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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2017)
PICTURE PERFECT The Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Blue Mountain A view of the John Day valley taken Saturday, March 25. EAGLE W EDNESDAY , M ARCH 29, 2017 The Eagle/Rylan Boggs • N O . 13 • 20 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com GUARDIANS OF FREEDOM Students share thoughts on patriotism By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle “It made us think about the importance of being an informed citizen” Madi McKrola, Grant Union sophomore T welve Grant School District No. 3 students were recognized for their winning Americanism essay contest entries at the American Legion and Auxiliary Post No. 77 meeting in John Day March 20. About 90 students penned patriotic es- says, answering the question, “How does learning about government and our America help you become a future guardian of the lib- erties of our country?” The students read their essays after a pot- luck dinner in front of family and friends and leaders of the American Legion and Auxil- iary. Americanism co-chairs are Sherry Feiger and Jessie Lewis, taking over for Joan Bowl- ing who passed away in December. The judges, Shermayne Boethin, Paul Smith and Kathy Smith, were recognized, as well as the teachers who included the essay in their lesson plans as a class assignment. Grant Union freshman Samantha Floyd said the contest was a good opportunity. “It’s good to bring awareness of our country because we often don’t think about our country with everything that’s going on in our lives,” she said. Grant Union sophomore Madi McKrola said she liked the topic. “It made us think about the importance of being an informed citizen,” she said. See ESSAYS, Page A10 How does learning about government and our America help you become a future guardian of the liberties of our country? By Annie Wall, Grant Union junior A Annie Wall s Americans, we see our country as a place of freedom, happiness, and prosperity. No one but ourselves have made it this way. Americans in- volved in their country have made it the beautiful place that it is. We are our own protectors. We are able to take pride in our country because of what we have done to make it this way. As an American, it is our civic duty to learn about our country’s history and government so we may be the guardians of the United States of America. No one but ourselves can hold this country up; it is the chil- dren of America that are going to dictate the outcome of our country in the upcoming years, and we cannot be pre- pared to do so without knowing our country. See GUARDIAN, Page A10 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Americanism essay winners gather at the Ellis Tracy American Legion Hall Post No. 77 in John Day. Front from left, Eliza Ashley, Vincent Raschio, Hunter Noel, Monel Anderson and Macy Carter; back row, Raney Anderson, Trinity Hutchison, Madi McKrola, Josh Carpenter, McKenna Adair and Samantha Floyd. Obamacare replacement shot down Republicans unable to secure enough votes to pass American Health Care Act By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle The Eagle/Rylan Boggs Unable to gather the necessary votes, the U.S. House of Representatives post- poned voting on the American Health Care Act, which would have replaced Obamacare. “Obamacare is the law of the land. It’s going to remain the law of the land until it’s replaced. We did not have quite the votes to replace this law,” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said in a press con- ference. “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) speaks to community members during a town hall meeting in the Mt. Vernon community center on Thursday, Feb. 9. The bill, supported by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, would have phased out Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, which could have had signifi cant impacts in ru- ral Oregon. As many as 375,000 Oregonians cov- ered by the Oregon Health Plan under the Medicaid expansion could have lost health care coverage unless the state paid a greater percentage of the cost, accord- ing to a recent Oregon Center for Public Policy report. “Oregon’s Medicaid program would take a bigger hit than nearly all other states, should the GOP proposal be enact- ed,” the report, authored by Janet Bauer, said. “This is because the federal Med- icaid expansion dollars support a larger share of our Medicaid program budget than in nearly every other state.” The Republican replacement would have phased out additional federal matching dollars for Medicaid beginning in 2020. Until then, people could have still signed on to the Oregon Health Plan to receive Medicaid. After 2020, those enrolled would continue to be covered See GOP, Page A10 Sidney Dean Porter Porter released, residing in Monument By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle Twenty-fi ve years after killing a John Day police offi cer, Sidney Dean Porter is back in Grant County. Porter, 57, was released from custody Friday, March 24, and transported by family members to the Monument area, where he will reside “for the time be- ing,” Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter said. Porter will be super- vised on parole by Grant County Community Cor- rections. Community Corrections Director Todd McKinley said the department will work to help Porter suc- ceed outside of prison. “I respect the wide range of emotion that the release of Mr. Porter in- vokes,” he said. “However, I and those I work with are committed to fulfi lling our role in helping Mr. Por- ter be a successful citizen in good standing in Grant County.” Porter pleaded guilty to aggravated murder for the 1992 killing of Offi cer Frank Ward, who had re- sponded to a report of do- mestic violence at Porter’s residence. Porter “blud- geoned Ward with his fi sts and a 10-pound piece of fi rewood,” according to court documents. A lack of evidence pro- vided at an exit interview in 2013 and legal errors by the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision hastened Porter’s release. The parole board issued a prison release date in 2013 after little evidence was presented at a required exit interview, but the date was postponed after further ev- idence was provided. The board, however, did not hold a hearing with Porter at the time of the postpone- ment. The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled the parole board should not have postponed his release with- out “a timely hearing” and reinstated the 2013 release date because of the legal errors by the board. The Oregon Supreme Court de- nied a request to review the appeals court decision. Carpenter, who fought to keep Porter imprisoned, said it is “time to move for- ward.” “With regard to Mr. Porter, our community has a wide variety of opinions as to what ‘should be,’” he said. “As district attorney, I have to accept and work with ‘what is.’ In terms of incarceration, Mr. Porter is deemed to have paid his debt to society. ... I hope that Grant County will set aside any outward expressions of malice and proceed with cautious op- timism.”