A8
STATE
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Lesser-known bills head to governor’s desk
Oregon Capitol Bureau
These bills might not
make headlines, but they
may make a difference to
Oregonians all the same.
Each of these bills passed
their last hurdle this week
and now head to Gov. Kate
Brown for her signature.
KEEP ON KEEPIN’
ON: In a display of possi-
bly inadvertent foresight,
the Legislature nearly
unanimously passed House
Bill 5048, which will allow
state agencies to keep oper-
ating at their current ser-
vice levels until Septem-
ber if a budget hasn’t been
approved and signed for
them by then. The Senate
approved the bill without
opposition June 17 after
it previously passed the
House with just one “nay”
vote, from Rep. E. Werner
Reschke, R-Klamath Falls.
Sen.
Bill
Hansell,
R-Athena, who carried the
bill, and his 10 Republi-
can colleagues were gone
three days later, bringing
the Senate to a standstill
and leav-
ing 2019-
2021 bud-
gets for the
Department
of Human
Services,
Gov. Kate
H i g h e r
Brown
Education
Coordinat-
ing Commission, Secretary
of State’s Office, Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality and several other
state agencies in limbo.
AFFORDABLE CARE:
Democrats and Repub-
licans don’t often find
common cause on health
care, but House Bill 3076
brought members of both
parties together. It requires
that nonprofit hospitals
offer to reduce medical
costs for patients whose
households make less
than four times the fed-
eral poverty wage level —
and waive costs for those
making double or less. It
also limits the amount of
interest that hospitals can
charge on patients’ debt.
The House re-passed the
ARE WIFI DEVICES HARMFUL TO CHILDREN? THE OREGON
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WILL REVIEW THE EVIDENCE
AND RECOMMEND WAYS THAT SCHOOLS CAN REDUCE THE
MICROWAVE RADIATION THAT STUDENTS ABSORB.
bill 45-15 on June 18 after
it was amended in the
Senate.
Proponents said com-
munity hospitals should be
offering more charity care
and argued that low-income
patients are often unable to
pay their bills. Many hos-
pitals already have finan-
cial assistance programs,
but HB 3076 would set a
minimum standard.
MAKING
WAVES:
Are wifi devices harm-
ful to children? The Ore-
gon Department of Edu-
cation will review the
evidence and recommend
ways that schools can
reduce the microwave radi-
ation that students absorb.
Senate Bill 283 passed the
House 50-8 Wednesday.
The department will report
its finding to the Legisla-
ture by January 2021. Sen.
Laurie Monnes Anderson,
D-Gresham, a retired pub-
lic health nurse, sponsored
the bill. It passed the Senate
earlier without opposition.
NO HATE: In Oregon,
crimes targeting a person
on the basis of their race,
sexual orientation, gender
identity, religion and other
demographic factors could
be punished more harshly
under Senate Bill 577,
which passed the House
unanimously on June 19.
Now, Oregon allows
someone to be charged
with intimidation for hurt-
ing or damaging the prop-
erty of a person on the
basis of their identity. Sen.
O utlook
Lew Frederick, D-Port-
land, one of three African
American state legislators
in Oregon, set out this ses-
sion to broaden the law and
make it more explicit. SB
577 adds gender identity
to the list of characteris-
tics and it renames “intim-
idation” as “bias crime.”
A single offender could be
charged with a felony for
a bias crime under Freder-
ick’s proposal. Under the
current law, multiple peo-
ple have to be involved
and working together for
the crime to constitute
intimidation. Bias crime
data will also have to be
tracked and reported to the
Oregon Criminal Justice
Commission.
ENTITLED
TO
A
TITLE: Under state law,
an automobile dealer has
to apply to the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion for a vehicle’s title on
the buyer’s behalf.
Senate Bill 113 gives
that requirement some
teeth by allowing a buyer
to sue a dealer that doesn’t
do that.
The Oregon Consumer
League
told
lawmak-
ers that buyers need pro-
tection from fraud, since
unethical car dealers some-
times sell vehicles without
obeying the state’s titling
requirements.
