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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
News Blue Mountain Eagle A3 Wednesday, October 5, 2016 New Parks and Rec manager plans to expand programs Youth basketball registration due Oct. 14 Parks and Rec youth basketball starts this month By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Jeff Meyerholz spends a lot of time chasing soccer balls, volleyballs and foot- balls — at work. He came on board as the new John Day-Canyon City Parks and Recreation program manager on Sept. 1, work- ing alongside director Art Thunell, ofice manager Kim- berly Ward and other staff. Meyerholz organizes and assists with the sporting pro- grams — helping coach and oficiate, when needed — and he’s aiming to increase the agency’s visibility and create new programs. “I’m working on building a better online presence through Facebook and building a new website,” he said, adding they plan to streamline the process to include online payments for registration. He’s also planning pro- grams for adults, including volleyball, basketball and pickle ball. Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter John Day-Canyon City Parks and Recreation program manager Jeff Meyerholz coaches soccer at Seventh Street Complex. John Day-Canyon City Parks and Recreation program manager Jeff Meyerholz coaches a soccer game at Seventh Street Complex. Soccer players, from left are: Eli Speth, Isaiah Adams (back), Maleah Archibald, Jasmine Hazelett, Trey Hall and Maddie Bailey is goalie. “Part of our mission is pro- viding recreational opportuni- ties to the community, and the board has asked us to grow not only youth programs, but adult programs, too,” he said. “We want to build better com- munication with the commu- nity and gather feedback on building future programs.” Meyerholz worked for the local Parks and Rec several years prior to starting the new position, doing maintenance and landscaping. He’s a retired Forest Ser- vice rappel manager, and still owns MeyWow Photography. Currently, 136 children are involved in Parks and Rec sporting programs. There are 55 kids enrolled in soccer, which has two teams of 5- to 6-year-olds and two teams of 7- to 11-year-olds. Volleyball has 41 kids with teams for grades 3-4 and grade 5-6. The football teams are usually on the road to com- pete, but hosted a jamboree on Saturday, Sept. 24, in John Day with out-of-town teams invited. There are 40 play- ers participating in football teams for grades 3-4 and grades 5-6. Registration is current- ly open for youth basketball teams for grades 4-6 with boys and girls leagues run- ning Oct. 17 through Dec. 15. The popular Daddy/ Daughter Dance is on the schedule for February 2017, Registration forms for John Day-Canyon City Parks and Recreation youth basketball are available at Humbolt Ele- mentary School and the Parks and Rec ofice. The program is for boys and girls in grades 4-6. The deadline for registration is Oct. 14. Boys start practice at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at Hum- bolt Elementary. Girls, also playing at Humbolt, start practice at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18. The fee for registering early is $35 for players who live within the John Day/Canyon City taxing district, and $45 for those who are out of district. After Oct. 14, an additional fee of $5 will be charged. Forms, with the money enclosed, can be returned to the school; Parks and Rec ofice; or mailed to JDCC Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 762, John Day, OR 97845. For more information, call 541-575-0110. and a mother/son activity is in the planning stages. “We’ll also potentially add other nonsporting, education- al programs,” he said. Ideas surfacing include photography, day hikes and youth tumbling. Running events, bike races and softball tournaments for adults are also among the possibilities, which they hope will draw visitors to the area. “You can see, I have my work cut out for me,” Mey- erholz said. “I took the job because I knew it was going to be a challenge and look for- ward to it.” For more information, call the Parks and Rec of- ice at 541-575-0110 or vis- it jdccparksandrec.weebly. com. The ofice is located on the west side of the Sev- enth Street Complex at 845 1/2 NW Bridge St. in John Day. District attorney asks law enforcement associations to request Porter reconsideration Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter has asked law enforcement as- sociations to request the Or- egon Supreme Court to re- consider the Oregon Court of Appeals decision to reinstate Sidney Dean Porter’s 2013 release date. Carpenter said Friday he has sent letters to the Ore- gon Association of Chiefs of Police, the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association and the Oregon District Attorneys Association. In the letter he urges them to contact the Oregon De- partment of Justice and Ore- gon Attorney General asking them to request that the Or- egon Supreme Court recon- sider the imminent release of Porter, who killed John Day Jim Carpenter Police Oficer Frank Ward in 1992. After Carpenter’s testimo- ny before the Board of Pa- role in 2015, the board ruled Porter was a danger to the community and ordered him to remain in custody until at least 2020. That decision, howev- er, will be preempted unless the Supreme Court overturns a recent ruling from the ap- peals court, which reinstated a 2013 release date due to le- gal errors. The appeals court ruled the parole board should not have postponed a 2013 re- lease date without a timely hearing. A June 2013 release date was issued when no evidence except a psychological evalu- ation was presented at an exit interview earlier that year. Although more evidence was provided after that in- terview, the parole board did not hold a hearing with Porter until September 2013, after postponing the June release date. The appeals court ruled evidence presented after the postponement of the release date could not be used to jus- tify the postponement that al- ready occurred. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. eomediagroup.com 04499
