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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2015)
News Blue Mountain Eagle ROAD of you say, ‘you can close this road’ or ‘you can’t close this road?’” she asked. She said the Forest Service Continued from Page A1 is decommissioning roads to He said that process is meet a quota, and the Court “working much better than it should take a stand. has in the last 25-30 years.” Sam Palmer said he’s get- However, road advocates ting the sense the Court is an- say the conversation is still swering to the Forest Service, coming too late in the process not the people. He urged them – after decisions are proposed to send a letter to the Forest and through the comment pe- Service, and the public, saying riod. they will not allow another road Myers said the Court is closure– and that all roads will monitoring the forest projects be considered open until docu- and proposals. mentation is provided to justify “We’re sorry if it appears a change. things are moving slowly, but Palmer also said there has things are moving,” he said. been talk in the past about the However, people in the au- Forest Service giving the roads dience said they are in the dark over to the county. about the Court’s position on “I think we should take URDGVGHVSLWH¿YHRUVL[PHHW- them. That’s our infrastruc- ings that focused on the issues. ture,” he said. “None of us have any idea Howard Gieger said the where you stand,” said Rod Court should realize that clos- Smith, noting the ordinance ing just one road may “lock up requires the Court to either sup- a lot of land.” port or reject closures proposed He suggested the Court by the Forest Service. should send a “cease and de- Billie Jo George echoed that sist” on roads, and also ask for frustration, noting that when VSHFL¿F1DWLRQDO(QYLURQPHQWDO )RUHVW 6HUYLFH RI¿FLDOV PDNH Policy Act (NEPA) documents. presentations to the Court, Sproul noted that “access is “there’s never any result.” a real hot-button issue, and our “At what point do the three access in our county is at a turn- ing point … And it’s getting worse, not better.” He raised concerns about re- cent talk that pressure on roads will jeopardize logging and timber work on the forest, com- ments the group took as a threat. “That’s childish,” he said. “Don’t do it any further.” Myers said he didn’t be- lieve the Court had made such threats, and noted that com- ments may have been taken out of context. The threat concern also came up in a previous Court session, drawing a response from Russ Young of Iron Trian- gle. He said he felt a comment by Malheur Forest Supervisor Steve Beverlin had been “spun” and misunderstood. He said the comment came in a broader context about the way working together creates solutions while disputes over issues like roads could bog down the progress under way on the forest. Gieger said the threat talk is still circulating in the county, and he and others attributed it to Commissioner Boyd Britton. Some said it was recorded on tape, which prompted Myers to caution that he hoped such tap- ing was done legally. JOB and Holliday. Board member Cronin also said the board Tracie Unterwegner was ab- discussed those options and sent, on a trip with Grant Union nothing is off the table, and that students to the Ashland Shake- at some point that type of ar- Continued from Page A1 spearean Festival. rangement might be necessary. Gerry was one of four appli- According to preliminary She added the district has cut cants interviewed for the Grant minutes from the meeting, administration over the last 10 Union job, including Grant during the public forum por- years, and at this time additional Union teacher Didgette Mc- tion, John Day resident Chuck reductions are not necessary. Cracken, Vale School District Amling requested the salary and Salary for the new Grant superintendent Matthew Haw- EHQH¿WSDFNDJHVRIERWKWKHVX- Union principal position is ley, and Crane School District perintendent and principal posi- $89,500 a year. Current enroll- superintendent and principal tions as well as their educational ment at Grant Union, the largest Gail Buermann. EDFNJURXQGDQGTXDOL¿FDWLRQV school in the county, is 584. The interview team for the He suggested the district The Prairie City School position included Shelley, Witty, could save money by combining Board has scheduled an emer- board chair Chris Cronin, board the two positions, and use the gency meeting, with an execu- member Ben Holliday, Kim savings to bring back programs tive session to discuss personnel Smith, Andrea Combs, Jason such as home economics. issues, at 6:30 p.m. this Wednes- Miller, Sandy Brown, Randy Larson replied that the board day, April 22, in the school li- Hennen, and Matt Jones. looked at those combinations brary. Witty said the process of and didn’t believe it was feasi- The meeting is expected choosing the best person for ble at this time, adding that such to touch on the superintendent the job was highly competitive, an arrangement could be over- resignation, along with a social adding the team felt Gerry was whelming to a candidate new to studies position and the 2015-16 WKHPRVWTXDOL¿HGRXWRIDSRRO a position. master calendar. of quality candidates. Gerry’s teaching and admin- istrative career has been at Prai- rie City, where he has been su- perintendent the last three years. He taught there for 13 years, Educators play an extremely important role including seven years at the el- in our community and are often underappreciated. ementary level and six at junior high level. He also has been ath- This year, Doug’s Motor Vehicle Repair is saying “Thank you, educators” by honoring an letic director the past nine years. “Educator of the Month.” Gerry earned his