W EDNESDAY , N OVEMBER 11, 2015
N O . 45
18 P AGES
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www.MyEagleNews.com
Commission deciding
fate of gray wolf status
By Eric Mortenson
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A packed meet-
ing room was expected Mon-
day, Nov. 9, as the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life (ODFW) Commission de-
cided whether to remove gray
wolves from the state’s endan-
gered species law.
Livestock
producers
strongly favor the idea and
conservation groups are just
as deeply opposed, and a full
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testimony is likely. The wolf
delisting is the only item on
the commission’s agenda.
State wildlife biologists
recommend delisting wolves.
Under the state’s wolf recov-
ery plan, the commission can
take wolves off the endan-
gered list if they determine:
Wolves aren’t in danger of
Patriarch of family
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Pattie Melanson served
seven years in Marines; two
sons currently on active duty
Marine Sgt.
Patricia
Melanson,
right, stands
with her co-
worker while
stationed
at Camp
LeJeune, NC,
in 1985.
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
C
ANYON CITY – Patricia Melanson of Canyon
City says her dad was a “big in-
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many family members to follow
his footsteps in the military.
“It was the life we grew up in,” she said.
Her dad, Hugh Laurance, who formerly
lived in Prairie City, was an Army sergeant
Hugh
major, spending his career in the service.
He died in 2012, having served two tours Laurance
in Korea, one in Vietnam and four in Ger-
many, while raising a family with his wife, Twila, who is
also deceased.
See PATH, Page A3
Contributed photos
Top photo:
Brothers
Ryan
Melanson,
left, and
Jason
Melanson
have
followed
in their
parents’ and
grandfather’s
footsteps.
Courtesy of ODFW
OR-3, a 3-year-old male
wolf from the Imnaha
pack in Wallowa County.
extinction in any portion of
their range; their natural re-
productive potential is not in
danger of failing; there’s no
imminent or active deteriora-
tion of their range or primary
habitat; the species or its hab-
itat won’t be “over-utilized”
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commercial or educational
reasons; and existing state or
federal regulations are ade-
quate to protect them.
See WOLF, Page A5
Students, staff, have
local health option
School-based
health offers
primary care
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – The School-
based Health Center located
at Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School offers health care
for Grant County students and
school staff.
The health center opened
last May, and has their doors
open again this school year.
“I’m really excited that
it’s something we’re able
to offer to Grant County to
provide them with an alter-
native and help keep them in
school,” said coordinator Jes-
sica Winegar. “It’s just down
the hallway for Grant Union
students.”
She wants to let resi-
dents know the services are
available for all Grant Coun-
ty school-age students and
school staff, not just those liv-
ing in John Day.
Winegar is a registered
nurse and also manages the
Grant County Health Depart-
ment.
She said the goal of the
school-based health center is
to work with families to pro-
vide health services, regard-
less of ability to pay.
Family nurse practitioner
Karen Triplett is at the school
10 hours a week, 8 a.m.-12
p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
and 1-3 p.m. Wednesdays.
She can prescribe medication,
if needed.
Registered nurses Winegar
or Jenni Workman are avail-
able on Tuesdays from 12-5
p.m.
The health center has two
new staff members, including
Cindy Baker who provides
staff support at the health cen-
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north end of the school inside
the main building.
See HEALTH, Page A3
O N THE TOWN
Seneca: Small town boasts a golf course, shooting range
%\&KHU\O+RHÀHU
Blue Mountain Eagle
SENECA – Whoev-
er coined the saying “Big
things come in small pack-
ages” just might have had
Seneca in mind.
Not many towns with a
population of 200 can boast
having their own 9-hole pas-
ture golf course and shooting
range, not to mention a hand-
ful of businesses – offering
gas, food, groceries and lodg-
ing – and a spacious commu-
nity park with a variety of
amenities and features.
All this, plus some of the
most picturesque scenery
and prime hunting grounds
Oregon has to offer.
Seneca Mayor Andrea
Combs grew up on a ranch
in Bear Valley and attended
Seneca School. She returned
to the area in 1998 with her
husband, John, and knows
what a special place it is.
“I love this town and the
people in it,” Combs said.
“We, John and I, have
worked to make a life here
not because we were stuck
and didn’t have any other op-
tions, but because we knew
there was no better place to
raise our children than in this
small town,” she said.
City
recorder/manag-
er Josh Walker spent much
of his youth in Seneca, and
moved his family back there
to make their home after he
and his wife, Mindy, finished
their careers in the military.
to those who have courageously
risked their lives fighting for our
freedoms.
541-575-1631
A PROUD SALUTE
Grant County Courthouse
Grant County
VETERAN
SERVICES
OFFICE
See TOWN, Page A5
Eagle file photos
The small but active community of Seneca boasts
a school, several businesses, a park, shooting
range and 9-hole golf course.