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NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Guns
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one uses an unsecured gun
to shoot another person or
property.
Some gun rights advo-
cates oppose the legislation.
Charlie Brinton, presi-
dent of the Baker County
chapter of the Oregon Hunt-
ers Association, said it’s
unfair to hold gun owners
liable if someone stole their
unsecured weapon and shot
someone. The thief should
be held liable, he said.
Kevin Starrett, executive
director of the Oregon Fire-
arms Federation, said requir-
ing that guns be locked up is
“rendering firearms useless”
because it will take too long
to get the weapon out in an
emergency.
Relatives of the victims
of the 2012 mass shooting
at Clackamas Town Center
wanted to impose the stor-
age mandate through a bal-
lot measure earlier this year.
Their effort stalled after the
National Rifle Association,
the state firearms federation
and other gun rights advo-
cates challenged the bal-
lot language in court. The
Oregon Supreme Court dis-
missed the challenge, but
that left only a month for
measure supporters to col-
lect 88,000 signatures.
State
Rep.
Barbara
Smith Warner, D-Portland,
and state Sen. James Man-
ning Jr., D-Eugene, are
now championing the stor-
age requirement through
legislation.
“It codifies things that
many reasonable gun own-
ers do already: safely stor-
ing your weapon, making
sure kids can’t access it and
if they do, that they’re super-
vised,” Smith Warner said.
If passed, the law would
be called the Cindy Yuille
and Steve Forsyth Act,
named for two victims of the
Clackamas shooting.
Police said the shooter,
Jacob Tyler Roberts, used a
semiautomatic rifle he stole
from a friend’s home.
In what Smith War-
ner described as a pub-
lic health crisis, an aver-
age of 456 Oregonians die
each year from firearm inju-
ries, according to the Ore-
gon Health Authority. There
is no data on how many of
those deaths were the result
of unsecured guns.
Most states don’t require
gun locks even though such
laws effectively prevent sui-
cides, according to the Gif-
fords Law Center.
In Massachusetts, the
only state that requires all
firearms be locked when
not in use, guns are used in
about 9 percent of youth sui-
cides compared with 39 per-
cent nationally, according to
the law center.
“I think that this legis-
lation has the potential to
have bipartisan support in
the Legislature,” said Henry
Wessinger, president of
State of Safety Action, the
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
group behind the proposed
safe storage ballot measure.
“If you are looking at what
is the next gun safety pol-
icy Oregon could imple-
ment, this is the one that
would save the most lives
and would reduce the most
amount of gun violence
without preventing people
from being able to purchase
a gun who are currently able
to purchase a gun or with-
out telling people that they
can’t purchase certain types
of guns.”
Gov. Kate Brown hasn’t
yet proposed any gun
reforms, though during her
campaign for reelection she
said she wanted to give the
Oregon State Police more
time to conduct background
checks on potential gun
buyers.
“The governor looks for-
ward to continuing con-
versations with legisla-
tors about which concepts
should move forward to
improve the safety of Ore-
gonians,” said her press sec-
Dayville
Continued from Page A1
Funding
Continued from Page A1
tier community with little
human capital. On top of
that, federal policy contin-
ues to be disconnected from
the realities on the ground,
which includes Grant
County’s difficult geogra-
phy and terrain, he said.
The declining local
economy is a double-edged
sword, Green said — the
need for improved broad-
band is high, but the market
capacity is low. The broad-
band coalition needs more
public support and educa-
tion, he said.
Grant County has the
second highest digital
divide index ranking in
Oregon, behind Wheeler
County. Unlike many coun-
ties in Oregon, Grant and
Wheeler counties lack a
long-haul broadband car-
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
A bow in the ridgeline of the Dayville School resulted from the weight of four layers
of composition shingles topped with a layer of sheet metal, according to School
Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick.
the state to address struc-
tural issues in the build-
ing. Straightline’s estimate
to remodel the gym is $1.5
million.
rier, Green said.
Christopher Mitchell,
the director of the Com-
munity Broadband Net-
works Initiative at the Insti-
tute for Local Self-Reliance
in Minneapolis, traveled to
John Day to facilitate the
town hall meeting. He’s
been working on broadband
issues for 12 years.
Mitchell bore grim news
— while it is true that fed-
eral funding for broadband
had significantly increased,
“help is not on the way,” he
said. Most of the funding
will go to the most orga-
nized agencies because fed-
eral officials typically don’t
like to see failure, he said.
