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.