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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2015)
SWISH! Cross-county rivals clash on the courts – PAGE A7 Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , J ANUARY 21, 2015 • N O . 3 • 14 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com New hearing set for convicted cop-killer ing before members of the Oregon Board of Parole. Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter said he By Scotta Callister will travel to Salem Sidney Blue Mountain Eagle to testify at the Jan. Dean Porter 27 hearing, and he SALEM – Sidney Dean Porter, has already submit- ZKRNLOOHGD-RKQ'D\SROLFHRI¿FHU ted a package of materials about the nearly 23 years ago, will get a new crime to the board. shot at freedom next week in a hear- “I will ask them not to release Porter could be freed – or face 2 more years him,” Carpenter said, noting he will underscore the depravity of the crime. “The facts of the crime are unre- futed by anyone, except Porter him- self,” he said. Porter, now 55, was sentenced in 1992 for the bludgeoning death of 2I¿FHU)UDQN:DUGZKRKDGJRQHWR Porter’s home on a domestic assault call. This is the second time Porter has come up for release. The board or- dered his release in 2012, after a hear- ing missed by then-DA Ryan Joslin. The decision to release a con- YLFWHG SROLFH RI¿FHU NLOOHU FRPLQJ with no local law enforcement input, sparked protests across the state from SROLFHRI¿FLDOVDQGSURPSWHGDOHJLV lative committee hearing. The board reopened the hearing in 2013, this time deferring Porter’s release until at least June 2015. Next week’s hearing will set the stage for release or up to two more years of incarceration. The hearing will be held at the Or- egon State Correctional Institution in Salem, with public attendance only by prior arrangement with the Cor- rections Department. Described as an exit interview, the hearing allows the board to review psychological or psychiatric evalua- tions, discuss the offender’s conduct in prison, and examine his parole plan. See HEARING, Page A5 New MV mayor at the helm Anderson looks to future city improvements By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle MT. VERNON – New Mt. Vernon Mayor Andy Ander- son is picking up where former Mayor Sue Horn left off. A longtime Mt. Vernon resi- dent, Anderson was sworn in at the Jan. 13 city council meeting. Elected councilors Wayne Saul Andy Anderson and Jan Lowry, and appoin- tee Mike Cearns Sr. also were sworn in, joining Eva Doughar- ity on the council. Anderson volunteered to move from his position as coun- cilor – which he held for several years – to mayor due to Horn’s illness. Horn was diagnosed with brain cancer last summer. “We sure didn’t want to see that change because she’s a great gal,” Anderson said. “She served the city for a long time as a council member and mayor.” See MAYOR, Page A5 S TUDENT A RT Kayden Mumpfield Teacher: Becky Sharp Prairie City School BLAST OFF Team suits up for space Project designed by GU students is picked for orbit By Scotta Callister J Blue Mountain Eagle OHN DAY – A team of stu- dents from Oregon’s frontier is JHWWLQJDVKRWDWWKHIDEOHG³¿ nal frontier” – space. Grant Union ninth-graders Zack Dieter, Elijah Humbird, Duane Stokes, Dante Valentine, and Cauy Weaver recently were named winners of a countywide competition to design a science experiment that will be tested in low Earth orbit. In all, 33 teams from Grant County entered the contest, conducted as part The Eagle/Scotta Callister RI WKH QDWLRQDO 6WXGHQW 6SDFHÀLJKW Experiments Program. The program Above: One of the challenges facing students proposing encourages real-world science and en- experiments to send into space was the tight fit – the project had gineering education and is a national to fit in a small tube. Here, teacher Sonna Smith holds one of the model for STEM – science, technolo- tubes in the lab at Grant Union. Top photo: Serious science can gy, engineering and math – education be fun, as these Grant Union ninth-graders demonstrate for the camera. The team – Dante Valentine, Cauy Weaver, Duane Stokes, for grade 5 through college. 7KH VSDFHÀLJKW FRPSHWLWLRQ FKDO Elijah Humbird, and Zack Dieter – designed a project that won a lenges student teams to come up with countywide contest and will be tested in space. Contributed photo experiments that can be tested in a “weightless” environment by astro- The Space Station astronauts are orbit this spring. nauts on the International Space Sta- scheduled to conduct the Grant Union Sonna Smith, who teaches chemis- tion. team’s experiment during a six-week try and science at Grant Union, is the local coordinator for the program. She was impressed with all of the local en- tries, and the creative approaches stu- dents took toward solving problems in microgravity. “I was amazed at the variety of ideas the kids came up with,” she said. The topics ranged from how to culture yo- gurt in space to a test of Henry’s law, a chemistry principle applying to the solubility of gases. The local effort began in the fall with students learning about forces and mo- tion in science classes at their schools. Then they formed teams to research and design their experiments. The experiments had to be space-worthy, include a maximum of ¿YHVWHSVDQGUHTXLUHQRUHIULJHUDWLRQ And here’s the big catch – the experi- ment’s components had to be compact HQRXJKWR¿WLQWRDVPDOOWXEHIRUWUDQV port into space. As the students honed their entries, Smith pulled together a review board made up of local professionals in sci- ence and engineering. The board mem- bers and their areas of expertise were Jeff Campbell, microbiology; Ryne 6PLWKFKHPLVWU\+ROO\%HQW]DTXDWLF restoration and engineering; Al Den- man, science educator; and Kyle Sulli- van, soil science and chemistry. See TEAM, Page A5 Bentz takes rural case to urban audience Rep sees key issues coming up for agriculture By Scotta Callister Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – State Rep. Cliff Bentz admits it’s frustrating to try to convince urban west-siders about the plight of Oregon’s rural counties and the need to make better use of our natural resourc- es. “They just don’t get it,” he said. But Bentz said he’s found a theme that seems to get through the haze – “the old ‘what’s in it for me’ approach.” Bentz (R-Ontario) spoke at the Grant County Farm Bureau annual meeting Jan. 11 in John Day, and also at the recent Ore- gon Leadership Summit in Portland. The latter, a gathering of leaders from both private and public sectors, touched Rep. Cliff on ideas to spur eco- Bentz nomic recovery in the lagging rural areas. In a recent interview, Bentz reiterated that rural recovery should matter to the more populous west side. “We have billions of dollars of miner- als, timber, grass and water which we are not using to good effect,” he said. He said it’s in the state’s best interest to make use of those resources, if only for WKHEHQH¿FLDOULSSOHHIIHFWLWFRXOGKDYH for our children and their education. He noted the state struggles to fund schools and universities, but the revenue from resource industries could do a great deal to ease that challenge. Bentz also cited some other issues that could arise at the Legislature, with im- pacts for rural Oregon counties. Among them: • County roads. He noted that Grant County, unlike many rural counties, is fortunate to have “a sizeable savings account” in its road fund. However, he noted that fund will erode over time, and something must be done to help the rural counties fund their roads and services. Bentz, who serves on the House Transportation and Economic Devel- opment Committee, said he’s asking all ¿YHRIWKHFRXQWLHVLQKLVGLVWULFWIRUWKHLU ideas on future funding for county roads. • Possible listing of the sage grouse as an endangered species, a specter that’s been described as agriculture’s version of the spotted-owl issue. Bentz outlined one possible way to forestall the listing: a proposal to put a tax on birdseed and salt feed for cattle. The tax would raise about $1.5 million on birdseed and another $400,000 on salt, the proceeds going toward habitat im- provements for songbirds and non-game birds including the grouse. It could fund juniper removal, water supply enhancements, and other mea- VXUHVDIWHUZLOG¿UHV Bentz said he wants to hear from See BENTZ, Page A5