WRESTLING LIKE A GIRL The PAGE A10 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, January 2, 2019 15st Year • No. 1 • 18 Pages • $1.00 BlueMountainEagle.com Proposals take aim at new gun restrictions By Paris Achen Oregon Capital Bureau EO Media Group/Kathy Aney/TownNews.com Content Exchange A participant at the April 21, 2018 Second Amendment rally rests his hand on his gun as he listens to a speaker at Til Taylor Park in Pendleton. A few days after Liam Mankins was born in September 2016, his father posted a photo on Face- book of his son wearing oversized sunglasses. “Future’s so bright gotta wear sunglasses,” a friend commented. “Yes, yes, it is,” Liam’s father replied. “He’s going to … make something of himself.” Then, two years later, on Nov. 4, Liam was killed by a shot from an unsecured gun. The toddler “got control of a loaded handgun” at the fami- ly’s Baker City home and “caused the handgun to discharge,” Baker County District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff wrote in a news release. “The gun had not been secured in a safe place,” Shirtcliff said. Such cases are motivating two state legislators and gun safety advocates to legally require gun owners to secure their fi rearms with a lock or in a locked container. The proposal is among several gun safety measures that state law- makers want to consider during the 2019 legislative session open- ing Jan. 22. Some lawmakers also want to raise the age for buying assault weapons, give police more time to conduct background checks on gun buyers and regulate handguns in schools and universities. Under the gun storage legis- lation, owners would face a fi ne of up to $2,000. The average fi ne would be about $165 — about the same as fi nes for driving 11 to 20 mph over the speed limit. The fi ne could increase to $2,000 if the gun owner knew that a child could reach the fi rearm, proponents said. The law also makes the gun owner civilly liable if some- See Guns, Page A18 Dayville school board considering bond election Court approval of pot tax questioned Public input sought Jan. 8 DOR: Tax must be referred for voter approval By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Dayville School Board of Directors will take public input Jan. 8 on whether or not to move forward with a facilities improve- ment bond measure in the May election. Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick told the Eagle a needs assessment was completed by Straightline Architects of Boise, Idaho, and a school facilities committee composed of local volunteers has met to discuss the company’s recommendations to the board. The district learned in September that it had qualifi ed for a state school facilities one- to-one matching grant up to $2 million. The school board canceled its December meeting, so no hard number has been reached on what the district might request in the bond measure, Hedrick said. The school campus includes seven build- ings on 4.6 acres on a hill overlooking town. The high school building, visible from High- way 26, was built in 1924. The elementary The stage in the gym building at Dayville School doubles as the weight room. A wing on the gym building’s northwest corner for a new weight room could relieve the impacts on the 65-year-old stage. By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle other broadband analysis to improve its chances for a grant award. Green outlined the coali- tion’s strengths and oppor- tunities for success at the meeting. The countywide agency is forging rela- tionships with community broadband partners and is well fi nanced, he said. At the same time, federal fund- ing for rural broadband has never been higher, and the state is organizing assets to assist rural communities, he said. But there were weak- nesses and constraints. The coalition is a new organi- zation with no track record of success in a small fron- The Grant County Court tried to make good on pub- lic assurances that a 3 per- cent tax on recreational marijuana would be imple- mented if voters over- turned a ban on marijuana businesses. But the tax ordinance approved by the court fol- lowing a Dec. 19 public hearing may not be legally binding. The ordinance was unanimously passed as an emergency ordinance, with the intent that it would be in effect that same day. State law, however, states that a local tax on recre- ational marijuana must go to the voters, according to Joy Krawczyk, a spokesperson at the Oregon Department of Revenue. “Under Oregon Revised Statute 475B.491(3), city or county governing bod- ies that adopt ordinances related to recreational mar- ijuana taxes or fees ‘shall refer the measure of the ordinance to electors of the city or county for approval at the next statewide gen- eral election,’” she told the Eagle. “I’m not sure how it works with an ‘emergency ordinance,’” Krawczyk added. The Grant County Court used a 2016 ordinance from Columbia County as the model for its recreational marijuana tax ordinance, but the Grant County ordinance didn’t include a section from the Columbia County ordinance on the referral and effective date. That section states, “This ordinance shall be referred to the voters of Columbia County for approval at the statewide general election on Nov. 8, 2016. If passed, this ordinance shall become effective on Jan. 1, 2017.” The Grant County ordi- nance instead ends with an emergency clause that states “this ordinance and the pro- vision herein are deemed necessary to facilitate land use actions” and “an emer- gency is hereby declared to exist and this ordinance shall be in full force and See Funding, Page A18 See Pot, Page A18 The Eagle/Richard Hanners/ The main building at Dayville School was built in 1924 and is used for the high school, administration offi ce and the cafeteria. school and gymnasium were built in 1953. “While the district and its community has always been conscientious about maintaining safe classrooms and work spaces, simply the age of the buildings make it necessary to con- sider these substantial improvements,” Hed- rick said. Dayville School currently has 46 students, 6.5 full-time equivalent teachers, one admin- istrator, two confi dential employees and 11 classifi ed workers, Hedrick said. According to Straightline Architects, enrollment reached a high of 92 students in 1995 and 1996. They forecast 10- to 16-percent See Dayville, Page A18 The Eagle/Richard Hanners Eagle photos/Richard Hanners Installing a new main entrance at the Dayville School to the right of the cafeteria would address access and security concerns, according to School Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick. The Tiger mascot painted on the side of the gym building at Dayville School. Broadband opportunities presented at town hall meeting By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Dig- ital Network Coalition is forging ahead with plans to improve internet access in the county despite a recent grant-funding setback. That was the upbeat mes- sage expressed by John Day City Manager Nick Green and the coalition’s board during a Dec. 18 town hall meeting. The coalition learned in December that it had not been awarded a much- needed $3 million federal Community Connect grant, but federal grant funding to address the digital divide impacting rural commu- nities across the U.S. will The Eagle/Richard Hanners The Grant County Digital Network Coalition board hosted a town hall in the John Day Fire Hall on Dec. 18. increase in 2019. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Program will offer $200 million for rural broad- band projects, with a max- imum of $25 million per project. A 25 percent match is required, and the appli- cation deadline is April 29. Additional grant and loan combos and low-in- terest loan offers add up to another $400 million. The coalition hopes to leverage the $1.8 mil- lion state appropriation it received in 2017 by using it as a match for grants and to pay for engineering and