Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current, March 11, 2020, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextNEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7 E-board approves $11.5 million for ﬂ ood relief By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Oregon’s 2020 Legis- lative Session may have ended in a stalemate, but Eastern Oregon will still get its ﬂ ood recovery funding from the state. The legislature’s emer- gency board met Mon- day morning, unanimously approving emergency allo- cations of $11.5 million for ﬂ ood relief in Uma- tilla County, $5 million for COVID-19 efforts, and $2.7 million for the Ofﬁ ce of Emergency Management to implement new prepared- ness programs. The funding was meant to be approved during the regular session, but more than 200 bills died in the legislature after Republi- cans walked out and refused to return unless cap and trade was taken off the table — something Democrats declined to do. On Friday, Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer said he received a call from Gov. Kate Brown letting him know that the legislature’s emergency board planned to allocate the money. “There was no hesita- tion on leadership’s part on either side to give those funds,” Shafer said. The money includes $4 million for the “expedited purchase and installation of manufactured homes” to replace homes destroyed in February’s ﬂ ood; $2 mil- lion to build new affordable housing units for ﬂ ood vic- tims and $1.5 million for “rapid rehousing” and rent assistance; and $3.2 million for the Oregon Business Development Department Oregon Capital Bureau Photo/Sam Stites Senate President Peter Courtney listens as Legislative Fiscal Oﬃ ce Ken Rocco explains the breakdown of $11.5 million in funding for Umatilla Basin ﬂ ood relief. to assist businesses recover and Pendleton repair its levee. “A lot of people lost their homes to this ﬂ ood, and with this money they will have an opportunity to have a place to call home again,” Shafer said. Commissioner George Murdock said the county would work with numerous partners, including affected cities and the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon, in putting Gov. Brown orders state action on climate change By JAKE THOMAS OREGON CAPITAL BUREAU Gov. Kate Brown signed a sweeping executive order on Tuesday that directs state government to signiﬁ cantly cut greenhouse emissions in Oregon. The governor’s move was in response to the Leg- islature adjourning on Sun- day without having passed a bill with similar goals. Flanked by students at the Capitol, Brown said that the order would put the state on a path its children could be proud of and was needed urgently to address climate change. “We are all in this together and if we can make prog- ress on climate change we just might have a world we can pass onto our children,” Brown said. The order updates and adds more teeth to the state’s existing greenhouse gas reduction goals. It sets a 45% reduction from 1990 levels by 2035 and an 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050. The order directs the Department of Environmen- tal Quality to put caps on emissions from the state’s three largest sources includ- ing transportation fuels, nat- ural gas and large industrial polluters. It also doubles the state’s clean fuels program, requires higher efﬁ ciency for buildings and appli- ances while requiring all state agencies to view their actions through a climate change lens. The executive order updates the existing state carbon emissions goals to reﬂ ect the current science, setting a standard of 45% reduction from 1990 levels by 2035, and an 80% reduc- tion from 1990 levels by 2050. The order also outlines Oregon Capital Bureau Photo/Sam Stites Activists pack the steps of the Oregon State Capitol on Feb. 11, 2020, to show support for a cap and trade bill being considered by lawmakers. In response to the Legislature adjourning for the second time Sunday without having passed a bill capping emissions, Gov. Kate Brown signed a sweeping executive order to cut greenhouse emissions state wide on Tuesday. a variety of means to reach the new goals, including: On Monday, the legis- lative Emergency Board voted to direct $5 million to the state Department of Environmental Quality to begin drafting rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state. A statewide program to cap greenhouse gas emis- sions has been a priority for Democrats who control the governor’s ofﬁ ce and lop- sided majorities in the Legis- lature. But previous attempts were stymied after legis- lative Republicans walked out of the Capitol in the last two sessions, denying law- makers a quorum to conduct business. The most recent walk- out occurred during the most recent legislative session that ended on Sunday. Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. has questioned the gover- nor’s move, saying it would open the state to an expen- sive lawsuit. Oregon Business & Industry released a state- ment saying the move “sets a concerning precedent about the use of executive admin- istrative authority absent a statutory mandate from the Legislature.” “This use of executive orders is likely to lead to prolonged and costly litiga- tion, as was the experience in Washington state,” the state- ment said. “It took years to resolve lawsuits over Wash- ington’s carbon reduction orders, and much of the exec- utive actions did not survive the legal challenges.” On Tuesday, Brown said that her order had been care- fully vetted to ensure it was in compliance with state law and constitution. The allocation would be used to hire 10 new posi- tions. During Monday’s Emergency Board meeting, Richard Whitman, director of the Department of Envi- ronmental Quality, said that the new hires would help complete initial rulemaking for a greenhouse gas reduc- tion program by 2022. That’s roughly the same timeline laid out in the bill killed last session to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After a similar bill failed to pass during last year’s leg- islative session, a coalition of businesses environmen- tal groups and others called Renew Oregon began pre- paring a greenhouse gas reduction