the county if records related
was not “a reasonable likelihood of
to the investigation are released.
proving beyond a reasonable doubt
Dan Thenell, general counsel for
that Ms. Mobley committed the
the Fraternal Order of Police union,
crime of custodial sexual miscon-
argued his clients, former deputy
duct.”
Abigail Mobley and her husband
Thenell said at the hearing that
the undersheriff, had been “vilifi ed”
the inmate was an intelligent
based on “false accusations.” He
predator seeking out and abusing
made the statements at a name
vulnerable women, including an-
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle other former female sheriff’s offi ce
clearing hearing June 23 offered by
the Grant County Court, which has Attorney Dan Thenell, left, and Grant County Undersheriff Zach Mob- employee.
indicated it plans to release records ley at a name clearing hearing June 23.
He said Mobley had taken
related to the case.
responsibility for her actions. He
“(Mobley) has been the victim of
would have no choice but to pursue disclosure, or the public body (in this said she completed a diversion for
a vicious campaign to defame her,” a legal remedy. (False light is a tort case, the county court) determines
a driving under the infl uence of
Thenell said.
for which a lawsuit could be fi led.)
that nondisclosure of the informa-
intoxicants charge and completed
Thenell said there was no public
Personnel discipline actions are
tion would adversely affect the
inpatient treatment for alcoholism.
interest in the records because
conditionally exempt from disclo-
confi dence of that body.
“She was using alcohol to cope
Mobley resigned from her position
sure under Oregon law — unless
Mobley spent 21 months on
with the pressures of the job,” he
at the sheriff’s offi ce and the only
the public interest requires dis-
administrative leave from March
said.
reason to release them would be to closure in the particular instance.
2019 until she resigned in Decem-
Thenell said Umatilla County’s
hurt her.
Personnel investigations of public
ber 2020, costing county taxpayers investigation concluded that Mobley
He said, if the county releases the safety employees that do not result between $117,500 and $149,000,
violated the terms of her employ-
records as planned, it would present in discipline may not be disclosed — amid investigations by Deschutes
ment but found no evidence of
his client in a false light, and he
unless the public interest requires
County Sheriff’s Offi ce, the Oregon sexual contact or theft of drugs
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
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from the evidence locker, which had
been alleged by former deputy Tyler
Smith. (The Eagle has not been able
to verify this because those records
have not yet been released.)
Thenell said most of the “false in-
formation” related to the case came
from Smith and his girlfriend Haley
Olson, each of whom has a federal
lawsuit pending against the county.
Mobley did not speak at the
hearing. After Thenell read
prepared remarks, Grant County
counsel Dominic Carollo asked
why he opposed the disclosure of
the records if they confi rm every-
thing he says.
Thenell said the information was
“personal” and “embarrassing” and
related to Mobley’s “demons.”
After the hearing, Carollo told
the Eagle he could not yet release
the records because Mobley has a
pending temporary restraining or-
der fi led in circuit court to prevent
the release of the records. That
lawsuit had been on hold, pending
the name clearing hearing.
“We don’t think their lawsuit
has merit,” Carollo said but added
the county has to balance the legal
issues.
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