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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2018)
SPRING BREAK AND EASTER EVENTS PAGE A7 The Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , M arch 21, 2018 • N o . 12 • 18 P ages SUICIDE: • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com A by-the-numbers look at Grant County Risk factors change as people age By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series about suicide. uicide is a problem that reaches into every demograph- ic category — age, gender and socio-economic class. According to the Centers for Disease Control, sui- cide in 2012 was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States for people 16 years and older. About three-quarters of the suicide deaths that year were by males. The percentage of teen deaths by suicide in Oregon doubled from 2006 to 2015, according to Children First of Oregon. At 38.3 percent, it was the No. 1 cause of death. And while the sui- cide rate among youths 10 to 24 years stayed roughly the same across the U.S., the rate in Oregon increased by 41 percent. More than two-thirds of Oregon youths involved in suicide incidents from 2002 to 2012 had cited mental health problems before their attempts. More than a third had been diagnosed with a mental disorder. The youth suicide rate in Grant County is higher than the U.S. rate, Community Counseling Solutions Clinical Director Thad Labhart said, but the rate for Oregon as a whole is higher than the national rate. Nearly 80 percent of suicides in the U.S. are by men. The cause is typically related to loss of self-esteem due to loss of employment, becoming ill, losing a spouse or partner, an embar- rassing public disclosure or fearing loss of control. In Oregon, the highest suicide rate is for men over 85 years old: 72.4 per 100,000 individuals. For women, the highest rate was for ages 45 to 54. Men in Oregon were 3.6 times more likely to commit suicide than women, according to the Oregon Health S See SUICIDE, Page A18 90 Oregon suicide rates, 2013 Oregon suicide attempts, 2013 78.4 140 (Rate by gender and age, per 100,000) Male 120 100 51 Male: 1.8 Female: 1.3 27.1 30 5.5 112 Female 60 36.9 89.7 80 38.9 13.9 41.7 56.2 40 12.6 9.3 8.4 0 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 Age group Source: Oregon Health Authority 65-74 75-84 34.1 22.2 20 6.5 5-14 49.8 54 37.7 5.6 5-14 15-24 25-34 18.9 35-44 75-84 45-54 55-64 65-74 85+ Age group Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group Source: Oregon Health Authority leading cause of death for teens in Oregon. 11.2 Male: 24.2 / Female: 25.1 0 85+ rate for Grant County is higher than the national rate. • Suicide is the 62.5 62.2 60 28.9 9.9 Female Male 88.1 28.9 29.7 7.5 (Self-harm hospitalization rate by gender and age, per 100,000) 116.8 • The youth suicide Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group • In Grant County, 22 people died by suicide from 2003 to 2012. County continues discussion on resource adviser Strategy for success resource adviser position. The matter has been raised period- ically at court meetings by county res- ident Jim Sproul and others and was addressed in a strongly worded plea by Long Creek rancher Sharon Livingston on Feb. 21. Grant County Judge Scott Myers noted at the time that the county had re- ceived three responses to a request for proposals that it issued last year, and all Nick Green presents State of the City address Funding and politics delay final decision By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Budget constraints and political concerns were raised by Grant County Court members as reasons for delaying a decision on filling a proposed natural three candidates for the new position were locals. Commissioner Jim Hamsher asked that the matter be put on the court’s next agenda, and the court agreed. Myers told the court March 14 that the county budgeted $50,000 for the po- sition last year, but the $50,000 is no lon- ger available in the budget currently un- der development for the next fiscal year. See ADVISER, Page A18 Fire hall costs continue to climb Ordinance establishes urban renewal agency By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The John Day City Council continued to strug- gle at the March 13 meet- ing with the rising costs to complete the John Day Fire Hall. The city has received three bids to finish reno- vating 1,473 square feet of the fire hall as designed in June 2015, and all were considered far too high by the council. The Eagle/Richard Hanners John Day City Manager Nick Green, left, and Mayor Ron Lundbom prepare for the start of the March 13 city council meeting. Pinnacle Architecture initially solicited a bid from Kirby Nagelhout Construc- tion Co. of Bend, which was the general contractor for the fire hall and won the bid for a seismic upgrade project at Humbolt Elemen- tary School to take place this summer. Kirby Nagelhout bid $291,000 in May 2017, but See COSTS, Page A18 By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Getting smart about spend- ing and adhering to the city’s strategy for growth — that’s the message in John Day City Manager Nick Green’s March 13 State of the City address. Citing a Portland State Uni- versity report, Green said Grant County will lose 17 percent of its population over the next 50 years. Declining population means less revenue for city ser- vices. “Does that have to be our fate?” Green asked. “We don’t think it does.” Green ranked the city’s de- partments according to their strengths and weaknesses. The water department is financially strong, modern and up to date, while street repair and con- struction has grown more and more expensive, he said. The fire department is lean and well run, but the unfinished fire hall and expensive con- struction bids present a burden. The police budget has grown at three times the rate of the prop- erty tax base as a result of sharply rising costs for health insurance, re- tirement, tort claims and Nick Green training, which is unsustain- able. The 911 dispatch center will be operated by another en- tity altogether by June, Green said. Green was upbeat about the sewer department, which needs an expensive new treat- ment plant. Green hopes to use reclaimed water from the new plant to kick-start a new indus- try with a commercial green- house producing vegetables for sale. Under state law, proper- ty taxes are capped at about 3 percent growth per year and amount to only 10 percent of the city’s $2.5 million budget. Revenue from the eclipse event last year ranked No. 8 among revenue sources, Green noted. As a result, the city is looking See CITY, Page A18