The Blue Mountain eagle., September 06, 2017, Image 1

PRAIRIE CITY GIRLS WIN HOME INVITATIONAL – PAGE B1
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 6, 2017
• N O . 36
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L EARNING FROM THE
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Thomas Joseph Elliott
Elliott indicted
for fi rst-degree
manslaughter
Bail set at
$750,000
Blue Mountain Eagle
A grand jury chose not to
charge Thomas Joseph Elliott
with murder.
An Aug. 29 indictment in
Grant County Circuit Court
accuses Elliott of fi rst-degree
manslaughter and unlawful
use of a weapon for the death
of Todd Alan Berry on Aug.
24 in the Dog Creek area east
of John Day.
A court document signed
by Grant County Chief Dep-
uty District Attorney Mara
Houck Aug. 25 originally
accused Elliott of murder,
fi rst-degree
manslaughter,
fi rst-degree assault and un-
lawful use of a weapon.
First-degree manslaughter is
a Class A felony with a man-
datory minimum sentence of
10 years in prison. A murder
charge carries a mandatory
minimum of 25 years.
Elliott appeared in court
for an arraignment hearing on
Friday, Sept. 1, where Judge
William D. Cramer Jr. set his
bail at $750,000. If he posts
bail, he was ordered not to
possess fi rearms or weapons,
not possess or consume in-
toxicants, not to have contact
with immediate members of
the victim’s family and not to
have contact with his wife.
He waived his right to a tri-
al within 60 days, and his plea
hearing is set for Dec. 1.
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.
Grant County District At-
torney Jim Carpenter said he
assigned the case to Colin
Benson from the Oregon De-
partment of Justice, who will
prosecute the case.
Benson has not returned a
call from the Eagle.
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
Professor Zhao Zhongzhen, left, and Eric Brand examine a book that is part of the Kam Wah Chung collection, while Parks Manager
Dennis Bradley looks over their shoulders Aug. 8. TOP PHOTO: Oregon State Parks Parks Manager Dennis Bradley looks over
artifacts in the Kam Wah Chung Museum with Mei Hu, left, and Hou Jun-Lingon, right, on Aug. 8. A group of experts in traditional
Chinese medicine visited the museum to see the collection.
Chinese experts examine Kam Wah Chung collection
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
E
xperts in traditional Chinese medi-
cine came all the way to America to
view Ing Hay and Lung On’s stock
of traditional remedies and records
dating back to the 1870s.
Half a dozen professors from other coun-
tries and a Ph.D. student toured the Kam Wah
Chung Museum in John Day.
Professor Zhao Zhongzhen said it was his
dream to come to the museum.
Zhongzhen referred to Hay as the “pio-
neer of development of herbal medicine in
the United States.”
Hay used Eastern and Western medi-
cine in conjunction, Zhongzhen said. Much
New agriculture director
looks to next generation
Taylor has
extensive
knowledge at
the federal level
of his supplies were imported from Chi-
na, but the doctor also used local herbs
and other ingredients, including rattlesnake
venom.
The visit also served as a scouting excur-
sion to explore the possibility of working
with the museum and the Discovery Channel
See PAST, Page A10
Transportation
package provides
extra funding locally
Brown celebrates bill with tour
By Paris Achen
and Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
The newly appointed di-
rector of the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture visited
Grant County recently as
part of a tour of all 36 Ore-
gon counties.
Alexis Taylor was ap-
pointed by Gov. Kate Brown
in December and came on
the job at the end of January.
So far, she said the job has
been going well.
“It’s great,” Taylor said.
“Katy Coba, my predecessor,
spent 13 years in this job, and
she wouldn’t have done that
if it wasn’t a great job.”
Taylor said she is pas-
sionate about agriculture and
has a long family history of
farming.
One of the biggest con-
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Alexis
Taylor, left, Anne Livingston and Boyd Britton, right,
talk about agriculture in Oregon at the Carter Rest Area
near Long Creek Aug. 16.
cerns she has heard from
farmers and ranchers in Ore-
gon is who will take over the
farm when the current farm-
ers retire.
“I think it’s something
that is constantly on farmers’
and ranchers’ minds,” she
said.
As the average age of
the American farmer grows,
many fear they may not have
a family member to continue
on their legacy.
It’s an issue her family is
concerned with on their farm
in Iowa.
“It’s something person-
ally that we’re dealing with,
but it’s also something that
I hear whenever I’m travel-
ing,” she said.
See TAYLOR, Page A10
Gov. Kate Brown toured
the state last week to cele-
brate signing into law a $5.3
billion transportation fund-
ing package. Local leaders
said, while the package is
a step in the right direction,
more needs to be done to ad-
dress failing infrastructure.
Oregon’s 38th governor
stopped in Ontario, Bend,
Medford, Eugene and Port-
land to re-enact signing the
bill and to highlight projects
that will benefi t those areas.
Her last stop was at Port-
land Community College’s
Southeast campus at 82nd
Avenue and Division Street
on Tuesday.
“The
transportation
package is truly a roadmap
to Oregon’s future,” Brown
told a crowd of about 200 at
the campus. “Not only will
it improve the safety and
condition of our roads and
bridges, it will support thou-
sands of family-wage jobs
and help local businesses
get their goods to market
more effi ciently.”
The package increases
fees and taxes to provide
funding for a variety of
special projects around the
state, though none in Grant
County, as well as other new
programs.
With four increases in
the state fuel tax planned,
10 cents total by 2024, the
package provides more
funding to each city and
county each year than previ-
ously received.
John Day City Manager
Nick Green said the city re-
ceived $91,000 in state fuel
tax funding last year and
See FUNDING, Page A10