The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current, July 20, 2016, Page A18, Image 18

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    A18
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
BROWN
Continued from Page A1
counties’ gun relinquish-
ment protocols and recom-
mended a statewide policy
to enhance the safety of do-
mestic violence survivors.
Brown made the an-
nouncement Friday at the
Veterans Memorial Colise-
um, Àanked by 8.S. 5ep.
Suzanne Bonamici, other
elected of¿cials and gun
safety advocates.
After her announcement,
Pastor Mark Knuston of the
Augustana Lutheran Church
announced that he and oth-
er faith leaders plan to cir-
culate an initiative petition
to ban assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines in
Oregon.
House Minority Leader
Mike McLane, 5-Powell
Butte, quickly issued a state-
ment calling for bipartisan
dialogue on any gun control
measures.
“Oregon House 5epub-
licans welcome a conversa-
tion about how to address
violence in our communi-
ties, but it is absolutely crit-
ical that those conversations
maintain the appropriate lev-
el of respect for Oregonians’
constitutional rights and the
thousands upon thousands
of gun owners in this state
who responsibly exercise
their Second Amendment
rights and Article I, Section
27 rights every day,” Mc-
Lane said. “Sadly, this ele-
ment of the conversation is
all too often an afterthought
for politicians in Salem.”
Senate Minority Leader
Ted Ferrioli, 5-John Day,
issued a statement Monday
morning condemning the
plan as an attack on peo-
ple who follow the law. He
said many mass shootings
in Oregon have been perpe-
trated by people who were
already prohibited from le-
gally owning ¿rearms and
obtained them illegally. In
order to reduce random gun
violence, he said, “the cause
of the problems leading to
hostility, including inade-
quate mental health care”
must be treated.
“Kate Brown’s reckless
attempt to politicize gun
control while tension is sig-
ni¿cantly heightened across
the country may propel us
into a debate on the con¿sca-
tion of private property and
criminalization of law-abid-
ing citizens and cause the
kind of provocation almost
guaranteed to produce more
violence and anger,” Ferrioli
said. “Instead of attacking
the freedom and rights of
law-abiding citizens through
gun registries and bans, we
should unite to address the
real problem of inadequate
mental health funding that
leaves struggling individ-
uals without the help they
desperately need.”
Grant County
Chamber Members
Advertise Here
Contact the Grant
County Chamber for
more information
541-575-0547
Jerry Franklin
GRI, ABR, SRES
Broker/Owner
160 E. Main • John Day, OR 97845
Office: 541-575-2121
Home: 541-820-3721
JFranklin@easternoregonrealty.net
www.easternoregonrealty.net
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
DERBY
Continued from Page A1
“I do it for the local people — the
crowd,” he said. “Out in the arena, it’s
the only time you can go out and hit a car
legally.”
He and Steve Patterson approached two of the
derby organizers, Hugh Farrell and Dave Tray-
lor, about adding a two-wheel drive pickup derby
during the intermission.
Nodine said the pickup derbies in Lakeview
are fun to watch.
“It’s something new for the crowd, and cars
are getting harder to ¿nd,” he said.
So far, there are four signed up for the pickup
derby, and Farrell said most entrants sign up on
the day of the event. Nodine said he has ¿ve more
derby cars on his dad’s property.
A ’70s Buick sits in Nodine’s driveway.
“It’s in the future lineup,” he said. “It has to
get some wear on it ¿rst.”
This year’s top prize for the main event is
$2,000. Second place earns $1,000 and third
place $500. There are also $250 prizes for win-
ners of the ¿rst and second heat, most aggressive
driver and the winner of the pickup derby.
Presale tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for
EMRY
Continued from Page A1
The weapon was not reg-
istered to Emry in the National
Firearms 5egistration and Trans-
fer 5ecord, as required for fully
automatic ¿rearms.
After being arrested, Emry
said the gun could ¿re 550-650
rounds per minute and that he
took it from a shop where he
worked in Idaho, according to
Perez’s complaint. Perez also
said Emry took the gun without
the shop owner’s knowledge
and obliterated the serial num-
ber before transporting it from
Idaho to Oregon. He is charged
with illegally possessing an
unregistered machine gun and
possession of a ¿rearm with an
obliterated serial number.