initiative for the 2020 ballot. Renew Oregon applauded Brown’s move in a statement following her announcement. “Oregonians have orga- nized, advocated, worked and voted for years demand- ing our state take bold action to reduce climate pollution, improve our health, and tran- sition to clean energy. Gov- ernor Brown delivered today with strong and comprehen- sive action,” said Tera Hurst, executive director of Renew Oregon, in a statement. A Boardman woman was sentenced to more than six years of incarceration on Friday after pleading guilty to negligent homicide for driving under the inﬂ uence, killing her 7-month-old infant and seriously injuring her 3-year-old daughter in a crash. Judge Eva Temple also sentenced Veronica Andrade, 40, to three years of post-prison supervision and suspended her license for ﬁ ve years. Andrade also pleaded guilty to DUII and third-de- gree assault for the crash, and had charges of reck- less driving and recklessly endangering another person dismissed as a part of her plea deal. The crash occurred June 2, 2019, on Interstate 84 near milepost 175, and the preliminary investigation revealed Andrade was driv- ing east with her two chil- dren when she veered off the road onto the right shoulder and rolled. The crash ejected the 7-month-old, who suf- fered fatal injuries. Andrade is currently being held at the Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton. In addition to the ﬂ ood recovery money, the com- mittee approved the COVID-19 funding with- out specifying how it would be used. Senate President Peter Courtney said that the Emergency Board could deﬁ nitely be back again to allocate more money. The Emergency Board also approved by 12-8 vote — with all Democrats except Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, voting yes — to give $5 million to the state Department of Envi- ronmental Quality to estab- lish 10 new positions to start drafting rules to imple- ment the expected exec- utive order by Gov. Kate Brown aimed at reducing Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions. Oregon Capital Bureau reporter Sam Stites contrib- uted to this report. Umatilla teacher has been missing since Feb. 27 By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR Boardman woman sentenced for fatal crash HERMISTON HERALD the money to good use. He echoed Shafer’s point that many Umatilla County res- idents are still living with friends and family or in other “pretty shaky” hous- ing situations. He also said the money from the state would not take the county’s focus off of also pursuing federal disaster relief funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with the assistance of Rep. Greg Walden, Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley. The county’s road department has been hard at work mak- ing area roads and bridges usable again, but there are still tens of millions of dollars in damage to be repaired. At Monday’s Emergency Board meeting, all seven Republicans were present and engaged. A Umatilla High School math teacher was reported missing on Feb. 27 and has not been seen since. Umatilla School Dis- trict Superintendent Heidi Sipe said she reported Lorenzo Sanchez, 29, miss- ing on Feb. 27. His room- mates told her that he had not returned home the night before, which was unusual, and he has not reported to work since. On Monday, the Cache County Sheriff’s Ofﬁ ce in Utah said they found San- chez’s gray Honda Accord in Providence, Utah, but had not located Sanchez. The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Ofﬁ ce is inves- tigating. Undersheriff Jim Littleﬁ eld said Sanchez had taken some of his per- sonal belongings with him when he left, but after the school district ﬁ led a miss- ing persons report the sher- iff’s ofﬁ ce has attempted to contact him by email and phone and received no reply, leading them to con- tinue to list him as a miss- ing person. Littleﬁ eld said a fam- ily member in Colorado reported that Sanchez had sent them a Facebook mes- sage on March 7 but did not reply when they responded. Sipe said a substitute has been covering Sanchez’s classes, and counselors are available to speak with stu- dents who are upset. She said in addition to teach- ing math, Sanchez had been offering stress relief programs to students and taught a martial arts class at the after school program. “He was just a positive guy,” she said. Anyone with informa- tion regarding the case can call the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Ofﬁ ce at 541-966-3600. Hermiston man arrested on felony forgery charges was arraigned on 11 total charges, including three A Hermiston man is fac- counts of ﬁ rst-degree forg- ing seven felony charges ery and four counts of for forgery after being ﬁ rst-degree possession of arrested on accusations of a forged instrument, all of which are felo- using a counterfeit nies. Muniz is also $100 bill at a Dutch facing one mis- Bros on Sunday. demeanor count The Hermis- for possession of ton Police Depart- meth, one count for ment received a failure to appear report of the coun- Muniz in court and two terfeit and arrested counts of probation Benjamin Muniz, 41, near Rogers Toyota on violation. Muniz is currently held North First Street in Herm- iston, where he was subse- at the Umatilla County quently found in posses- Jail in Pendleton with his sion of meth and identiﬁ ed bail set at $85,000, and he as a suspect in a report of was set to appear in court a counterfeit bill used at a for a preliminary hearing at 1:15 p.m. on Monday, Dairy Queen. On Monday, Muniz March 9. HERMISTON HERALD One solution for oxygen at home, away, and for travel Introducing the INOGEN ONE – It’s oxygen therapy on your terms No more tanks to reﬁ ll. No more deliveries. No more hassles with travel. The INOGEN ONE portable oxygen concentrator is designed to provide unparalleled freedom for oxygen therapy users. It’s small, lightweight, clinically proven for stationary and portable use, during the day and at night, and can go virtually anywhere — even on most airlines. Inogen accepts Medicare and many private insurances! Reclaim Your Freedom And Independence NOW! 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