Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2019)
PROSPECTOR SOFTBALL TEAM RANKED FIRST IN STATE The PAGE B1 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 Wednesday, May 1, 2019 County approves Second Amendment protection resolution By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Court took a stance on protecting gun rights by unanimously approving a Second Amendment preserva- tion resolution at their April 24 meeting. Unlike Second Amendment measures in other Oregon coun- ties, the Grant County measure does not create civil penalties for businesses or offi cials that infringe on the right to bear arms. Commissioner Jim Ham- sher said the court chose to take the step as a resolution and not an ordinance because there may be some legal issues, and he’d rather see other counties bear the brunt of defending the language in court. Hamsher said he wants every- thing the court does from now on to be capable of withstanding legal challenges in court. Ordi- nances that cannot withstand legal challenge don’t do any- thing for the county’s residents, he said. He said he expects to see sim- ilar Second Amendment ordi- nances in Oregon to be chal- lenged. If an ordinance is successfully challenged in court, a complex repeal process must take place, he said. Commissioner Sam Palmer said Second Amendment pres- ervation ordinances across Ore- gon were likely written so that if one is challenged, they’re all challenged. The point of passing the res- olution was to let the people of Grant County know that the court supports their Second Amend- ment rights, Hamsher said. The four-page resolution rec- ognizes the language of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amend- ment and Oregon Constitution’s Article 1 Section 27, both of which recognize the right of citi- zens to keep and bear arms. The resolution states that “the criminal misuse of fi rearms is due to criminals that do not obey laws and thus is not a reason to deny the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms by law-abid- ing citizens.” Furthermore, “the Grant County Court recognizes that the fi rst and last protectors of the United States Constitution are the people of the United States.” The resolution cites U.S. Supreme Court rulings in District See Court, Page A12 151st Year • No. 18 • 20 Pages • $1.00 BlueMountainEagle.com Harvey urges Grant County to follow Baker County’s lead on coordination Supporters saw progress with Forest Plan Revision withdrawal By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle Baker County and its commis- sion chairman, Bill Harvey, made a mark in public lands management in 2015 when it established a posi- tion demanding that federal and state agencies coordinate with local governments. Harvey, who fi rst learned about the coordination requirement from Idaho attorney Fred Kelly Grant, now helps other counties learn how to successfully negotiate public land management through the coordina- tion process. Harvey delivered this message in a sometimes emotional meeting at the Grant County Regional Airport on April 25. According to Grant and Harvey, coordination is a congressionally authorized process requiring agen- cies meet in a gov- ernment-to-govern- ment dialogue in order to reach con- sistency between local and state or federal land manage- ment planning. Bill Harvey Harvey noted, when he fi rst came to Baker County in the early 1970s, six timber mills operated. There are none now, he said. The county saw good forest management and had good roads and good schools back then, he said. What changed, he asked: Did the county run out of trees or the abil- ity to manage forests? No, it was a change in philosophy by govern- ment, he said, and the change came from people who don’t live here. In terms of wildfi re hazards, the forests get worse every year, Har- vey said. It’s not because of climate change, he said, but increasing fuel loading caused by forest manage- ment policies. See Harvey, Page A12 Eagle photos/Richard Hanners The latest addition at the Kam Wah Chung Heritage Site is a cast-iron monitor once used for hydraulic placer mining in Grant County. Another BIG YEAR forecast for KAM WAH CHUNG New additions, archaeological fi nds add to allure By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle T he Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site is on track to add 1,000 more vis- itors each year, with about 9,000 vis- itors expected this year, curator Don Merritt said. While this might be good news for the local tourist economy, it’s mixed news for the Ore- gon Parks & Recreation Department, which is concerned about wear and tear on the small historical general store and herbal medicine shop. Plans are being made for a new inter- pretive center to help deal with the burgeon- ing visitor numbers, but its construction could depend on the results of archaeological sur- veys in the surrounding area that was once John Day’s Chinatown. Meanwhile, documentaries about Kam Wah Chung that will appear on the Chinese and North American versions of the Discov- ery Channel sometime this fall, along with promotional efforts by Prof. Zhonzhen Zhao, who stars in the Chinese production and sits on the Chinese tourism board, are expected to sig- nifi cantly boost tourist numbers in 2020, Mer- ritt said. Don Merritt, curator at the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site in John Day, with a scrapbook containing local Chinese history. It was made by Charlie and Cecille Lewis and was recently donated to the museum. See Forecast, Page A12 Coalition joins Ortelco for broadband grant Successful grants could provide broadband to every incorporated city in the county By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle A maturing public-private partnership between Oregon Telephone Corp. and the Grant County Digital Network Coalition may be the answer to acquiring the funding needed to increase broad- band access in Grant County. The coalition’s board recently approved the idea of submitting a joint grant application with Ortelco as a way to strengthen its position after failing to secure a $3 million federal grant last year. The coalition will submit another application for a $3 million Community Connect grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but the grant area has been changed to the Burns to Seneca area, including running fi ber throughout the small city. The coalition had also planned to apply for a USDA ReConnect grant to run fi ber from Seneca to John Day, while Ortelco had planned to apply for a ReConnect grant to run fi ber from Mt. Vernon The Eagle/Richard Hanners From left, John Day City Manager Nick Green and Ortelco General Manager DeeDee Kluser listen to discussion about broadband grant applications during the Grant County Court’s April 24 meeting. to Long Creek and possibly Monument. The plan is now to join forces for a combined ReConnect grant with the goal of obtaining $8 mil- lion, John Day City Manager Nick Green said. If successful, that would be enough to run fi ber from Seneca to John Day and from Mt. Vernon as far as Kimberly and Spray. If the Community Connect application is also successful, the $11 million in total grant funding could be enough to construct two more fi ber trunk lines into Grant County in addition to Ortelco’s line from the east — one from the major fi ber line in Burns and another from Ortelco’s infrastructure in Central Oregon. That would not only increase internet capacity and redundancy but also ensure broadband access to every incorporated city in the county. The coalition’s contribution to the required match would come from the $1.8 million state appropriation the city of John Day received in 2017. The coalition has spent some of that funding on planning and engineering as well as for running fi ber from the hub in the John Day Fire Hall to the Grant Education Service District offi ce and from the Seneca School to the Seneca City Hall. Ortelco would be the primary internet provider for the countywide network — running fi ber to homes and businesses and handling service calls and billing. See Grant, Page A12