He expected to see
even more federal funding
opportunities in the future,
but accessing those funds
would continue to be a frus-
trating and difficult process.
The Grant County Digital
Network Coalition must be
willing to “grind it out,” he
The architects’ long-
range facilities plan groups
building issues into four
main categories:
• Deferred maintenance
said — success will depend
on local determination.
Mitchell also empha-
sized his belief in the
importance of fiber connec-
tivity, not wireless, which
interestingly transitioned to
a demonstration of wireless
capability by ViaSat. The
satellite internet company
recently won a Connect
America Fund 2 award and
will provide 10,000 high-
speed broadband connec-
tions in Oregon.
To demonstrate Via-
Sat’s capabilities, two rep-
resentatives set up a dish
and receiver at the John
Day Fire Hall and simulta-
neously streamed the town
hall meeting to the internet,
downloaded a music video
on a big-screen television
and provided voice over IP
telephone service, in which
Green called a John Day
dispatcher to say hello.
Green explained that
the coalition plans to run
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Welcomes Sean M. Jorgensen & Kimberley M. Mosier
Attorneys at Law
Sean has joined our firm effective November 06, 2017.
He is licensed in Idaho and Oregon has been practicing law since 2016.
His practice will focus on Civil Litigation, Construction Law, Family
Law, Labor and Employment, and Landlord-Tenant Law.
Kim has joined our firm effective September 17, 2018.
She is licensed in Oregon and began practicing law in 2003.
Her practice will focus on Estate Planning and Municipal Advising.
Intermountain Law, PC
David R. Auxier ~ Andrew G. Martin
Martin Leuenberger ~ Krischele Whitnah ~ Sean M. Jorgensen ~
Kimberley M. Mosier
3370 10 th Street, Suite H, Baker City, Oregon 97814 (541) 523-6535
1513 North Whitley Drive, Fruitland, Idaho 83619 (208) 452-6535
www.bakercitylaw.com
issues include parking lot
paving; replacing roofing,
soffit and facia on all build-
ings; masonry work on all
buildings; replacing all win-
fiber to many parts of the
county, but some locations
are just too remote. In those
cases, residents and busi-
nesses will need to consider
a wireless internet con-
nection such as ViaSat or
HughesNet, he said.
While visitors from
Long Creek and Bear Val-
ley supported the coali-
tion’s efforts to promote
broadband access in Grant
County, Bob Pereiro of John
Day expressed his concerns
about government invest-
ing in what he said should
be private industry. Pereiro
noted that the $1.8 million
the coalition received from
the legislature was taxpayer
money.
Jennifer Barker from
Bear Valley responded
by pointing out that pri-
vate industry hasn’t taken
steps to improve broadband
access. She said she used
older satellite internet and
CenturyLink at her home
with mixed success.
Looking to the future,
Mitchell cited the exam-
ple of rural electrifica-
tion in the U.S. starting in
the 1930s under the New
Deal, which he said took
50 years to complete.
Fifty years from now,
people will have a vague
memory of the time “they
fibered the U.S.,” he
said.
dows and reopening the gym
windows; replacing carpet-
ing and floor covering in all
buildings; refinishing the
boys and girls showers and
making repairs to the locker
rooms; and caulking and
repainting the exteriors of
all buildings.
• Safety and security
issues include reconfigur-
ing the main entrance to the
high school and remodeling
the reception area so peo-
ple don’t enter through the
cafeteria; installing instant
lock-down and security
camera systems; lead and
asbestos abatement; demol-
ishing and reconstructing
the high school’s front entry
on the steep north slope;
extending perimeter fenc-
ing; and covering exterior
stairways.
• Building system rec-
ommendations
include
installing energy-efficient
LED lighting; upgrades
to heating, ventilation and
air conditioning systems;
improved ventilation to
the locker rooms; replac-
ing the hot water tank in
the elementary building;
and installing automatic
irrigation for the play-
ground and sports fields.
• Accessibility rec-
ommendations include a
new ADA-compliant rest
room in the high school;
ADA upgrades to other
rest rooms; moving the
weight-lifting equipment
off the stage to a wing
attached to the gym; remod-
eling the kitchen and replac-
ing equipment; resurfacing
the track; and new bleach-
ers and nighttime lighting
for the football field.
