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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2022)
A4 The BulleTin • Wednesday, april 13, 2022 Carlton OREGON Continued from A1 Gas prices dip, but remain above $4 a gallon The journey from a youth in search of adventure to the “Deadliest Catch” all started in the 1970s when Carlton, who is truly a ski bum at heart, wanted to drive race cars in Europe. That’s when he caught wind of Alaska, the fishing industry, and the big payouts that come with a hefty haul. “I didn’t know anything about fishing, and I mean anything,” Carlton said. “I knew nothing.” When Carlton got his start, he was doing fac- tory work in Alaska while he searched for a job on a boat. He wound up unload- ing shrimp, and going out on king crab fishing trips. Eventually he got on to a Norwegian fishing vessel, which took him back to Seattle. After two months working on the boat in Se- attle, he took his paycheck from the Norwegians and bought a one-way ticket back to Alaska. “I had a backpack, a sleep- ing bag, a loaf of bread, and peanut butter and jelly,” Carlton said. “Because there were no restaurants. There was nowhere to stay up there at the time, and I lived on the beach for four weeks, in an abandoned barracks from World War II.” He pitched his tent in- side the barracks and used a rock and some rusty nails to hammer plastic over a win- dow that overlooked Dutch Harbor. When it got really cold, he burned things in a 55-gallon drum. Once he got back on a boat, he couldn’t get enough of the adventure, and the paychecks. While the job is lucrative, and exciting, it comes with an element of danger. Carl- ton said he and his crew fish in harsh conditions roughly 200 to 600 miles away form the nearest town. “You are working on the BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN The Oregonian Oregon’s gas prices continued to fall last week, but remained near a record high set last month. The state average on Tuesday was $4.65 per gallon for regular, a dip of about 3 cents from last week, according to AAA. Ore- gon’s prices remain well above the national average, which was at $4.09 Tuesday. That price fell 8 cents from last week. And Portland’s prices dipped 2 cents this week to $4.74, just below the all-time high of $4.79, which Oregon’s largest city reached on March 27. Oregon and the nation both hit record high gas prices on March 11, with the state peaking at $4.74, and the national price cresting at $4.33 per gallon. In Bend, the average price for a gallon of regular was $4.67, ac- cording to AAA, about 4 cents less than a week ago. The average price per gallon in Deschutes County was the same as in Bend. Crook County reported an average of $4.65, according to AAA, while in Jef- ferson County, the average was $4.46. Southern Oregon continues to see the highest gas prices in the state, with Curry County holding at about $4.91 per gallon and Jo- sephine County about 3 cents be- low. Multnomah County’s prices remain the third-highest in the state. Oregon’s gas prices remain sixth-highest in the nation, be- hind California, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington and Alaska. discovery Channel The crew of the fishing vessel Patricia Lee move pots on deck. The ship, whose captain, Rip Carlton, lives in Bend, will be featured in the new season of “Deadliest Catch.” “You are working on the ocean in the winter, right in the middle of the Bering Sea, which that in itself is dangerous,We get huge currents. We get even more wind. And where we fish around these islands is all rocky, craggy...It’s just unbelievable the weather we work in and what we do to get the job done.” — Capt. Rip Carlton ocean in the winter, right in the middle of the Bering Sea, which that in itself is dan- gerous,” Carlton said. “We get huge currents. We get even more wind. And where we fish around these islands is all rocky, craggy...It’s just unbelievable the weather we work in and what we do to get the job done.” Carlton told of one close call while out on the sea fishing. “I was driving a 165-foot boat and the wheel house was three stories up,” Carl- ton said. “And we took such a big wave, the wave came through the wheelhouse windows, came through with so much force it was like a bomb blowing up. “Then the back door got blown off the door hinges, the whole boat flooded up to the wheel house. The guys were three stories down eat- ing breakfast when it hap- pened, and they thought I was dead because the boat just blew up…,” Carlton said. “But I ducked, I saw the wave coming and I ducked down and it went right over my head through the win- dows and out the back win- dows and out the back door.” The monstrous wave knocked out most of the equipment on board, Carl- ton said. Carlton and his crew set up the plexiglass storm windows kept on board for exactly this kind of scenario. While not entirely ideal conditions, the storm windows gave Carlton a chance to check the steering and lights on the ship, which were still intact. He also fetched his emergency radio from his stateroom. The voice on the other end of the radio asked Carlton if everything was OK, and what he and his crew needed after a close call with the gi- ant wave. “Do you have any more bait?” Carlton