In a document supporting
the recent release request, Em-
ry’s attorney said, although
FBI agents located the M2 and
a blasting cap in Emry’s trailer,
no M2 ammunition or explo-
sives that might have been as-
sociated with the blasting cap
were found. He also argued the
government’s evidence relied
on a con¿dential witness who is
a felon and “who has been de-
scribed by an FBI case agent as
‘dishonest and unreliable.’”
Sabitt said, when Emry was
recorded on a jail phone saying
the con¿dential witness “ain’t
going to escape this one,” it
A .50-caliber cartridge,
left, compared to smaller
caliber cartridges.
was not a threat of violence but
a warning to Emry’s associates
that the witness could not be
trusted.
“In any other case charging a
Class C Felony to a 54 year old
man with no signi¿cant criminal
history, no history of violence,
no mental illness or drug and al-
cohol concerns, a stable place to
live and employment available
to him, the Government would
conceded the defendant is not a
danger,” Sabitt said in the doc-
ument.
In response, the 8.S. attor-
neys ¿led the government’s
opposition to the release request
July 13. Williams and Lichvar-
cik argued Emry should remain
in custody because the gun has
“military, war-time capabili-
ties,” was stolen, had the serial
number obliterated and was
transported across state lines
during the occupation of the
Malheur National Wildlife 5ef-
uge earlier this year.
They said a cooperating
Grant County Chamber
Monthly Newsletter
Well, it looks like summer is in full
swing with school out, the ranchers are
getting their winter hay put up and local
activities are in high gear. We see many new
faces in the area, taking in the sites. The
recent article in the Blue Mountain Eagle and
the activity report from Tammy Bremner, our
local Chamber manager, indicate that Grant
County and all that we have to offer is
starting to appeal to folks from outside of the
area. I don’t recall the formula on how many
times a dollar turns over once it is spent, but
it does have a profound effect on our
economy, which helps keep our loyal
businesses up and running.
If you haven’t seen the photos on
the Len’s Drug windows, you must take the
time to do so. They represent all of the
communities in Grant County and depict
some of our history and life style and are very
tastefully and professionally done.
The solar eclipse seems to get more
worldwide attention every day and our
planning committee and all the communities
are busy trying to prepare for the event.
Sources say that a large number of visitors
that are coming are from outside of the
country; we may need some interpreters.
Mark your calendars for Friday, Aug. 5, 6:30
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and come to the Canyon
City Community Center and listen to
Professor Darlene Yan and associates from
UC Berkley, who will educate us on the
science of the eclipse.
The Chamber has some new
members we would like to welcome: Sissy
Dawson, the new Farmer’s Insurance
representative, Sherry Nehl of Sherry’s Bake
House. Our next meeting is Thursday, July
21, with our board meeting at the Chamber
office at 11 a.m. and the lunch meeting at the
Outpost restaurant at noon. Everyone is
welcome to attend both meetings. Our guest
speaker will be Haley Walker, the new airport
manager. She will share with us the exciting
things that are happening at the airport. Hope
to see you all there.
JOHN DAY
AUTO NAPA
721 W. Main St.
John Day, OR
541-575-1850
Grant County
Chamber Members
Advertise Here
witness indicated Emry wanted
to take the machine gun to the
refuge during the occupation
but could not because of the law
enforcement presence. They
said the witness also said Emry
“has a large arsenal of weapons,
access to grenades, spoke about
shooting police of¿cers and how
a bullet from the .50 caliber ma-
chine gun would penetrate the
side of a police car and a Kevlar
vest.” Despite the fact the wit-
ness “has been dishonest and
unreliable in the past,” the feder-
al prosecutors said, the witness
was correct about the machine
gun.
Emry, they said, was also in
negotiations to sell the machine
gun in Oregon to a person he had
been told was a felon and the
captain of a Texas militia group,
who was actually an undercover
law enforcement of¿cer.
The 8.S. attorneys said
Emry also possessed a belt of
blank .50-caliber shells for the
gun and the blasting cap, which
is a detonator for a bomb. They
also mentioned Emry’s testimo-
ny from a 2004 case in which
Emry admitted he illegally
made a bomb out of C-4 and
a silencer for a drug dealer but
cooperated as a witness to avoid
prison and that he illegally made
66 machine guns for a friend.
