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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
LOCAL Wednesday, February 13, 2019 HerMIsTOnHeraLd.COM • A3 Hermiston’s Joseph Franell testifies before Congress By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Eastern Oregon Telecom Pres- ident Joseph Franell jumped into the fray of Congress’ net neutral- ity debate Thursday. Franell traveled from Hermis- ton to Washington, D.C., to tes- tify in front of lawmakers from the House’s Energy and Com- merce Committee by invitation of Rep. Greg Walden, the com- mittee’s top-ranking Republican. Walden has introduced legislation that would prohibit internet ser- vice providers from practices such as blocking or throttling traffic to lawful websites and requiring sites to pay for prioritization. The idea that all websites, from the page of a small local business to Amazon.com, should be treated equally is known as net neutral- ity. Video of Franell’s opening remarks shows he told lawmak- ers he believed internet service providers, such as EOT, should be able to prioritize some traffic over others — a 911 call over other calls, for example, or emergency medical information over online gaming. “Students participating in dis- tance education or online stan- dardized testing should get priority over those streaming online mov- ies for entertainment,” he said. Defenders of net neutral- ity — which Franell accused of “fear-mongering” —have pushed back on the idea of allowing inter- net providers to pick and choose which traffic they prioritize. They say it would open the door to less ethical practices, such as slow- ing traffic to websites owned by a competitor or promoting a polit- ical ideology the provider dis- agrees with. Advocates for a “free and open” Contributed photo Joseph Franell, president of Eastern Oregon Telecom, testifies before the Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday in Washington, D.C. internet want to preserve an inter- net where a local news website or personal blog is on a level play- ing field with websites like Net- flix, which could afford to pay if providers like Comcast or Charter started charging fees for access to their customers. In 2015, to enforce net neutral- ity, the Obama-era Federal Com- munications Commission classi- fied broadband internet as a Title II utility, allowing the FCC to heav- ily regulate service providers. In 2017, under the Trump adminis- tration, the internet was reclassi- fied as a Title I utility, ending net neutrality. Franell told committee mem- bers Thursday that the Title II era had a “dramatic chilling effect on rural telecommunication in the Pacific Northwest.” Investors were extremely hesitant to invest in rural broadband, he said, and com- panies had to spend large amounts of time and resources on reporting to the federal government, draw- ing those resources away from serving customers and expanding service to more rural areas. Franell urged lawmakers to avoid changing the internet back to a Title II utility as they consid- ered rules to prevent bad behavior by service providers — behavior he said EOT and other rural inter- net providers in Oregon have never engaged in, even when legal. “I believe Title II had begun to harm the internet in the U.S., and a reapplication of it has the very real possibility of resulting in unfore- seen and irrevocable damage,” he said. In a news release, Walden said Title II had given “big government unlimited authority to microman- age every single aspect of a pro- vider’s business.” He said since its repeal both Democrats and Repub- licans have agreed that there does need to be limits on some behav- iors, however, such as, arbitrarily blocking access to websites. Walden told the other mem- bers of the Energy and Com- merce Committee on Thursday that the internet was “the sin- gle most important driver of eco- Hermiston nonprofits help people stay warm By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN STAFF WRITER Hermiston has been experiencing a cold snap, with a winter storm that sent snow Friday night through Monday. Eastern Oregon is expected to get more snow before the month is out. That has some local orga- nizations busy trying to help people stay warm. The Warming Station, which offers a free, warm sleeping place during win- ter months, has hosted 12 to 14 people a night in the past week. Addie Zumwalt, vice chair of the nonprofit’s board, said the emergency shelter usually sees more like eight to 10 people. “We’ve had a little more than usual,” she said. Zumwalt said when it gets extra cold or snowy numbers don’t jump up as significantly as might be expected because the weather often inspires extra generosity from friends and family of potential guests. The shelter has a capacity of 24 people, including the two volunteers per shift. Some local groups have seen an uptick in the num- ber of people coming in seeking warm clothing. Jamie Crowell, a com- munity health educator at Good Shepherd Medical Center, said they just fin- ished a monthlong coat drive, and distributed some of them during last week’s Homeless Point-In-Time count. Crowell said they gave out eight to 10 coats, as well as gloves, hats and socks, but they still have lots left over. “Anybody that needs them can get one from us,” 5 Theater Cineplex she said. Dave Hughes, direc- tor of Hermiston’s Agape House, said he hasn’t seen an increase in people com- ing in to get food, but has noticed more people ask- ing for coats and blankets. While they still have some left, the supply is quickly growing smaller. “That’s where we can help,” he said. “We’ve had a pretty good increase in donations for hot food.” Glenn Dohman, Volunteer Desert Rose Minis- tries, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on week- days, has seen some more people coming in to get out of the cold. But more than that, said volunteer Glenn Dohman, they’ve been serv- ing more hot meals since the snow fell on Monday. While some of the people that spend the day at Des- ert Rose are people doing court-ordered Previously community service, many others are homeless. Dohman said in addition to hot meals, they can get vouchers for cloth- ing at the thrift store that Desert Rose operates. He said they’ve been giving out more of those so that people can get warm clothing and boots. They also keep hats, gloves and socks on hand to distribute