The Blue Mountain eagle., June 22, 2016, Image 1

FISHING
FOR A PIECE
OF HISTORY
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
A member of the Burns Paiute
Tribe spears a salmon that was
transplanted in the Malheur River
at Malheur Ford.
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , J UNE 22, 2016
• N O . 25
•18 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Old traditions for a new generation
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
A
Photos by Sean Hart
Gabe Portillo, Burns, spears a salmon
in the Malheur River June 15 in
southern Grant County. The Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife
transplanted the salmon from the
Willamette River in partnership with
the Burns Paiute Tribe to provide
fishing opportunities for tribal
members and the general public.
s 6-year-old Ukiah Snapp from Sen-
eca stood in the middle of the Mal-
heur River with a spear about twice
as tall as he was, his grandmother,
Charlotte Roderique, said she nev-
er thought he would have the opportunity to fi sh
for salmon on the river after dams built years ago
blocked their passage.
Roderique, the chairperson for the Burns Paiute
Tribe, said the construction of the Warms Springs
Dam in 1919 prevented salmon from traveling
from the ocean all the way to the headwaters of the
Malheur River in southern Grant County.
“It’s been 97 years since we’ve had salmon in
the Malheur River,” she said. “We haven’t had
an opportunity to gather salmon, one of our fi rst
foods. It’s really hard to explain the feeling of
gratitude of having those fi sh in the river.”
A partnership between the Tribe and the Or-
egon Department of Fish and Wildlife provided
the opportunity. About 200 20- to 30-inch spring
Chinook salmon were taken from the Willamette
River and transplanted in two trips at Malheur
Ford, where a forest road crosses the river, ODFW
southeast district fi sh biologist Dave Banks said.
See SALMON, Page A18
Deborah DeLaRosa of the Burns Paiute Tribe sits on the shore with a
salmon she speared in the Malheur River June 15 at the Malheur Ford.
In May and June, about 200 salmon were transplanted in the river that
historically supported salmon runs before dams blocked passage.
“
The intent is to encourage harvest by tribal anglers or other anglers, so there is not
a Columbia Basin Endorsement required for this. There’s not a salmon/steelhead
harvest card record that is required for this. They have to have a fishing license, but
other than that the intent is to promote harvest of this resource.”
ODFW southeast district fi sh biologist Dave Banks
Deputy declined assistance, failed to record interview Major political fi ght coming
over proposed $6 billion tax
when investigating complaint against his family
Sheriff upset by settlement, maintains
probable cause existed for arrest
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County paid a
$12,000 settlement to a man
who was arrested by a Grant
County Sheriff’s Offi ce dep-
uty in 2015 for initiating a
false report of hearing gun-
shots, despite a neighbor’s
account that corroborated the
report.
County Judge Scott My-
ers said the county’s insur-
ance provider recommended
settling the case out of court
after a complaint from the
arrestee, though the county
denied any liability in the
settlement agreement that
was accepted Aug. 21, 2015.
The incident began when
Jim Koitzsch, who lives on
Terrance Lane in John Day,
called 911 to report his
neighbor was fi ring a gun
and that he was almost hit
by one of the bullets at 6:29
p.m. Jan. 26, 2015.
Records obtained by the
Eagle from the John Day
dispatch center show a dis-
patcher called Zach Mobley,
who was a deputy at the time
and has since been promot-
ed to undersheriff. Mobley
informed the dispatcher the
family of his wife’s sister,
Leann Coalwell, lived on
Terrance Road.
The dispatcher asked if
Mobley would like an of-
fi cer from John Day Police
Department to respond to
Supporters of the mea-
sure — backed by public
employee unions — dis-
Opponents and support- agree. They point out that
ers of a proposed $6 billion only an estimated 1,051
tax on Oregon sales are pre- companies in Oregon will
paring for a knockdown, see their taxes raised.
A Better Oregon, which
drag-out fight before the
collected
measure comes
This is
enough signa-
to voters in
tures to place
November.
probably
the measure on
“This
is
the biggest
the November
probably the
says it
biggest
po-
political fight ballot,
will force large
litical
fight
national cor-
we’ll see in
we’ll see in
porations that
decades,” Or-
decades.”
do
business
egon Chamber
of Commerce
Alison Hart in Oregon to
Executive Di-
Oregon Chamber of pay their “fair
rector Alison
Commerce Executive share” to help
Hart said.
Director struggling local
schools and se-
The
pro-
niors.
posal, known
According to their web-
as IP28, will place a 2.5
percent tax on sales over site less than 1 percent of
$25 million at Class C cor- Oregon businesses will see
porations. An analysis by their taxes raised, and more
the nonpartisan Legislative than 85 percent of the tax
Revenue Office estimates will be paid by corporations
the tax will raise approxi- with more than $100 million
mately $6 billion for state in Oregon sales.
“Companies like Bank
services each biennium but
also increase the cost of liv- of America, Comcast, Wal-
Mart and Monsanto make
ing for Oregonians.
“It will hurt our entire hundreds of millions of
economy,” she said. “Ore- dollars from the business
gon is too small of a state they do here but pay taxes
to absorb a $6 billion tax
See IP28, Page A9
increase.”
By Jade McDowell
EO Media Group
“
Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer
the scene as well, but Mobley
declined.
“I know everybody up
there,” Mobley told the dis-
patcher. “I’ll advise if I need
somebody.”
On his way to the scene,
Mobley called his niece at the
Coalwell residence, who said
she was at home alone with
her siblings and they had not
heard any gunshots but had
been listening to iPods, ac-
cording to the incident report
fi led by Mobley.
Mobley said in the report
he then interviewed Koitzsch
at his residence, who said he
was certain he heard gunshots
coming from the Coalwell
residence. Koitzsch also told
Mobley to speak with his
neighbor, Dorothy Thexton.
While traveling to the
Thexton residence, Mobley
said in the report he called
Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
“I told him what Mr.
Koitzsch was reporting and
explained how the only
ones home at the Coalwell’s
was the kids and that Mr.
Koitzsch was sure that the
shooting was coming from
the Coalwell’s,” Mobley
said in the report. “I also told
Sheriff Palmer that (Leann
Coalwells’s husband) Terry
Coalwell keeps his guns in
a gun safe and the kids don’t
have access to them.”
Mobley informed Palmer
of the potential confl ict of in-
terest, but Palmer told him to
arrest Koitzsch, according to
the report.
The deputy said he then
interviewed Thexton, who
See PALMER, Page A18