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The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , A PRIL 20, 2016
• N O . 16
• 20 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Hospital
employees’
W-2 info
stolen
Phishing
scheme puts
250 at risk of
tax refund scam
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Drama club performs ‘Alice @ Wonderland’
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
J
OHN DAY — Over 20 students enjoyed the
spotlight for the April 12 and 13 Grant Union
drama club presentation “Alice @ Wonder-
land.”
The classic tale had a modern-day twist.
Junior Ginni Frazier took on the main role of Alice,
with a cellphone in hand, or pocket, throughout the
dreamland journey.
“It was really intense having a big part, and being on
stage all the time was a bit overwhelming,” said Frazier,
adding she felt all the actors performed well.
Alice had plenty of references to the modern era —
including Google, the internet and TMI
(Too Much Information) — which baf-
fl ed the familiar characters.
The Cheshire Cat, played by Annie
Wall, scolded Alice at one point, say-
ing, “Maybe you should put your phone
away, and take note of the world you
live in.”
Junior Sam Bentz played the King Director
of Hearts alongside Janelle King as the Julie
Queen, who wanted to “see heads roll.” Reynolds
Bentz also played the March Hare.
“I think having two roles was fun, except the short
time I had to change,” he said, adding it was especially
enjoyable to “use a big, booming voice — it’s a differ-
ent style.”
Director Julie Reynolds expressed her appreciation
to the audience and said the proceeds from the produc-
tions support their yearly trip to Ashland to attend plays.
She noted they’ll have one more play near the end of
the school year.
Reynolds said she was pleased at how everything
came together and said the students enjoyed stepping
into their roles.
“The big thing is what this does for their confi dence,
their memorization ability and their acting skills,” she
said.
“Alice @ Wonderland” was written by Jonathon
Yukich and was produced by special arrangement by
Pioneer Drama Service Inc.
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Alice, played by Ginni Frazier, meets
up with Tweedledum (James Mabe) and
Tweedledee (Nick Springer) in the GU
drama club’s April 13 presentation.
Cast in the play “Alice @ Wonderland,”
from left, Annie Wall as the Cheshire
Cat, Heather Mosley as the Caterpillar,
Maggie Justice as Humpty-Dumpty,
Ellie Justice as the Dormouse, Emilie
Updegrave as the Fish Newsie and
Erika Dickens as the Frog Newsie.
On stage at Grant Union in “Alice @ Wonderland,” from left: chorus members
Chloe Bentz, Emily Vargas, Rhea Mead and Athena Tipton speak with the
Jabberwock (Hayden Myers).
TOP PHOTO: Alice (Ginni Frazier) takes the stand before the King and Queen
of Hearts. From left: King and Queen of Hearts (Sam Bentz and Janelle King),
Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Nick Springer and James Mabe), Rabbit (Mindi
Teague, back left), Mad Hatter (Trejan Speth), Alice (Frazier), Rose (Athena
Tipton), Lily (Emily Vargas) and chorus member No. 1 (Chloe Bentz).
See more photos on Page A10
Blue Mountain Hospital
employees were the target of
a tax refund scam.
Chief Clinical Offi cer and
acting CEO Karin White said
IRS Form W-2 information
from hospital employees in
2015 has been compromised,
but no patient data was affect-
ed.
“It was a very sophisticat-
ed phishing email,” she said.
“It’s an unfortunate incident,
and we take it very, very se-
riously and are trying to do
everything we can to mitigate
and minimize the damage that
has been done.”
White said the W-2 in-
formation, including Social
Security numbers, was sent
in response to an email that
appeared to be from former
CEO Randall Mee but was ac-
tually from a scammer.
Mee and the hospital part-
ed ways in March. Mike Lieb,
regional vice president for the
hospital’s contract manage-
ment company, said neither
Mee nor his departure from
the hospital were in any way
related to the scam.
Lieb said about 250 people
were in the payroll system in
2015 that may be affected. He
said the hospital is working to
remedy the situation.
“The district is supplying,
under its cyber insurance poli-
cy, credit monitoring services,
and we’ve provided (the em-
ployees) with instructions on
what to do and what to look
for,” he said. “We’re ramping
up the training for everybody
in house too, so everybody
can recognize this. We’re
also working with the Grant
County sheriff and other law
enforcement agencies.”
White said the hospital is
also investing in greater in-
formation technology security
to prevent similar problems in
the future.
Canyon City resident
Becky Brown, who had al-
ready submitted her resigna-
tion to the hospital after fi ve
years as a nurse, said she at-
tempted to fi le her taxes this
year but was informed some-
one had already used her So-
cial Security number to fi le a
return. She said she had to fi le
See STOLEN, Page A10
Commissioners table sheriff’s proposal to change dispatch
Palmer says state plans to regionalize 911 centers
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Eagle/Sean Hart
Sheriff Glenn Palmer, standing, explains why he
proposed the county pursue a different dispatch
provider than the current contract with the
city of John Day, while John Day Emergency
Communications Center Manager Valerie Luttrell,
left, and City Manager Peggy Gray listen.
The Grant County com-
missioners chose not to im-
mediately support a proposal
to change the sheriff’s offi ce
dispatch center from the cur-
rent service provider, the city
of John Day.
Sheriff Glenn Palmer pro-
posed the change at a March
15 budget committee meet-
ing, stating he believed his de-
partment could save between
$25,000-30,000 per year with
a different provider.
He later served notice of his
intent to sue the city and dis-
patch employees for breach-
ing the contract “to provide
appropriate information” to
the sheriff’s offi ce Jan. 26 and
for what he described as false
complaints against him by the
city dispatch manager and po-
lice chief to the state police li-
censing agency.
At the April 13 Grant
County Court meeting in
which the proposal was con-
sidered, County Judge Scott
Myers said, after listening to
public testimony, the issue had
become a “political subject” in
an election year and that he be-
lieved it would be a poor time
to try to make the change. The
other commissioners agreed
not to send a letter of support
to Frontier Regional 911 Dis-
patch in Condon.
The issue arose when the
city proposed an increase to
the cost of dispatch services
by 15 percent when the one-
year contract would need
to be renewed in July. The
county had only preliminari-
ly budgeted for a 10-percent
increase, from $51,000 to
$55,600.
At the April 13 meeting,
City Manager Peggy Gray
said the 15-percent increase
was one of several steps nec-
essary for the city to come
closer to balancing the dis-
patch budget. She said the city
reduced expenses and also
asked fi re departments to start
See DISPATCH, Page A10