A18
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Blue Mountain Eagle
SURVIVORS
Continued from Page A1
Asked how she made it
through, Hill said, “A lot of it
is mental — you have to re-
ally make yourself mentally
strong.”
Hill said losing the ability
to keep up with her busy life-
style made her feel she was
failing.
“I called a nurse and said,
‘I don’t know if I can keep
doing this,’” she said. “The
nurse said, ‘You can. You just
need to pace yourself.’”
She said her friend and
employee Heather Rookstool
was a great support for her
and took on more responsibil-
ities at work.
“Heather really stepped up
to the plate,” Hill said.
Her sister was “a big im-
pact,” and other family mem-
bers were also supportive, she
said.
She recalled meeting a
complete stranger in the Port-
land area, who, upon seeing
Hill without her hat, gave her
a thumbs up and said, “I was
just like you a year ago.”
Hill’s next challenge will
be reconstructive surgery in a
couple months.
She said, although the
mammogram didn’t pick up
her cancer, she still believes
Contributed photo
A total of 41 participants enjoyed Saturday’s Rally for the
Cure golf scramble, the ladies golfing in support of the
cause and releasing balloons in memory of loved ones.
they are important.
“The sooner they detect it,
the better,” she said. “If you
get it really early, you don’t
have to do the radiation.”
She was surprised to learn
how many different kinds of
breast cancer exist and em-
phasized the importance of
women being aware of their
bodies.
Hill said she’s attended
Tough Enough to Wear Pink
and Rally for the Cure events
and never thought she might
one day have breast cancer
herself.
“It’s more common than
you think,” she said. “I didn’t
realize how common it is.”
Through the ordeal, Hill
learned just how tough she is.
“If I can do it, anyone can
do it,” she said.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
41 golfers Rally
for the Cure in
John Day
COUNCIL
It was rainy and cool, but
41 women enthusiastically
braved the weather at Sat-
urday’s Rally for the Cure
golf scramble.
Eleven teams, with dec-
orated golf carts and col-
orful, creatively themed
outfits, participated in the
event benefiting the Susan
G. Komen Foundation,
held at the John Day Golf
Club.
Pink and white balloons
were released that after-
noon in memory of loved
ones who had breast cancer.
Members of the winning
team were Melody Miller,
Kathy Gregory, Julie Proc-
tor and LaVonne Slinkard.
The winner of the chip up
contest was Melody Miller.
“We raised just over
$4,000 from golf entries
and auction,” said organiz-
er Kimberly Ward, adding
attendance was up by 12
this year. “The weather
didn’t stop anyone from
having a good time and re-
membering the cause.”
Adair was appointed to
the council last September
to fill the position vacated
by Lisa Weigum. A 1985
Grant Union High School
graduate, Adair has a bach-
elor’s in business adminis-
tration from Oregon State
University and is a co-own-
er of the 1188 Brewing
Company in John Day.
Adair said she worked
outside the area for 10
years after college but re-
turned because she wanted
to raise her children in John
Day and start a business
here. She coached the high
school dance team for 19
years and started Body Fit-
ness & Dance in John Day,
which she later sold.
“Having a business here,
it made sense to be on the
city council,” she said.
Adair is a board mem-
ber of the Grant County
Chamber of Commerce. She
said part of her job with the
council is to make connec-
tions between businesses
and the council. A goal is
to help John Day merchants
work together for the good
of everyone.
She also serves on the
city’s Technical Advisory
Committee, which assists
in planning for the city’s
many economic develop-
ment projects. The urban
renewal plan, Innovation
Gateway project, sewer
treatment plant and plan-
ning for parks, recreation
and pool are all tied together
and related, she said — one
impacts the other.
The public should expect
to see changes in the next
few years as these projects
move from planning to im-
plementation, she said. All
projects take time, and it’s
important to communicate
progress to the public. She
encouraged residents to
come to council meetings
and listen to the discussion.
DEBATE
Continued from Page A1
tance of leveling the playing
field and closing the opportu-
nity and achievement gap that
has developed between urban
and rural Oregon. He said he
will work diligently to bring
Oregon together.