The House passed the
bill unanimously Thursday
after it previously cleared
the Senate 19-9 with most
Republicans opposed.
SENI R
PRAIRIE CITY – Did
you enjoy the warm day
of summer? The A/C
works just fine. But
being as how this is
Grant County, don’t get
too far away from your
Rose Coombs
warm clothes. I had to
turn on the heater at the
hall today so it would be warm enough in the pinochle corner! That’s
why ‘they’ call this the Temperate Zone. Har, har.
Carlos and Luann made the home deliveries, Drew led the flag salute
and Jack asked the blessing. The gift certificate donated by Chuck’s
Little Diner went to Alex Dabalos. Our entrée sponsor today was
Malheur Lumber Co. Thanks so much.
Tom’s centerpieces featured real cut flowers. The table going first had a
yellow blossom. My, there was quite a variety of flowers too. All of my
spring flowers are gone. Waiting on the hollyhocks for summer
blossoms. And the garden is all up – except for the carrots. Wonder why
they take twice as long to sprout…
Tom’s word for the day celebrated Father’s Day some more: “Before I
got married, I had six theories about bringing up children. Now I have
six children and no theories” – Lord Rochester. Amen to that brother!
We were most happy to have Pam Howard back at her post at the
registration desk. It has been a long spring for her and Jim. We pray that
the treatments will be successful.
Our meal today had BBQ chicken breasts and boy-o-howdy were they
ever good! To go along with them was a pasta salad, green salad, hard-
boiled eggs, a roll (which came from the BMCC – don’t think that I
have acknowledged them for doing that for us), and delicious chocolate
chip cookies. Mmmmm good. Great job, Amber and Lacy.
We were also happy to see Storey Mooser and Nancy Spence partaking
of our bounty. They survived another winter in the southland. (It’s a
tough job, but somebody had to do it, huh?) Har, har.
At the monthly hall board meeting Tuesday, we discussed the Fourth of
July parade entry. If you want to help in any way, shape or form just let
Ginger know.
Been spending time up in the attic sorting through all the collectibles,
scrapbook items and memorabilia. What fun! Came across items that I
have no memory of seeing before. Even found a photo of my
grandmother’s brother that is the spitting image of my grandson! The
thing I want to do is to get each family’s stuff in its own box. That
means a box for May, a box for Mills, a box for Dunten, a box for
Coombs and a box for Derrol and I. Everything now is scattered in
numerous boxes and suitcases and a cedar chest. Being a neatnik, that
will never do; so, upward and onward. Maybe you’ll see some items at
the senior sales corner.
Luke 21:30-31 “When [the fig trees] sprout leaves, you can see for
yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these
things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
JOHN DAY – I think my
irises are done for the
season. I wasn’t able to
water them as much as they
probably needed so I
trimmed them up instead in
hopes of them coming back
Dusty Harris
in the next couple months
or next spring. However, I
was able to actually go through my flowerbeds this weekend and get all of
the weeds out! After that I transferred some of the irises to the flowerbed
outside my gate, put up my new planter, planted the lavender bush
(finally) and then planted my black-eyed Susan climbing plant on a trellis
by the house. It looks like a completely different space, which makes me
so happy!
Our greeter was Ron Dowse. There were 37 regular and 28 frozen meals
delivered by Step Forward and also by Linda and Larry Christensen. How
did we get so lucky as to have such amazing people willing to drive
around and deliver meals to our dear friends? This time our meal was
corned beef hash with eggs and hash brown patties, fresh cantaloupe,
strawberries and maple bars for dessert and I have to say it was a real
treat! Thank you to our cooks who so graciously bless us every week with
exquisite food. The meal was served by our friends from First Christian
Church. The winner of the gift card donated by Len’s Drug was Karen
and the winner of the free meal was Dave Pasko. Congratulations!
