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Blue Mountain Eagle
ELLIOTT
Continued from Page A1
Elliott remained in Grant
County Jail and appeared
in court via video. Matthew
Baughman of Bend, Elliott’s
court-appointed
attorney,
asked that bail be reduced from
$750,000 to $50,000, “which is
the maximum amount defen-
dant can post.”
Baughman said Elliott has
never failed to appear in court
or forfeited bond, has a pri-
or conviction for disorderly
conduct in 2002 and perhaps
a DUII conviction from the
early 1980s, has lived in Grant
County most of his life and has
significant community ties, in-
cluding with his mother, wife
and children.
Baughman twice called the
COURT
Continued from Page A1
Grant County Judge Scott
Myers said he spoke with
numerous people who visit-
ed Grant County during the
eclipse and had expressed in-
terest in moving to the area.
But they won’t come here if
high-speed internet access is
not available, he said.
Grant School District No.
3 Superintendent Curt Shelley
spoke about the need for stu-
dents to be provided with as
many opportunities as possible
to get ahead. He said his two
children needed to take turns
on the internet when doing
their homework at their home
because of limited internet ac-
cess. Students in Grant County
should be able to compete on a
level playing field with towns
like Sandy, Oregon, or Am-
mon, Idaho, which offer high-
speed internet access.
In some rural areas, internet
access is nearly nonexistent.
Dan Becker, who owns a lo-
cal computer repair business,
said many of his customers
want better internet access. He
said he often brings comput-
ers back to his shop in town to
service them because internet
access is so bad in some areas
— including neighborhoods
not far from the courthouse.
TREAT
YOUR
FEET
noted that while Elliott might
not pose a flight risk based on
his court history, he was now
facing serious charges — first
degree manslaughter is a Class
A felony with a mandatory
minimum sentence of 10 years
in prison.
Jessica Williams, Berry’s
daughter, told Cramer she lived
near Elliott’s home and she
feared for her life as well as
the life of her children and her
stepmother, Billie Jo Berry. Wil-
liams said the more she learned
about Elliott, the more she was
convinced he could do some-
thing similar again.
“I don’t want to live in fear,”
she said.
Billie Jo Berry told Cram-
er she was not just the victim’s
widow, but was also Elliott’s
cousin and had known him
since they were young. She
matter “an interesting case” in
that it involved a serious charge
but the defendant could be con-
sidered for a bail reduction and
perhaps release. If released, El-
liott would reside locally at ei-
ther his home or with his moth-
er, Baughman said.
Benson and several wit-
nesses, however, opposed this
arrangement. Benson said he
initially motioned to stop con-
tact between Elliott and his wife
because the case was still under
investigation — but more ev-
idence was expected. He also
noted that the crime took place
in a small community and in-
volved members of an extended
family.
Benson said he had con-
cerns about the safety of wit-
nesses named in the grand jury
indictment, as well as others
related to Berry. Benson also
“It would
be a great eco-
nomic ben-
efit to bring
broadband
to the area,”
Becker said.
Curt
Hamsher,
Shelley
who is also
the mayor of Prairie City,
noted that residents of Prai-
rie City and Mt. Vernon were
fortunate that Oregon Tele-
phone Co. ran an expensive
fiber network through their
communities while many ar-
eas in the county had no ser-
vice.
“That’s one of the draw-
backs of living in the out-
skirts,” he said, along with the
costs of providing water, roads
and other infrastructure.
That comment drew a re-
sponse from several people.
Gordon Larson, who lives
on a ranch property south of
Canyon City, said he and his
neighbors were frustrated by
their inability to get internet
service from Ortelco or Cen-
turyLink. He told the Eagle
that he was taken aback by
Hamsher’s comment and that
people move here for the ru-
ral lifestyle. Chantal DesJar-
din told the court she lives in
Prairie City now and enjoys
quality internet access, but
she would like to live in a
rural place like Pine Creek,
where she grew up. She said
it was the court’s obligation
to support broadband in Grant
County.