master’s Each month one local educator will be highlighted in degree at Oregon State Univer- the Blue Mountain Eagle and will receive a $50 gift sity and received his initial ad- certificate from Doug’s Repair. Educator of the Year will receive $1,000 to be donated to school of their choice. ministrative license at Universi- Nominate your Local Hero by picking up a nomination form at the ty of Oregon. Blue Mountain Eagle or Doug’s Repair, or download a copy from the The vote to hire Gerry was Blue Mountain Eagle’s website –www.bluemountaineagle.com. unanimous among school board members at the meeting, includ- ing Cronin, vice chairman Zach Williams, Mike Cosgrove, Gor- 10 don Larson and Kelly Stokes Wednesday, April 22, 2015 A11 C OMMUNITY V OICES Grange active in community To the Blue Mountain Eagle In honor of “Grange Month” this April, Mt. Ver- non Grange No. 659 is ex- tending an invitation to all Grant County residents to consider joining this com- munity service organiza- tion. Mt. Vernon Grange be- gan in 1925 in Mt. Vernon. In 1949 the building burned to the ground – when it burned, it was the first fire responded to by the new Mt. Vernon fire truck. In 1953, the Grange was rebuilt at its present loca- tion, across Highway 26 from Clyde Holliday State Park. The land was donat- ed by the Holland family and the building was built by donated labor of Grange members. In October of 2014, members discovered that the septic tank had failed. After many months of get- ting the permits to replace it, the new septic is fin- ished. The Grange offers its appreciation to all of the members and local busi- nesses that helped with ev- erything it took to get this done. The Mt. Vernon Grange is a very casual group, not as structured as some larger Granges. The Grange meets on the second Friday of each month, beginning with a potluck at 6:30 p.m. and the general meeting at 7:30 p.m. It’s guaranteed to be a great meal every month. Anyone who would like to check out the Grange be- fore joining can come to a meeting as our guest. For information call Grange master Ron Dowse, at 541- 575-4268, or secretary Jean Sagert, at 541-575- 1007. Among the activities the Mt. Vernon Grange is involved in are two yearly fundraisers: a pancake feed in January and the Christ- mas Bazaar on the second Saturday in November. The Grange also sponsors a candidate night during election years. The Grange Hall has donated to 4-H for their achievement awards din- ner, to families for funeral dinners, and to local ditch companies for annual meet- ings. The Grange also donates money to fundraisers for cancer patients, victims of fires (including the Lostine Grange), renovations at the Grant County Fairgrounds, Glenn and Rose Ann Palm- er’s annual community Christmas dinner, and the Grant County Food Bank, and gives fresh fruit to the Blue Mountain Care Cen- ter. The Grange also is in- volved in supplying the dic- tionaries for third-graders in Long Creek, Monument and Dayville and helps the Ellis Tracy Legion Auxil- iary in giving to Humbolt and Seneca students. These dictionaries are given to the students to keep. The Grange also rents its hall for $55 a day. Rent- ers include two churches, and it also is available for parties – retirements, birth- days, anniversaries – and groups that need a meeting place. We invite people to come check out the Mt. Vernon Grange! – Submitted by Jean Sagert, Grange secretary A MAN WAKES UP in the morning after sleeping on... an advertised bed, in advertised pajamas. He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710 Nominate Your Educational Hero COUGHLIN & LEUENBERGER welcomes DAVID R. AUXIER, Attorney at Law &RXJKOLQ/HXHQEHUJHU3& 0DLQ6WUHHW6XLWH%DNHU&LW\2UHJRQ 1RUWK:KLWOH\'ULYH)UXLWODQG,GDKR 01710 0U $X[LHU KDV MRLQHG RXU ILUP HIIHFWLYH +H LV DQ H[SHULHQFHG OLWLJDWRU OLFHQVHG LQ 2UHJRQ DQG ,GDKR DQG KDV EHHQ SUDFWLFLQJ ODZ VLQFH +LV SUDFWLFH ZLOO HPSKDVL]H WULDO ZRUN GRPHVWLF UHODWLRQV SHUVRQDO LQMXU\ UHDO HVWDWH DQG EXVLQHVV OLWLJDWLRQ • John Day True Value Hardware • Long Creek General Store and Cafe • John Day Les Schwab Tires • Bank of Eastern Oregon • Cliff House Hair Design Studio • Guys & Gals Hair Care, Mary Powell • OK Garage & Mini Mart • Alvin and Linda Hunt • Susan Carter • Janice Hunt • Michelle Rose • Sue Drake • Gaylene Pruit • Marsie Watson • Reiba C. Smith • Daniel Johnson • Marilyn Cannon • Dan Morrow • Linda Studtmann • Bobbie Sue Brusman • Herb’s Howlers • Sheila Carter BUY FOUR WEEKS AND GET THE TH TH 5 WEEK FREE! $20.90 for up to 15 words. Amy Kreger, Myla Corley, WANT TO STAND OUT? Neita Sue Brockway, Add color, a photo, or a logo for $5 per week, put a box around it for $3 per week, or make it bold for only $1 per week! Ed Studtmann Craig Palmer, Joe Gibson Call Lindsay today! 541-575-0710 Classified deadline is 10am Monday. The Blue Mountain EAGLE To advertise in the most powerful local media available, call us at 541-575-0710. 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day “Last time we placed an ad, it was placed online as well, and was rented before it even made the paper. We are 100% satisfied with your service.” --Main Street Apartments 01656 01722 • Long Creek Booster Club • City of Long Creek • Long Creek Historical Society Donna Palmer, Linda Hunt, Gaylene Pruit, Reiba Smith, Paula Martin, Marsie Watson, Sherry Craig-Miller, Denise Porter, Sue Drake KJDY, Eric Sines, Patti Hudson, Long Creek Student Body, Jessica Perry, Suzanne Perry, Shirley Gorgita, Carol Rudihauser, Stephanie Coleman, Dave Pasko, Fred Drake, and anyone else that helped to make this a truly successful evening. Don Porter Mike Gibson Ed Studtmann David Hines Joe Gibson, Denise Porter, Craig Palmer, Ralph O’Dell Caleb Fechtig, Lineah Barnett