DEMOLITION DRIVER GETS READY FOR BIG EVENT
Blue Mountain
– PAGE 8A
EAGLE
The
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , J ULY 15, 2015
• N O . 28
• 16 P AGES
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www.MyEagleNews.com
Forest Service gets earful from county residents
Listening session first
regarding national forest usage
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Citizens
from Grant County, and
neighboring counties, gath-
ered at a July 7 meeting to
raise their concerns regarding
forest access issues on the
Malheur National Forest.
About 50 people were in
attendance at the public lis-
tening session held at the
Grant County Regional Air-
port conference room in John
Day, including Forest Ser-
vice of¿ cials, members of the
Grant County Public Forest
Commission, Grant County
Access Advisory Board, Blue
Mountain Forest Partners,
Citizens for Public Access,
County Court, and others.
Jack Southworth of Seneca
facilitated the four-hour-long
meeting, asking questions and
allowing all in the room an
opportunity to respond.
The meeting was set up
by County Judge Scott Myers
with Forest Supervisor Steve
Beverlin and is the ¿ rst of
three public listening meet-
ings with three topics to be
covered – forest access, graz-
ing, and pace and scale of res-
toration work on the Malheur
National Forest.
Sitting in a large circle, the
audience was asked what con-
cerns they have regarding for-
est access. Several said forest
Frances Preston
of Prairie City,
left, speaks at the
meeting, as her
sister, Billie Jo
George, of Austin
and Forest
Supervisor Steve
Beverlin listen.
The Eagle
Angel Carpenter
See ACCESS, Page A7
New CEO leads at
Blue Mountain Hospital
The physicians are excel-
lent, said Mee, and all the
nurses are certi¿ ed in Ad-
vanced Cardiovascular Life
Support (ACLS), Pediat-
ric Advanced Life Support
By Angel Carpenter
(PALS) and Neonatal Re-
Blue Mountain Eagle
suscitation Program (NRP).
He said the physicians and
JOHN DAY – Randall nurses’ skill level should
Mee, Blue Mountain Hospi- encourage the community’s
tal District’s new CEO, has con¿ dence in the care they
traveled the world working will receive at the hospital.
in hospital management –
After just three weeks on
and has plenty of praise for the job at BMH, Mee has set
all that John Day’s medical high standards for the staff.
facility has to offer.
“We’re working toward
Mee began the job June a goal to become one of
15, succeeding Bob Hous- HealthCare’s top 100 facil-
er, who retired in late De- ities in the nation,” he said.
cember after 15 years with
His priority areas of fo-
the district –
cus include
Houser was
assuring qual-
followed by
ity staff, qual-
interim CEO
ity care and
Margie Moli-
compassion,
tor who took
and support-
the helm for
ing the staff’s
¿ ve months.
development
Mee has
in their areas
been
in-
of expertise.
volved
in
Mee said
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter he
health care
appreci-
for 40 years, Blue Mountain Hospital’s ates the sup-
working in new CEO Randall Mee port the com-
administra- chats with Linda Watson munity has
tion for 25 of the Eastern Oregon shown for the
Coordinated
Care hospital.
years.
He was Organization, adding a
“As a re-
president and meeting to his schedule. sult, we have
CEO at St.
some of the
Anthony’s Hospital, a criti- best medical equipment,” he
cal access hospital in Pend- said.
leton, from 2008-11, and be-
He gave some exam-
fore that was administrator ples of what he feels makes
at Cottage Grove Communi- BMH a valuable facility, in-
ty Hospital.
cluding a quality staffed ER
His work overseas in- and radiology department
cludes a year at the cultur- with a large bore MRI ma-
ally diverse Oasis Hospital chine, also echocardiogram,
in the United Arab Emir- respiratory therapy, physi-
ates, 2011-2012, and three cal therapy, anesthesia, and
months in Jakarta, last year, well-equipped operating and
consulting for a university birthing rooms.
hospital.
