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
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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.