The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
W ednesday , O ctOber 10, 2018
• n O . 41
• 18 P ages
• $1.00
www.MyEagleNews.com
Four vie for three council seats in John Day
Three incumbents, one challenger
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Three of the four can-
didates vying this year for
three four-year positions on
the John Day City Council
are incumbents, while the
challenger is a former may-
or.
Councilors Gregg Haber-
ly, Paul C. Smith and Shan-
non Adair and former may-
or Chris Labhart will be on
the ballot for the three seats.
Mayor Ron Lundbom is run-
ning unopposed for re-elec-
tion to a two-year term.
The city is busier than
ever with numerous projects
aimed at promoting eco-
nomic development, from a
new sewer treatment plant
that will produce merchant-
able reclaimed water and a
broadband network to an In-
novation Gateway project at
the former Oregon Pine mill
and perhaps a new aquatic
facility.
The council candidates
described their qualifica-
tions and why they are run-
ning.
See COUNCIL, Page A18
Gregg
Haberly
Chris
Labhart
Paul C.
Smith
Shannon
Adair
SURVIVING
Contributed photo
Visiting Gov. Kate Brown’s
ceremonial office are Prevent Child
Abuse Oregon Executive Director
and chaperone Tracey Blood, at
the desk, and, in back, Grant Union
student Tanner Elliott, volunteer/
chaperone Wade Cates and Grant
Union students Tyler Blood and
McKeely Miller. The students visited
the Oregon Capitol during their trip
to the Oct. 2 gubernatorial debate.
Grant Union
student
questions
gubernatorial
candidates
Three students attend
debate, tour Capitol
By Angel Carpenter
BREAST CANCER
‘The sooner they detect it, the better’
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
B
reast cancer survivor Janet Hill
Ten years prior to her diagnosis, Hill
of John Day said she compares
had a cyst on her breast drained and was
her ordeal to a car accident.
told it may need to be drained in the future.
“You don’t think it
When she detected a lump, she didn’t
will ever happen to
worry.
you,” she said. “You don’t get
Mammograms and ultrasounds
in your car and think, ‘I’m go-
didn’t pick up her cancer, possibly
ing to get in a wreck today.’”
due to dense breast tissue, she said.
Hill was diagnosed with
After a routine check up, her
stage 3A breast cancer in ear-
doctor asked if she had any other
ly October last year and had a
concerns, and Hill mentioned the lump
mastectomy two weeks later, just
she found.
Janet Hill
before Halloween, she said.
From there, biopsies were per-
formed, and a surgery was scheduled
soon after.
Because the tumor was 8 centimeters in
size, doctors think she may have had the
tumor for five years before the diagnosis.
Cancer spread to a few of Hill’s lymph
nodes — 36 were removed — but not to
distant organs.
Hill owns and operates two local busi-
nesses, Java Jungle & Tropical Tan and
The Floor Store.
Before her diagnosis, she had been
feeling tired, but she thought it was just
due to her busy life, helping customers
and making orders, doing inventory and
paperwork.
All of that slowed down.
Once she recovered from the mastecto-
my, Hill received 20 chemotherapy treat-
ments, then 30 rounds of radiation.
“I lost all my hair around Thanksgiving
time,” she said, adding she also experi-
enced brain fog from chemo.
See SURVIVORS, Page A18
Blue Mountain Eagle
A John Day high school student was
in the spotlight Oct. 2 along with sever-
al other youths asking questions of Or-
egon’s three gubernatorial candidates
in a televised debate.
Democrat Gov. Kate Brown, Re-
publican Rep. Knute Buehler and Inde-
pendent Patrick Starnes debated ques-
tions asked by students ages 12-19 at
Roosevelt High School in Portland.
Students peppered the candidates
with questions with a range of topics,
including gun safety, teen suicide, the
foster care system and child homeless-
ness.
Grant Union High School senior
McKeely Miller put rural Grant Coun-
ty’s internet access issue at center stage.
Describing how the lack of reliable,
high-speed internet “sets a barrier in
the classroom and the workforce,” she
asked the candidates how they would
approach the problem.
Buehler, who had a turn to speak
first, said it’s a topic he’s heard about
while traveling through Eastern Ore-
gon and that he understands the impor-
See DEBATE, Page A18
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Event organizer Kimberly Ward, left, and Janet Hill decorate their team’s cart. Other members of the ‘Miss Piggy’ team were Jeanette
Hueckman, Jonna Bishop and Gail Burton, who is Ward’s mother.