“A man with a history of
making a bomb and silencer
for a drug dealer to kill wit-
nesses, and manufacturing 66
machine guns for another per-
son in preparation for a civil
revolt — who then brings a .50
caliber machine gun to our state
during a time of unrest and then
negotiates to sell it to someone
purporting to be a felon and the
captain of a militia — poses a
serious danger to the communi-
ty,” they said.
Before the ¿rst detention
hearing, Emry’s attorneys sub-
mitted declarations in support of
his release submitted by eight
people, including Judy Kerr and
Elaine Smith from Grant County.
Kerr said in her May 11 dec-
laration she had known Emry
for several months since he and
his wife moved to Grant County
and offered to help establish a
community newsletter.
“I know Michael as an
even-tempered and peaceful
individual who has acted as a
calming inÀuence at community
meetings and gatherings,” Kerr
said.
Smith said Emry was not
a Àight risk or a danger to the
community.
The judge disagreed and
denied Emry’s release request
but did so “without prejudice,”
which allowed him to ¿le the
second release request.
Continued from Page A1
commissioners made the
right decision for the med-
ical marijuana patients in
the county,” she said. “This
decision came after very
emotional testimonies from
patients.”
At a previous court meet-
ing in June, former county
roadmaster and Mt. Vernon
Mayor Sue Horn testi¿ed
she did not agree with mari-
juana use until she was diag-
nosed with brain cancer and
became a medical marijuana
patient. She said she believes
marijuana may have medical
bene¿ts beyond the pain and
nausea for which it can be
prescribed.
Horn said she was di-
agnosed with glioblastoma
and was given three to six
months to live. That was two
and a half years ago. She said
her doctor encouraged her
not to change her treatment,
including using marijuana,
and could only explain her
longevity as a miracle.
Horn said she can’t drive
— and even riding in a vehi-
cle can make her sick — so
getting her medicine from
Bend is taxing on her family.
“It would make so much
sense if we had a store,” she
said.
Beth Spell, who was
in the audience at the June
meeting, was brought to
tears after Horn’s testimony
as she recounted how her
brother died of cancer and
had a dif¿cult time procuring
pain medication. She said it
changed her stance on med-
ical marijuana.
“I have had a change of
heart here this morning,” she
said. “If somebody can be
saved from that pain and that
stress ... if I could have saved
my brother with a (medical
marijuana) card, I would
have done it.”
About 20 people were in
attendance at the follow-up
meeting in July when the
commissioners voted to al-
low medical marijuana.
Marijuana advocates also
spoke to the court about al-
lowing recreational marijua-
na producers and processors
in the county. The court,
however, said those addi-
tions would have to go for-
ward through the initiative
petition process to place it on
the ballot to be approved by
county voters.
Although about 65 per-
cent of the votes in Grant
County were against Mea-
sure 91 to legalize recreation-
al marijuana in 2014, only
53.5 percent voted against an
initiative to legalize marijua-
na businesses in the county
in May of this year. David
Kilpatrick, the chief petition-
er for the recent initiative,
said he believes the coun-
ty’s beliefs are changing.
“I think the county
court’s approval of dispen-
saries shows the changing
attitudes toward medical
marijuana in Grant Coun-
ty,” he said.
Contact the Grant
County Chamber for
more information
541-575-0547
4 - H
S U M M
E S
M
A
E R O L Y M P I C G
Grant County 4-H Day Camp
July 25-28 9 a.m. - Noon, Grades 3-5
4 H ...
Dates: July 25-28
Time: 9 a.m. - Noon
Location: John Day City Park
(next to Gleason Pool)
Participants: Youth entering
grades 3-5
Jerry Franklin,
President
The Fun
Starts Here!
Limited to the first 30
registered participants!
To register call:
Grant County 4H
Association and OSU
Extension Service
Grant County Office
541-575-1911
04182
NEW! Soundbar
with Surround
Speakers
POT
Also “take
anywhere in the
house” wireless
speakers – stream
through Songpal
NOW ON SALE:
Sony Hi-resolution
Audio Speakers
OPEN Tuesday thru Saturday 11am to 9pm • 541-575-1387 • 417 W. Main • John Day
04183