RALLY FOR THE CURE GOLF SCRAMBLE
The
– PAGE B1
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , O CTOBER 5, 2016
• N O . 40
• 20 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Peterson
sentenced
to jail,
probation
Grant County Court approves
medical marijuana dispensaries
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant County Court voted to pass
Amended Ordinance 2015-01, which
will allow patients to purchase medi-
cal marijuana at dispensaries in Grant
County.
The ordinance was passed as an emergen-
cy to take effect immediately.
“In the interest of those who need medi-
cal marijuana, legal recipients of marijuana, I
feel that it’s necessary to bring this forward in a
timely fashion,” County Judge Scott Myers said.
The amended ordinance would only allow
medical marijuana, not recreational, dispensa-
ries.
Myers said many Eastern Oregon counties
that originally voted against medical marijuana
are changing their minds and allowing it.
When opened up for comment, no one from
the public spoke out against allowing medical
marijuana into the county.
The issue of recreational marijuana was
brought up during the meeting by a community
member. Antonio Roberts questioned the deci-
sions of the court to continue to ban recreational
marijuana when the county was missing out on
large tax benefi ts that could be put into educa-
tion and policing for the county.
Myers responded by saying that he believed
allowing recreational marijuana shouldn’t be
seen as revenue issue but as an ethical issue.
County Commissioner Chris Labhart said that
they would revisit the issue of recreational mar-
ijuana in the future.
awarded to her by the U.S.
State Department.
Each year, over 600 appli-
cants, ages 15-18, vie for one
of the 64 scholarships. Pettit
was informed in April of this
year that she was selected for
the program.
“I heard about the program
through my dad,” she said. “I’ve
always wanted to do a foreign
exchange since junior high.”
Pettit is the daughter of
Earl and Nittaya Pettit.
The YES Abroad program
was founded after the 9/11 at-
tacks in 2001.
See SOPHIA, Page A10
See PETERSON, Page A5
Thinkstock.com
A marathon of new trails planned
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
A
See TRAILS, Page A2
T HE TRAIL
WOULD BE
ANCHORED
BY A
BMX AND
MOUNTAIN
BIKE FLOW
COURSE
BUILT
NORTH
OF THE
COMPLEX .
The Eagle/ Rylan Boggs
Forest Service recreation planner Eric Amstad, left,
Dwayne Meadows and City Manager Nick Green survey a
potential trail near Magone Lake.
Monument student broadens
horizons — in Bulgaria
Sophia Pettit
learns it’s a
‘small world’
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Monument School soph-
Contributed photo
omore Sophia Pettit is step- Sophia Pettit and others visit the U.S. Embassy in
ping into a new cultural Sofia, Bulgaria. Pettit is in Bulgaria attending school
experience through a study through a Kennedy-Lugar YES Abroad Scholarship,
abroad program to Sofi a, awarded to her by the U.S. State Department.
Bulgaria.
She began her journey Aug. a public school of 60 to a pri- herself in a new country and
new language — Bulgarian
29, traveling from a town with vate school of 900.
For the next several — through the Kennedy-Lu-
a population of about 100, to
a city of 1.5 million — from months, Pettit will immerse gar YES Abroad Scholarship
Blue Mountain Eagle
Roy Peterson was sen-
tenced to 60 days in jail,
2 years probation, to pay
$8,998 in restitution to
the Oregon Department of
Forestry, a $600 fi ne and
300 hours of community
service not to be served
in a fi refi ghting or hunters
education capacity.
Additionally, he is to
have no contact with for-
mer board members of
the Monument Rural Fire
District, to not participate
in any formal or develop-
ing fi refi ghting organiza-
tion, and to not manage
grants through volunteer-
ing or employment.
Judge Paul Crowley de-
scribed Peterson’s actions
as “plain old thievery,”
and told Peterson he had
no one to blame but him-
self during the sentencing
on Monday, Oct. 3.
A 12-person jury
found Peterson guilty of
fi rst-degree theft, fi rst-de-
gree aggravated theft and
possession of a stolen
vehicle Aug. 26 in Grant
County Circuit Court af-
ter a fi ve-day trial. He was
found not guilty of anoth-
er count of fi rst-degree
aggravated theft.
In a Sept. 29 memo to
the court, the state prose-
cutor, Senior Assistant At-
torney General Daniel P.
Wendel, recommended the
judge impose a sentence
of four years of probation
for the fi rst-degree theft
charge and a total sentence
of 18 months in prison for
the fi rst-degree aggravated
theft and possession of a
stolen vehicle charges.
Although
Peterson
had no prior convictions,
the state argued Peterson
committed the fi rst-degree
theft charge before the
others and should be sen-
tenced as having a prior
felony record for the other
two charges, which would
support a longer sentence.
The state also argues fi ve
enhancement facts —
persistent involvement in
similar offenses, violating
public trust, multiple vic-
tims, lack of remorse and
risk to public safety —
apply to each count and
support the recommended
sentence.
Peterson’s attorney, D.
Zachary Hostetter, argues
in a Sept. 28 memo to the
court Peterson should face
a presumptive probation
period of two years and
requests the court deny
the state’s request for lon-
ger sentencing due to the
enhancement facts.
Hostetter asked the
court to consider Peter-
son’s background and
personal history, which
he detailed in the memo.
Hostetter also included
two affi davits with six
letters from people who
spoke highly of Peterson.
The letter writers were
his wife; Robert Watt, a
John Day business own-
er; Ralph Gano Miller,
who owns property near
Peterson’s; Gordon Fos-
ter, a former Oregon
Department of Forestry
employee in John Day;
HIKING
AND
BIKING
city manager, a forest service em-
ployee and a bike shop owner walk
into the woods. It’s not the begin-
ning of a bad joke, it’s the beginning
of a new trail system centered around
Magone Lake.
The City of John Day is partnering with the For-
est Service and private groups such as the Central
Oregon Trail Alliance, or COTA, to help approve
and build 26 miles of trails.
“The trails will be designed and maintained by
local nonprofi t organizations and will be for use by
mountain bikers and hikers. Trails will have varying
diffi culties that will follow the International Moun-
tain Bike Association,” City Manager Nick Green
wrote in an email.
The trails will be designed in three phases, start-
ing around the lake and expanding outward. Fos-
sil Shift Bike Shop owner, Russ Comer of Canyon
City, was excited about the trails and eager to begin
work in the spring.
The Forest Service plans on completing a NEPA
approval in October for the portion of the trails
By Sean Hart
and Rylan Boggs