8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015
Local
Suspicious envelopes received
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
By Wednesday, a person
of interest—Lance Storm
of Eugene—had confessed
to the mailing, but not
before conflicting reports
from various government
agencies created confusion
regarding the details of
the mailing and whether a
toxic substance had indeed
been included.
Early on, word spread
via Grant County Sheriff
Glenn Palmer’s friends and
family on Facebook that
he had been transported to
the hospital just after noon
immediately after opening
one such envelope.
Reports on every Port-
land television station were
that Palmer had opened
an envelope delivered to
the Grant County Sheriff’s
office in Canyon City, and
began to develop a rash
across his arms.
Other staff also began
to feel ill, said the same
reports. The sheriff’s office
and jail share a central-
ized air system, creating
concern that inmates and
even more staff could be
exposed. There was also
concern expressed, posted
the Oregon Firearms Fed-
eration, whose representa-
tive had spoken directly to
Palmer, that Palmer’s wife
had been exposed.
The Blue Mountain
Eagle reported that after-
noon, “In Grant County,
OSP dispatch advised of
a white powder incident
at the jail and Sheriff’s
Office. The powder was
in an envelope that was
opened by Sheriff Glenn
Palmer. Three people
were transported to Blue
Mountain Hospital in John
Day. The office shares a
centralized AC system so
there could be as many as
12 inmates and additional
staff impacted. Detectives
are being brought in from
Ontario.”
Within the hour, The
Baker County Press also
received correspondence
confirming that envelopes
had been received at Grant,
Harney, Wasco, Jackson,
Umatilla and Sherman
counties with Courthouses
and Sheriffs Departments
targeted.
Jim Littlefield, Under-
sheriff in Umatilla County
advised, “At about 1 p.m.,
Lt. Turner from OSP
advised me of a hazardous
materials incident in Grant
County at the Sheriff’s Of-
fice and jail. The Sheriff’s
Office received a threaten-
ing letter with an unknown
substance that has made
the sheriff and some
employees sick. A haz-mat
team and investigators are
currently on their way.
“At about 2 p.m., we dis-
covered that we received
one of the letters, (pics in-
cluded) along with Harney,
Wasco, Jackson and Sher-
man counties. Ours came
to the Umatilla County
Courthouse through the
regular mail.
“Please be alert for any
suspicious letters or pack-
ages.”
Eric Schmidt, Com-
munications Director for
the Association of Oregon
Counties (AOC) also sent
an email alert to officials
in various counties, which
made its way to a handful
of media outlets.
Writes Schmidt, “We
know that Grant, Har-
ney, Wasco, Jackson and
Sherman Counties have
received these envelopes.
We understand that some
people have become sick
after opening the enve-
lopes. Please pass this
warning to everyone in
your county and please,
please be aware of incom-
ing snail mail.”
Some of the envelopes
allegedly contained a white
powder and a threat letter,
others allegedly contained
just the letter.
Umatilla County Com-
missioner Bill Elfering
writes that he had received
notice from the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Depart-
ment, “detailing an enve-
lope containing a threat
letter and white powder.”
The Tillamook County
Pioneer also reported it
had obtained the same con-
firmations from the AOC
and Umatilla County.
The headline from The
East Oregonian July 27,
read: “Mail scare false
alarm mostly—Grant
County Sheriff sent to
hospital after contact with
white powder.” And their
article went on to say,
“Palmer and two other
people were taken to Blue
Mountain Hospital in John
Day for treatment and/or
observation, according to
a report from the Oregon
Emergency Response
System (OERS). In the
meantime, the correctional
facility next door to the
Grant County Court-
house was cordoned off
while hazardous mate-
rial personnel worked to
decontaminate the area and
any others that may have
come into contact with the
substance.”
The OERS report also
states as many as 12 in-
mates and additional staff
could be affected.
OSP then released the
statement: “The Oregon
State Police and multiple
partners are conducting
a statewide investigation
after multiple government
offices around the state
received suspicious mail,
some with an unknown
substance.
“Hazardous Materials
Teams and investigators
have responded to these re-
ports. This is a preliminary
release and more informa-
tion will be released when
it is available.
“As a reminder people
receiving suspicious
packages or mail should
be cautious of mail that
has excessive postage, no
return address, excessive
tape to secure parcel, mis-
spelled words, misspelled
title with name, incorrect
or title only, strange odors,
and oily stains, discolor-
ations, crystallization on
packaging.”
With Baker County
Sheriff Travis Ash on vaca-
tion, Lt. Joey Jayo took the
helm during the situation,
confirming early on that no
illness had occurred in the
local office.
“OSP and the FBI have
taken the lead on the in-
vestigation,” Jayo said late
Monday afternoon. “Most
of the details are case sen-
sitive, and we can’t release
them at this time.”