You know what I really dislike? When people try to garden or plant
flowers but have no clue what they are doing! While I was pulling up
weeds and redoing the other flowerbed I pulled up actual plastic planters
from the ground and sheets of plastic… whoever was here before me cut
the bottom off of the plastic planters that you buy the plants in and then
planted that in the ground! What was the goal for that? Maybe they
wanted to try and keep it contained to one spot? I’m not sure, but rest
assured I have all of those out of the ground now!
Our greeters were Everett and Jeanette. There were 40 total meals
delivered by the crew at Step Forward and Ken and Shermayne Boethin.
Today our meal was chicken with mushroom sauce, rice, vegetables,
green salad with 1000 island dressing, French bread and molasses
cookies for dessert, which was quite delicious! It was served by the
lovely folks from the United Methodist Church and was sponsored by
Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management. What should we try next?
Hmmmm. The good thing about getting into summer is all the
summertime foods! Especially watermelon, yummy! The winner of the
Chester’s Thriftway gift certificate was Tom York and the free meal
was won by Balbina. We should all remember that the first day of
summer wasn’t even a week ago, so be patient with the weather. After a
rough winter and spring our weather is just trying to find a happy
medium. What does everyone have planned for the rest of this summer?
You know, the fourth of July is coming up in about a week so that
should be fun! Sounds like a good day to barbecue and make tasty
treats. The senior center could use four wheel walkers if anyone has one
they would like to donate for the silent auction; it would be greatly
appreciated.
Jeremiah 29:11 “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the
LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.”
Prairie City
Seniors
John Day
Seniors
MONUMENT – Our
greeters at the front table
were the three stooges, no,
just kidding. We had
Jimmy Cole, Linda
Blakeslee and Kristi
Guimont. Jimmy and
Soo Yukawa
Linda collected and
counted the money while
Kristi checked all the
guests in. Bodean Andersen led us in the flag salute, made the
announcements and then prayed the blessing over our meal.
We had 52 guests on the books and seven takeouts. The Chester’s
Thriftway gift card went to Dick Wanous of Spray. The Len’s Drug gift
card went to Judy Harris. Betty Breeding and yours truly both won a free
meal to our senior center.
We had Dick and Pam Wanous join us from Spray. There was also a guest
from long times past, Ms. Loiselle Dahill of Prineville. Ms. Loiselle lived
in Monument many years ago and also worked in the forestry service
headquarters. We hope they all enjoyed their meal and come join us again.
We must not forget a visit from Eric Andersen of Sunnyside, Washington.
Terry Cade and Teawna Jewell prepared a very yummy meal of baked
chicken with cheese and ranch dressing and noodles. It was delish. They
also served us dinner rolls and a nice fresh salad. We also had oatmeal
raisin cookies for dessert. Thank you so much for our yummy meal ladies.
Monument
Seniors
We so appreciate all you do for us!
Are you ready to hear the news of how much funding was raised from
the Monument third annual rummage sale? Drum roll please, we
proudly present that there was over $3,500 that came in that will go to
the general funds. Hallelujah! Praise our most generous God. Judy
Harris thanked all the volunteers who came together in their support and
helping out from the kitchen, to the setting up, to packing up and
sending to Mitchell and giving up their time.
Did anyone else out there freeze their little bottoms last week? I cannot
believe that it was so cold this past week and I actually had to put on a
pair of socks because my toes were beginning to freeze. A couple of
times, even though I was drinking hot teas, I still did not get warm.
I’m glad I got most of my tomato plants in. My pepper plants are
starting to flower and I see one Sequoia pepper on one of them. I got
that plant from the school and so I don’t have any clue as to what they
are supposed to look like. I wonder if it will be too spicy for me to eat?
I did take advantage of the cool weather. I canned some beans and I did
not have to do it in the hot summer. If the hot weather holds up, I might
have to can some more beans. Question from the hubby, “Why do we
call it canning when we put them into jars?” My curious husband wants
to know. I might be canning a whole lot of raspberry jam this year at the
rate my raspberry canes are going.
Psalms 116:2 “Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore
will I call upon Him as long as I live.”
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