asked over the radio. “Bait?” the voice on the other end responded in confusion. Carlton said he and his crew needed the bait to keep fishing despite almost becoming fish food them- selves. Report Continued from A1 Stakeholders said it’s the state, not the community council, that’s to blame for the holdup, with the most prolonged delay occurring after the Oregon Health Author- ity took over the grant application evaluation process. Meanwhile, the state said the unprecedented num- ber of applications require careful review. But with more than 100 staff assigned to the project over the past month, those interviewed for this story said the state should have made more progress. The delays pose challenges for 123rF many small providers that were Nearly 650,000 Oregonians aged 18 and older are estimated to struggle with ad- counting on the money to sustain diction, according to data from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ser- their services as they struggle amid vices Administration. behavioral health workforce short- ages and a statewide addiction cri- the state. designing and executing. sis. Some providers began expand- Hurst said that’s why the coun- With nearly 650,000 Oregonians ing when they received funds last cil was paired with Oregon Health aged 18 and older estimated to year, expecting that money to sus- Authority, which is experienced in struggle with addiction, the state tain that growth would be available grant making. ranked second worst for its rate of much sooner. But the health authority, Hurst substance use disorder and dead Steve Allen, OHA behavioral said, “in our view, and from watch- last in the nation for its access to health director, explained in Feb- ing this as close as we watch, it has drug and alcohol treatment, accord- ruary — when The Lund Report not staffed this council and has not ing to data from the U.S. Substance first reported on the delays and dys- given this council the tools that they Abuse and Mental Health Services function undermining Measure 110 need to be able to get through this Administration. Meanwhile, the efforts, that the program is trans- process.” rise of fentanyl across the state is formational, and thus takes thought Most recently, problems arose making addiction deadlier. Over- and time. But, he said, the goal is to when the agency repeatedly sent dose deaths in Oregon rose 41% last get money in the hands of commu- grant application evaluations back year, according to the Centers for nity providers. to council members , saying they Disease Control and Prevention, Following the initial round of were incomplete. Eventually the grants last year, Max’s Mission in compared with a nationwide in- work became too burdensome Southern Oregon attributed the re- for some of the volunteer council crease of 16%. versals of more than 100 overdoses “People are dying every day, and members, many of whom have full- to the grant funds that allowed for we just can’t wait any longer to get time jobs and other obligations. the distribution of naloxone, which this money out,” said Tera Hurst, The Oregon Health Authority reverses opioid overdose. Now, executive director of Health Justice took over the grant evaluation pro- Recovery Alliance. The alliance is a Hurst said, some providers are run- cess, assigning 138 staff members statewide coalition of social service, ning low on the life-saving drug. to the project, according to agency health care and social justice non- spokesperson Aria Seligmann. Fingers point at the state profits advocating for a timely and That was a month ago, and since Measure 110 gave people from successful implementation of Mea- then, 11 council meetings have communities harmed most by the sure 110. been canceled because evaluations war on drugs control over the law’s were not complete. Small providers struggle amid the grant program and the distribu- This has caused confusion and delays tion of the more than $300 million frustration among council mem- After Oregon’s drug decriminal- in marijuana tax dollars that flows bers, who are eager to get the funds ization law went into effect in Feb- through it every two years. The 18 to providers. ruary 2021, the volunteer Measure voting members of the Measure “A hundred (staff), and they can’t 110 Oversight and Accountability 110 Oversight and Accountabil- get them done in 30 days. That’s Council oversaw the speedy dis- ity Council include people expe- real embarrassing,” council mem- tribution of $31.4 million in initial rienced in drug and alcohol treat- ber Morgan Godvin said. “I do not grant funding. ment services, drug policy research, understand why so many meetings But for much of the past 12 advocacy and other related areas. have been canceled, and the an- months, the council has met on They are diverse and representative swers presented to us were not sat- Zoom weekly, sometimes more, to of impacted communities. Most isfactory.” create a more involved grant pro- members are in recovery from sub- There are 333 entities that ap- gram from scratch that’s designed stance use disorder themselves, plied and about 281 applications to follow through with the law’s call and many have been incarcerated. seeking more than $400 million in for coordinated treatment and