Just after 6 p.m. on Mon-
day, Palmer was released
from the hospital, send-
ing his thanks for all the
concern.
“I am doing fine,”
Palmer writes, “And I ap-
preciate all the comments
and well wishes. Spent the
better part of seven hours
at the Blue Mountain Hos-
pital where I was quickly
stripped of my uniform and
my pride. They did what
they had to do and I am
confident in the treatment I
got was top notch. It was a
Submitted Photo.
Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer was hospitalized
after coming into contact with the powder from the
envelope.
long seven hours.”
By Tuesday morning,
suspicious envelopes arriv-
ing at Marion, Tillamook,
Columbia, Washington
and Yamhill Counties had
been confirmed, raising
the number of counties af-
fected to a dozen.
Union and Wallowa
Counties quickly followed
suit with more counties
later added.
However, later on
Tuesday, the story took a
dramatic twist when the
FBI stated, “The FBI,
Oregon State Police and
the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service are working with
affected Oregon counties
to determine the origin
and nature of a series of
suspicious letters that
started arriving in the mail
on Monday, July 27th. To
date, field testing by haz-
ardous materials crews has
shown no (emphasis theirs)
toxic substance on any let-
ter or in any envelope. In
addition, at this time there
is no evidence of a visible
powder to be found in any
of the envelopes/letters.
“There are approxi-
mately 20 known letters
delivered and all were
addressed to Oregon sher-
iffs or their offices. Law
enforcement is collecting
the letters and transporting
them all to the FBI and/
or the Oregon State Public
Health Laboratory for
analysis as appropriate.
“Due to the ongoing
nature of this investigation,
we are not releasing any
further information.”
Hours after the FBI’s
statement, the Baker
County Sheriff released the
following, reiterating Lt.
Jayo’s earlier statements:
“On July 27, 2015, Baker
County Sheriff’s Office
received a suspicious
postal parcel. The parcel
was unopened. Precautions
were used in handling the
parcel and no department
members experienced any
ill symptoms.”
On the afternoon of the
28th, Sheriff Glenn Palmer
said in an interview that
the information from OSP
dispatch, The Blue Moun-
tain Eagle and Umatilla
County was “inaccurate.”
When asked where the
report of a white sub-
stance came from, Palmer
responded, “I have no idea
where they got it. I didn’t
speak with them directly.
There was never any white
powder.”
Palmer offered up his
firsthand account of the
events from the day before.
“I got the envelope and
when I opened it, I im-
mediately felt a burning
sensation in my face and
arms, and a metallic taste
in my mouth. My lips went
numb.”
Palmer said his wife
drove him to the hospital.
“They tested for every-
thing,” he said, “and every-
thing came back negative.”
Palmer said he continues
to feel “tired” but is other-
wise asymptomatic.
Palmer returned to work
the next day, and so far, the
cause of his symptoms is
still under investigation.
Finally, on Wednes-
day, Oregon State Police
released a statement an-
nouncing a person of inter-
est had been identified.
That statement is:
“On July 27, 2015 mul-
tiple government offices
received suspicious letters
which drew concern they
may be contaminated with
hazardous materials.
“Hazardous mate-
rial teams responded to
these locations as well as
investigators from multiple
law enforcement agencies.
Preliminary testing from
the hazardous material
teams could not detect any
harmful substances.
“On July 28, investiga-
tors identified Lance T.
Storm, age 34, of Eugene,
as a person of interest. He
was located and inter-
viewed regard this inves-
tigation. Storm was very
forthcoming and eager
to discuss the letters he
mailed. Storm told inves-
tigators the communica-
tions were not intended to
cause alarm and he denied
the inclusion of harmful
substances.
“Storm did not appear
to present any violent or
dangerous behavior and
was not perceived as a
threat to the community.
He was released and the
reports containing detailed
information obtained
during the investigation in-
volving will be forwarded
to several district attorney
offices for consideration of
charges.
“The following counties
where letters are known
to be received were Grant,
Harney, Umatilla, Klam-
ath, Lake, Grant, Jackson,
Wasco, Marion, Polk,
Lane, Sherman, Tillamook,
Gilliam, Columbia, Linn,
Jefferson, Wheeler, Union,
Douglas, Baker, Yamhill,
Wallowa and Coos.
“The Oregon State
Police was assisted by the
FBI, US Postal Service,
The Oregon State Fire
Marshal’s Office, and law
enforcement agencies from
counties where the letters
were received.”
Contents of the letters
have not been released.
On Wednesday, the
Oregon State Public Health
Laboratory completed
the preliminary testing
of a sample of the letters
received, including the let-
ter mailed to Grant County.
