THE MISSION:
To seek out
and destroy
junipers
Page A8
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s
newspaper since 1868
• N O . 11
W EDNESDAY , M ARCH 15, 2017
• 20 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Two
occupiers
guilty of
conspiracy
in Malheur
standoff
By Conrad Wilson
Oregon Public Broadcasting
DRUG
FREE
Baker City Police Department Sgt. Wayne Chastain
explains to Prairie City School students how he
works with his drug-detecting K-9, Capa, after
the dog sniffed lockers at the school March 7. No
drugs were found at Prairie City or Grant Union
Junior-Senior High School.
K-9 sniffs lockers but no illicit substances found
By Sean Hart
Capa, a 3-year-
old Belgian
Malinois-
German
shepherd
mixed breed
drug K-9,
and handler
Sgt. Wayne
Chastain
of Baker
City Police
Department
check school
lockers for
drug odors
March 7.
Blue Mountain Eagle
C
apa, a drug-detecting K-9, had a busy
day at local schools last week.
Baker City Police Department Sgt.
Wayne Chastain brought the 3-year-old
Belgian Malinois-German shepherd mixed breed to
Grant County March 7 at the request of John Day
Police Chief Richard Gray. The K-9 sniffed lockers
for drugs and demonstrated its drug-fi nding ability
for students, while Chastain explained how he works
with Capa.
“The dog is trained to fi nd odor but not drugs,”
he said.
When the dog smells an odor it has been trained
See K-9, Page A12
Contributed photos
Election vacancies remain day before deadline
Prairie City School
District race contested
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Time is running out to file to run
for local board positions up for elec-
tion in May.
Grant County Clerk Brenda Per-
cy said the deadline to file is 5 p.m.
Thursday, March 16, and no one had
filed to run for several positions as of
Tuesday afternoon.
Grant County Education Service
District Zone No. 5, as well as an at-
large position, have no candidates.
Not enough people have filed to fill
all the open at-large positions for
Prairie Rural Fire District, John Day
Canyon City Parks and Recreation,
Fox Cemetery District, Mid-Coun-
ty Cemetery District and Monument
Cemetery District.
Only one race is currently contested.
Andrea Ennis and Justin Jacobs have
both fi led to run for Prairie City School
District No. 4’s Position No. 1. Nancy
Hitz, Lindsay Rausch and Mike Wall
are running unopposed for the other
three positions.
Kelly Stokes, Josh Walker, Ben
Holliday and Chris Cronin are run-
ning for the four Grant School District
No. 3 positions. Vonda Stubblefield,
Elizabeth Lovelock, Jeff Thomas and
Maria Thomas are running for the four
Monument School District No. 8 posi-
tions. Babette Larson, Casey Fretwell
and Tandi Merkord are running for
the three Dayville School District No.
16J positions. Patti Hudson, Marsiel-
lette Watson, Bubba Wainwright and
Your Taxes: The
budget process
See ELECTION, Page A12
See TAXES, Page A12
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Members of the governing body
of local tax districts have the most
impact on how taxes are spent.
The people chosen for these posi-
tions in the May election will serve
on and appoint other members to fu-
ture budget committees that develop
the plans to provide public services
with available resources.
Most districts perform the budget
process annually, though biennial
24-month budgets are also allowed.
In addition to the opportunity to
A federal jury has con-
victed occupiers Jason Pat-
rick and Darryl Thorn on
felony conspiracy charges
for their roles in last year’s
armed takeover of the Mal-
heur National Wildlife Ref-
uge.
Defendants Duane Eh-
mer and Jake Ryan were
acquitted of conspiracy, but
convicted on lesser felony
charges.
Patrick, Thorn, Ehmer
and Ryan were considered
less prominent players in
last year’s 41-day occu-
pation of the Malheur Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge in a
remote part of Eastern Ore-
gon’s high desert. The armed
protest began Jan. 2, 2016,
and ended when the final
four occupiers surrendered
to the FBI Feb. 11 during
a dramatic conclusion that
spanned several hours and
was broadcast live on the
internet.
The verdict in this second
trial comes after three weeks
of testimony and more than
two days of deliberations.
All four were charged
with conspiracy to impede
federal employees through
force, threats and intimi-
dation — the same charge
the occupation’s leaders,
brothers Ammon and Ryan
Bundy, were acquitted of
during another federal trial
last fall.
Ryan, Thorn and Patrick
also were charged with car-
rying a firearm in a federal
facility. Ryan and Ehmer
were charged with depreda-
tion of government property.
The jury delivered the
following verdict:
• Jason Patrick guilty of
conspiracy; not guilty of car-
rying a firearm in a federal
facility
• Darryl Thorn guilty of
conspiracy; guilty of car-
rying a firearm in a federal
facility
• Jake Ryan not guilty
of conspiracy; not guilty
of carrying a firearm in a
federal facility; guilty of
depredation of government
property
• Duane Ehmer not guilty
of conspiracy; guilty of
depredation of government
property
The verdicts mark a stark
contrast to last year’s trial,
when a different jury acquit-
ted seven occupiers on all
counts.