The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
PERSONAL
RECORDS
ABOUND
AT GRANT
UNION MEET
— PAGE B1
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W edNesday , a Pril 25, 2018
• N o . 17
• 22 P ages
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Discussion about
guns in classrooms
continues tonight
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
I
Sheriff Glenn Palmer
emphasized that
arming teachers
or staff would be a
preventive measure —
a shooter might avoid
going to a school that
was known to have
armed teachers or staff.
“
mpacts from the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, where 17 stu-
dents and staff were killed and 17 more were injured, have
been felt nationwide as officials and citizens alike look for
ways to prevent further mass shootings at schools.
Nine days after the Parkland shooting, speaking at the Conser-
vative Political Action Committee outside Washington, D.C., Presi-
dent Donald Trump called for arming teachers as a way to prevent
further school shootings.
Zach Williams, the Grant School District 3 board vice
chairman, told the Eagle he had brought up the idea of arming
school teachers or staff in the past, but following the Parkland
shooting, he raised the subject again during the board’s March
21 meeting.
School resource officer
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer addresses the Grant
School District 3 board on the subject of arming teachers
and staff during an April 18 meeting in Seneca.
The school district has employed a school resource officer
for safety in the past. Superintendent Curt Shelley told the Ea-
gle funding for an SRO will be included in the next fiscal year
budget, as the board and staff try to figure out how to make best
use of the position.
If the district hires an officer from the Grant County Sheriff’s
Office or the John Day Police Department, the officer would undergo
See GUNS, Page A12
As a parent, I would be comfortable with the idea.”
M.T. Anderson, a rancher from Izee
Candidates discuss issues at public forum
County judge, commissioner, justice of the peace, district attorney on ballot
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
About 250 people attended a candi-
date forum in the Trowbridge Pavilion at
the Grant County Fairgrounds April 22.
Former state senator Ted Ferrioli read
questions to the 10 candidates for county
judge, county commissioner, justice of
the peace and district attorney.
Scott Myers, the incumbent county
judge running for re-election, said he
supported the people’s right to vote on
Initiative 12-71, which would allow sales
of marijuana in Grant County for recre-
ational use, but he wouldn’t say whether
it was good or bad. If it passed, he said,
he would vote to impose a tax on recre-
ational marijuana sales.
Several candidates agreed with Myers
about not stating a position and their will-
ingness to tax marijuana sales. County
Commissioner and judge candidate Jim
Hamsher suggested that having a single
legal dispensary might stem the growth
of a black market in the county.
Commissioner candidate Tanner El-
liott said he supported the initiative,
saying the tax revenue will help the com-
munity. The war on drugs has failed, he
said, and while not completely harmless,
alcohol was much worse than marijuana.
Commissioner candidate Sam Palmer
said he didn’t want to “support some-
thing just for the money.” Otherwise, the
county might as well be like Nevada and
legalize prostitution, he said.
Commissioner candidate Gordon
Larson, who investigated drug cases for
the Oregon State Police, said he was a
See ELECTION, Page A7
‘Darkness into Light’
Preventing child sex abuse
By Angel Carpenter
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Grant County candidates stand before the start of a
forum at the Trowbridge Pavilion in the Grant County
Fairgrounds on April 22.
Regaining a voice
silenced by abuse
Blue Mountain Eagle
Blue Mountain Eagle
While child sexual abuse often hides in the
shadows, a program this week intends to illu-
minate ways to prevent it.
Grant County adults are invited to “Dark-
ness into Light, Stewards of Children” from
2-4 p.m. Friday, April 27, at the Canyon City
Community Hall.
Mary Ratliff, who will provide instruction,
describes the program as an “evidence-in-
formed training program designed to teach
parents, youth-serving organizations and con-
cerned individuals how to prevent, recognize
and respond responsibly to child sexual abuse.”
Tracey Blood, executive director of Prevent
Child Abuse Oregon, who is a part of a local
trauma-informed task force, said, “These can
be difficult conversations to have, but having
them can be the first positive step in creating
awareness.”
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Tracey Blood, left, and Lisa Weigum are
part of a community task force bringing
an April 27 training on child sexual abuse
prevention called “Darkness into Light”
to Canyon City. Grant County adults are
invited to attend from 2-4 p.m. Friday at
the Canyon City Community Hall.
The training is part of an ongoing effort by
the task force to increase awareness of child
See LIGHT, Page A12
Wade Cates is a survivor
of sexual abuse.
After years of silence, the
Grant County native finally
spoke out to his family and
to police, regaining the voice
he said was silenced by his
abuser.
Now, he is telling his
story in hopes of preventing
abuse and encouraging other
victims to make their voices
heard.
Describe your story
and how this has
affected your life.
As a 7-year-old boy, I
began experiencing sexual
abuse at the hand of a trust-
ed family member. The abuse
lasted seven years, becoming
more severe as time passed.
My silence lasted another
seven years. During the pe-
riod of abuse, I attended el-
ementary and middle school
in Grant County. During the
period of silence, I was heav-
ily involved in the communi-
ty and went to high school,
eventually graduating from
Grant Union Jr./Sr. High
School in 2013 and setting
out to attain a college educa-
tion outside of Grant County.
After high school, the
effects of the abuse I had
endured slowly became in-
creasingly evident in my
See ABUSE, Page A12