BASKETBALL
Grant County
teams clash on
Panther court
– PAGE A7
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , J ANUARY 14, 2015
• N O . 2
• 14 P AGES
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www.MyEagleNews.com
Hot honor in Prairie City
Jim Sullens is feted for 50 years of firefighting
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and currently, six years as deputy
chief. He also served about three
PRAIRIE CITY – In just the years representing the district on
FRXUVHRIDZHHNRUDPRQWK¿UH the Fire Standards and Accredita-
¿JKWHUV ± DQG RWKHU HPHUJHQF\ tion Board, and 11 years as Grant
personnel – are likely to see an &RXQW\¿UHGHIHQVHFKLHI
array of tragedies.
There were only a few short
Imagine 50 years of being periods during his life when other
“on call” for such incidents?
life events pulled him elsewhere,
Jim Sullens of Prairie City is such as working his way through
being lauded for doing just that.
college in the late 1960s, and
Sullens was recognized serving in the Army as a helicop-
during the Prairie City Fire De- ter pilot in Vietnam and Cambo-
partment’s Christmas party Dec. dia.
6 for 50 years as a dedicated vol-
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unteer with the department.
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At the event, Chief Dean back to childhood days living in
Hicks presented him with a wall Bates.
clock and plaque mounted on a
“My mom backed up too
large burl wooden base, crafted close to the cookstove while get-
by Dale Duby of Prairie City.
ting us ready for school, and she
Sullens’ 50 years service in- FDXJKWKHUQLJKWJRZQRQ¿UH´KH
cludes several positions held with said.
the department: 13 years as assis-
About 12 years old at the time,
By CKeryl +oeÀ er
Blue Mountain Eagle
Police nab suspect
Juniper Ridge patient breaks fence,
eludes officials for several hours
Lindsay said he didn’t jump
the fence – he broke it, through
JOHN DAY – A 25-year- D ÀDZ LQ LW¶V GHVLJQ )UL]]HOO
old Union County man was broke a corner of it and squeezed
apprehended Monday evening WKURXJK7KHIHQFHZDV¿[HGWKH
by local police after
day of the incident.
escaping from Juniper
Subcontractor
of
Ridge Acute Care Facil-
the fence, Boyd Britton
ity, where he was being
Welding, is taking ad-
observed on a detainer
ditional steps with the
from Union County Jail.
fence to prevent this
Travis Frizzell was
from occurring again,
Trevor
captured at 6:30 p.m.
at no cost to the facility.
Frizzell
near the Budget 8 Mo-
Britton reinforced the
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fence and will attach it to
search by local and state law en- the building, which will compen-
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broken and squeezed through a the fence a support structure.
fence at the secure acute mental
According to Lindsay, staff at
health facility on Ford Road.
the facility became aware of Friz-
John Day Police Chief zell’s absence within two min-
Richard Gray said Frizzell was utes of the escape. An employee
in Union County Jail on mari- did a sweep of the property and
juana charges, and while there within three minutes after his de-
he allegedly assaulted a public parture Lindsay, who was on site,
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post-prison supervision in 2013 police. Police reached the scene
according to Gray.
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Frizzell was not armed at the
“How this was handled was
time of his apprehension and no better than textbook,” said Lind-
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say. “I want people to know this
Kimberly Lindsay, Executive happened, but at the point we
Director of Community Coun- went from prevention and into
seling Solutions, the company action, our action was excellent.
which operates the 2-year-old I am so proud of our staff.”
facility, said Frizzell was admit-
Employees on site and those
ted to the sub-acute side of the off duty assisted in the search.
facility. She said he went out into
“On behalf of Juniper Ridge,
the fenced area unsupervised, as we want to thank the John Day
permitted by state law, when the City Police, Forest Service, Sher-
escape took place.
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their assistance. They were great
to work with,” said Lindsay.
According to Police Chief
Gray, dispatchers received a call
at 1:19 p.m., from Juniper Ridge
staff saying that Frizzell had just
escaped.
Law enforcement personnel
responded, pursuing reports of
sightings in the John Day area.
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responded to a report by two
women that Frizzell was seen
Blue Mountain Eagle
See ESCAPE, Page A14
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wasn’t badly hurt, but, he said, “It
scared the crap out of us.”
That experience helped him
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helped fuel his interest in helping
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Which he did just as soon as
he was able, joining the depart-
ment in December 1964, shortly
after his 16th birthday.
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Sullens said, were Floyd Rynear-
son, Virgil Chapman, Larry Stark,
Otis Howard, Cecil and Larry
Bradford, Ernie Blair, Rich Loo-
ney, Jerry Maley and more. Ver-
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He said it didn’t take him long
to learn the objective to being on
the department wasn’t money or
prestige, but to help your neigh-
bor, friends and family when
they needed it.
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Contributed photo
Jim Sullens, right, receives a hearty handshake
from Fire Chief Dean Hicks at a Dec. 6 presentation
honoring Sullens’ 50 years of volunteer work with
the Prairie City Fire Department. Sullens has no
intention of slowing down and continues to serve
the department.
someone is having one of the
worst days of their lives,” Sullens
said.
Sullens graduated from
Prairie City High School in
1967. He and his wife, Lynette,
whom he married in 1975, have
three children, Jeremy, Tiffany
and Brady. The couple enjoy
traveling and helping out with
local community events such as
the Grant County Health Fair.
