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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2018)
News Blue Mountain Eagle RAND Continued from Page A1 He knows guns — in 2013, he came in second fastest among local competitors at the Oregon State Fast Draw Championships in Canyon City. Hazardous job Police work is inherently dangerous. Any call could pose a threat, Rand said. Do- mestic disputes are consid- ered the most dangerous, but calls to bar fights typically require assistance. “There could be two guys or 15,” Rand said. “And if you had six people to inter- view, you would get eight different stories.” As a reserve officer in September 2002, Rand and Reserve Officer Kev- in Miller arrested a man at gunpoint after he reportedly approached the officers in an aggressive manner with his vehicle. The man had left a bar fight at the Grubsteak lounge two blocks away and was later sentenced to 70 months in prison. Alcohol fuels bar fights, but many crimes are sub- stance-abuse related, Rand said. Some drug users steal to pay for their illegal drugs, creating a “big chain effect,” he said. But John Day is for- tunate not to see a lot of vio- lent crime. “The guys who rotate in and out of jail still have some form of respect for law enforcement and their community,” Rand said. “They’re not likely to come to your house and kick your front door in.” Nature of crime Rand has responded to a number of shooting inci- dents in his 17 years with the John Day police, but he could recall only one homi- cide. In August 2008, Rand and Tirico tracked down a man shortly after he shot and killed a man on Northeast Elm Street. In July 2016, Rand arrested a man in Prai- rie City who had shot and injured a man behind Ches- ter’s Thiftway. “I haven’t personally seen a person-on-person crime where they didn’t know each other,” Rand said. “There was some kind of link. We don’t have drive-by shoot- ings here.” But the worst incident for him was the Strawberry Village Apartments fire in Prairie City last November, Rand said. “Two young children died,” he pointed out. FUNDING Continued from Page A1 Reauthorization for two years will en- able the cities to include the funding in their future budget plans, Hamsher said. He also noted that Grant County’s share of SRS funding was significantly larger than for other Eastern Oregon counties. “It’s not even close,” he said. Commissioner Boyd Britton ex- pressed surprise over the reauthorization at the county court’s March 28 meeting and made it clear he disapproved of the inconsistent year-to-year funding. All told, Oregon counties will receive more than $185 million from the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The bill also increases the amount of PILT fund- ing nationwide by $65 million. Oregon counties received nearly $20 million in PILT payments out of $464 million na- tionwide last fiscal year. Unlike SRS funding, counties have full discretion on how they can use PILT funding, Myers said. “This extension of Secure Rural Schools payments is a crucial part of what must be a full-court press to shore up our rural communities in Oregon,” Sen. Ron Wyden said in a press release. “These funds have proven essential to keep our teachers in schools, cops on the beat, roads safe to travel and mental ser- vices at hand for residents in rural coun- Solving crimes Rand noted that the John Day Police Department en- joys a “high success” in solving crimes. “It’s a small town — ev- eryone knows everyone,” he said. In April 2007, Rand and Miller were credited with a six-month investigation that led to a substantial mar- ijuana bust at a trailer park in John Day. In September 2010, Rand and Tirico trav- eled to Prineville where they arrested two men for arson and burglary at three locations in John Day. And in June 2011, Rand and Gray arrested two men and a boy for burglary, crimi- nal mischief and theft at a downtown restaurant. Rand also credited the number of officers in the department and their expe- rience. “We weren’t so busy we couldn’t find the time to in- vestigate crimes,” he said. Rand said he plans to apply for work as a deputy with the Grant County Sher- iff’s Office. In the meantime, he’s remodeling his home and looking forward to more time for activities such as snowmobiling. Wednesday, April 4, 2018 ties where the federal government owns much of the land.” By law, 75 percent of the SRS Title I money must go to public road funds and 25 percent to public school funds. The court can choose to allocate up to 20 per- cent of the total SRS payment to Title II, for special projects on federal lands, or to Title III, for county projects. Title II projects are prioritized by the Forest Service, the county and Resource Advisory Committees. Title II projects typically benefit fish habitat, trails, forest ecosystem health, noxious weed control and re-establishment of native species. Title III spending is available to coun- ties for search and rescue, fire prevention and planning, community service work camps, easement purchases and for- est-related educational projects. A change in the current bill promoted by Walden, Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merk- ley will allow counties to use Title III money to pay for law enforcement pa- trols on federal lands as well as training and equipment for emergency response. In the past, SRS funding could be used by counties for emergency response ac- tivities but not to prepare for emergency response. “This has created an illogical policy where, for instance, counties could use these funds to carry out a search and rescue mission, but not for the training and equipment that is necessary to the success of that mission,” Walden, Wyden and Merkley said in a press release. The 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill also contains provisions that will reduce “fire borrowing” — where the Forest Service uses funding originally budgeted for forest management projects to pay for unexpected firefighting costs instead. “This bill creates an emergency pot of money for the U.S. Forest Service to use when it exceeds its