PANTHERS OUTRUN TIGERS IN CROSS-COUNTY RIVALRY GAMES
– PAGE A9
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , F EBRUARY 1, 2017
• N O . 5
• 18 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
“They silenced one man’s voice, but in doing so,
they created 13 more very loud voices.” — Jeanette Finicum
The
meeting
that never
happened
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
Jeanette Finicum encourages attendees to get involved however they can at “The meeting that never happened” Saturday at the Grant County
Fairgrounds in John Day. “One man can make a difference. He did make a difference,” she said of her late husband LaVoy Finicum.
Supporters gather in Grant County to honor LaVoy Finicum
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
A
ttorneys, ranchers and
members of the Finicum
family called for politi-
cal activism in the wake
of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge occupation and the
death of LaVoy Finicum last year.
Jeanette Finicum — the widow of
the refuge occupier who was killed
during a traffi c stop en route to a meet-
ing in John Day in the fi nal days of the
Malheur occupation — spoke to the
crowd and thanked God and all those
who supported her and her family since
her husband’s death.
“They silenced one man’s voice, but
in doing so, they created 13 more very
loud voices,” Finicum said.
She read a statement prepared by
the family’s lawyers announcing they
fi led a notice of administrative claim as
a precursor to fi ling a federal civil rights
lawsuit.
“While we could have fi led our
wrongful death lawsuit against the state
of Oregon, it is more effi cient to wait a
short while longer to include the FBI in
one lawsuit,” she said.
She recounted the jury’s acquittal of
seven of the occupants on federal con-
spiracy charges to thunderous applause,
adding her husband should have been
Sixth-generation rancher Trent Loos and Jeanette Finicum’s daughter,
Thara Tenney, raffle off a picture of LaVoy Finicum during an event in
John Day Saturday, Jan. 28.
among them.
“Our family is truly grateful that
some of them have been able to return
home to their families, and we are pray-
ing for all those who are still incarcer-
ated, unjustly, for their immediate re-
lease,” she said. “We hope for the same
outcome for the next seven that are still
on trial and for those in Nevada.”
Finicum played several videos
made by her husband before and during
the occupation, which explained he
supported the occupation because he
believed the federal government was
overreaching and overly regulating
farmers and ranchers.
She urged those in attendance to
become involved however they can in
their local communities.
“One man can make a difference,”
she said. “He did make a difference.”
•••
A crowd of more than 500 gathered
Saturday night at the Grant County
Fairgrounds for what was billed as
“The meeting that never happened.”
Unlike the Jan. 26, 2016, event La-
Voy Finicum, Ammon and Ryan Bun-
dy and other occupation leaders were
en route to when stopped by police, no
See MEETING, Page A18
Fifteen-year-old Laine Norton
speaks about her experience with
the Center for Self Governance
during a meeting in John Day
Saturday, Jan. 28. The center
is a non-partisan educational
organization that trains citizens
in applied civics.
Long road to a transportation package
By Rylan Boggs
and Sean Hart
By Claire Withycombe
and Paris Achen
The Oregon Legislature is
again trying to clear the road-
blocks to a comprehensive
transportation package after
failed attempts in 2015.
State Rep. Cliff Bentz,
R-Ontario, co-vice chair of the
Joint Committee on Transpor-
tation Preservation & Mod-
ernization, has been working
with Co-Vice Chair Sen. Brian
Boquist, R-Dallas, and Dem-
ocratic Co-Chairs Sen. Lee
Beyer and Rep. Caddy McK-
eown to develop a framework
to present to the entire 14-per-
son committee in the upcom-
ing legislative session.
With the state already
facing a $1.8 billion budget
Capital Bureau
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, right, listens to
concerns about transportation funding at the John Day
City Council meeting Wednesday, Jan. 25.
Senate but not the 60-percent
majority needed to pass bills
raising revenue, so Republi-
can votes will be necessary.
See ROADS, Page A18
Education offi cials from
across Eastern Oregon con-
verged in John Day last week
for an education forum with
state legislators before the
legislative session.
School
administrators
and school board members
provided their thoughts and
ideas for improvements on
education funding and legis-
lation, focused on the small-
er districts in rural Oregon,
to Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John
Day, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-On-
tario, and Rep. Greg Barre-
to, R-Cove, Jan. 24 at Grant
Union Junior-Senior High
School.
Several educators said sta-
ble, consistent school funding
was needed. Baker School
District Superintendent Mark
Witty said the same discus-
sions happen every two years
when the Legislature con-
venes to balance the budget.
“We need to fund edu-
cation over the long haul,”
Grant School District Super-
intendent Curt Shelley said.
“Attempting to fund it bienni-
um to biennium is not going
to be a good solution for ed-
ucation.”
Bentz said Republicans
have ideas, but Democrats
must be willing to cross the
aisle to develop bipartisan
solutions. He said he was
willing to discuss increasing
revenue through tax reform
but only if Democrats were
willing to reduce expenses.
Witty said the Public Em-
ployees Retirement System,
which carries a large cost for
school districts, was a “big
issue.”
Ferrioli agreed and said
PERS benefi ciaries should be
demanding reform to ensure
the program remained sol-
vent. Bentz said one way to
reduce costs statewide would
be requiring state employees,
such as teachers, to pay more
for retirement and health in-
surance benefi ts.
Everyone at the meeting
appeared to support the Small
School Correction, which
provides small schools more
money per student. Oregon
School Boards Association
See SCHOOLS, Page A18
Lawmakers, governor
lay out session priorities
Blue Mountain Eagle
shortfall to maintain current
government service levels,
funding the infrastructure
package will be diffi cult.
Democrats hold the majori-
ty in both the House and the
Educators
discuss
funding,
legislative
fi xes for
schools
Oregon’s legislative leaders
say they have a diffi cult ses-
sion ahead of them.
With the games due to be-
gin today, balancing the state’s
budget is top of mind.
Health care costs, educa-
tion programs and rising state
employee costs all mean that
the state has nearly $1.8 billion
less than it needs to maintain
the present level of govern-
ment services.
Possible changes in federal
immigration and health care
policies also seemed to muddy
the waters as legislators dis-
cussed their agendas for 2017
with members of the press in
a forum at the Oregon Capitol
organized by The Associated
Press.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown,
for her part, said she is fo-
cused on fi nding solutions to
the state’s immediate defi cit
and emphasized improving
the state’s transportation sys-
tem and maintaining access to
health care.
Legislators have until mid-
night on July 10 to do their
main job, which is to balance
the state’s books; Senate Presi-
dent Peter Courtney, D-Salem,
warned this week that legis-
lators might go into a special
session after that deadline.
See SESSION, Page A18