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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2018)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 23, 2018 A11 TEACHERS VOTERS Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 Williams said there was signifi- cant public pressure to have a dis- cussion on the idea, and he wanted the public’s input. He noted he had heard people say that his mind was already made up, but he had changed his opinion. “We got a better outcome because of this discussion,” he said. Williams pointed out that he and Cronin had not talked about the mat- ter before the board meeting. The district was facing numerous changes this year — a new superintendent, a new principal at Humbolt Elementary and numerous staff changes — and now was not the time to change pol- icy to allow teachers to be armed, he said. One by one, the rest of the board said they agreed with Cronin and Williams. Haley Walker noted that somehow discussion about school safety had narrowed down to arming teachers. Colleen Robertson said she was glad students had an opportunity to provide input. The board agreed to pursue oth- er options to improve school safety, including evaluating mental health issues. Earlier that evening, the dis- trict’s budget committee approved next year’s budget, which provides Incumbent District Attor- ney Jim Carpenter received 96 percent of the votes run- ning unopposed. Percy said 24 signature envelopes were challenged — either unsigned or with a signature that did not match records — that have not been processed. They have been mailed letters inform- ing them they have until 5 p.m. May 29 to correct the issue. Percy said two additional ballots received on time in other counties have yet to be processed as well. Of 5,193 eligible vot- ers, Percy said she received 3,417 signature envelopes, a turnout of 65.8 percent. One envelope, how- ever, contained two bal- lots, both of which had to be rejected because it could not be determined which ballot correspond- ed with the valid signature envelope. Percy wanted to remind voters not to send more than one ballot per signature en- velope. The Eagle/Richard Hanners Grant School District 3 school board member Haley Walker listens as Vice Chairman Zach Williams explains his position on arming teachers during the board’s May 16 meeting. $45,000 to pay half the cost of a school resource officer provided by the John Day Police Depart- ment. Superintendent Curt Shelley noted that more details needed to be worked out, including whether the SRO would be on duty at af- ter-school events such as proms and sports games. The earliest an SRO would be available might be August, Shelley said, because John Day wanted to use the funded position to help out with normal police work during the busy summer tourist season. He also noted that the district might find a grant to fund the SRO position, leaving the $45,000 al- ready in the budget available for other school safety options, includ- O utlook ing possibly hiring a second SRO for the district’s three schools. Cronin told the budget commit- tee that her experiences with school resource officers had been positive. They got along with students and staff and were very much a part of the school, she said, adding that a successful SRO was personality de- pendent. SENI R Food for thought: a wise man never plants more garden than his wife can hoe. Decided to try something Rose Coombs different this year in the garden bed. Took all the old bricks that we found behind the hall last year and arranged them to make 12 separate areas in the garden. That was after I turned the new sand and top soil in. Then it started raining… Oh, well. Always something else to do in the house, huh? Meanwhile, back at the hall, the pinochle party is going strong. Drew and Del even got to play a few hands. We were happy to see Tom Harris at dinner. Ivan Nance also drove in to pick up his bag of meals. Said they had to get back so they could watch the workers. Ahem. Drew led the flag salute and Jack asked the blessing. Drew was also the winner of the gift certificate donated by Chuck’s Little Diner. Home deliveries were made by Ken, Larry and Carlos. And what did they deliver? Rice with beef and gravy over it, corn, peaches and chocolate pudding with topping for dessert. My, we were stuffed. Next week is taco salad. We had 66 names on the registration book. Lorna and Krystin brought Bud Salisbury, Marilyn Randall, Gordon Sindt and Mary Crawford from the Blue Mountain Care Center. We had our monthly board meeting after the meal. The new doors and painting of the building are making their way from Prairie City Seniors Monday, May 14, Olivia Cornell was on the greeter’s desk. Our Lutheran friends, Buzz and Bobbie Gilmore took the John Day and Canyon City meals out, while Nicky Essex David Gill and Rodney from Step Forward took the Mt. Vernon route, delivering regular and frozen meals to our homebound friends. Buzz won the Lens Drug gift card and Jan Ellison won the free meal. We celebrated buttermilk biscuit and gravy day. There were a bunch of happy diners. Thursday, May 17, Bonnie Kocis and Jeanette Julsrud were greeters, the Methodist Church and Ye Olde Thrift Shop were represented by Sherrie Feiger, and Chet Day did our service as well as deliveries to John Day and Canyon City, with David Gill and Rodney, representing Step Forward, making deliveries to Mt. Vernon. I have missed some of my notes, but the Chester’s Thriftway gift card was won by Norma Rynearson and Dusty Harris won the Valley View free meal. There