fire-suppression bud- get, so federal agencies no longer have to dip into money earmarked for firefighting and prevention, so-called fire borrow- ing,” Association of Oregon Counties communications director Laura Cleland said in a press release. “We’re hoping this year’s fire season won’t be that critical, but if it is, we will have the resources we need to deal with it,” AOC executive director Mike McAr- thur said in the press release. In addition to a 10-year fire borrowing fix, forest management reforms provided in the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill include a 3,000-acre categorical exclu- sion for wildfire resiliency and hazardous fuels reduction projects, expansion of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act’s authori- ty for fuel and fire break projects, author- ity for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to offer stewardship contracts for up to 20 years and a “good neighbor policy” to help state road de- partments conduct road maintenance or similar projects on Forest Service land. WALLET Continued from Page A1 The Eagle/Angel Carpenter I CAN ONLY IMAGINE (PG) The inspiring true story behind MercyMe’s beloved, chart topping song that is a reminder of the power of forgiveness. Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm FRI & SAT (12:30) (4:10) 7:10 9:35 SUNDAY (12:30) (4:10) 7:10 9:30 MON-THURS (1:20) (3:30) 7:10 10:00 A QUIET PLACE (PG-13) A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound. Apppointments available FRI & SAT (12:30) (4:20) 7:20 9:40 (12:30) (4:20) 7:20 9:30 SUNDAY MON-THURS (1:20) (3:30) 7:20 10:00 READY PLAYER ONE (PG-13) When the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune. FRI-SUN (12:30) (4:00) 7:00 9:30 MON-THURS (1:20) (3:30) 7:00 10:00 $9 Adult, $7 Senior (60+), Youth 49493 49485 Mendy Sharpe FNP SQ Wallets owner Sawyer Quinton plans to branch into checkbook holders after receiving a letter lauding his entrepreneurial spirit from President Donald Trump. ETHICS Continued from Page A1 advocacy groups and promot- ed and advanced her business, they wrote. For instance, he Thank you, Grant County, for making CASA’s 2nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Auction a success! Your support facilitates advocacy for abused and neglected children. Special thanks to... Dinner Sponsors: Southworth Brothers Ranch & Blue Mountain Hospital District Elite Sponsor: Cornerstone Surveying Gold Level Sponsors: Iron Triangle, Mobile Glass, Lands Inn & Land Title Company of Grant County Event Volunteers: Ed & Margie McCrary, Dan Propeck, Jack Southworth, Jeff Meyerholz, Lori & Billy Hickerson, Kim Jacobs, Amanda Martino, Ashley Stevick, Melissa Galbreath, & GU Students 49477 him luck in growing SQ Wallets. “I thought it was nice that he took the time to write me a letter,” Quin- ton said. He said he’s learned much from the experi- ence of starting a busi- ness, and hearing from the president has encour- aged him to try harder. “I can make a lot of money off of something small, and I can make it bigger, too,” he said. He has plans to sell checkbook holders in the near future. “It will take a lot more time, and it’s my own de- sign,” he said. But he is determined to follow the president’s advice. Trump closed his let- ter to the young business- man: “Keep following your dreams!” SQ Wallets Sawyer Quinton, the son of Bob and Amber Quinton, is in Joan Walczyk’s fourth-grade class at Humbolt Elementary School. He launched his wallet-mak- ing business, SQ Wallets, during summer break last year after watching a video on how to make duct tape wallets. “It took me two or three times to watch it, and then I had it memo- rized,” Quinton said. Quinton ended up making 60- 70 wallets, of all colors and de- signs, and sold 43 over the sum- mer. His best seller is camouflage with diamond-plate trim, he said, adding pink camouflage is popu- lar with girls. He’s stored up nearly 100 styles of duct tape, which he orders online, ranging from Ducks and Beavers sports designs to floral prints and cartoon characters. Currently, he has 20 styles available for $10 each at Nicole Israel’s Wild West Hair Compa- ny on North Canyon Boulevard in John Day. They’re also sold through word of mouth. gave a speech in May 2013 at a planning retreat at the gover- nor’s residence, Mahonia Hall, to discuss transitioning Ore- gon to a different economic measurement formula that fac- tors in environmental health. Hayes was being paid by pub- lic policy organization Demos for facilitating the meeting. In addition, Kitzhaber failed to publicly disclose his potential conflicts of interest and actual conflicts in at least seven instances, as required by state law, the investigators wrote. He also allegedly improp- erly accepted United Airlines Premier Platinum status, worth an estimated $4,000. That violates Oregon law pro- hibiting public officials from the accepting gifts valued at more than $50. Kitzhaber has said he was unaware that he had received the platinum status. Kitzhaber had no comment March 28 on the proposed set- tlement. If the commission rejects the proposed settlement, Kitzhaber could face up to $50,000 in fines for the al- leged violations. In November, Kitzhaber and ethics commission staff members came up with a pro- posed settlement of $1,000, but the ethics commission re- jected that agreement in No- vember, as first reported by the Pamplin/EO Media Group. The ethics commission has an ethics case pending against Hayes. corner’s HOT SH T EEK OF THE W TY McDANIEL School: Grant Union Grade: 12 Parent: Sam & Kelley McDaniel Sport: Baseball Position: Catcher What I like best about my sport: “I’ve always had fun — baseball’s been my favorite sport for as long as I can remember. I like all the guys I’m with. I’ve been with them for a long time.” Coach’s Comment: “I’ve been really im- pressed with Ty’s leadership in the dugout and on the field, especially with the younger guys. He’s been a great asset to the baseball team this year.” -Coach Dusty Williams PROUD SPONSOR OF GRANT COUNTY ATHLETES 100 E. MAIN • Stoplight in John Day 49926 541-792-0425 49501 A18
