PANTHERS UPSET PROSPECTORS BY 3 POINTS The PAGE A13 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , J aNuary 3, 2018 • N o . 1 • 18 P ages • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com The first phases of construction are planned at John Day’s Innovation Gateway in 2018. Eagle file photo John Day expects progress on projects in 2018 “ This next year is all about execution.” Nick Green John Day city manager Nick Green Construction planned this year By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle he city of John Day has six capital proj- ects on the books with investment hori- zons ranging from 20 years to more than a century, City Manager Nick Green told the city council. But he doesn’t expect to see more big capital projects in the immediate fu- ture. “This next year is all about execution,” he said. To present these capital projects to the residents of John Day and Grant County, Green plans to de- liver a state of the city address early in the year fol- lowed by less formal town hall meetings at multiple venues through June. He also wants to create a Community Advisory Committee and a Technical Advisory Committee to provide public input and assistance in the planning process for these projects. The first committee would be well rounded, with no special requirements and representative of all perspectives, Green said — including the young, el- derly, business and education sectors. They would pass on ideas to the second committee, which would include people who are more detail-minded and have professional expertise, he said. See PROJECTS, Page A9 T 12 new laws to keep in Voter primer on mind for the new year Ballot Measure 101 By Claire Withycombe By Jade McDowell Capital Bureau EO Media Group You can now pump your own gas 24 hours a day — one of many laws that changed with the new year. Thanks to one of more than 850 laws passed during the 2017 Oregon legislative ses- sion, fuel stations in counties east of Portland with fewer than 40,000 residents can allow self-service fueling 24 hours a day. A few other interesting laws to keep in mind that took effect this year: • Drivers must change lanes or slow down when passing EO file Photo Oregon voters became the fifth state in the nation to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 years old. any vehicle with flashing haz- ard lights, flares or other signs of distress parked along the side of road not in a designat- ed parking space. The previous law only required drivers to move over for emergency ve- hicles and tow trucks. Now, if there are more than two lanes going in the same direction, the driver must change lanes away from the stopped vehicle. If there is only one lane in each direction the driver must slow down to at least five mph under the posted speed limit instead. • One of the most contro- versial bills of the 2017 ses- sion, which allows a judge to order someone to give up their firearms, kicked in on Jan. 1. If a family member or police officer presents the court with convincing evidence that a per- son “presents a risk in the near future, including an imminent risk, of suicide or of causing physical injury to another per- son” a judge can issue an or- der of protection banning the person from possessing deadly weapons for one year. • Oregonians under the age of 21 can no longer purchase any tobacco products. The state became the fifth in the nation to raise the smoking age to 21 this summer. • The voting age in the Unit- ed States remains at 18, but See LAWS, Page A9 On Jan. 23, Oregon voters will have a chance to weigh in on Measure 101, help- ing decide how the state pays for its Med- icaid program. President Trump noted earlier this year that “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated” and this measure, which deals with insurance premiums, managed care organizations and federal- ly regulated hospital taxes, is not an easy read. Here are the basics: • When do I need to understand this? Ballots will be mailed to voters be- tween Jan. 3 and Jan. 9, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Ballots must be received by elections officials by 8 p.m. Jan. 23. • Why is this on the ballot? This sum- mer, Democrats in the Oregon Legislature pushed through a bill providing temporary funding for the state’s Medicaid system. Three Republican lawmakers — State Reps. Julie Parrish, of West Linn; Cedric Hayden, of Roseburg; and Sal Esquivel, of Medford, decided they wanted to refer parts of the law to voters. They led a pe- tition campaign to gather signatures and are now urging voters to vote “no” on the measure, which would repeal those parts of the state’s Medicaid law. • Remind me, what’s Medicaid? Medicaid is a government health care coverage program for the poor and other qualifying groups. Oregonians earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty lev- el ($16,100 for an individual; $32,900 for a family of four) are eligible for the pro- gram. In Oregon, the Medicaid program is known as the Oregon Health Plan and covers about 1 million people, including 400,000 kids. • How is the Oregon Health Plan fi- nanced? Both the state and the federal government pay for it with public funds, but the federal government picks up most of the tab. Plus, hospitals, insurers and coordinated care organizations all pay taxes — described in the measure as “as- sessments” — to the state. Oregon uses that money to get matching funding from the federal government. • How much do hospitals pay? Hos- pitals pay a 5.3 percent assessment on net revenues, which, once matched by the feds, is returned to them as a group and redistributed. Under the state law passed earlier this year, they also pay a 0.7 per- cent assessment on net revenues that is not returned to them, but put into a state fund for health care. • What does a “yes” vote mean? A “yes” vote means you want the state to impose and keep the nonrefundable 0.7 percent assessment on hospitals, as well as assessments on insurers, the Public Employees Benefits Board and coordi- nated care organizations — regional net- works of OHP providers. • What does a “no” vote mean? A “no” vote means you wish to repeal the nonrefundable 0.7 percent assessment, See MEASURE, Page A9 ACCESS TODAY! 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