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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2019)
NEWS BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, June 12, 2019 911 tax bill passes in Oregon House COPS AND COURTS Arrests and citations in the Blue Mountain Eagle are taken from the logs of law enforcement agen- cies. Every effort is made to report the court disposition of arrest cases. Grant County Circuit Court Misdemeanor charges against Gerald C. Ebeltoft, 71, Canyon City, of fourth-degree assault con- stituting domestic violence and strangulation allegedly committed June 2 were dis- missed June 4 following a motion by the district attor- ney to dismiss the charges in the best interest of justice and because the victim was not cooperating. Misdemeanor charges against Jesse A. Weaver, 30, of Spring, Texas, of driv- ing under the influence of intoxicants, allegedly com- mitted on July 7, 2017, and second-degree failure to appear, allegedly commit- ted on Dec. 12, 2017, were dismissed June 4 follow- ing a motion by the district attorney on the grounds that it was in the best interest of justice. Arrest warrants were recalled. A conditional discharge agreement with Melinda Jo Moss, 40, John Day, was terminated June 5 after she failed to report as required, complete treatment and pay fines or fees. She pleaded guilty on Sept. 20, 2018, for felony possession of meth- amphetamine committed on March 1, 2018, and was sentenced to 30 days jail, 100 hours community ser- vice and 100 hour commu- nity service. Charges of con- spiracy to commit a Class B felony and delivery of methamphetamine were dis- missed at that time. Grant County Sheriff The Grant County Sher- iff’s Office reported the fol- lowing for the week of June 5: Concealed handgun licenses: 7 Average inmates: 18 Bookings: 11 Releases: 9 Arrests: 3 Citations: 1 Fingerprints: 6 Civil papers: 11 Warrants processed: 6 Asst./welfare check: 0 Search and rescue: 0 Nathan Romney, 18, Springville, Utah, was cited for violating the posted speed limit, 70/35 zone. Justice Court • Violation of basic rule: Morgan A. Bennett, 18, Baker City, April 21, 70/55 zone, fined $140; Nehe- maiah J. Logsdon, 18, Burns, May 17, 79/55 zone, fined $165; King Williams, 68, Canyon City, May 5, 79/55 zone, fined $265; Alexsan- dra M. Warren, 24, Red- mond, April 30, 75/55 zone, fined $165; John H. Seger Jr., 60, Redmond, May 13, 75/55 zone, fined $165; Monica J. Cole, 46, Mar- shall, Texas, May 16, 75/55 zone, fined $165; Carlton W. Dehart Jr., 74, Fort Lauder- dale, Florida, May 6, 70/55 zone, fined $165. • Exceeding speed limit: Kalene K. Cook, 24, Mt. Vernon, May 16, 75/65 zone, fined $165; Avaley R. Mortimore, 18, John Day, May 24, 75/65 zone, fined $85; Guy K. Fidler, 34, Redmond, April 24, 39/25 zone, fined $165; Phanny K. Thong, 51, Temecula, California, Jan. 26, 57/25 zone, fined $440; Colin E. Hobbs, 35, Portland, Jan. 15, 44/30 zone, fined $165; Daniel E. Harris, 52, Baker City, April 25, 75/55 zone, fined $165; Denise J. Wood, 61, Prairie City, May 15, 80/65 zone, fined $265; Devon R. Starnes, 45, Winder, Georgia, May 15, 75/65 zone, fined $165; Maisie A. Taylor, 26, Sen- eca, April 25, 75/65 zone, fined $165; Tristan Morris, 18, Adams, April 25, 73/65 zone, fined $165. • Violation speed limit: Edward S. Lix, 63, Oran- gevale, California, May 3, 44/25 zone, fined $140. • Driving uninsured: Joshua W. Haskins, 35, Prairie City, March 10, fined $1,000, April 6, fined $500, April 15, fined $500; Latasha L. Smarr, 27, Prai- rie City, March 9, fined $265; Kellyn A. Joslin, 33, John Day, March 21, fined $265; Katie P. Thomas, 36, John Day, April 29, fined $265; James M. Jones, 20, John Day, May 7, fined $265; Thomas V. Busby, 47, Canyon City, April 17, fined $265; Marcia L. Kim- ball, 74, Bend, Feb. 23, fined $265, April 23, fined $500. • Driving while sus- pended: Joshua W. Haskins, 35, Prairie City, March 10, fined $500, April 6, $750; Marcia L. Kimball, 74, Bend, April 23, fined $1,000. • Failure to operate with a standard light: Morgan A. Bennett, 18, Baker City, fined $140. • Failure to properly use safety belt: Richard D. Ran- dall, 50, Mt. Vernon, Feb. 