“I believe that I’m unique-
ly qualified to bridge that gap
and create one Oregon, which
we all desire,” he said.
Brown said she’s already
been involved in helping
with the solution, noting she
worked with a Republican
leader “to invest $1.8 million
to build internet access” in
Grant County through an ap-
propriation to the city of John
Day.
“It’s so key for our rural
communities that our schools
be connected, that our homes
be connected and, of course,
our businesses be connect-
ed,” she said. “It gives rural
Oregon the opportunity to
grow and thrive and create
good-paying jobs in every
single nook and cranny across
the state.”
Starnes said he served on
the McKenzie school board,
Contributed photo
Grant Union High School senior McKeely Miller asks a question directed at candidates
for governor, from left, Rep. Knute Buehler, Gov. Kate Brown and Patrick Starnes
during the Oct. 2 debate at Roosevelt High School in Portland.
with only 200 students in the
school district.
“We struggled with that
directly — having access,” he
said. “I feel like the biggest
important job for the governor
is to connect these dots that
are already existing ...”
“I thought Gov. Brown did
a pretty good job responding
to my question,” Miller said,
adding Buehler “acknowl-
edged that it was a problem
but didn’t necessarily address
the solution.”
Miller said she felt the
debate was a good opportu-
nity to highlight issues from
her community. She said she
liked the format and the op-
portunity for young people to
ask questions, but she wished
there had been more youths
representing the eastern side
of the state.
One
student
from
Prineville and another from
Pendleton were the only other
students from east of the Cas-
cades.
Miller said an exciting mo-
ment came after the debate.
“We were able to meet the
only female state governors
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in Oregon in the whole state
history, Gov. Brown and for-
mer Gov. Barbara Roberts,”
she said.
Joining Miller in attending
the debate and on a tour of the
state Capitol were two fellow
students, senior Tanner Elliott
and junior Tyler Blood.
Elliott, who is Grant
Union’s student body presi-
dent, said attending the debate
live was a different experi-
ence.
“It’s more personal,” he
said.
He said it was unfair that
students more often directed
their questions to Brown and
Buehler, excluding Starnes.
“The rest of it was good,”
he said. “It was fun to see
Gov. Brown and Buehler ‘ex-
change blows’ with one an-
other.”
Elliott said it will be a
close race.
“It’s going to be a crucial
election to see if Oregonians
want change or if they want to
stick with the policies of the
past and present,” he said.
Elliott, who wants to be
involved at the state level and
“hopefully the national level”
of government, said he has a
summer internship planned
with Sen. Ron Wyden’s office.
“The youth of this country
should get more involved,” he
said. “We have some major
problems facing our country,
and we need great leaders and
great people to solve these
problems.”
Blood said she thought the
debate went well, but she was
disappointed in some of the
candidates’ answers. She said
both Buehler and Brown, at
times, didn’t answer how they
would solve an issue.
Blood, who is the junior
class president at Grant Union,
said one girl from Portland
was “very tenacious” in her
questioning. The girl wanted
a direct answer on how to stop
LGBT bullying in schools.
She agreed rural areas
were underrepresented.
“I thought it was too bad
that we only had a couple
representatives from frontier
communities,” Blood said.
Students selected to ask
questions at the debate had
entered a video demo and
were interviewed before being
selected from a Children First
for Oregon panel of judges,
which hosted the debate along
with Pamplin Media Group
and KOIN News.
Continued from Page A1
Shannon Adair
Gregg Haberly
Haberly was appointed
to the city council about six
years ago and was re-elect-
ed. Born and raised in John
Day, he started a Polar-
is dealership in John Day
about 30 years ago.
He is a member of the
Grant County Chamber
of Commerce, the Oregon
State Snowmobilers Associ-
ation and the Grant County
Snowballers. He’s also vol-
unteered for the county’s
search and rescue group.
Haberly said he wants to
serve on the council to help
John Day and Grant Coun-
ty by helping make the de-
cisions that will make the
city a better place for people
who choose to move here.
He said he has no specific
concerns and no agenda. Us-
ing taxpayers’ money wisely
and making wise decisions
is his goal, he said.
