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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2018)
SOFTBALL TEAM IMPROVES TO 17-1 The PAGE B1 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 W edNesday , M ay 2, 2018 Tyler Dehiya Kathy Meyer Mitchel Long • N o . 18 Elizabeth Pace • 20 P ages Aaron Roseberry Nicole Shaffer • $1.00 Olle Starnes www.MyEagleNews.com Vincent Tietjen Glen Wadley Katie Watt 10 locals swept up in big meth bust Criminal forfeiture filed for three properties By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Interagency Narcotics Team arrested 10 people on drug-related charges April 28 after executing search warrants on two properties in Mt. Vernon and one in John Day. The warrants were the culmi- nation of an ongoing investigation of a covert drug operation that has lasted more than a year, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office press release. “During the searches, metham- phetamine, money, drug parapher- nalia, stolen firearms and vehicles were among some of the things seized at the residences,” the press release said. Grant County Undersheriff Zach Mobley, who supervises the Interagency Narcotics Team with Oregon State Police Sgt. Tom Hutchison, described the drug problem in the local community as an epidemic. The sheriff’s office said the case isn’t over, and more arrests and warrants are pending. According to court records, the 10 people arrested April 28 were: • Tyler D. Dehiya, 24, Mt. Ver- non, was charged with 10 drug-re- lated counts, including seven felonies. Several charges allege possession, manufacture and deliv- ery of meth, one count is for crim- inal conspiracy and one count is for frequenting a place where con- trolled substances are used. That place is a camp trailer that was parked inside a wood-framed garage on Ingle Street in Mt. Ver- non. The state filed a criminal forfeiture charge alleging that the camp trailer is subject to forfeiture to the state. Dehiya is being held in Grant County Jail on a $130,000 bond. • Vincent R. Tietjen, 52, Mt. Vernon, was charged with eight See METH, Page A10 ARMING TEACHERS Opinions are mixed on whether teachers should carry guns, while many favor additional school safety steps City to offer school resource officer By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle O pinions about arming teach- ers are mixed. Most of the people who spoke at an April 25 meeting at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School to take input on school safety were in opposition to arming teachers, but the majority of those who took a survey at the meeting were in favor. About 50 parents and staff attended the meeting, and 26 people spoke to the school board. Some didn’t take a posi- tion on arming teachers but instead asked questions or made suggestions. Four spoke directly in favor of arming teachers, and 13 spoke in opposition. According to an interactive survey held during the meeting using smartphones, about 43 percent supported arming school staff, while 30 percent were opposed and 25 percent were unsure. A preliminary survey of students showed about 68 percent of the 215 Grant Union students responding supported arming school staff, and about 86 percent of the 58 Humbolt and Seneca sixth-grade students responding said they supported arming school staff. By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle I The Eagle/Richard Hanners Student, staff survey Grant Union students and Humbolt and Seneca school sixth- graders were asked whether they supported arming staff. Question: Do you support arming staff? Unsure: 5 or 2% Grant Union students * No: 62 or 29% Yes: 148 or 69% No: 8 or 14% Humbolt and Seneca sixth-graders Public input Concerned about school shootings across the U.S., Grant School District 3 is considering a wide range of measures to increase safety at Grant Union, Humbolt Elementary and Seneca School, from re- stricting access to hiring a school resource See GUNS, Page A10 Yes: 50 or 86% Humbolt and Seneca staff No: 9 or 26% Yes: 26 or 74% *The sample size for Grant Union staff was too small for inclusion. Source: Grant School District Grant School District 3 board members Colleen Robertson, Chris Cronin and Zach Williams listen to comments during a public meeting about arming teachers or hiring a school resource officer at the Grant Union Junior- Senior High School April 25. EO Media Group graphic See Page A10 for a survey of audience responses. f Grant School District is interested in con- tracting for the services, the city of John Day would provide a school resource officer. The contract could help the city benefit from a fourth certified police officer, City Manager Nick Green told the John Day City Council at the April 24 meeting. The city has proposed a one-year pilot program, split- ting the costs of the SRO with the school district. Green estimated the total cost of a certified officer with benefits at about $92,000. The coun- cil reached a consensus to go ahead with the SRO contract. Incoming As a parent, Green said he interim would prefer a trained SRO to Police Chief Mike Durr arming teachers. “Having a visible police listens to the presence at the high school John Day could have a more signifi- City Council cant deterrent effect on active April 24. shooters than the possibility that school employees may be armed,” he said. Councilor Paul Smith said he was opposed to arming teachers and noted that an SRO could assist police in emergencies and vice versa. Smith said the school district’s past SRO was See OFFICER, Page A10 911 dispatch to stay local Groups vote unanimously, new site unknown By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Emergency 911 dispatch will remain local in Grant County. The Intergovernmental Council that oversees the Grant County Emergency Commu- nications Agency and a board comprised of entities that use dispatch each voted unanimous- ly to keep a dispatch center in the county rather than outsourc- ing it to Frontier Regional 911 in Condon. “We’re shooting for all our ducks to be in a row, including personnel management for pay- rolls and insurance, by the end of the calendar year,” said Ken Delano, who was appointed to chair the IGC. The IGC was established in May 1989 to establish and maintain consolidated safety communications services in Grant County. Council mem- bers represented Grant County, eight cities and three rural fire protection districts. Delano was an original board member. Both the council and the 911 User Board had not met regu- larly for years. The IGC legally reestablished itself earlier and held a joint meeting with the user board April 26. The groups needed to clean up some of the original agree- ment language, including de- leting the Prairie City Police Department from the board because it no longer exists and adding Granite, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Consensus was reached that current dispatch manager Val- erie Maynard would continue to manage the dispatch center under the IGC after it leaves the city of John Day. A professional personnel contractor would be responsible for payroll and ac- counting under the IGC. The dispatchers currently work under a collective bar- gaining agreement that runs to the end of the fiscal year in June 2019, Delano said. That would provide the IGC a six-month See 911, Page A10 The Eagle/Richard Hanners The combined Intergovernmental Council and 911 User Board met to create a new 911 dispatch entity in Grant County at the Oregon Department of Forestry building in John Day April 26.
