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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2015)
Blue Mountain EAGLE The LAMPTON GUILTY IN SEX CRIMES CASE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , J ULY 1, 2015 • N O . 26 • 20 P AGES • $1.00 PAGE A5 www.MyEagleNews.com FIRE SEASON STRIKES By Tim Trainor A Blue Mountain Eagle powerful thunderstorm ripped through the area June 28, bringing electricity to a landscape that had been scorched by high temperatures for days. The results were expectedly À ammable. In the days since, ¿ re crews have battled the blazes, despite unrelenting temperatures and hold over ¿ res continuing to ignite. The largest ¿ re in the area ² and all of cen tral and eastern Oregon ² is currently the Sugar Loaf Fire, which has burned more than 5,000 acres roughly eight miles north of Dayville. It is believed to be a lightningcaused ¿ re, which touched off June 27. As of Tuesday, containment was just 20 percent. Hundreds of ¿ re¿ ghters had already set up camp in Dayville on June 29 to battle the blaze, which was mostly burning through grass and shrubs on BLM Prineville District lands, but also on some private property. An outbuilding and a vehicle were destroyed by À ames, though there were no serious injuries report ed by press time. This incident was being managed as a full sup pression ¿ re. Crews constructed a ¿ re line along the north À ank. Engines patrolled the perimeter roads and the Dick Creek Road, which cuts through the middle of the burned area, attempting to douse hot spots. But Sugar Loaf is just one ¿ re in the area, and Dayville is currently the epicenter of a number of large ¿ res. The humancaused Blue Basin Fire burned about 400 acres east of State Route 19, largely within the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. A large new ¿ re, the Corner Creek Fire, is burning 11 miles south of the small town. It grew quickly overnight Tuesday into Wednesday to reach 850 acres in size. Helicopters and air tank ers were dispatched to suppress it. Another ¿ re, See FIRE, Page A10 Submitted photo by Meredith Thomas Meredith Thomas took this photo Sunday by Dayville looking toward Aldrich Mountain. She said one of many strikes she captured started a fire she reported. Marijuana faces hazy future in Grant County By Tim Trainor Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter The Harper Creek Fire burns June 29 south of Mount Vernon, shortly after igniting. By Tuesday, it had grown to more than 300 acres. Whooping cough reported in county Three cases confirmed, others treated Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY – The Grant County Health Department reports there are three con¿ rmed cases of pertussis whooping cough) in the county which started at the beginning of June. In addition to the three cases a num ber of other families with symptoms are being treated for whooping cough while awaiting test results. County and state public health of ¿ cials recommend individuals age 2 months and older should receive regular DTaP vaccinations for children through age 6) as well as one routine TDaP booster every 10 years for adolescents and adults, starting at age 10) to protect themselves and those around them from whooping cough, especially people who are in contact with infants. The health department, 528 E. Main, will hold a special DTaPTDaP vaccina tion clinic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fri day, July 10. The immunizations will be offered for minimal to no cost, and free for peo ple without insurance. The staff can also check to see if a person’s vaccination schedule is up to date through the online ALERT Immunization Information Sys tem. Pertussis is a highly contagious respi ratory infection caused by bacteria. Experts say pertussis is dangerous, even fatal, for infants who are too young to be immunized. Since 2003, babies less than 1 year old accounted for greater than 80 percent of pertussis hospitalizations in Ore gon. Five of those babies, all younger than See COUGH, Page A10 As legal marijuana arrives on the scene in Oregon, its future remains hazy in Grant County. The County Court has not banned medical or recreational dispen saries, and the state Legislature contin ues to ¿ nalize a plan that gives counties that vot ed against Measure 91 back in November, the ability to ban all dispensa ries. In a brief conversation during the June 2 Court meet ing, Commissioner Boyd Brit ton said he would be in favor of banning both medical and recreational dispensaries from the county while Commission er Chris Labhart said he would not want to override decisions made by other municipalities. Britton said he would have no problem overriding those de cisions. In John Day, the city coun cil carved out a small space on the far east end of town as the sole place a dispensary could locate within city limits. The council made no distinction as to whether that could be a medical or recre ational dispensa ry, but the state has said business licenses will not be ready for recre ational dispensaries until at least 2016. After much debate, Prairie City’s council decided to take no steps to ban or put restric tions on dispensaries. Instead, the city is in the process of instituting a ¿ rstev er business license, which all businesses located within the city will have to pay upon opening and annually there after. See POT, Page A10 HERE COMES THE FOURTH! Meet the grand marshals Parades, food, fireworks and games on tap Among all the colorful parade entries, three sets of grand marshals – in Prairie City, Monument and Dayville – will be riding and waving to onlookers during the Fourth of July festivities. Here’s a brief glance at the honored dignitaries: Blue Mountain Eagle Four Grant County towns – Prairie City, Monument, Dayville and Long Creek – are rolling out the red, white and blue carpet with a full slate of activities for the 2015 Fourth of July celebration. Here are the highlights on each community’s schedule. Most activities are in each community’s city park, unless otherwise noted. Each town will also have an array of food throughout the celebrations. Dayville – “2015 – Let Freedom Ring” Friday, July 3 • 8 p.m. – Happy hour, no Eagle file photo From left, Ryah Johns, Stella Johns and Marilyn Moore ride easy as they wave to the crowd during the 2014 Fourth of July parade in Dayville. Independence Day festivities will abound in several Grant County communities this weekend. host bar, Community Hall • p.m. and after ¿ re works – Dance with live music by 7he 1everCanEv ers, Community Hall • 10 p.m. – Fireworks, east of town near the red barn Saturday, July 4 • 10:30 a.m. – Parade, with grand marshal Marina Martin See FOURTH, Page A10 Prairie City Jim and Lynette Sullens were born and raised in Prai rie City. Both worked for the Forest Service, and Jim is also retired from the Prai rie City Fire Department, on which he served as chief. The couple have three children and several grandchildren, and are active in Prairie City community events. Dayville Marina Martin has lived in Dayville since 1977. She has held many roles at Dayville School – art teacher, bus driv er for 25 years, baseball coach and sports team medic. She was an EMT for 16 years, and has served on several clubs. She has three children and four grandchildren. Monument Bob Co[ comes from pio neer stock. His grandparents homesteaded in the Monu ment area soon after 1900, in the Top area. Cox has spent his life farming the family homestead and has also been involved with H and other community activities.