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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2016)
The Blue Mountain EASTER EGG HUNTS A list of where to find them – PAGE A3 EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , M ARCH 23, 2016 • N O . 12 • 18 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com DOJ opens case against Palmer Amanda Peacher Oregon Public Broadcasting When Oregon State Po- lice stopped Robert “La- Voy” Finicum along a re- mote stretch of Highway 395, the militant was des- perate to reach one man. “I’m going over to meet with the sheriff in Grant County,” Finicum yelled to troopers during the Jan. 26 fatal traf¿ c stop, moments before his death. “You can come along with us and talk with us over there.” Finicum Glenn had reason Palmer to try and reach Sher- iff Glenn Palmer. Over his four terms in of¿ ce, Palmer has been outspoken about what he sees as government overreach. Palmer met with some of the key ¿ gures of the occupation over lunch in John Day in January along with a small group of local residents, but said he didn’t know three of the occupiers would be there. “It was unbeknownst to me,” Palmer told the Blue Mountain Eagle. “I was asked to go to a meeting and when I got there realized who they were.” “He showed up just to ¿ nd out what was going on,” said Jim Sproul, a friend and supporter of Palmer’s. “As a public servant, I really re- spect that, because the man goes to the source instead of taking things second hand.” But the fact that Palmer even met with some of the occupiers has drawn criti- cism. “His law enforcement leadership is lacking,” said Gordon Larson, retired area commander for Oregon State Police. “You need to be careful of who you asso- ciate yourself with. You’re always going to be viewed with the company you keep.” Larson believes that kind of association with a law en- forcement of¿ cial, explicit or not, can lend credence to a group. “When you lend cre- dence to somebody, that em- Cousins enjoy once-in-a-lifetime adventure to the Holy Land %\&KHU\O+RHÀHU Blue Mountain Eagle recent excursion to the Holy Land brought the Bible to life for cousins Jo- siah and Nathanael Martin. Josiah, of Mt. Vernon, and Na- thanael, of Sheridan, spent 10 days last November with a group from Pilgrim Tours exploring and experiencing more than a dozen historical and archaeological loca- tions in Jordan and Israel. Their itinerary included such cities as Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Masa- da, and several locales: Mt. Nebo, Caesarea, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Jordan River, the Mount of Olives, the Western Wall, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and the Garden of Gethsemane. Both agreed their adventure was like “opening the Bible and stepping inside.” The pair were also in agreement about one of their most memorable experiences there — a sunset boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, on a replica boat that was used in Jesus Christ’s time. Nathanael said they embarked on a Fri- day evening just as the sun was setting and the holy day of Shabat began. “The evening was absolutely perfect, clear and calm as we glided across the sea,” he said. “It’s impossible to express how meaningful it was.” Josiah was struck by “seeing the very water Jesus had walked on, and to see and walk on the shore and hillsides where Jesus performed the majority of his miracles.” They stayed for three nights right on the Sea of Galilee in a kibbutz hotel, a kind of communal village, Nathanael said, which was his favorite part of the trip. “Josiah and I sat for a couple of hours by the sea just reading all the different stories of Jesus’ life on and around the Sea of Gal- ilee,” he said. Throughout the journey, they soaked up the history, culture, people and food of the region. “Everywhere you look, there was some- thing that had some kind of Biblical histo- ry,” Josiah said. “We were traveling in one of the oldest recorded populated areas in the world.” Every sight and every locale they visited See TRIP, Page A18 Contributed photos One of the most memorable experiences for cousins Nathanael, left, and Josiah Martin during their Holy Land trip in November 2015 was a sunset boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The Mount of Olives was among the long list of sights Josiah and Nathanael Martin visited. Cousins Josiah, left, and Nathanael Martin at Petra, an archaeological city in Jordan during their 10-day trip to the Holy Land last November. Nathanael, left, and Josiah Martin astride a camel ride in the Holy Land. They visited Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Masada, the Dead Sea and the Garden of Gethsemane. See PALMER, Page A6 Blue Mountain Hospital parts ways with CEO By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle The CEO Blue Mountain Hospital hired about nine months ago no longer works for the hospital’s manage- ment company. Amy Kreger, chair of the hospital’s Board of Direc- tors, said Randall Mee is no longer the top executive. “After careful consider- ation, Health TechS3 Man- agement Services found it appropriate to move into another direction in regards to the CEO,” she read from a prepared statement. “Kar- in White, Chief Clinical Officer, at BMH will be the acting CEO until an inter- im arrives. At that time, we will begin the formal selec- tion for a permanent CEO.” Kreger said Mee was technically an employee of Health TechS3 Manage- ment Services, a company the hospital contracts with for managerial services. She said it was not a hos- pital board decision, and she declined to comment further. Mike Lieb, regional vice president for Health TechS3, said Mee is no lon- ger a Health TechS3 em- ployee. He said he could not comment further about personnel issues. Mee began the job June 15, 2015, succeeding Bob Houser, who retired after 15 years with the district. Mee had been involved in health care for 40 years, working in administration for 25 years. He was president and CEO at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Pendleton from 2008-11 and was an administrator at Cottage Grove Community Hospital before that. Mee could not be reached for comment. Lieb said several rumors circulating on the Inter- net about the hospital af- ter Mee’s departure were untrue. He said the hos- pital is not being sued or sold. “There are no active law- suits against BMH or its employees,” he said. “BMH is not in the process of sell- ing at all.” File photo Former Blue Mountain Hospital CEO Randall Mee, pictured here at his desk in January, is no longer the top executive. A vice president for Health TechS3 Management Services, which provides managerial services for the hospital, said Mee is no longer an employee of the company.