18, fined $115. • No operator’s license: Katie P. Thomas, 36, John Day, April 29, fined $265; Garrett K. Mercier, 38, Seat- tle, Washington, May 11, fined $265; Kellyn A. Jos- lin, 33, John Day, March 21, fined $440. • Marijuana canister in public view: Jacob A. Dod- son, 24, John Day, May 11, fined $265. • Failure to yield before entering: Keith C. Elliot, 84, John Day, May 13, fined $200. • Exceeding maximum weight limit: Walker D. Erickson, 25, Pendleton, April 15, fined $200. • Exceeding truck or bus speed limit: Rosalio V. Robles, 54, Fontana, Cali- fornia, May 2, fined $165. • Benjamin H. Monroe, 22, John Day, was convicted May 29 of hunting turkeys with a prohibited method and was fined $440. • Britt M. Wilcox, 24, John Day, pleaded guilty May 29 of third-degree theft. He was sentenced to 12 months probation, 40 hours community service and $475 in fines, fees and restitution. Oregon State Police June 6: Located a man with an outstanding warrant for domestic assault from outside Grant County at a home on McCallum Ave- nue in Prairie City. Thomas V. Busby, 47, was arrested and charged on the warrant. June 7: Responded with Grant County probation officers to North Cozart Street in Prairie City. Thomas E. Pfeifer, 49, Prai- rie City, was arrested on a probation violation warrant from out of Grant County. Dispatch John Day dispatch worked 151 calls during the week of June 3-9, including: • John Day Police Department June 3: Advised of a sus- picious person at a drug store on Main Street in John Day. June 3: Received a report of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle on Bridge Street in John Day. June 4: Responded to the post office in John Day for a suspicious person. June 4: Notified of a fraud complaint in John Day. June 4: Received a bur- glary report from Hillcrest Road in John Day. June 5: Advised of a fawn stuck in a fence on North Canyon Boulevard in John Day. June 6: Following a traf- fic stop on South Canyon Boulevard in John Day, Bryon D. Bean, 61, Mur- rieta, California, was cited for speeding, 62/35 zone. June 7: Dispatched to East Main Street in John Day for a suspicious person. June 7: Responded to West Main Street in John Day for a report of a bicy- cle vs. motor vehicle crash. Larry A. De Cew, 59, John Day, was cited for careless driving. June 7: Advised of a sus- picious vehicle on South Canyon City Boulevard. June 9: Notified of an unattended death at a senior home in John Day. June 9: Responded to an apartment complex on East Main Street in John Day for a harassment complaint. June 9: Notified of a fight or dispute at a mobile home park on West Main Street in John Day. • Oregon State Police June 7: Received a live- stock complaint from High- way 395 near Ritter junction. • Grant County Sher- iff’s Office June 3: Advised of a prowler on Quail Lane in John Day. June 3: Notified of a harassment complaint in Prairie City. June 4: Advised of sus- picious circumstances on South Fork Road near A5 Dayville. June 4: Notified of a domestic incident on Belshaw Creek Lane in Mt. Vernon. June 4: Advised of a sui- cidal person at Highway 395 and Vance Creek Road. June 4: Notified of a criminal mischief complaint in Mt. Vernon. June 8: Received a tres- passing report from Miller Mountain Road in Canyon City. June 8: Advised of a domestic report on Bridge Street in Prairie City. June 8: Received a theft report from Courtrock Road in Monument. June 9: Advised of a prowler on South Johnson Avenue in Prairie City. June 9: Received a live- stock complaint from near the senior center in Prairie City. • John Day ambulance June 3: Responded to Blue Heron Road in John Day for a 69-year-old man with chest pain. June 3: Dispatched to a senior home in John Day. June 3: Responded with Seneca ambulance to A Ave- nue in Seneca for a 53-year- old woman with difficulty breathing. June 4: Dispatched to a report of a man slumped over a guard rail on High- way 26 east of John Day. June 4: Transported a patient to the airport in John Day. June 5: Responded to Thompson Avenue in Mt. Vernon for a 53-year-old woman with difficulty breathing. June 5: Paged to a mobile home park on West Main Street in John Day for