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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2018)
BASKETBALL TEAMS ADVANCE PRAIRIE CITY BOYS The GRANT UNION BOYS Page 13 GRANT UNION GIRLS Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , F ebruary 28, 2018 • N o . 9 • 18 P ages • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY Budget woes swamp public safety services John Day Police Chief Richard Gray. Eagle file photo By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle T he good news is that John Day and That’s the message of John Day’s “2017 Prairie City “are fortunate to har- Public Safety Overview.” The annual report bor a very safe environment, free was scheduled to be presented to the John from many of the Day City Council at its Feb. Costs for police daily acts of vio- 27 meeting. services have lence that occur in larger com- The John Day Police De- grown significantly munities and even in many partment had 4.5 officers faster than revenue smaller communities through- and three reserves last year. out our state and nation.” According to Chief Richard over the past 20 The bad news is that con- Gray, the department’s priori- years.” tinuing population decline ties are drug enforcement and and economic stagnation 2017 Public Safety Overview substance abuse prevention, have reduced revenue avail- patrol and ordinance enforce- able for public safety services at the same ment and 21st century policing. time that public safety costs are “escalating See BUDGET, Page A18 at unprecedented rates.” “ Who will replace Britton? Recommendations for the future By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle John Day City Manager Nick Green presented four recommen- dations to deal with the financial difficulties facing the city’s police department in a memo to the city council. First, police staffing should re- main at the current level of three full-time officers with paid reserves beginning July 1. This would reduce the coverage level from the 2.6 offi- cers per 1,000 residents to two and provide a $110,000 cost reduction. Second, notice should be given to Prairie City that because of reduced staffing, John Day would no longer provide them with contract police services. John Day would continue See FUTURE, Page A18 Moles denied new trial By Richard Hanners Judge Cramer considers claims in lengthy motion Blue Mountain Eagle Five county seats are open for election in this May’s Grant County primary. As of Feb. 22, three resi- dents had filed for Commis- sioner Boyd Britton’s seat. The challengers for the four-year position include Gordon Lar- son, Canyon City, and Sam Palmer and Tanner Elliott, John Day. Britton has said he will not file for re-election. Grant County Judge Scott Myers has filed for another six- year term and is unopposed. Also running unopposed for re-election are County Clerk Brenda Percy and District At- torney Jim Carpenter, for four- year terms, and Justice of the Peace Kathy Stinnett, for an- other six years. In addition, 41 two-year Republican and Democratic precinct positions are up for By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Eagle file photo Grant County Commissioner Boyd Britton. election in the county’s five precincts. Grant County voters also will see a ballot measure to repeal a county ordinance and allow marijuana businesses to operate under state law. The deadline to file is at 5 p.m. March 6. The Grant Coun- ty Clerk’s office can be contact- ed at 541-575-1675 for ques- tions about filing. Grant County Circuit Court Judge William D. Cramer Jr. denied a re- quest by the attorney for a John Day man sentenced to prison for sexual abuse to set aside his judgment and grant Bradley Moles a new trial. Moles was sentenced Jan. 31 to 75 months in prison for one charge of first-degree sexual abuse and was acquitted of four additional sex-related charges. That was the out- Bradley David Moles come of his second trial. Moles’ first trial ended Sept. 15 with a hung jury following a five-day trial. Oregon requires 10 of the 12 jurors to agree on a felo- ny verdict. Moles was prosecuted by Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter. Moles’ defense attorney, Foster Glass, presented five reasons for granting Moles a new trial: irregularity in the proceedings of the court, jury or adverse par- ty; misconduct of the jury or prevailing party; newly discovered evidence; insuf- ficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict or other decision; and error in law occurring at the trial. In his 106-page motion, Glass claimed that both jury misconduct and error in instruction “changed the outcome of the trial, raising confusion and contradicto- ry conclusions of the jury.” Jurors’ letters Citing the clerk of court, Glass said three jurors wrote letters to Cramer. In her Jan. 28 letter, Linda Gingrich said she was one of the two women who voted not guilty on all five counts in Moles’ second trial. See MOLES, Page A18