were eight tables full of happy eaters, who enjoyed cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped meatloaf, with baked potatoes, spinach, dinner rolls and ice cream cake. John Day Seniors Wow, did we ever get some crazy torrential rain this past week or what? It was pouring buckets at our place and we had thunder and lightning. It rained so Soo Yukawa hard and so fast that it washed part of our driveway away. But, I praise the Lord for the rain that we so desperately needed. It’s been nice to not have to water my garden. The grass is coming back lush and green. And, oh, the air is so clean, fresh, and clear! The skies have been a gorgeous blue with the lovely, white, and puffy clouds. Ah, the sigh of contentment living here in the peaceful valley of Monument. Another thing to be contented with was our meal for Tuesday, May 15. This meal was sponsored by Donna Campbell of Monument. We thank her for her generous support. Carrie Jewell and Teawna Conklin prepared for us a meal of roast beef sandwiches, French fries, macaroni salad, and fruit tart for dessert. We thank them very much for their hard work. It was a most satisfying meal for I immediately went home and took a nap from the food coma. Ha. Our greeters at the front table were Jimmy Cole and Linda Blakeslee. Lonnie Lawrence made the announcements and led us in the flag salute. Yours truly led us in the blessing over our meal. Jimmy and Linda collected and counted the money. Monument Seniors “could we do it” status to more solid footing. Hopefully by the end of summer they will have made it to the “successfully completed” category. I was working on one of those agenda items in my life: sewing a blouse. Finally got it to the trying-on stage and was disappointed to discover that it was too small. So threw the pattern away so that won’t happen again. Cut out another blouse from a different style pattern and it fits much better (i.e. looser). And the campaign season is over for a few months. Hallelujah. In our chronological Bible reading for Election Day were these verses: Proverbs 8:6-8 “Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them crooked or perverse.” Oh, how I wish that were true of all those seeking elective office. It just gets ridiculous when one ad says something about someone and the next ad is directly opposite. They can’t both be true. Discernment is the name of the game for those of us who vote. And did you hear that Grant County had the highest percentage of returned ballots in the state? Good for us. The big news (at least at our house) is that son number two has found a house to buy in Canyon City and will be moving before July 4. He was the first to leave the nest and is the first one back. Take note, classes of 2018. (Suppose any of them read this?) Colossians 1:23 “…continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. Announcements by Veanne included: Linda wants everyone to feel free to use the library. She is now looking for children’s books for grandparents to share with grandkids. Grant County’s health fair is coming up June 15. Sign up at Blue Mountain Hospital starting June 11. Ask for a senior scholarship; there are 42 senior scholarships available. Kam Wah Chung dinner may be a sell out so get your dinner tickets soon. Saturday, June 16, at Fox Community Church, Long Creek Historical Society will host a potluck meal at noon, across the highway from the church. Music will be played at the church afterward. Proceeds to benefit repairs to the church. For more information, call Jack at 541-421- 5524 or Pat at 541-421-3379 Jan and Larry Sanderson, hosts at Clyde Holliday Park, brought two other couples in for lunch. It is always good to see them again. Our thoughts and prayers are with Curt and Lisa Pereira, in Bend for some very serious surgery. Please help by praying with us! 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV) “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We had 44 guests on the books and four take-outs. Among the guests, we had some visitors join us; we had Miranda Carlin from Kimberly and Glenna Lang from Service Creek visiting. Hope they enjoyed the meal and come back again real soon. Debbie Reid was the lucky winner of the Len’s Drug gift card. Rusty Baughman and Donna Campbell both won free meal tickets. We thank all for their generous support of our senior center. Please keep both Bodean Andersen and Terry Cade in your thoughts and prayers. Bodean had compression fractures on the inside of her vertebrae and was in pain. Terry had some back surgery done and will be out for a few months. We pray that these two great ladies would heal quickly in the name of Jesus and that they would be able to join us again soon. The Monument Graduation ceremony will be this Saturday. Congratulations and best wishes for all the graduates this year. May God bless their future with favor and that they find what they truly have a passion for and enjoy doing. I’ve planted a bunch of seeds to start. I hope they will sprout. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, after I planted, the weather changed and got cold and rained. Luckily, I put them in a warm, plastic storage shed. I double planted, just in case some of the seeds were stubborn and would not germinate. Remember my lettuce seeds I scattered around my raspberries? They are sprouting and growing wild! Wahoo, soon we will be feasting on fresh lettuce. The best part? No nasty squirrels to steal them either! Isaiah 40:29 “He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might He increaseth strength.” 58978
