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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2016)
FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE OUTDOORS The PAGE B1 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , J UNE 1, 2016 • N O . 22 • 20 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com John Day council selects Green as city manager Green: Family ties, background make job excellent fit By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle John Day may have found a new city manager to replace Peggy Gray, who is retiring after 15 years. John Day City Council members unanimously agreed to appoint Nick Green to the position upon a mutual- ly agreed upon employment agreement Tuesday, May 24. Gray said he has been liv- ing in Bothell, Washington, As spending on lobbying increases, transparency remains murky By Hillary Borrud Capital Bureau SALEM — Businesses, special interest groups and governments have increas- ingly invested in lobbying Oregon lawmakers and oth- er state offi cials over the last nine years. And based on spending data from the state, those groups appear to have concluded lobbying is a good investment: Reported annu- al spending on lobbying in- creased 15 percent from 2007 to 2015, when adjusted for infl ation . Yet despite the millions of dollars involved, it’s nearly impossible for Oregonians to get details on how lobbyists spend that money to achieve payoffs for their clients, be- cause Oregon law allows lob- byists and their clients to dis- close little information about how they infl uence state laws and spending. The EO Media Group/ Pamplin Media Group Capital Bureau categorized lobbying spending in Oregon by indus- try and sector using data from the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks spend- ing on lobbying by industry at the federal level. In total, groups spent more than $251 million on lobbying over the last nine years, according to state data. The health care sector — whose ranks include nurses, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and doctors — re- ported spending the most on lobbying from 2007 through 2015, a total of $36.5 million. See SPENDING, Page A10 and previously worked as a senior associate for Booz Al- len Hamilton before returning to school to obtain his mas- ter’s degree in public admin- istration at the University of Washington, which he com- pleted earlier this year. She said he sat across the table from three-star generals in his previous job. “I think he’s going to defi - nitely do a good job and take the city in a new direction,” she said. Green said he was a senior executive with Booz Allen Hamilton for seven years and a program manager for Jacobs Engineering for three years. “I was a management con- sultant,” he said. “I led large- scale organization change and transformation initiatives for federal government agencies. And I also worked in technol- ogy acquisition — basically, my role was to help fi eld ad- vanced technologies to sol- diers fi ghting in Iraq and Af- ghanistan.” Mayor Ron Lundbom said Green previ- ously managed a staff of 40 with a budget Nick of $8 million. Green Lundbom said Green “did his homework” on the city, read- ing several years of coun- cil minutes, the city charter and its employee handbook. Lundbom said, during his em- ployee interview, Green sug- gested two possible projects — wastewater and marketing programs — that could bene- fi t the city. “I was convinced after his interview,” Lundbom said. “I saw a lot of potential.” Lundbom said Green’s wife was raised in John Day, and she still has family in the area, which made the position desirable. Green said he married Morgan Haney, daughter of Tom and Ginger Haney, about 10 years ago and has visited John Day twice a year since then. He said they have two children, Kaden, 10, and Pe- nelope, 2, and were looking for an opportunity to be closer to family. “I love John Day,” he said. “It’s just a very serene place. Family is very important to me. We love the outdoors and camping. I personally like playing golf and riding motorcycles, and I’m an avid reader. Those are my hobbies. It sounded like a pretty good fi t.” Green earned a bachelor’s See GREEN, Page A10 IN SOLEMN REMEMBRANCE Grant County reveres those who died while serving By Cheryl Hoefl er Blue Mountain Eagle T he brave men and women who died during their military service to the United States were not forgotten in Grant County this Memorial Day weekend. Both Prairie City and Canyon City cemeteries were trimmed in stunning style, with the red, white and blue of large American fl ags fl anking the gravel roadways. Smaller American fl ags were posted at hundreds of gravesites for each veteran who died in battle — some dating back to the Civil War. The decoration was the hard work of local American Legions — No. 106 in Prairie City and No. 77 from John Day doing the honors in Canyon City. Legion 106 held a short remembrance, attended by about 40 people, on Monday morning, May 30, at the Prairie City Cemetery. Commander Tom McAuslan led the event with prayers and words of comfort. Legion members presented a gun salute, and Ed Heiple played “Taps” on trumpet. McAuslan laid a poppy wreath at the base of the cemetery’s veterans memorial for those who died in battle on land. Most of the group followed to the Bridge Street bridge where McAuslan dropped a wreath into the John Day River, in remembrance of those who were lost at sea. Eagle photos/Cheryl Hoefler American Legion Post 106 Commander Tom McAuslan tosses a wreath into the John Day River in remembrance of those military personnel who were lost at sea. LARGE PHOTO: American flags, courtesy of American Legion 106, line roadways at Prairie City Cemetery. Smaller flags mark the gravesites of veterans. TOP PHOTO: Members of Prairie City’s American Legion Post 106 offer a gun salute during a Memorial Day remembrance at Prairie City Cemetery on May 30. See more photos on Page A10. Giant leap for Grant Union student scientists Research project returns from space station By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Angel Carpenter From left, Zack Deiter, Duane Stokes, Dante Valentine, Sonna Smith and Cauy Weaver test the space experiment proteins. JOHN DAY — Five Grant Union sophomores were glad to learn a space experiment they’re conducting made a successful landing on Earth af- ter a few weeks in space. The group, sophomores Zack Deiter, Elijah Humbird, Duane Stokes, Dante Valentine and Cauy Weaver and teacher Sonna Smith, experienced set- backs along the way but fi nal- ly opened their package from space at the school May 25. They’ve been testing the ma- terials the past week in the Grant Union science lab using biotech- nology equipment, comparing the protein (a three-dimensional structure of green fl uorescent protein in E. Coli) sent to space with the same mixture stored at the school. Their fi ndings could show if micro-gravity contributes to or diminishes the misfold- ing of protein, which could help prevent long-term health problems for astronauts or provide new treatment path- ways in the future. Testing they’ve conducted so far shows growth of the protein sent to space. “We know the protein we are testing grew in space,” Smith said. “That’s what the glowing tells us, but we still don’t know how much mis- folding happened.” See SCIENCE, Page A10