“I should not be forced to
live in a metropolis,” she said.
“It’s very unfair.”
Judy Kerr agreed that hav-
ing broadband access in Grant
County “would be awesome,”
but she questioned if the lo-
cal economy could support
such a program, noting that
both Sandy and Ammon had
stronger economies. When
she asked how many people
in the room would sign up for
the proposed network, most
raised their hands.
Myers noted that clear ev-
idence of the importance of
broadband could be found in
Ammon — development oc-
curred on the side of a street
where broadband was avail-
able but not on the other.
The Canyon City City
Council informed the city’s
residents in its November
newsletter that it had decided
not to join the coalition. The
council cited lack of infor-
mation about costs and the
current availability of Ortelco
fiber-optic service in the com-
munity. Green told the Eagle
that the Grant County Internet
Task Force working on the
proposal had not budgeted a
specific cost for Canyon City
“because they are already
along the proposed route to
get to John Day.”
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pleaded with Cramer not to
lower the bail and give Elliott a
chance to get out of jail, alleging
that Elliott had threatened to kill
other family members and just
two weeks before the shooting
had described strangling a dog
to death.
“Tom is not one to be
crossed,” she read from a long
letter.
Alleging that Elliott pos-
sessed numerous firearms, Billie
Jo Berry characterized him as a
“cruel,” “calculating” and “self-
ish” man who “hurt us all.” She
said Elliott and Berry had long
been friends who played golf
and cut firewood together, but
when he’d been drinking, Elliott
would make cruel and demean-
ing statements to her husband.
Family and friends in the
courtroom grew more animated
as they listened to the two wom-
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
en, and at one point Cramer halt-
ed Billie Jo Berry to warn both
sides about rustling, whispering
and head shaking.
“Frankly, it irritates me,” he
said, adding, “I don’t want peo-
ple making faces at witnesses.”
Baughman called one wit-
ness, Carolyn Elliott, Thomas
Elliott’s mother. She was sworn
in and testified that the family
could only come up with $5,000
— enough cash to meet bail if
it was lowered to $50,000. She
also testified she didn’t believe
the allegations that her son had
threatened friends or family
members or was cruel to ani-
mals.
In stating his decision, Cra-
mer said he expected to hear
more evidence in favor of a bail
reduction. He said he knew the
defendant’s extended family
from other circumstances and
knew they owned property that
could be posted for bail pur-
poses. Cramer said he would
lower Elliott’s bail to $500,000,
or $50,000 cash, but he want-
ed to require daily drug or al-
cohol testing and house arrest.
He also had concerns about
the proximity of Elliott’s home
to the home of witnesses and
Berry’s family, and he ordered
Elliott to reside at least 1,000
yards away from those with
safety concerns.
Benson told Cramer the
case was proceeding rapidly,
but he didn’t expect to see the
crime lab report for about a
month. After conferring with
Baughman and family mem-
bers from both sides, Cramer
set the plea hearing for 2 p.m.
Jan. 18.
Elliott had not posted bail
and was still in jail Tuesday.
911
Continued from Page A1
too high.”
Some noted that John Day
was paying an unfair portion
of the costs to run the John
Day emergency communica-
tions center.
There was also a refer-
ence to fake news stories be-
ing posted claiming that local
dispatchers “must be absorbed
elsewhere” or that Frontier Dis-
Eagle file photo
patch could handle the same John Day City Manager Nick Green, left, and Mayor Ron
Lundbom talk during a city council meeting.
job for only $70,000.
What’s next
The city of John Day will
receive a $420,000 special ap-
propriation from the state legis-
lature to help cover the funding
gap for the next biennium while
the city tries to find a longterm
solution.
In a Nov. 14 letter to the
state Department of Adminis-
trative Services notifying them
that the city will accept the
bridge funding, John Day City
Manager Nick Green suggested
two reasons for the failure of
the local ballot measure to fill
the funding gap for the local
dispatch center.
