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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE’S ANNUAL HISTORY SPECIAL SECTION – INSIDE The Blue Mountain EAGLE John Day cop killer may soon be freed By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle The man who pleaded guilty to killing a John Day police offi cer in 1992 may soon be freed. Sept. 21, the Oregon Court of Appeals over- turned the Board of Pa- role and Post-Prison Supervi- sion’s deci- sion to post- pone Sidney Dean Por- ter’s pris- Sidney on release Dean date, stat- Porter ing the b o a r d lacked authority to rescind a planned release date “ab- sent a timely hearing,” ac- cording to the court opin- ion. In his appeal, Porter ar- gued the parole board erred in rescinding a planned re- lease date, in postponing the release date and in re- convening an exit interview after the planned released date had passed. In its opinion, the Court of Appeals agreed the board committed legal errors and reversed the board’s deter- mination, stating that Por- ter was entitled to a timely hearing on rescinding the release date, that the board did not provide a statutorily valid reason for postponing the planned released date and that the board could not rely on information received later to justify a prior postponement of the release date. The board has the right to appeal the decision to the Oregon Supreme Court, but Porter will be released unless this decision is over- turned. Porter had pleaded guilty to aggravated mur- der for the April 8, 1992, killing of John Day Police Offi cer Frank Ward. The recent court opin- ion states Oregon law at the time required the imposi- tion of a life sentence with a 30-year minimum period of incarceration. The law also required the board to hold a hearing after 20 years “to determine if the prisoner is likely to be rehabilitated within a reasonable period of time” if the prisoner re- quested it, which he did. See PORTER, Page A5 • N O . 39 Mou ntain Eag le Wed nesd ay, S epte mbe r 28 , 201 6 POL IC RES E FOR C C AFT UE COR ED TO ER F P U NER SE DES AL CEN By R DS I Blue ylan B NTO og Mou ntain gs Eagle Tho RIOT life is ugh Jo largel well do aquin M C1 ‘Th coun e greate s try h as ev t liar this er pr oduc ed’ two be and M gan exch visit iller even anging le were her in Cap tually w tters, his ar married e Blanco. ent to moon, rival. For three days They to Eug they rode their ho after which ene thro on hors ney- ple m gave bo ugh the S eback Des ierr th ater pite The ial for th of them am as, coup bein their - le eir po a fug g Maud, fi rst chil gave bi etry. d, a rth itive in It w the sum girl nam to and ed their as afte mer of a co 18 r ch m th 63 moved ild th e bi . plete Mille to Can at the rth of lack His m r worked yon City, couple of le gal defens ost notabl as a la where educ was e of Wil e case w wyer. ation Grant the second liam Kan as his J , o e, C a w quin of a m ounty man hu ho ng in an na for th M e med iller took Sulli murder van. M up w in 18 iller ran fo or k as a until 66, was el r county lawy Canyo 1870. The ected and judge er al, M n City w family’s served and then neglec iller was sa as less th life in a ring tful of hi id to have an ide- to sp end hi s wife, been s tim prefer e wri ting, himse y docum cumented, iller’s ented lf. by M it is A iller ator, n incorrig freque Miller w ible ex entire ntly stre as know agger- As su ly fabric tching, n for any in ch it is ne ating, the if not with formatio cessary to truth. er Am a grain of n about take “the brose Bie salt. The Miller has ev greatest li rce called writ- ing to er prod ar this co him online Literar uced,” ac untry mous compe y Travele cord- Cont ndium w r, an ribut ed ph The riters. of fa oto/ fi ghte self-s - Histor Grant Co un ical slinge r, horse tyled Mus ty eum tled in r is know thief and Indian “I cooked and Canyon n to have gun- and every all winter well worked as City for set- spring,” man was for 27 men ac 1870 as a judg a law a time Traveler. cording alive in th , to Lite e Miller his be . His cabi e from 18 yer as rary served longings n and m 66 to down an is said to Histo by the have been any of in an un invitation have turn City. rical Mus Grant C pre- expeditio authoriz to take pa ed n to ed m eum ounty claim rt in Can s th ili N yon country. at he had icaragua tary Born He w bu fo as forc ught in th t Cinci less th e nnatus ed to an fl at leave Hiner tering poetry abou t Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 28, 2016 Blue • 26 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com The to be fi rst time fi ghtin he w g alon as alle ge gside Nativ d e Brown, Pierce clash on rural issues By Claire Withycombe Capital Bureau In their fi rst public sparring, Ore- gon Gov. Kate Brown and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dr. William “Bud” Pierce went head to head on three topics: the economy, land use and the “urban-rural divide.” The debate Saturday in Bend was intended to focus on rural Oregon. Although the candidates agreed that rural communities needed a say in land use issues, better access to health- care and more jobs, they disagreed on taxes and state expen- ditures. “We cannot cut our way toward a better Oregon,” Brown said, summarizing a key difference in messag- Gov. Kate ing between the two Brown campaigns. Brown reiterated her support for Ballot Measure 97, the proposed tax on certain corporate gross sales receipts, saying that addi- tional investment was needed in ba- sic services, while Pierce said more was “fi tracto r in a fi ve ring s.” eld. His famil y’s fi rst She fi led fo r divo rce, de stroy- ter in Eugen broadly that promot- ing prosperous rural economies would have ripple effects in areas such as educa- tion and healthcare. In her opening Bud statement, Brown said Pierce her vision for the state encompassed improv- ing educational outcomes, investing in infrastructure and preserving “the beauty and bounty of Oregon.” She touted her administration’s “progress” in the past year and a half a fi le , allo wing him to ea rn his e. His infl am ma- Mille r fi rs t read the po etry to fi nd in implementing automatic voter reg- istration and passing legislation to convert Oregon from coal to clean sources of energy. Pierce’s criticism of Brown began with his opening statement, in which he said Brown was “distant from the people” and seldom visited rural areas. He said he also wanted to address edu- cation, and also said improving mental healthcare, the state’s rural economies and homelessness were central to his platform. a publ isher for the bo ok tracto r, See ISSUES, Page A9 Vibrant event sheds light on domestic violence awareness R ac h blast e Me n to h g e Color ke Clau and Lu alk during th t County ie ll y W h red c R e itta e Gran Sept. 24. ith colo lk at th othe r w Run and Wa on Saturday, n k F ree Fu Industrial Par t r o p ir A By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle oughly 80 walkers, runners and dancers took part in the third annual Color Me Free Fun Run and Walk on Satur- day. Participants young and old were blast- ed with color throughout the mile long course at the Grant County Airport Indus- trial Park. Volunteers at six different stations, each with a different colored chalk, threw color onto participants as they passed. Many participants, including a few dogs, began the mile with white T-shirts and fi nished covered in every color of the rainbow. The Color Run website states, “The color powder used at The Color Run event is all certifi ed non-toxic and free of any heavy metals. Our bright colors are a combination of cornstarch, baking soda, and FD&C dyes.” Despite deep gravel in some parts of the course, Jessica Renfro completed the course in her wheelchair. She said, whenever she was having trouble, her friends didn’t mind giving her a little push. See COLOR, Page A10 gs lan Bog otos/Ry h Eagle p Jessica Renfro wh eels her way throug gravel during the h Color Me Free Fun Run and Walk at the Gr an Industrial Park on t County Airport Saturday, Sept. 24 . ra Sena Raschio, Sa From left to right: lie yl W a itt don and Re Burns, Gage Bran e during the Color Me nc throw chalk and da unty alk at the Grant Co W d an n Ru n . 24. Free Fu pt Se , ay rk on Saturd Airport Industrial Pa “ We do this event to help our victims of violence, which includes stalking victims, teen dating violence, rape and sexual assault and any kind of abuse whether it’s emotional or verbal.” — Shelly Whale-Murphy, Heart of Grant County executive director GCSO investigates its own special deputy for shooting dog By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Sher- iff’s Offi ce investigated an in- cident this week where one of its sheriff deputies shot a dog she said attacked her. Canyon City resident Judy Kerr — who was deputized by Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer with a public lands pa- trol designation May 6, 2014, and with a natural resource committee designation Sept. 29, 2015 — called John Day dispatch at about 6 a.m. Sun- day, Sept. 18, to report she shot a dog that attacked her while she was walking her dog in Canyon City. “ I’m just really too old to run, and yes, I defended myself the only way I could at that time.” Judy Kerr, Canyon City resident The dispatcher relayed the information to Undersheriff Zach Mobley, who reported back to dispatch a few min- utes later that he had spoken with Kerr and would follow up when he came on duty. Kerr told the Eagle two pit bulls came out of a Washing- ton Street residence and ag- gressively approached her on the street. She said one came at her, while the other circled around her, and she shot the dog approaching her once, causing it to back away. “I’m just really too old to run, and yes, I defended my- self the only way I could at that time,” Kerr said. “I don’t feel I had a choice. My wel- fare was threatened.” The owner of the dog, Rick Thomas Taylor, called dispatch at about 8:15 a.m. to report his dog had been shot in the shoulder and was en- couraged to seek veterinary care. The dispatcher told him to address his concerns to Un- dersheriff Zach Mobley when he came on duty. Taylor called dispatch again at about 11:15 a.m., stating he took his dog to the vet, where it would have to remain overnight, and that the dog was shot while heading away from the shooter. Taylor told the Eagle Kerr’s dog had been un- leashed and came up his driveway onto his property. He said his dogs had gotten out a side door and were not contained by his fenced yard. He said he heard a gunshot and went outside to fi nd one of his dogs wounded and Kerr and her dog gone. Taylor said his dog sur- vived the gunshot, but he ex- pressed dismay at Kerr’s use of force against his animal. “You can’t just take the law into your own hands,” he said. Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer said he did not have any information about the incident, but that the re- port may not yet be written, and referred further questions to the Grant County District Attorney’s Offi ce. See DOG, Page A6
