ON TO STATE
Three area teams head to playoffs
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The
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
W EDNESDAY , F EBRUARY 24, 2016
Managing
retirement
Peggy Gray
plans to travel,
visit family, take
walks, sleep in
JOHN DAY — The next
item on the agenda for Peggy
Gray is ...
Retirement.
Gray, who has been the
John Day city manager since
2001, will retire July 1. She
said her time
with the City
has
been
“great ... and
a real educa-
tion.”
“My job
has been to
Peggy
make
the
Gray
council look
good,”
she
said, adding she hopes she ac-
complished a few good things
along the way.
Gray said the thing she
will miss most is the people.
“I love working with the
employees, especially when
we get projects done,” Gray
said.
One of the most memo-
rable accomplishments for
the city during her time is a
recent one — the long over-
due construction of a new
fire station in John Day.
“It was a community
effort,” Gray said, adding
it was the overwhelming
support from everyone in-
volved that made it finally
happen.
“It’s great to see it finally
go up,” she said.
• 20 P AGES
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Police licensing agency recommends
the DOJ investigate Sheriff Palmer
Chief, dispatch manager complain sheriff’s support of militia endangered the public
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
By Cheryl Hoefl er
Blue Mountain Eagle
• N O . 8
John Day’s police chief and dis-
patch manager’s complaints that the
Grant County sheriff’s support for the
militia occupying the Malheur refuge
endangered the public have been sent
to the justice department for further in-
vestigation.
Chief Richard Gray and Dispatch
Manager Valerie Luttrell were among
at least eight who fi led formal com-
plaints against Sheriff Glenn Palmer
with the state Department of Public
Safety Standards and Training, which
licenses Oregon police offi cers. The
department sent the complaints to the
Oregon Department of Justice recom- Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
mending an investigation.
Palmer said in an email Friday ceived a packet from DPSST,” he said investigation “for numerous felonious
morning he is being represented by an in the email. “Other than that, I am not crimes.” She said Palmer’s support
attorney, but he declined to discuss the discussing anything further.”
placed other law enforcement offi cials
complaints.
Luttrell said in her complaint Palm- and the public at risk, because he was
“As of this morning, I have not been er was openly supportive of the militia not trusted.
contacted by the DOJ but I have re- and met with members who are under
As the FBI and Oregon State Po-
lice planned to arrest the leaders of the
refuge occupation on Highway 395 en
route to a meeting in John Day Jan. 26,
she said, they opted not to inform city
and county law enforcement offi cials
in Grant County out of concern Sher-
iff Glenn Palmer might be a “security
leak.”
Even though militia supporters and
Palmer were awaiting the meeting in
John Day, she said Chief Richard Gray
was unable to obtain information about
the law enforcement action unfolding
on Highway 395.
“Sheriff Palmer’s blatant disregard
for the potential consequences of push-
ing his personal agenda over the wel-
fare and safety of the general public that
he is sworn to protect is at the very least
an ethical transgression,” she said in the
complaint. “... This became a serious
safety issue for our (Dispatch) Center
and local Law enforcement during the
events on January 26th.”
See SHERIFF, Page A10
“
Sheriff Palmer’s blatant disregard for the potential consequences of pushing his
personal agenda over the welfare and safety of the general public that he is sworn to
protect is at the very least an ethical transgression.” — Dispatch Manager Valerie Luttrell
Fatal crash
near Pilot Rock
seriously injures
two from PC
Blue Mountain Eagle
See GRAY, Page A10
The Eagle/Sean Hart
Cody Wilson stands in the doorway for the crowded Grant County Court session Feb. 17
and discusses a proposed resolution condemning the occupation of the Malheur refuge.
Resolving the refuge resolution
Discussion about condemning occupation continues today
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
A proposed resolution condemn-
ing the occupation of the Mal-
heur National Wildlife Refuge has
drawn large crowds at the last two
Grant County Court meetings.
At the Feb. 17 meeting, with
people lined up in the hallway un-
able to enter the room, the com-
missioners decided to postpone the
discussion to the Feb. 24 meeting
when a larger room could be pro-
cured. Discussion is scheduled to
resume at 11:30 a.m. today, Feb.
24, upstairs in the Circuit Court
room at the Grant County Court-
house.
At the fi rst meeting, Feb. 10, the
majority of people who spoke out
were in favor of the resolution.
The crowd seemed more evenly
split Feb. 17 before the commis-
sioners decided to table the issue
until the next meeting.
Several people, some of whom
spoke at the fi rst meeting, offered
their support for the resolution.
Mark Cerny said the resolution
was well written and necessary to
address concerns people have that
militia members might come to
Grant County.
See REFUGE, Page A10
Two people from Prairie City are
recovering after being seriously in-
jured in a fatal crash Friday near Pilot
Rock.
Alexxyss L. Therwhanger, 20,
was pronounced dead at the scene of
a head-on wreck at about 4 p.m. on
Highway 395 south of Pilot Rock, ac-
cording to Oregon State Police.
The Kennewick woman was driv-
ing a 1998 Buick Century sedan when
it failed to negotiate a left hand curve
in the roadway. The Buick, which was
traveling northbound, crossed over
into the southbound lane and collided
with a 1994 Lincoln Continental.
Francis (Frank) Charles Wimber-
ley, 60, of Prairie City, the driver of
the Lincoln Continental, was trans-
ported to Kadlec Regional Medical
Center, Richland, Washington, by
air ambulance with serious injuries.
A passenger in Wimberley’s vehicle,
Donnetta Marie Kulis, 54, of Prairie
City, was transported by ambulance
to St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton,
also with serious injuries.
Wimberly’s daughter, Crystal, said
in a Facebook post both are fine. She
said it would be a long road to recov-
ery, but they are fighters.