Using a local option tax to
pay for 911 dispatch violated
the tax principle of fairness,
Green suggested.
“Residents strongly felt that
they should pay taxes in rough
proportion to the benefit re-
ceived,” he wrote, noting that
residents would rather see the
fee on telephone bills increased.
Residents also questioned
why 911 dispatch was pro-
vided by the city of John Day
instead of the county or an in-
dependent agency.
“Many residents felt that
this countywide service
should be governed by an
agency independent of the
city that is responsible to
all tax jurisdictions,” Green
wrote. “The city agrees with
this assessment.”
Green said the city is look-
ing at several options: Option
A, consolidating the city’s
department with Frontier Dis-
patch in Condon; Option B,
creating a cooperative 911
center with an adjacent coun-
ty; and Option C, replacing
the 1989 agreement with a
new intergovernmental agen-
cy at the county level and a
new local cost-sharing agree-
ment.
“We will consider multi-
ple criteria to evaluate these
options,” Green wrote, in-
cluding cost of service; level
of control and decision-mak-
ing authority over service
and fees; quality of 911 ser-
vice; and economic benefits
to Grant County, “such as
the impact of retaining six
local jobs.”
The city also plans to urge
state legislators to consid-
er increasing the emergency
communications tax on tele-
phone bills to meet the city’s
long-term public safety needs,
Green wrote.
DISPATCH
covered (by the excise tax)
shall be pro-rated by the (In-
tergovernmental
Council)
amongst the participating
jurisdictions on the basis of
relative population for use of
Dispatch Center Facilities,”
the agreement stated.
As the local dispatch cen-
ter’s costs increased over
time in excess of the amount
received from the telephone
excise tax, the city of John
Day ended up paying the dif-
ference. But how that came
about is not clear.
“At some point subsequent
to the original agreement, the
signatories ceased making
payments to the city of John
Day for system overages,
leaving the city to bear the
majority of the costs for op-
erating the department and all
of the long-term (state retire-
ment) liabilities for the cen-
ter’s staff, who are John Day
employees,” John Day City
Manager Nick Green told
the city council in a Nov. 14
memo.
The city ceased to hold
formal User Board meetings
and did not make provisions
for collaboration with the
communities during the bud-
get process, Green said.
“In short, none of the
participating members hon-
ored the terms of the original
agreement,” Green wrote. “To
the best of our knowledge,
no other agreement was ever
ratified to take its place, and
the member agencies never
formally withdrew from the
(joint agreement). As a result,
the city of John Day is effec-
tively subsidizing a county-
wide service for other tax
jurisdictions without a con-
tractual agreement to do so.”
Continued from Page A1
had four full-time employees
and one part-time employee.
Membership in the Inter-
governmental Council made
of political officials and the
User Board made of techni-
cal staff that oversaw the joint
service came from the coun-
ty’s eight cities, the county
court and the John Day, Mt.
Vernon and Prairie City fire
departments.
According to the May
8, 1989, intergovernmental
agreement that established
the joint service, funding for
the dispatch center would pri-
marily come from the excise
tax collected by the state from
telephone billing.
“Capital and operating
expense over and above that
Bl ue Mo un ta in E agl e
the
corner’s
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SH T
EEK
OF THE W
RAFAEL GUMERATO
School: Long Creek
Grade: 12
Host Parents:
Ed and Linda Studtmann
Sport: Soccer
Position: Goalie/Striker
What I like best about my sport: “I liked all
the games and goals with the team and having
everyone together fighting to win every game.”
Coach’s Comment: “Rafael’s main sport is
basketball - this was his first year playing
soccer, but he was a huge
contributor, both as our goalie and
half the time he played offense as
well. He showed great leadership,
sportsmanship and attitude.”
-Coach Amos Studtmann
PROUD SPONSOR OF GRANT COUNTY ATHLETES
100 E. Main • Stoplight in John Day
541-792-0425
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