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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2017)
GRANT COUNTY HUNTING JOURNAL INSIDE The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , A UGUST 30, 2017 • N O . 35 • 18 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com John Day man charged with murder Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle BACK TO THE BOOKS The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Students walk to class after PE on Monday, on their first day back at Humbolt Elementary School. Grant County schools open doors Monday New teachers join local districts By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Students are hitting the books this week as the doors to seven Grant County public schools opened Monday for the 2017-18 school year. From new students and staff to new programs, here is an update on each local district as the school year begins. Dayville School District Kathryn Hedrick, in her third year as superintendent/principal, said they are moving “full-speed ahead” at Day- ville School District. Enrollment is at 48 students, and in- cludes four foreign exchange students this year. Additionally, there are 9 pre- school students. At the beginning of last school year, enrollment was at 48 students. The teaching staff is the same as last year, and Lonnie Dickens is the new maintenance coordinator. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Fifth-grade students in Georgia Boethin’s class draw as she reads from a book on the first day of class. See SCHOOL, Page A18 A John Day man has been arrested and charged with mur- der after an incident Thursday evening in the Dog Creek area. Thomas Joseph Elliott, who was born in 1962 and resides on Marysville Lane east of John Day, was charged with murder, fi rst-degree man- slaughter, fi rst-degree assault and unlawful use of a weap- on Aug. 25 in Grant County Circuit Court, according to court docu- ments. Thomas T h e Joseph charging doc- Elliott ument signed by Grant County Chief Deputy District Attorney Mara Houck accuses Elliott of discharging a fi rearm and intentionally kill- ing Todd Alan Berry on Thurs- day in Grant County. Elliott made his fi rst appear- ance in Grant County Circuit Court in front of Judge William D. Cramer Jr. Friday afternoon. He is being held without bail. Houck said she believed Elliott and Berry were related through a family member’s marriage. She declined to dis- cuss the details of the case. Offi cers were dispatched to the Dog Creek/Marysville area just east of John Day just before 8 p.m., according to dis- patch logs. Oregon State Police and Grant County Sheriff’s Offi ce are leading the investigation, according to John Day Police Chief Richard Gray. He said OSP brought in a team to in- vestigate. Elliott is next scheduled to appear in court for a status check Sept. 1. Eclipse profi table for local businesses City makes thousands from campers Eclipse viewers test out their glasses before totality at the John Day Industrial Park Aug. 21. By Rylan Boggs Blue Mountain Eagle In the wake of thousands of visitors to view the total solar eclipse in Grant County, locals are enjoying the fruits of their labor. John Day City Manager Nick Green estimated the city had seen roughly The Eagle Rylan Boggs 10,000 visitors and made about $75,000 during the event. This came from the city’s 157 tent sites and 161 RV sites rented to visitors. “I talked to locals who have lived here their whole lives who said they had never seen anything like this,” Green said. The farthest visitor to John Day came from Australia, according to Green. He said no damage had been done to the Industrial Park or Oregon Pine Property and described John Day Public Works Director Monte Legg as a “saint” for all his and his department’s hard work during the event. Local businesses also made a pretty penny. Jessica Turner, who works at the Shell Station in Canyon City, said they sold roughly 12,000 gallons of fuel from Aug. 19-22. They sell an average of 600 gal- lons a day normally, she said. See ECLIPSE, Page A18 Collaborative membership denial causes dispute BMFP denies claims of discrimination By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle A collection of people who tried to join the local forest collaborative will not be allowed full membership — for now. County residents recently denied voting member status in the Blue Mountains Forest Partners Collabo- rative claim they were discriminated against, but offi cials from the organi- zation maintain they were following the intent and guidelines of the group despite its open membership. Formally organized in 2006, the collaborative is a nonprofi t organiza- tion comprised of a “diverse group” of people, including members of the timber industry and environmental- ists, who work together to develop “zones of agreement” about forest projects based on science, Executive Director Mark Webb said. He said membership in the group is open to individuals who meet par- ticipation requirements, sign a decla- ration of commitment and abide by the organization’s guidelines. At the July meeting, about nine Grant County residents said they met the requirements and requested to become voting members, but the re- quest was denied during the meeting. Webb said membership was not on the agenda, and most people interest- ed in membership contact him or the board to discuss it. The people interested in joining stayed after the meeting to discuss membership further, and eventually most were invited to individual in- terviews with several collaborative board members. After the interviews, Webb said all but one person — How- ard Gieger, who could not be reached for comment — were denied voting member status for now but were in- vited to continue participating in the meetings as nonvoting members, and were told they may be granted voting status later. Webb said most of the people re- questing to join had previously spo- ken out against the collaborative and the mission and scope of its work. He said social media posts indicated a group opposed to the collaborative hoped to infi ltrate it to undermine its efforts. “You had people opposed to BMFP who wanted membership,” he said. However, those requesting mem- bership said they wanted to join to be a part of the process, not to destroy it. After being denied membership, Frances Preston said she believed it was discrimination. “I was very surprised,” she said. “I thought I met all the requirements. I was sure I was going to be a voting member.” Preston admitted she wrote crit- ical letters to the editor and a letter See DISPUTE, Page A18