A18
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
PALMER
Continued from Page A1
paying the attorney fees but,
for a price, Hostetter would
negotiate the fees on behalf of
the county.
“(Hostetter) says, ‘Right
now, you guys are going to
owe $78,000, but I think I
can get it down to half of that
if you send me a check for
$2,000,’” Myers said. “We
have no intention of doing
that because it’s not a county
action we would be defend-
ing.”
District Attorney Jim Car-
penter ordered Palmer and
DeFord to produce the records
when they were requested by
The Oregonian, but the re-
cords were not released until
the lawsuit was filed.
Myers said Palmer’s ac-
tions regarding the records
were personal, not in his of-
ficial duties as sheriff.
Oregon law defines a tort
as a “breach of a legal duty
that is imposed by law ...
which results in injury to a
specific person or persons for
which the law provides a civ-
il right of action for damages
or for a protective remedy.”
Except in cases of malfea-
sance in office or willful or
wanton neglect of duty, Ore-
gon law requires public bod-
ies, such as the county court,
to defend its officers for acts
occurring in the performance
of their duties.
Myers said the county’s in-
surance company has already
indicated it will not cover the
sheriff in this matter.
“They said they will not
cover Palmer,” Myers said,
adding the court requested
the insurance company in-
vestigate covering DeFord
separately. “We asked them
to review whether ... Sally
was acting as Deputy DeFord
within the scope of her being
an employee.”
Myers said Palmer offered
to pay the fees from the sher-
iff’s office budget. Myers
said, however, the sheriff’s
office does not have the funds.
“(Palmer) thinks that be-
cause he has saved money in
other budget years, he still has
access to that money,” Myers
said, adding unused funds re-
vert back to the general fund.
He said the court would
have to transfer funds to the
sheriff’s office’s budget, but
the unused funds from previ-
ous years were already reallo-
cated.
“It doesn’t exist,” he said.
A hearing on the request
for attorney fees is scheduled
for 9:30 a.m. March 9 in Grant
County Circuit Court.
The Eagle/ Rylan Boggs
New Fair Manager Mindy Winegar stands for a photo in the Grant County
Fairgrounds office. Winegar took over as manager on Dec. 26 and is looking
forward to putting on the county fair and hosting people from around the
world during the eclipse.
FAIR
Continued from Page A1
toward for years, remodeling
Keerins Hall and upgrading
the pavilion and arena.
For the 2017 county fair,
Winegar has booked country
music artist Ned LeDoux but
is still searching for an opener.
She wants to continue to im-
prove the event and engage the
community.
The fairgrounds is hosting a
slew of events before the fair.
The Strawberry Mountain Gun
Show & Knife Show in March,
the Daddy/Daughter Dance in
February and a summer kick-
off event are all in the works.
Winegar is already pre-
paring for the solar eclipse in
August and said the 175 camp-
sites available are filling up
fast. She is looking forward to
meeting people from all over
the world and said people as
far as Norway and France have
reserved sites.
Winegar decided against
holding an event in conjunc-
tion with the eclipse.
“We decided we were go-
Michael B. DesJardin
Dentistry, PC
ing to be busy enough just po-
licing campers,” she said.
However, they will provide
parking for the predicted influx
of people.
Winegar is looking forward
to taking on new challenges in
her position but also has a few
worries.
“My biggest concern is
making events that the com-
munity enjoys,” Winegar said,
adding having enough vol-
unteers is a constant concern.
“We can’t exist without our
volunteers. They’re very im-
portant.”
J OIN US ON F ACEBOOK
facebook.com/MyEagleNews
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
LAWS
Continued from Page A1
where the specific job title or
government department used
by the impostor does not ac-
tually exist.
Oregon’s previous iden-
tity theft law was interpreted
by the courts to only apply to
impersonations that involved
financial fraud, leaving pros-
ecutors unable charge those
who did so only to intimidate
or embarrass. The new law
defines “injury” to include
physical harm, threats, ha-
rassment and intimidation.
The crime is a Class A
misdemeanor
punishable
with up to a year in prison
and/or a $6,250 fine. (A sep-
arate law already in effect
makes impersonating a police
officer or judge a Class C fel-
ony.)
Poaching penalties
Would-be poachers who
get caught unlawfully taking
or killing wildlife will face
substantially higher fines.
The penalty for illegal-
ly killing moose, mountain
sheep and mountain goats
will double from $25,000 to
$50,000. A variety of other
fees will increase signifi-
cantly, including a hike from
$1,000 to $5,000 for over-
sized sturgeon and from $100
to $1,000 for wild turkeys
and sage grouse.
Sky lanterns
If you kicked off the new
year after midnight by releas-
ing a glowing Chinese lantern
into the atmosphere for good
luck, you broke the law.
The lanterns (known as
sky lanterns, Chinese lan-
terns, UFO balloons or wish
lanterns) are “mini hot air
balloons” made of a paper
sack over an open flame that
pushes the lantern into the air.