He worked mostly in outdoor
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and logging, retiring in 2010. His
hobbies include remote control
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said he doesn’t get to do the latter
much anymore.
Sullens credits his length of
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to his supportive family, noting
that all three children also served
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Department at one time or anoth-
er.
He added there are a couple
of other members of the depart-
ment with lengthy terms of ser-
vice, Marvin Rynearson and as-
sistant chief Ed Negus – both of
whom have over 45 years under
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So, is 50 years enough for
Sullens?
Nope – no retirement plans.
He intends to remain with the
department and be “as active as
physically able.”
C HANGE COMES TO G RANT W ESTERN
Yard at crossroads as
timber industry regroups
Sawmill auction,
new chip
venture coincide
By Scotta Callister
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Grant West-
ern Lumber Co. is bidding
farewell to its large-log saw-
mill this week, but saying hello
to opportunity – albeit smaller
scale – on another front.
James G. Murphy Co.,
a commercial auctioneering
company, is auctioning the
sawmill and equipment at the
site on the west end of John
Day.
The auction will include an
array of mill and yard equip-
ment – panel saws, a log load-
er, a whole log chipper, board
edgers, trimmers, and more. A
preview day was held Tuesday,
with the sale set to begin at 9
a.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
The equipment is commer-
cial grade, not for hobbyists,
although some sheds might at-
tract the interest of ranchers or
large landowners, noted Dan
Bishop, timber manager for
the site’s parent company, D.R.
Johnson Lumber Co.
The closeout of the sawmill
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management and the accompa-
nying decline in the availability
of large timber from the federal
forests.
“It’s sad,” said Bishop. He
noted how many large trees are
allowed to burn each year in
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wanting.
“But that’s the way it goes
now,” he added.
On the plus side, the yard
The Eagle/Scotta Callister
Grant Western’s 988B Caterpillar loader grabs an entire trailer load of small
logs delivered to the millsite last week.
is seeing increasing activity of
another sort, as trucks laden
with small logs roll in for pro-
cessing.
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result of a joint effort by D.R.
Johnson and T2 Inc., a Sweet
Home-based company that spe-
cializes in chipping, thinning
and biomass uses across the
Northwest. The work will use
equipment and workers from
both companies.
Jeremy Totman, T2 owner
and manager, said his compa-
ny is using the site to chip up
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purchased from the Cub SBA
Sale, on the southern Malheur
National Forest.
Rick Kriege Logging began
hauling loads to the yard last
week. Forest conditions per-
mitting, the deliveries should
continue through the winter. If
delayed by weather, the work
will pick up again in spring and
summer, Totman said.
“We hope to see three to
four loads a day,” he said.
The wood will be chipped at
the yard and trucked to the Boi-
se Inc. paper mill in Wallula,
Wash., Totman said. The bark
also will be processed and sent
to Wallula, he added.
He said T2 has been work-
ing with D.R. Johnson in Grant
County for about seven years,
in timber sales and earlier at the
now-closed Co-Gen operation
in Prairie City.
However, he said there
hasn’t been “a large wood bas-
ket here until recently.”
He said chipping contracts
are on the rise in 2015, and his
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“We are here, we have the
equipment to unload the ma-
terial, and we are buying chip
wood,” he said.
Bishop noted that when the
dust settles from the auction,
the entire mill building – even
the metal siding – will be gone.
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and the large truck shop build-
ing will remain in use, and the
company will continue to work
on other timber sales and oper-
ations.
He expects to see a grow-
ing log deck in the yard for the
chipping project.
He said Grant Western’s
chipper could handle 15 to 20
loads a day, if the wood’s avail-
able.
Totman said Grant Western
See YARD, Page A14
Valley View residents’ collection include hats, stamps, more
By Cheryl HoeÀ er
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Ever collect anything,
either as a kid or a grown up?
Not counting your thoughts, trou-
bles or dust bunnies, that is.
Joan Metlock of John Day has ac-
cumulated a collection of hats – 109, at
the most recent count earlier this week.
And she only started her hobby
about eight years ago, after moving to
Valley View Assisted Living in March
2006. Metlock does say she has always
loved hats, ever since her mother in-
sisted on she and her sister having new
hats for Easter each year.
Most of her toppers are gifts or ones
she buys at Valley View Assisted Living
where she resides. She uses the “Valley
View bucks” she earns to purchase hats
– as well as other goodies – at regular
auctions held for the residents.
The collection includes hats of all
styles, patterns and colors, for all sea-
sons, several holidays and everything
in-between. There are several knitted
ones and ball caps, including one for
her favorite baseball team, the Chicago
Cubs.
Her favorite is a green John Deere cap
a Valley View friend, Ken Kulis, gave her,
in memory of her father, who was faithful
to the John Deere equipment brand.
She also has a growing group of
stuffed animals, many of which – of
course – come with their own matching
hats.
Her other hobbies include painting
and ceramics, which has launched other
collections – albeit smaller ones. Portraits
of birds adorn her living quarters, as well
as various small statues, crafted during
sessions at Valley View led by Donna
Adams of Dixie Creek Ceramics.
The various treasures create a lively
splash of color and comfort to her warm
home.
She is also a gifted singer, who has
performed at Grant County Fair talent
shows over the years.
See HATS, Page A5