NEWS
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.
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