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