re- But they lack experience operating funds, and each one needs two re- covery networks in each region of grant programs like the one they’re views. Just over half the application Situations like these are common in the fishing in- dustry, Carlton said, and the upcoming season of “Dead- liest Catch” is a chance to catch a glimpse of what goes into getting the king crab legs from the sea to the buf- fet table. “When you see the show, you won’t even believe it,” Carlton said. Carlton and his family plan to invite their friends over to their home in Bend to celebrate and watch the season premier on April 19. To keep an eye on Carlton while he’s out at see, follow him on Instagram, rip_carl- ton. █ jsiess@bendbulletin.com, 541-617-7820 evaluations still need to be com- pleted, according to data shared during the council meeting Friday morning. The many meeting cancelations and the holdup with evaluations, said the health authority’s Selig- mann, have been “due to the un- precedented number of applications received and the amount of time it has taken to evaluate each applica- tion in a deliberate, careful way to ensure the (Oversight and Account- ability Council’s) values are main- tained.” Award notices to providers in Morrow and Baker counties were expected to be sent out by the end of this week. The next counties to be voted on are Umatilla, Union, Harney, Gilliam and Grant. Polk, Klamath, Lake and Jeffer- son counties are each one review away from being completed. Port- land metro counties will be re- viewed last. ‘Ready to move forward’ As the council discussed the best pathway forward Friday morning, Godvin expressed concerns about Multnomah County applications being nowhere near completion. Allen of the OHA said the state was evaluating the largest counties, including Multnomah, last because those counties had the most appli- cations. “Could I get OHA to accept a lit- tle responsibility?” Godvin asked. “I know harm reduction and drugs. That is my wheelhouse. That is why I was appointed to the council. I don’t know grant making. That was OHA’s duty, but you did not fulfill it, and the goalpost just keeps mov- ing. And I have whiplash trying to keep up with this. But at no point, do I hear an acceptance of responsi- bility from OHA.” “I hold myself accountable,” said Allen. “In terms of lessons learned and mistakes made, we certainly have made our share of those,” he said of the agency. “After we get through this next phase, I think there’s lots of opportunity to kind of look back and take a look at lessons learned, what we as an agency could have done differently to support you better along the way.” The council ultimately voted to move forward with an option for completion that Oregon Health Au- thority estimated will get the funds out quickest. While it’s estimated money will get into the hands of providers from June to October, the timeline is not fixed. Funding Continued from A1 State campaign finance records show that Sierra Pacific began making cam- paign contributions in February with the donation to the Bring Balance Back to Salem PAC. Johnson received the second largest amount — $200,000 — on April 4. Both campaigns aim at cur- tailing Democratic control over Oregon State government. Democrats currently control the gov- ernorship, both chambers of the Leg- islature, secretary of state, treasurer, at- torney general, both U.S. senators and four of five seats in Oregon’s delegation to the U.S. House. Johnson is seeking to become the first non-Democrat elected governor since Vic Atiyeh in 1982. Bring Balance to Salem has only spent just over $15,000 so far — with $10,000 going to Hood River-based Walden Consulting. The firm was cre- ated in December 2021 by Walden and his wife, Mylene Simons-Walden, ac- cording to business records filed with the Oregon Secretary of State. The former congressman’s sister-in- law, Marta Simons, also of Hood River, is listed as the group’s treasurer. She earlier served as treasurer for Walden’s Victory Fund PAC during his time in Congress. The PAC lists its address as 25 NW 23rd Place, Suite 6 Box 133 in Portland. The address is for Postal Annex+, an out- let of the commercial maildrop chain. Sierra Pacific is moving into its third generation of family ownership. Red Emmerson’s sons George and Mark, serve as company president and chief financial officer. Emmerson’s daugh- ter, Carolyn Dietz, is president of the company’s philanthropic Sierra Pacific Foundation. The company’s PAC has also contrib- uted $15,000 to Eugene-based Commu- nity Action Network PAC, which backs conservative candidates. It’s treasurer is former Oregon Republican Party Trea- surer Dennis Morgan. Sierra Pacific also gave $2,500 each to the campaigns of Tim Freeman and Tom Kress, who are running for differ- ent seats on the nonpartisan Douglas County Commission. Eugene city coun- cil candidate Jennifer Soloman received $1,500. Last month, Sierra Pacific lost a six- year court battle over its proposed Mar- tis Valley West project on 670-acres on north Lake Tahoe in California, accord- ing to the Sierra Sun newspaper. Con- servationists had sought to block plans for a gated community that would have included 760 vacation homes, malls and new roads. █ gwarner@eomediagroup.com