Haberly said the public
may not recognize the future
benefits the current projects
will provide the city. He not-
ed that the city is not accu-
mulating debt, and people
who say that should come
to city council meetings and
learn about these projects.
Some people may think
the city is moving too fast,
but Haberly said he thinks
everything’s fine. He’s a
businessman who tries to
make wise businesslike de-
cisions, he said. He credited
City Manager Nick Green
with obtaining grant mon-
ey to pay for planning and
building.
Proceeding in a positive
manner is important, Haber-
ly said. Supporting broad-
band was the right move
for the city because it’s the
wave of the future, he said.
Grant County was once a
prosperous place until envi-
ronmentalists got involved,
he said. The community
needs to work together to
succeed. The city also needs
to keep the public informed,
Haberly said.
Paul C. Smith
Smith has been on the
council for six years after
being appointed in 2013. He
has bachelor’s and master’s
degrees and worked in ed-
ucation for 30 years. He re-
tired from the Grant County
Education Service District
about two years ago, where
he handled curriculum and
grant writing.
Like many candidates,
Smith wanted a position on
the city council because he
wanted to serve the commu-
nity. He said he’s vested in
the community — he built a
house here, raised his chil-
dren here and worked in the
community until he retired.
Smith said he’s a fiscal
conservative who is con-
cerned about infrastructure,
particularly ensuring the
integrity of the city’s wa-
ter and sewer systems and
maintaining roads. He sup-
ports plans for a new treat-
ment plant that will produce
reclaimed water because
water is a critical resource
in this area. He cited Prairie
City’s recent problems as an
example.
Smith said he also wants
to ensure the financial in-
tegrity of the numerous city
projects. He hopes financing
for the new sewer treatment
plant can be met with sales of
reclaimed water, rather than
by raising customer rates.
Taking on the downtown
Weaver Building project was
a hard decision, but once
the state fire marshal got
involved, the city was con-
cerned the building would
have been condemned. The
goal is to mitigate asbestos,
address fire hazards and then
sell the building, he said.
The incentive provided
in the urban renewal pro-
gram will help address the
city’s aging and inadequate
housing stock, he said.
The city needs more rental
units, he noted.
After two years of plan-
ning projects and getting
them through bureaucratic
red tape, he wants to see
them completed in the next
four years. He doesn’t want
the city to bite off more
than it can chew, but he
also wants the city to be
progressive about the steps
it takes to help the commu-
nity thrive.
Chris Labhart
Labhart has lived in John
Day since 1962 and is no
newcomer to local govern-
ment. He has a bachelor’s in
language arts from Western
University and taught for
33 years in Salem and John
Day before retiring in 2003.
Growing up, Labhart
worked on ranches bucking
hay and delivering calves,
in timber mills in Mt. Ver-
non and John Day and with
the Forest Service’s road
department. Today he is a
tour guide at the Kam Wah
Chung State Heritage Site
and runs the Friends of Kam
Wah Chung store. He also
taught hunter safety courses
for more than 20 years.
Labhart served as may-
or of Canyon City and
then more than 20 years
as a John Day councilor
and mayor. He also served
one term as a Grant Coun-
ty commissioner. He also
has participated in numer-
ous civic organizations,
including the Grant County
Chamber of Commerce, the
John Day Senior Center,
the Blue Mountain Hospital
District board and a region-
al health advisory commit-
tee covering 12 Eastern Or-
egon counties.
As mayor, he helped the
Third Street extension and
new fire hall projects move
forward, and he worked to
get the Oregon Trail Electri-
cal Cooperative to buy out
the previous utility compa-
ny and take over service for
the area.
Labhart said he wants to
be involved in the commu-
nity and has much to offer
the city council. He said he
works well with a variety
of groups and has a “great
network” of local and state
government officials.
Looking
forward,
Labhart noted that increas-
ing broadband access for the
area is extremely important
if the city wants to keep
young workers. He said he’d
rather be proactive than re-
active and supports the In-
novation Gateway project,
but he notes that with the
hospital bond soon ending,
there will be competition
for funding for a new city
sewer, junior-senior high
school and swimming pool
facility.