FREESTYLE BULLFIGHTING
60 seconds of the most extreme sport you will ever see
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
PAGE A10
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , A UGUST 3, 2016
Recall
ballots
mailed,
due back
Aug. 16
• N O . 31
• 18 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
“
He’s so cute, and I love him.” — Dani Goldblatt
Election costs
county about
$3,000
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Ballots for the recall elec-
tion against County Com-
missioner Boyd Britton have
been mailed and are due back
by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16.
County Clerk Brenda Per-
cy said people who have not
received their ballots in the
mail should contact her at
541-575-1675
to ensure the
correct
ad-
dress is on
fi le.
Percy said,
if people plan
to mail their
Boyd
ballots
in,
Britton
they should
do so at least
fi ve mailing days before the
election — or more to ensure
their ballot arrives in time to
be counted. She recommend-
ed that people use ballot drop
boxes — such as those at the
John Day Senior Center, the
Grant County Library, Mt.
Vernon City Hall, Prairie City
City Hall and the Grant Coun-
ty Courthouse — to avoid any
chance of the ballot being lost
in the mail.
The recall election will
cost the county about $3,000
and possibly more, Percy
said, depending on the num-
ber of ballots returned. She
said she initially planned to
print the ballots herself and
tally them by hand but decid-
ed to use the ballot-counting
machine to ensure the elec-
tion was above reproach.
“I wanted to ensure ev-
eryone was satisfi ed with the
election process,” she said.
The ballots cost $924.30,
the postage cost $854 and pro-
gramming the ballot machine
cost $568.75, she said. With-
out including the personnel
cost from the clerk’s offi ce,
she said the election board
— which opens and process-
es the ballots — would likely
cost between $500 and $800.
She said travel expenses to
the ballot drop boxes would
probably cost an additional
$150 to $200.
See RECALL, Page A18
NEW KID,
OLD TRICKS
Goldblatt prepares Nigerian dwarf goat for county fair
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
U
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Dani Goldblatt, 15, of John Day,
works with her 4-H goat Rocco, a
Nigerian dwarf. She plans to compete
in showmanship with him during the
Aug. 10-13 Grant County Fair.
sing a little food as incentive, 15-year-old
Dani Goldblatt of John Day had her 2-year-
old Nigerian dwarf goat Rocco eating out
of her hand for tricks this week.
Goldblatt is one of many Grant County
4-Hers preparing for the Aug. 10-13 Grant County Fair.
She’s entering Rocco in the show-
manship competition, after working
with him since last August.
“He’s fun to play with,” she said. “I
set up a jump, and he likes to do tricks.”
She won’t be taking him to the auc-
tioning block.
Dani
“He’s so cute, and I love him,” she
Goldblatt
said, adding he’s much like a dog.
On Monday, she had her furry friend
performing stunts, including standing on his hind legs
and offering a kiss.
Goldblatt has been involved with 4-H since fourth
grade, the year youngsters are old enough to sign up.
Last year, she won Reserve Champion locally for a
wearable art project — a T-shirt with a sunset design
See GOAT, Page A18
New airport projects
getting off the ground
Gate, lights, signage will welcome visitors
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
In two months on the job,
new airport manager Haley
Walker has cleared the run-
way for several improve-
ments for the
Grant County
Regional Air-
port in John
Day.
Wa l k e r
explained
her priorities
Haley
and planned
Walker
projects to
the Grant County Chamber
of Commerce at the July 21
meeting.
“Safety is No. 1,” she
said, “and the customer is a
close second.”
Eagle file photo
Grant County Regional Airport, pictured here, will soon
see improvements, including a new gate and sign.
She said she’s hired three
employees with “can-do”
attitudes. They take initia-
tive when pilots arrive at the
self-fuel island, she said,
offering a ladder and any
other assistance needed.
A safety project expect-
ed to be completed in Au-
gust is the addition of an
See AIRPORT, Page A18
This T-shirt is an example of the
wearable art category at the Grant
County Fair. Dani Goldblatt won
Reserve Champion last year at the
local level and Champion at the
Oregon State Fair.
Rocco the Nigerian dwarf is ready
for the Grant County Fair.
Fires erupt in E. Oregon
Blue Mountain Eagle
Plumes of smoke from
several wildfi res have been
visible in Grant County as
fi refi ghters battle nearby
blazes.
Two fi res near Unity were
reported Sunday after a fi re
east of Pendleton shut down
Interstate 84 most of Satur-
day.
Carol Connolly, public
information offi cer with the
Northwest Interagency Co-
ordination Center in Port-
land, said there have so far
been 30 large fi res in Oregon
and Washington this year,
burning 123,775 acres. As
of last week, she said 83 per-
cent of those large fi res were
human-caused.
Finer fuels, such as grass-
es and shrubs, are drying out
quickly in the Northwest,
she said. She encouraged
people to be aware of local
fi re regulations and careful
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
The Rail Fire seen
from a spot near River
Lane, east of Prairie
City, looking to the
southeast on Sunday.
to avoid starting any more
preventable fi res.
“If there is an ignition
source, we do have the po-
tential for large, catastrophic
fi res,” she said.
Rail Fire
The Rail Fire, which
started Sunday about 10
miles west-southwest of
See FIRES, Page A18