House Bill 4140 prohibits
the release of the lanterns into
Oregon airspace. Oregon fire
marshal Mariana Ruiz-Tem-
ple called the uncontrolled,
open-flame devices an “ex-
treme fire hazard.”
“Once released you have
no control over where they
may land,” she said. “They
could end up on someone’s
rooftop, in a tree, or a pile of
debris and cause an unwanted
fire.”
The Class A violation
is now punishable by up to
$2,000 in fines.
Sex crimes
Victims of rape, child
abuse or other first-degree
sex crimes no longer need
to worry about their abusers
hiding behind a statute of
limitations.
Senate Bill 1600 removed
the 12-year statute of lim-
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itations on first-degree sex
crimes in Oregon, as long as
the prosecution has corrobo-
rating evidence of the crime
or multiple victims come for-
ward.
That law is joined by Sen-
ate Bill 1571, known as Me-
lissa’s Law, which requires
that all sexual assault forensic
evidence kits be kept for at
least 60 years after collection.
It also directs the Oregon
State Police to create a posi-
tion or group of positions to
handle inquiries from victims
and other law enforcement
agencies about the testing of
kits, and prioritizes the test-
ing of kits that are connected
with active cases in which the
victim has agreed to partici-
pate in prosecution.
Immigration consulting
If you’re an immigrant
concerned about your status
under a new presidential ad-
ministration, you’ll be happy
to know that fake immigra-
tion attorneys preying on
worried immigrants will now
face charges of obstructing
justice if they get caught.
House Bill 4128 adds
unlicensed
immigration
consulting “with the in-
tent to defraud” to the list
of reasons someone can be
charged with obstructing
governmental or judicial
administration. It also adds
offering unauthorized notary
services “with the intent to
defraud.”
The new law amends Or-
egon’s definition of extor-
tion to include threatening
to reveal a someone’s im-
migration status to law en-
forcement if they (or a fam-
ily member or friend) do not
deliver services or goods or
refrain from reporting illegal
activity.
Obstruction is a Class A
misdemeanor, while extor-
tion is a Class B felony.
Whistleblower protec-
tions
Handing over evidence
of your boss’s corruption,
abuse or fraud won’t car-
ry the same risks it used to,
thanks to the whistleblow-
er protections implemented
with House Bill 6047.
State employees and non-
profit workers will be given
affirmative defense — which
amounts to protection from
criminal or civil penalties for
the commission of a specific
crime — for giving lawfully
obtained information about
wrongdoing to a law en-
forcement agency, regulato-
ry agency or manager.
Prostitution
The definition of “pro-
moting prostitution” has
been expanded in Oregon,
thanks to House Bill 4082.
Previously sex trafficking
could only be prosecuted if
the one “promoting prosti-
tution” was receiving money
or property in exchange for
their role in facilitating the
sexual encounter. The charge
of promoting prostitution
will now apply to receiving
“goods and services derived
from prostitution” including
benefits like shelter or man-
ual labor.
Postmortem account ac-
cess
You can now leave your
Twitter handle or Instagram
photos to someone in your
will.
The Revised Uniform Fi-
duciary Access to Digital As-
sets Act addresses a problem
for the digital age: People
are having difficulty getting
companies to give them ac-
cess to their loved ones’ digi-
tal assets after they die.
Oregon’s
legislature
joined several other states
in enacting the law, which
requires social media com-
panies and other online plat-
forms to give access to so-
cial media accounts, blogs,
online videos, photos stored
in “the cloud” and other
digital assets to fiduciaries
named in wills, or give users
an option such as Facebook’s
“legacy contact” setting that
allows users to name a third
party who can access their
account in the event of their
death.
Baker City
2830 10th St. • 541-524-0122
Blue Mountain Hospital
EEK
Photo by Tanni Wenger
Photography Studio
What I like best about my sport: “It’s fun,
being able to play with friends. We may not always
win, but we have a lot of fun doing it.”
Coach’s Comment: “He always gives 100
percent. GW is always positive
toward his teammates, and is
just a nice young man. GW is a
pleasure to be around and to
coach.”
-Coach Jeff Schafer
You have seen or heard of Mel
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The
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Grantville Theater,
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“
Once released you have no
control over where they may land.
They could end up on someone’s
rooftop, in a tree, or a pile of debris
and cause an unwanted fire.”
OF THE W
GW CLARK
School: Monument
Grade: 12
Parent: David and Toni Clark
Sport: Basketball
Position: Center
EO Media Group file photos
New laws took effect in Oregon Jan. 1, including
increased fines for poaching, criminal penalties
for impersonating military personnel or public
servant to intimidate another, a widened
definition of soliciting prostitution and the
banning of sky lanterns.
170 Ford Rd. • 541-575-1311
05059
05068
Every other Monday at
The doctor sp eaks Spanish - El doctor habla Espanol
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