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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
A10 News Blue Mountain Eagle SHERIFF rescue, six as corrections, one as chaplain, nine as spe- cial deputies, three as land Continued from Page A1 use deputies, 11 as public After news broke of the lands patrol, nine as public arrests and Palmer left the lands deputies, one as lim- meeting to travel to an Or- ited to concealed handgun egon State Police roadblock license and 11 as a natural near Seneca, he requested resource committee. an update on the situation Gray said in his com- from a dispatcher who felt plaint he was greatly con- uncomfortable relaying “vi- cerned by Palmer’s support WDODQGFRQ¿GHQWLDOLQIRUPD- of the militia. tion to someone who may In John Day Jan. 12, not be trustworthy,” Luttrell Palmer met with three peo- said. ple who participated in the She also said she was occupation of the refuge, concerned about the pro- including Ryan Payne and cess Palmer uses to deputize Jon Ritzheimer, according special deputies, who have to county residents Dave authority “to do and per- Traylor and Jim Sproul who form any act” Palmer might were also at the meeting. perform as sheriff. She said Palmer said he was unaware Palmer refused to provide the occupiers would be at a list of his deputies to dis- the lunch meeting, but he patch to authorize their use followed them and others to of the Law Enforcement another location to continue Data System. She said she the meeting after leaving the was concerned about “the restaurant. dates in which they were Gray said the dispatch actually deputized” and radio log shows Palmer met whether thorough back- with them while on duty for ground checks were being about three and a half hours. completed before giving “I have a great public them “full arrest and use of safety concern when the force powers.” Grant County Sheriff is al- Public records obtained lowed to openly meet with show Palmer has deputized and be part of this group of seven as deputies, seven as lawbreakers,” he said in the UHVHUYH ¿YH DV VHDUFK DQG complaint. After the meeting, Palm- er told the Blue Mountain Eagle the militia members requested he travel to Har- ney County to “make a stand” for their cause, but he told them he would not without approval from the local sheriff. He described the occupiers as “patriots” but said he did not know if he supported the armed occupation. He did say he believed the government should make concessions to the militia. “I believe the govern- ment is going to have to concede to something,” he said in January. “I don’t think these guys are going to give up without knowing that they’ve done something WKDW EHQH¿WV WKH SHRSOH RI our country or our region.” Payne, Ritzheimer and others have since been in- dicted by a federal grand jury on felony counts related to the occupation. Payne and others were also charged with felonies related to a standoff with federal author- ities in Nevada in 2014. In his complaint, Gray also said Palmer deleted a public document from a re- cords management system the police department shares ZLWKWKHVKHULII¶VRI¿FH The Eagle/Sean Hart County Commissioner Chris Labhart, left, discusses a draft of a proposed resolution condemning the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge at the last Grant County Court meeting Feb. 17. The room was not large enough for the crowd, so the commissioners booked the larger courtroom upstairs for continued discussion beginning at 11:30 a.m. today. REFUGE Continued from Page A1 Mytchell Mead said it was important for the coun- ty to show it was in line with the rest of the country in terms of following all the laws. Others spoke out against the resolution. Jim Sproul said the occu- pation is over, so the resolu- tion would be meaningless. Judy Kerr said the res- olution was divisive and damaged the communi- GRAY Continued from Page A1 NO ONE KNOWS YOUR EQUIPMENT BETTER. Your AGCO Parts Dealer has the parts you need when you need them. Hardware, chain, batteries, tillage, belts, cutting parts. We have the quality parts you need to keep your AGCO equipment running smoothly during the demanding harvest season. Highly trained service personnel at AGCO Parts make it all come together, so you can rest easy. Visit your AGCO Parts Dealer and get the parts and services you need to “Keep you in the Field” this season. Find out more at agcoparts.com. Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Gray has seen lots of changes in personnel during her time as city manager — several different councils and four mayors. “We work together bet- ter now than before,” Gray said. “It’s a group effort.” Gray, originally from Stayton, has lived in John Day for 40 years. Other jobs she has held here include First Pioneer Bank — now Umpqua — and the Blue Mountain Eagle, where she was the ad rep for seven years. ty. She said the resolution failed to mention the Con- stitution, which can be in conflict with other laws. Sam Palmer, broth- er of Grant County Sher- iff Glenn Palmer, said the county should not draft a biased resolution, includ- ing terms such as “illegal occupation,” before the oc- cupiers have been tried in court. “If you want to send a letter, I’m OK with that, but let’s do it where we’re not being the judge, the jury, the executioner,” he said. “Let’s do it unbiased, and let’s do it legally and law- fully. If you disagree with it, that’s for a jury to decide, not for the County Court to decide.” He said he works as a nurse in Harney County and never saw an FBI agent or a known militiaman until Jan. 26 when the occupa- tion leaders were arrested and one was shot by police during the encounter after authorities say he reached for a weapon. Sam Palmer said he and his coworkers never felt threatened. *UD\¶V¿UVWSRVLWLRQVZLWK the city of John Day were secretary/cashier and record- er. Ken Bremner was the city manager then, Gray said. She and her husband of 10 years, Phil, former own- er of John Day radio station KJDY, who retired last fall, have no plans to move out of the area. The couple are hoping to have more time to travel and visit their chil- dren and grandchildren — Phil’s daughter in Maine, Peggy’s daughter in Keizer and son in North Bend. “Our first priority is to get to know our grandchil- dren,” she said. Gray said their other plans include riding bikes and walking more. She’s been hitting the treadmill at 4 a.m. before heading to the office. That’s not the same as being able to walk out- doors at any time, but she said it has been “good stress release.” Taking music lessons and learning a language are other possibilities with the newfound retiree time. And sleeping in. When asked, that’s what Gray said she was looking forward to doing that first day of retire- ment. “Just relaxing — and having a cup of hot coffee,” she said.
