CLARK ADVANCES TO NATIONAL
HIGH SCHOOL RODEO FINALS – PAGE A10
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , J UNE 14, 2017 • N O . 24
• 18 P AGES
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Humbolt plans
to combine
third and
fourth grades
Parents express concerns
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
’62 DAYS
IS ‘GOLDEN’
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter
Can-can girls dance on a float
in Saturday’s ’62 Days parade,
including Avery Lenz, Uwanda
Rodriguez, Raegan Sherman,
Jordden Cameron and Ali Lenz.
Whiskey Gulch Gang celebrates with a bang
By Angel Carpenter
’62 Days Parade results
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
Four-year-old
Hayla Reilly
of Prairie
City rides the
parade route
atop Rooster
with Chelsey
McDaniel
leading.
he Whiskey Gulch Gang’s annual ’62 Days celebra-
tion in Canyon City went off without a hitch.
Rain held off for the Gold Rush Run and Walk 5K
and Hope 4 Paws benefi t breakfast.
Although sprinkles threatened later that morning,
clouds parted for the ’62 Days parade.
Grant County Commissioner Boyd Britton, at the
microphone, announced it was the 50th parade in the
event’s history.
Janine Goodwin of Prairie City sang the nation-
al anthem as John Day’s Boy Scouts of
America Troop 800 posted the colors.
Parade organizer Leslie Traylor
said she was happy with the pa-
rade, which had 25 entries.
The Whiskey Gulch Can-
Can Girls won fi rst for the
schools/organizations di-
vision for their fl oat and
a $100 prize for theme.
Traylor said the
group was in keep-
ing with the “Miner’s
Eclipse” parade theme. Their
fl oat also included a miner and a
goat along with the can-can dancers.
The Rocky Top Riders won fi rst place
for mounted groups, wearing black outfi ts
symbolizing the upcoming total solar eclipse.
Mindy and Abby Winegar won fi rst in
decorated vehicle and the sweepstakes for their
Grant County Rug Rats entry, honoring the late
Mary Jane Allen.
See ’62 days, Page A18
Commercial
Mtn. View Mini Mart, fi rst
KJDY’s Cowboy Fast Draw Com-
petition, second
John Day Polaris, third
Schools/Organizations
Whiskey Gulch Can-Can Girls,
fi rst
Grant/Harney Fire Prevention
Co-op, second
John Day Volunteer and Rural Fire
Department, third
Non-motorized
Bed Race Contest entry, fi rst
Classic Vehicles
Ron Phillips, ’27 Model A, fi rst
Decorated Vehicles
Grant County Rug Rats, fi rst
Mounted Group
Rocky Top Riders 4-H Club, fi rst
Grant County Fair Court, second
Strawberry Riders 4-H Club, third
Derby Cars
Steve Patterson, fi rst
ATV/Motorized
Grant County Snowballers, fi rst
Best in Theme ($100 prize):
Whiskey Gulch Can-Can Girls
Sweepstakes: Grant County
Rug Rats, Abby and Mindy
Winegar
In front, LeRoy Gillies,
aka “Cody,” of Boise,
Idaho, wins a round
at Friday’s Oregon
State Fast Draw
Championship
in Canyon City.
Parents are worried blending third- and fourth-
grade classes at Humbolt Elementary School may
not be the best thing for their children.
School board members attempted to assuage
fears about having two grade levels in a single
class while expressing their own concerns during
a June 7 school board meeting.
The blend will merge the third- and fourth-
grade classes in the 2017-18 school year. Recess,
lunch, library, physical
education, music, sci-
ence, social studies and
writing will be in the
blended setting, while
math and reading will
be taught by separat-
ing students into grade
levels, according to
Humbolt Principal Kim
Smith.
The blend is being
considered because of
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
a combination of low-
ered state test scores School board
and a smaller sec- member Gordon
ond-grade class, ac- Larson.
cording to Smith.
