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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2017)
TIGERS POUNCE ON MOUNTAINEERS PAGE A10 The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 20, 2017 • N O . 38 • 18 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com OREGON WOLVES Plan update may be ready for review in December Known Oregon wolf packs By Eric Mortenson EO Media Group tate wildlife offi cials made more than 50 changes so far to a draft wolf man- agement plan and hope to have it ready for public and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission review by the end of the year. Conservation groups have criticized what they consider a delay in updating the plan, especially as fi ve wolves have been legally shot since August due to repeated attacks on livestock. Groups such as Oregon Wild argue that ODFW should not authorize lethal action on wolves while a management plan review is pending. Commission Chairman Michael Finley defended the process. “I will say there is no intention to delay or pause for the sake of delay,” he said by email. “We have a responsible wolf plan in place and are working to replace it with an updated plan that refl ects lessons learned and works to recover the wolf.” At a Sept. 15 commission meeting at Resort at the Mountain, on the fl anks of Mount Hood, ODFW wolf program coordinator Russ Morgan said most of the chang- es are based on input from the public and from commission members. “To me that strengthens this document,” said Morgan, who is retiring effective Oct. 1 and was making his last report to the commission. Commission members thanked Morgan for his work in managing a controversial species, a process in which conser- vation groups and livestock pro- ducers hold opposing and hotly debated points of view. Commissioner Greg Wolley said people recognize “what a Confirmed pack/individual range S See WOLF, Page A9 Estimated pack/individual range NOTE: Polygons represent estimated ranges for known wolf packs with radio-collared animals. 82 Portland Pendleton 197 Unnamed Heppner 5 26 Minam Meacham 97 101 Chesnimnus Wenaha Shamrock Snake Walla Walla River N. Emily 395 84 Salem (As of Dec. 31, 2016) OR30 Desolation 22 Mt. Emily Catherine 26 84 Harl Butte OR29/36 OR37 20 26 126 Bend Eugene OREGON 20 97 58 OR25 5 Silver Lake 101 Rogue N Keno (status unknown) 25 miles 199 Medford 5 *At least one breeding pair 395 Ontario Wolf pack population Pack/area Total Wenaha* Walla Walla* Snake River* Minam* 12 11 9 11 Mt. Emily Meacham* Rogue 8 7 6 Desolation Shamrock Catherine* 1 4 5 Source: Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (cont.) Total Keno Heppner Silver Lake OR30 pair Chesnimnus* Harl Butte* N. Emily OR29/36 Lone/misc. Minimum total 1 3 1 2 9 10 3 2 7 112 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press “ We have a responsible wolf plan in place and are working to replace it with an updated plan that reflects lessons learned and works to recover the wolf.” Michael Finley Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission chairman John Day man charged with pointing fi rearm at another By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle A John Day man has been charged with pointing a firearm at another after an incident Sept. 9 at The Ugly Truth Bar & Grill. Joseph William Leo, 40, faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and pointing a firearm at another, both misdemeanors, ac- cording to court documents. The document filed by Grant County District Attorney Jim Car- penter accuses Leo of carrying a concealed firearm and purposely pointing it at Brian Hubbard. John Day Police Sgt. Damon Rand said the department was no- tified of an incident at 12:11 a.m. Sept. 9. Rand said Leo was arrested without incident and was the only person arrested. He said no shots were fired, and no one was in- jured. He said he would not discuss the details of the case pending tri- al. Leo could not be reached for comment. His plea hearing is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Oct. 26. Greg Honachefsky from New Jersey said he was in John Day playing poker at the bar when a man came in and joined the game. He said a verbal confron- tation occurred, and later he saw the man had drawn a gun be- neath the table and pointed it at Hubbard. No one else had seen the gun, Honachefsky said, so he asked Hubbard to go outside. New drug laws draw mixed views Small-scale possession now a misdemeanor By Rylan Boggs Otis started drinking when he was 9. “I held out a long time before I started,” he joked. His fi rst taste was sampling his uncle’s home-brewed beer when his father asked him to fetch one. Blue Mountain Eagle S One escape from a life of addiction Blue Mountain Eagle By Rylan Boggs mall-scale drug possession is now a misdemeanor in Oregon, but jail sentences could actually be longer. While some believe House Bill 2355 will help people who are addicted to drugs by pro- moting treatment rather than jail time, Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter said the changes might not reduce sen- tences for offenders. The bill reducing the charges for person- al possession of drugs, such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, from felonies to misde- meanors for fi rst-time offenders Hubbard said they went outside to smoke, and Honachefsky told him Leo had a gun. He said they saw the gun while Leo was lean- ing over the bar, so they subdued him and took the gun. Honachefsky said he had flash- backs of the incident during his entire drive home to New Jersey. “Every morning I still see it all and want to puke,” he said. The Eagle/Rylan Boggs not subject to the same sentenc- ing guidelines, Carpenter said. “The maximum sentence for simple possession now classifi ed as a misdemeanor is 364 days in jail, a $6,250.00 fi ne, or both,” he said. “I now have the option, instead of recommending 10 days for every offense, of rec- ommending increasing amounts of jail time for each subsequent “I was a full-fl edged alcoholic by junior high,” he said. “I just loved the buzz.” His parents, migratory fruit Otis pickers, were constantly on the move. Otis said he attended as many as eight grade schools in his childhood. His parents accepted and normalized his drinking at a young age. It was during this time he found his passion for music, playing the guitar and banjo. While Otis said he had a good childhood, he doesn’t remember a single sober weekend in high school. See LAWS, Page A9 See ESCAPE, Page A9 A photo illustration of cocaine. took effect Aug. 15. Carpenter said these changes, however, might not reduce sen- tences for offenders, and fi nes may actually increase as a result. As an example, he said pos- session of meth is classifi ed as a crime seriousness of one, the lowest, on the Oregon felo- ny sentencing guidelines grid, which carries a presumptive sentence of 10 days in jail. As a misdemeanor, the same crime is