He also highlighted the
Mee said he’s impressed quality staff and services,
with the Blue Mountain including doctors at the
Hospital staff and facility. onsite clinic, as well as a
surgeon available full time,
ambulance service, visiting
specialists, home health,
hospice, therapy (physical
and respiratory), Care Cen-
ter and all the support staff.
“As you look at the con-
tinuum of care, for a health
care system, to have all of
See CEO, Page A16
Randall Mee
sets goals with
hospital staff
S TUDENT ART
SUMMERTIME
FUN
JD’s pool showing signs of age
By Dave Fisher
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
o the casual observer it’s
business as usual at John
Day’s
municipal
pool,
owned by the city and man-
aged by the John Day/Can-
yon City Parks and Recreation District.
It’s summertime and on any given day
countless area school-aged children
splash about Gleason Pool enjoying the
carefree days of summer. It’s an annu-
al tradition that has unfolded this time
of year for as long as most people can
remember. However, beneath
the surface problems
exist that threaten
the shutdown of
the 57-year-
old pool.
“Ev-
ery year,
Eagle photos/Dave Fisher
Kim Ward, program director for
the John Day/Canyon City Parks
and Recreation District, manages
the pool and serves as a lifeguard
during the three months the pool
is open during the summer.
we’re not sure if this pool is going to hold
water,” said Kimberly Ward, program
director for the district, who, during the
summer months, takes on the role of pool
manager and lifeguard as well.
This year, Ward was keeping her ¿ n-
gers crossed that the pool, which opens
the Monday after the ¿ nal day of school
and remains open through August,
would open on time. It was a close call
as repairs to leaks and the pool’s boiler
were ¿ nished the Friday before.
It’s not the ¿ rst time this has hap-
pened, according to Ward. Last year, a
pump had to be replaced prior to open-
ing the pool. In recent years, Ward es-
timates that upwards of 70 percent of
the original galvanized pipes have been
repaired or replaced.
“We’ve (including city of¿ cials)
known the past few years as the pool
See POOL, Page A7
:etter Fooler weatKer aids ¿ re¿ gKters
Mother Nature
comes through
with much
needed rain
Blue Mountain Eagle
Babe Nash
“Wind”
Grant Union
Junior-Senior
High School
Still a magnet for
summertime fun and
organized swim lessons,
John Day’s Gleason Pool
is aging but opened on
time this summer despite
last minute repairs.
DAY9ILLE – )ire¿ ghters
battling two blazes in Grant
County near Dayville got a
much needed dose of cooler
and wetter weather towards the
end of last week and over the
weekend. As a result, the Cor-
ner Creek and West )ork ¿ res
did not increase signi¿ cantly
in size. As of Tuesday morn-
ing, the Corner Creek Fire was
85 percent contained, up from
40 percent a week ago, while
the West Fork Fire, located in
rougher terrain on the north
slope of the Aldrich Mountain
range within an older ¿ re scar,
was 15 percent contained.
Corner Creek Fire update
The lightning-caused Cor-
ner Creek Fire, which started
June 29, remains at 29,407
acres. Widespread signi¿ cant
precipitation occurred over
most of the ¿ re area in the past
few days and on the western
À ank, ¿ re¿ ghters continued to
mop-up and patrol along the
containment lines, extinguish-
ing any burning and smolder-
ing materials. Fire personnel,
reduced to 334, will continue
to patrol the ¿ re on the eastern
À ank along the South Fork John
Day River and road.
Although ¿ re line construc-
tion is now completed around
the entire perimeter of the ¿ re
there is a dif¿ cult section of in-
direct ¿ re line within the Black
Canyon Wilderness that needs
to be secured. To ensure this
steep and rugged section of
the ¿ re is contained, a burnout
operation likely needs to oc-
cur when the weather and fuel
conditions allow. Crew and re-
source numbers will be reduced
awaiting the arrival of favor-
able burning conditions antic-
ipated later in the week with a
warming and drying trend. Fire
managers expect reduced ¿ re
behavior potential for the next
several days.
See FIRES, Page A16