This school year’s second-grade class con-
sisted of 37 students, while the third- and fourth-
grade classes consisted of 46 and 42 students,
respectively.
With two teachers per grade, Humbolt students
still had smaller classroom sizes than the state av-
erage of 30 students, according to Smith.
The blended class is predicted to consist of
four classrooms with 21 students each. Students
will have two classroom teachers, one for their
blended class and one for their grade level core
instruction, Smith said.
Heather Rookstool, a parent with a child going
into fourth grade, expressed concerns about the
change at the school board meeting.
Rookstool said she was disappointed in a lack
of communication by the school’s administration,
and she felt the decision had been made without
involving parents. She said, if the decision was
set in stone, she would deal with it. However, she
said the lack of communication was seriously af-
fecting the school.
She described the school as once being “happy
and bubbly,” but said now teachers were leaving
the school because of poor communication with
the administration.
“I feel like that school is broken,” she said.
Sena Raschio expressed concern her fourth-
grade son’s personality would lead him to tutor
younger students in the blended class instead of
learning new material. She felt her parental choice
as to how her child was taught was taken away.
Samantha Phillips worried her son might be
left behind in a blended class and was consider-
ing moving him to the Dayville School, where he
would still be in a blended class but with fewer
See HUMBOLT, Page A18
Rainbow gathering choosing Oregon location
Malheur National Forest among possibilities
sus of which site we will use
to host the annual Rainbow
gathering.”
Following the council’s
decision, which usually takes
between two and fi ve days,
those present will move to the
decided upon area and begin
preparing the site, he said.
usually within an hour or two
Blue Mountain Eagle
drive of the best site or two
that people have located while
The Malheur National
scouting.”
Forest could host an annual
The Forest Service’s main
gathering of thousands known
concern with the infl ux of
as the Rainbow Family gath-
such a large group of peo-
ering.
ple are the effects on natural
Adam Buxbaum, a Rain-
resources, public safety and
bow gathering at-
the impact on the
The Rainbow gathering could
tendee, said it’s not
community, Mal-
land anywhere in Oregon that
yet known where
heur National For-
the gathering will
est Public Affairs
has a national forest.”
be held. He said
Specialist Mike
Adam Buxbaum
the decision would
Stearly said.
be made within the
The Rainbow
Rainbow gathering attendee
month at the Spring
gathering
will
Council, taking place
be managed by a
on the Umatilla National For- This is when most of the in- federal incident management
est in northern Grant County. frastructure is developed, ac- team with law enforcement
“This is an open circle cording to Buxbaum.
offi cers and advisors. The
“The Rainbow gathering team will be similar to those
which anyone can attend and
participate in,” he said. “It is could land anywhere in Ore- dispatched for wildfi res and
the circle which will make gon that has a national forest,”
the determination by consen- he said. “Spring Council is
See RAINBOW, Page A18
By Rylan Boggs
“
Two injured in stabbing at
Rainbow gathering meeting
Blue Mountain Eagle
Two people were treated
for stab wounds after an inci-
dent on the Umatilla Nation-
al Forest in northern Grant
County early Saturday morn-
ing.
At an annual spring coun-
cil meeting for the Rainbow
Family gathering, which
may bring 25,000-40,000
participants to Grant County
July 1-7, a 20-year-old from
Sweden was arrested for
fi rst-degree assault for stab-
bing a 23-year-old from Red-
ding, California, according
to a press release from Grant
County Sheriff Glenn Palmer.
At about 12:32 a.m., the
sheriff’s offi ce and ambulanc-
es from Long Creek and John
Day were dispatched to a re-
port of a stabbing near Hunter
Spring, about 12 miles east of
Highway 395 on Trout Road.
Deputy Tyler Smith and
Reserve Deputy Dan Van-
dehey met the victim, Kath-
leen Abigale Todd, who was
stabbed in the upper left
tricep, at the intersection
of Highway 395 and Trout
Road. She was transported
to Blue Mountain Hospital in
John Day when an ambulance
arrived.
See STABBING, Page A18