to guests. Dohman said they have sufficient supplies to get them through the cold weather, although they could use more warm cloth- ing donations, as well as sleeping bags, tents, and tarps for people to sleep on. “We got very fortunate,” he said. “We’ve had a pretty good increase in donations for hot food.” Some of the people sit- ting inside Desert Rose on Thursday afternoon are no stranger to having to spend a night in the cold. “It’s not fun,” said Mark Patterson. “It’s not Boy Scouts camping — it’s sur- vival 101.” New Name Sale! 10% Off all products Expires 2/28/19 Enhancing the Art of Outdoor Living Previously Known as: Backyard By Design Same Owners & Products, Just a New Name! Patio Covers·Pergolas Patio & Sun Shades Retractable Awnings Screen Rooms Solar Screens & More! 541-720-0772 Free Estimates! www.nwshadeco.com License #188965 PET OF THE WEEK Holly was found as a stray on the streets with a large mass that turned out to be malignant. She has had two surgeries now and it appears that the cancer has all been removed. She is a very sweet dog that is great with kids. She would love a lap to lay in and be your little shadow. Holly is spayed, Microchipped, Vaccinated. She is potty and crate trained. Credit & Debit Cards accepted Cineplex gift cards available 541-966-1850 Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216 to the upcoming meet- ing Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Port of Mor- row Riverfront Center, 2 Marine Drive, Board- man. A public hearing will include discussion on reconfiguration of farm land, temporary use of a recreational vehicle for a medical hardship, and a proposed aggregate min- ing operation. Information about the topics is avail- able by contacting the Morrow County Planning Department. For more information, call Cooper at 541-922- 4624 or visit www.co.mor- row.or.us/planning. Interested in a Medical career? Need funds to complete your training? Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation medical scholarship applications are now being accepted from qualified local students through February 28th. The Foundation is again pleased to partner with Tualatin Imaging to offer additional scholarships for students who have expressed interest in pur- suing a diagnostic imaging career Please call 541-667-3419 for further information Applications can be accessed online at www.gshealth.org/foundation/scholarships Hermiston High School MEET HOLLY! Small and Large Animal Care 541.567.1138 Morrow County plan- ning commissioners and staff have held three work sessions over the past four months to gather informa- tion about how renewable energy facilities are sited. At the Jan. 22 work session, acoustical engi- neer Kerrie Standlee shared about wind energy facilities and sound. Staff are compiling information for the Planning Commis- sion to begin consider- ation of potential regula- tions to be applicable to renewable energy facili- ties, said Shambra Coo- per, outreach coordinator. The public is invited Antonio Juarez Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA Mon: 8-6 Tue - Fri: 8-5 Sat: 8-12 Emergency Service Morrow County planning commission to meet NT OF THE WEEK E D U ST Check wildhorseresort.com for showtimes $5 Matinee Classics Every Wednesday Patterson said he has been coming to Desert Rose since last summer. During the winter, he’s been stay- ing nights at the Hermiston Warming Station, and going to Desert Rose during the day. He said the stigma of being homeless, whether in cold weather or not, is tough —but he’s glad to have places where he can go. “This place has been so gracious,” he said as he sat at the table of Desert Rose, drinking a cup of coffee. “A warm place to come and talk to people.” He said every town could use more places for home- less people to stay, if only to take the pressure off the organizations that support them. “I’m just a lost sheep looking for his way back home,” he said. “One day I will get there.” nomic growth, job creation, and a better quality of life for all Ameri- cans” and it was important to cre- ate legislation that would pro- vide more stability for providers than having the FCC reclassify the internet at the whim of every new administration. “For me, this debate is very much about the impact on provid- ers like (Franell) who are trying to close the digital divide,” Walden said. “Heavy-handed, one-size- fits-all regulations hurt small inter- net service providers like Eastern Oregon Telecom the most, and this in turn hurts their ability to expand broadband to underserved com- munities in rural America.” Franell told the Hermiston Her- ald that he had seen so much mis- information about net neutrality that when he was invited to testify he felt it was important to do what he could to tell the truth. He said he was interested to see the emo- tional progression that took place over the three-and-a-half hour hearing. There was a lot of passion and anger on display in the first hour, he said, but as the hearing contin- ued people on both sides of the political aisle seemed to realize “they were on the same sheet of music for the most part.” “Everyone thought that Dem- ocrats were for a free and open internet and Republicans are against it, but that’s not true,” he said. “... Everyone in the room, I think, agreed that throttling, paid prioritization and blocking are wrong.” He said he felt more confident at the end of the hearing that Con- gress can come up with a good piece of legislation to protect the internet without unduly burdening providers. “It went really well,” he said. 80489 Hwy 395 N Hermiston www.oregontrailvet.com PLACE YOUR AD HERE! Contact Audra at 541.564.4538 Today! If interested in him please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application. Antonio has taken it upon himself to volunteer as a peer tutor, specifi cally, our monolingual (knows little English) student population, after school on a regular basis in all subjects. He even keeps them focused when they get off task! He engages with staff in the building respectfully and is eager to learn. Always looking for ways to help in the building, offering to give tours for new students, translates in a pinch, and is future focused on reaching his goals! He is an Awesome young man.” Proudly Sponsored By: Mid Columbia Producers, Inc. 345 N. 1st Place, Hermiston, OR 97838 541-289-5015 • www.mcpcoop.com
