The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
EARLY
DETECTION
SAVES LIVES
BREAST CANCER
AWARENESS SPECIAL EDITION
W edNesday , o ctober
12, 2016
Sherif in
deposition
contradicts
statements
about emails
• N o . 41
• 20 P ages
• $1.00
MyEagleNews.com
IN THE FIGHT
OF HER LIFE
Palmer asserts Fifth
Amendment 51 times
By Les Zaitz
The Oregonian
Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer says
he “never reviewed” a state policy that he has
cited as justiication for destroying govern-
ment emails.
In a recent deposition, Palmer also contra-
dicted his earlier claim that it was practice in
his ofice to print emails, ile the hard copies
and then delete the electronic versions. Under
oath, he said his ofice has no such policy and
he never told his employees to handle emails
that way.
He also testiied that he released cellphone
records only after redacting personal calls,
including calls to people associated with a
militia.
Palmer’s
disclosures
came under questioning by
a lawyer for The Oregonian
as part of a lawsuit seeking
public records. In May, The
Oregonian/OregonLive
sued Palmer and his ofice
Palmer
after he ignored or declined
several requests for records
dating to February. That included police re-
ports, cellphone records, emails, his calendar
and records of handgun licenses. Oregon law
generally makes such material open to the
public.
Palmer acknowledged in subsequent court
ilings that he had no electronic versions of
emails to turn over because he routinely delet-
ed them from his primary account. He has yet
to produce any hard copies of emails.
Emails have become a crucial resource for
the public and the press to monitor the con-
duct of public oficials such as Palmer. They
can document how government decisions are
made and who is inluencing public oficials.
During the deposition in late September,
the sheriff asserted his Fifth Amendment right
against self-incrimination 51 times when
questioned about his email practices.
Palmer already is under criminal inves-
tigation for an allegation that in 2012 he de-
stroyed an electronic copy of a police report.
In the deposition, Palmer said:
• He considered calls to or from those as-
sociated with the occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge to be “personal” so
they didn’t have to be disclosed to the public.
• Records of his government-issued cell-
phone show “many” personal phone calls — a
potential violation of state ethics law prohib-
iting personal use of government equipment.
• He frequently “conided” in a man re-
cently convicted in Grant County of the theft
Contributed photo
Mary Weaver receives encouragement from her daughter Mandy, left, and niece, Jennifer Lawson.
Quick, safe test saves lives
Women 40 and
older should consult
their doctor about
mammograms
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
N
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Danielle Hunt’s goal at the Blue
Mountain Hospital mammography
department is to help women feel
comfortable as they are screened for
breast cancer, the second-leading
cause of cancer deaths for women.
She walks the patients through
each step of the process, which
only takes 10 to 15 minutes.
“After having a mammogram
for the irst time, they leave more
relaxed,” she said. “I’ve heard them
say ‘Wow, that was easy.’”
See PALMER, Page A10
See TEST, Page A10
Weaver battles second
round of cancer
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Mammographer Danielle Hunt places
a soft pad on the mammography
unit last Thursday in preparation for
an appointment at Blue Mountain
Hospital in John Day.
ot much slows Mary Weaver down,
but over the past three months she’s
been ighting for her life — for a
second time.
In weeks and months leading up to the
Grant County Fair in John Day, Weaver
can be seen jumping from task to task, jug-
gling the duties that come with managing
the fairgrounds. This year, diagnosed with
stage four cancer, she missed the event she
worked so hard to help prepare.
Her battle with cancer began three years
ago. In 2013, she found a lump in her breast
through self-screening. Breast cancer was
oficially diagnosed after an ofice screen-
ing, mammogram and biopsy.
From there, Weaver underwent a
lumpectomy at St. Charles Medical Center
in Bend, followed by radiation for 33 days
straight at a Portland hospital.
In the following three years, Weaver was
in remission and adopted a healthier lifestyle.
See WEAVER, Page A10
Red lights, stop sign mean STOP
School bus
violations lead to
police action
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Red lights on school buses
from Grant School District No.
3 have been violated 16 times
from Aug. 29 through Sept. 29.
So far, at least one driver
who ran red lights on a school
bus received a ticket from a
police oficer. The cost for the
Class A violation starts at $435.
National School Bus Safety
Week is Oct. 17-21. With 400
students riding the district’s
school buses each day, trans-
portation coordinator Cyndi
Nelson said she would like to
highlight safety concerns.
“I’d like to heighten the
awareness of bus safety lights,”
she said.
She said there is a common
misconception when it comes
to bus lights.
“The amber lights are a
warning the bus is going to
stop,” she said. “My advice
is for trafic to stop in all di-
rections. Don’t try to beat the
light.”
Nelson said the amber
lights lash while the bus driv-
er checks trafic to make sure
it’s safe for students to load or
unload.
The red lashing lights and
stop sign on the bus activate
once the school bus door opens.
“Never assume children are
only coming or going from the
right side of the bus,” Nelson
said. “They may cross in front
of the bus, to cross the street.”
She said, although they con-
duct bus safety training for stu-
dents twice a year, children can
be unpredictable.
“They may drop a book or
see a family member at the bus
stop and not wait for the driv-
er’s signal,” she said, adding
the universal signal is a thumbs
up to show it’s safe for children
— and parents or guardians
walking with them — to cross
the street.
One trouble spot on the
routes includes the area west
of Chester’s Thriftway and Ace
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant School District No. 3 students unload at a
bus stop on West Main Street in John Day.
Hardware in John Day.
Nelson said some drivers
mistakenly assume they can
pass by the bus because there
is a center lane on Main Street.
“Trafic needs to stop in all
directions, and no entering or
exiting business driveways,”
she said. “Trafic in the oppo-
site direction needs to stop,
even if there is a center turning
lane.”
See STOP, Page A10