That preliminary testing
showed that there were
no biological toxins or
powders included in or on
the letters and envelopes in
question. The FBI writes:
“The FBI and U.S. Postal
Inspection Service are in
the process of complet-
ing their portion of this
investigation. Unless new
information surfaces, nei-
ther the FBI nor the U.S.
Postal Inspection Service
anticipate pursuing federal
charges in this case.”
Power rate
increases ahead
Baker City, Ore. – Today, the Bonneville Power Ad-
ministration (BPA) announced it will increase the cost of
power it provides to its not-for-profit electric utilities in
the Northwest, including Oregon Trail Electric Coopera-
tive (OTEC). The rate increase of 7.1 percent average for
wholesale power and 4.4 percent average for transmission
will take effect October 1, 2015.
While a non-profit federal agency, BPA’s projections to
spend approximately $8 billion over the next eight years
in updates to their aging transmission and generation
infrastructure along the Federal Columbia River Power
System (which includes 31 federal dams and one nuclear
plant), paired with an additional $782 million to fund one
of the largest wildlife protection and restoration programs
in the world, has pushed them up against their U.S. Trea-
sury borrowing limit.
Moreover, the cost for balancing energy production
and the environment has reached its highest level since
2010. According to a 2014 draft analysis released by the
Northwest Power and Conservation Council, one-third of
Bonneville’s wholesale rate is estimated to be associated
with its fish and wildlife programs.
“BPA has been operating on borrowed time for about 6
years now,” explained Werner Buehler, OTEC’s General
Manager. “When you combine much needed transmission
updates, conservation, soft natural gas prices, an abun-
dance of wind and solar power and the reduced demand
for the excess power BPA produces you have a need to
compensate for that reduction in revenue.”
Customers affected by this increase include 54 munici-
palities, cooperatives, federal entities, tribal utilities and
public utility districts in the Pacific Northwest. OTEC
serves approximately 30,500 meters in Baker, Harney,
Grant and Union counties.
“Over the past eight years, OTEC’s costs, unrelated to
BPA power purchases, have increased, on average, one-
half a percent per year allowing us to keep our charges for
electric service reasonable and highly competitive with
our peers,” said Buehler. “As a local, member-owned and
not-for-profit cooperative, we do not raise rates to gener-
ate profit. But, at the end of the day, when OTEC experi-
ences an increase in power costs, we need to cover the
cost of doing business and pass the increase along to the
members who own the cooperative.”
Over the next month, OTEC’s board of directors will
determine how much the rate increase to members will
be. OTEC’s members will be informed of the exact
amount of the rate increase this fall through the News
from the Trail billing insert, Ruralite magazine, via
OTEC’s website at www.otecc.com and through OTEC’s
Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OTECoop.
Bentz to speak
at Chamber
BAKER CITY—State Representative Cliff Bentz
(R-Ontario) will meet with the Baker County Chamber
of Commerce on Wednesday, August 5th at 12:30 p.m.
at the Best Western Sunridge Inn (1 Sunridge Ln, Baker
City).
Rep. Bentz will present Chamber members with
legislative highlights from the recently adjourned 2015
Legislative Session. There will be a short review of
important bills on various topics such as sage grouse,
increasing speed limits, rural gas station self-service after
hours, marijuana legalization, the low carbon fuel stan-
dard, the transportation package (or lack thereof), the gun
background check expansion, minimum wage increases,
mandatory paid sick leave, and other issues. Former-
Governor John Kitzhaber’s resignation and the 2015-17
Budget will also be discussed.
“This presentation will provide opportunity to review
and discuss changes made to Oregon’s laws,” said Rep.
Bentz.
Rep. Bentz also will ask the Chamber members for
their opinion on what they would like Rep. Bentz to
focus on as priorities for the up-coming 2016 Legislative
Session, which will convene on February 1st.
Sex offender
makes bail
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Convicted predatory
sex offender, Travis Scott
Jones, was arrested last Fri-
day afternoon for violating
a subsection of the Oregon
sex offender registra-
tion law, which required
Jones to list his address of
residence. After arriving in
Photo courtesy of the
Baker City just two weeks
Baker County Sheriff’s Office.
ago, Jones began residing
Travis Scott Jones.
in a home on Elm Street
rather than his registered address on Valley Avenue. He
has since moved his belongings out of the Elm Street
home back to Valley Avenue.
Just after 3 p.m., Baker City Police arrested Jones after
the District Attorney’s office viewed police reports and is-
sued a warrant. Bail was set for $7,500. Jones posted ten
percent, or $750, and was released after being booked on
the misdemeanor charge.
Jones has prior sexual assault felony convictions in Or-
egon and a child exploitation conviction in New Mexico.