In their facilities assess-
ment report, Straightline
recommended
remodel-
ing the 6,710-square-foot
high school at $666,000
and
remodeling
the
6,291-square-foot elemen-
tary school at $281,000. The
cost to remodel the other
buildings is estimated at
$46,400. The cost to upgrade
the athletic fields would be
$215,000.
All told, Straightline
estimates the cost to make
its recommended build-
ing improvements at $3.7
million.
Community input is
sought at the school board
meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 in
the computer lab.
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Pot
Continued from Page A1
effect on the from the [sic]
date of approval by the
County Court.”
The emergency clause
for the tax ordinance is
nearly identical to the emer-
gency clause contained in
the ordinance approved
Sept. 26 that established
land-use regulations for
recreational
marijuana
businesses.
The Grant County ordi-
nance may also violate
a state law requiring all
tax-related ordinances to be
referred to voters and a law
prohibiting tax-related ordi-
nances from being passed
in a single meeting as an
emergency.
The county court cur-
rently
is
transitioning
its county counsel ser-
vices from Roseburg attor-
1809 First Street • Baker City • (541)523-5439
BARGAIN MATINEE IN ( ) Adults $7
ALL FILMS $6 ON TIGHTWAD TUESDAY
MOVIE SCHEDULE JANUARY 4-10
CALL
FOR
TIMES
541-523-2522
or go to
www.eltrym.com
$9 Adult, $7 Senior (60+), Youth
Port of Portland, she said.
• Ghost guns/3D printed
guns — Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum wants
to regulate “ghost guns”
made from kits or through
3D printing. Such guns
can be manufactured with-
out a serial number and are
untraceable.
• Age to buy “assault”
rifles — Legislative lead-
ers want to raise the legal
age to buy assault rifles from
18 to 21 but have not yet
defined what guns would be
covered.
• Domestic violence loop-
hole — Legislative leaders
want to remove a loophole
that allows some domes-
tic violence abusers to keep
their guns.
“Right now, if you
have a domestic violence
restraining order, you have
the opportunity to request
a hearing for it,” Burdick
said. Abusers “have learned
that if they don’t request the
hearing, they get to keep
their guns.”
Commissioner Rob Raschio speaks with Commissioner-
elect Sam Palmer at Raschio’s last Grant County Court
meeting Dec. 19.
97681
growth in the next 20 years,
although enrollment fluc-
tuated on average only 1.3
percent since 2009. District
population was 423 in 2010
and is expected to reach 434
in 2020.
Hedrick cited signifi-
cant plumbing issues in the
kitchen, which serves nearly
all the students in the high
school cafeteria. The roof
of the 94-year-old building
has several layers of asphalt
shingles covered with metal,
and the weight has caused
it to bow in places, Hedrick
said.
The arching laminat-
ed-wood beams support-
ing the gym are splaying,
which could cause pieces
of the ceiling to break loose
and the roof to leak, Hedrick
said.
While
Straightline’s
facilities assessment report
recommends replacing the
9,728-square-foot gym at a
$3.8 million cost, the dis-
trict plans to apply for a
seismic-upgrade grant from
retary, Nikki Fisher.
Other gun law changes
legislators may consider in
the next session:
• Safe storage tax
credit — State Sen. Floyd
Prozanski, D-Eugene, wants
to give tax credits to gun
owners for buying a safe or
lock for their gun.
“That is still the incuba-
tor stage of development,”
Prozanski said. “I have
been working with the rev-
enue office looking at how
such a program could be
funded.”
• Handguns in public
buildings — Senate Major-
ity Leader Ginny Bur-
dick, D-Portland, proposes
closing a loophole that
allows people to take con-
cealed handguns into public
buildings.
“A number of public enti-
ties would like to have the
option to keep anyone with
a gun off the grounds,” Bur-
dick said.
Those entities include
schools, universities and the
ney Ron Yockim to Grant
County District Attorney
Jim Carpenter. The Eagle
asked Carpenter if county
counsel had reviewed the
tax ordinance and whether
state law had changed to
allow a marijuana tax to be
established without voter
approval.
“This is an issue that
we need to work through
to determine whether the
ordinance was properly
passed and what the coun-
ty’s options are moving for-
ward,” Carpenter told the
Eagle. “Once this has been
done, the county will be
able to provide you with a
better answer.”
The ban imposed on rec-
reational marijuana busi-
nesses in Grant County was
put in place by the county
court in 2015. Voters over-
turned the ban in May 2018
after a previous attempt in
2016 was unsuccessful.