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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2018)
SOFTBALL SEASON STARTS WITH SEVEN-GAME STREAK The PAGE A13 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 • N o . 14 W edNesday , a Pril 4, 2018 Secure Rural Schools funding restored for two years • 18 P ages • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com Presidential wallet 17 years of crime and punishment Sgt. Damon Rand hangs up his badge By Richard Hanners By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County will receive more than $3.7 million in federal funding from the Se- cure Rural Schools act (SRS) and payment-in-lieu of tax- es (PILT), the Grant County Court learned last week. As provided in the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill signed by President Donald Trump March 23, SRS pay- ments were reauthorized for fiscal years 2017 and 2018. SRS funding helps provide resources for essential local services like schools, roads and law enforcement in Ore- gon’s rural forested commu- nities, Rep. Greg Walden said in a press release. As chair- man of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Walden authorized the sale of a portion of the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve to pay for the two-year SRS extension. Grant County’s estimat- ed SRS payment for fiscal year 2017 is $3.1 million. The county’s estimated PILT payment for 2018 will be $651,861. According to data provid- ed by Grant County Treasurer Julie Ellison, the county re- ceived $3.5 million from the Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 2017 but only $200,248 for fiscal year 2018. The county court had a mixed reaction to the news. “It’s a good deal for us,” Grant County Judge Scott Myers told the Eagle. “It’s not a permanent fix by any stretch of the imagination. We need timber receipts — activity on the forest with monetary ben- efits to the county.” Myers said he admired the forest stewardship work performed by Iron Triangle, but that provided local em- ployment without bringing in timber receipts. He recalled a time when local timber mills were busy and more logs were coming in from the forests. “It made a big difference — more money was available for schools, roads and Grant County’s cities,” he said. Commissioner Jim Ham- sher applauded the reauthori- zation. “It’s very good news,” he told the Eagle. “It will make a world of difference for the small cities and schools.” en-year-old entrepreneur Sawyer Quinton is taking to heart some encouraging words in a personal letter from President Donald Trump. Quinton launched SQ Wallets last year, creating wal- lets from duct tape, and was inspired when he came across a roll of tape featuring an American flag pattern. He said the design made him think of the president, so he made a wallet, emblazoned with “Trump,” and sent it to 1600 Pennsyl- vania Ave. “Because he’s a businessman, I thought it would be cool to send him a wallet,” he said. In his letter to Trump, Quinton told the president about his business and said he is “making America Great Again one wallet at a time.” “I would just like to thank you for making America Great Again,” Quin- ton wrote, “... I would like you to have this duct tape wallet that I made.” The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Quinton said he sent the wallet to Sawyer Quinton received a letter Trump in early December and checked encouraging him to follow his the mail daily, hoping to hear back. dreams from President Donald In February, a manila envelope ar- Trump after sending a duct tape rived. It was from the president. wallet he made for the president In a letter, Trump thanked Quinton to the White House. for the wallet and said he loved the pa- triotic design. “Your craftsmanship and business spirit are impressive,” Trump wrote. “I am inspired every day by the inventiveness of young Ameri- cans, like you, who take the initiative to create products and start busi- nesses. You are a very promising entrepreneur.” The president congratulated Quinton for his success and wished See FUNDING, Page A18 See WALLET, Page A18 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Ten-year-old Sawyer Quinton, who sent President Trump a handmade duct tape wallet with a patriotic design, shows another one of his many creations. After 17 years with the John Day Police Department, Damon Rand has given his notice and moved on. His last day with the department was March 5. “I saw the Sgt. handwriting on Damon the wall,” he Rand said. “I wanted to be ahead of all that.” Rand said he was con- cerned with the direction City Manager Nick Green was tak- ing the department. His de- parture left the city with two full-time certified officers, down from four in 2017. Long-held goal President Trump lauds Canyon City boy’s craftsmanship and inventiveness By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle T Contributed photo Sawyer Quinton was 9 years old when he sent this wallet to President Trump. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Sawyer Quinton shows the inside of one of his handmade duct tape wallets. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Sawyer Quinton of Canyon City shows a collection of SQ Wallets he made. Rand moved to Grant County in 1992 and graduat- ed from Long Creek School three years later. His stepfa- ther, John Pebley, was a Grant County sheriff’s deputy, and his aunt is Valerie Maynard, the John Day 911 dispatch manager, but Rand said his interest in a law enforcement career started when he was young. After high school, he worked at the Prairie Wood Products mill and then with Dakom Logging before land- ing a job as a corrections dep- uty at the Grant County Jail. He signed on as a reserve of- ficer with the John Day Police Department in 2001 and five years later became a certified police officer. Rand took on acting chief duties in October 2013 after Chief Richard Tirico sudden- ly resigned and Sgt. Richard Gray was away elk hunting. On Sept. 1, 2014, after four weeks at the police academy in Salem, Rand was promoted to sergeant. “As officers, we’re always studying, keeping up on case law and training,” he said. During his time at John Day, Rand served as the de- partment’s evidence tech, log- ging in evidence and tracking items sent to the state crime lab — and making sure prop- erty was returned to its own- ers after a case closed. Rand also managed the department’s shooting range. See RAND, Page A18 Kitzhaber agrees to settle ethics case for $20K By Paris Achen Capital Bureau Capital Bureau/Paris Achen Former Gov. John Kitzhaber speaks to the Oregon Ethics Commission in Salem in February. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber has agreed to settle a state ethics case against him for $20,000. The proposed agreement between the Oregon Ethics Commission and the former governor who resigned in February 2015 amid an influ- ence-peddling scandal is 20 times more than a previous proposed settlement, which the commission rejected. In February, the ethics commission voted to pursue 10 alleged violations of state ethics law by Kitzhaber. The “preliminary findings of violation” were based on a 135-page report released in February by state investiga- tors. Kitzhaber violated law prohibiting use of his office for personal financial gain at least twice when he took actions that benefited his fi- ancée, Cylvia Hayes’s envi- ronmental consulting firm, 3E Strategies, investigators wrote in the report. Hayes lived in the governor’s residence in Salem with Kitzhaber, and her payments from clients were counted as part of the couple’s household income in manda- tory statements of economic interest. “The commission made no finding that former Governor Kitzhaber intentionally used his position as governor to ad- vance the financial interests of Ms. Hayes or 3E Strategies,” states the proposed stipulated final order, released March 28. “Such intent is not a nec- essary element.” As governor, he was “per- sonally responsible to ensure that he did not engage in any policy decisions, discussions, speeches, meetings, directives to staff or official actions that would further the financial in- terest of 3E Strategies,” they wrote. Kitzhaber attended meet- ings for which Hayes was ei- ther being paid or was seeking contracts with environmental See ETHICS, Page A18