a man with chest pain. June 5: Transported a patient to the airport in John Day. June 6: Dispatched to a mobile home park in John Day for a man with diffi- culty breathing. June 6: Responded to South Johnson Avenue in Prairie City for an elderly woman. June 6: Dispatched to North Johnson Avenue in Prairie City. June 6: Responded to West Main Street in John Day for a 20-year-old man with an asthma attack. June 8: Transported a patient to Bend. June 8: Dispatched to a senior home in Prai- rie City for an 88-year-old man with extreme hypo- tension and altered state of consciousness. June 8: Responded to a senior home in John Day for a 69-year-old man with dif- ficulty breathing. June 9: Dispatched to Southwest First Avenue in John Day for a 40-year-old woman. • U.S. Forest Service June 4: Notified of a non- injury crash at forest roads 13 and 336. Findley sponsored bill to increase dispatch center funding By Richard Hanners Blue Mountain Eagle A bill that would increase the existing 75 cent fee on phone bills to support 911 dispatch centers across the state was overwhelmingly approved in the Oregon House of Representatives June 6. As amended, House Bill 2449 will increase the fee for wireless and wired tele- phone accounts and prepaid wireless retail transactions to $1 next year and to $1.25 in 2021. The bill passed in the House by 48-10 and will move on to the Senate where it will be assigned to a com- mittee by Senate President Peter Courtney. Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, sponsored the bill. “As a legislative body, we take very few votes that literally have the abil- ity to save someone’s life. If we continue to underfund our public service answer- ing points, Oregonians all over the state, from Mult- nomah County to Malheur County, will suffer,” Find- ley said. “Oregonians expect and deserve to have the best, most reliable access to emer- gency services.” Using estimates from the Oregon Military Depart- ment, the Association of Oregon Counties projects the increased fee will gen- erate $15.1 million in quar- terly revenue beginning in January 2020 and $18.9 mil- lion beginning in January 2021. Supporters of the bill noted that the phone tax hasn’t increased in 24 years, while new technologies and other requirements placed an increasing financial bur- den on emergency com- munications agencies and rural counties with small populations. As originally proposed, the phone tax would have doubled to $1.50. It was opposed in House Revenue Committee hearings by Ver- izon, T-Mobile and CTIA, a trade association for the wireless communications industry. ODF declares fire season has begun Blue Mountain Eagle Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District implemented fire season June 10. The fire season declara- tion heightens awareness of increasing hazardous fuel conditions and fire growth potential in wildland fuels. “Late May rain really helped reduce the fire risk in our fuels, but the recent warming trend is quickly drying fuels again, and with limited moisture in the fore- cast, it is unlikely that the risk will drop again.” said Rob Pentzer, district forester for central Oregon. With the implementa- tion of fire season, logging and other industrial oper- ations must meet require- ments for fire prevention, such as fire tools, water sup- ply and watchman service when those operations are occurring on lands protected by ODF. In addition to fire season restrictions, Industrial Fire Precaution Level 1 will be in effect for lands protected by ODF in Hood River and Wasco counties. Details for fire season and IFPL require- ments are available at ore- gon.gov/ODF/Fire/pages/ FirePrevention.aspx, or from the local ODF office. Campfires are currently still allowed, but should be dead out and cool to the touch when visitors leave. The use of tracer ammuni- tion and exploding targets is prohibited during fire sea- son. Sky lanterns and other luminaries are prohibited at all times in Oregon. This year, there have been 14 human caused fires burning more than 15 acres within the district. Nine of these fires are linked to escaped debris burns. Land- owners who burned earlier this winter or spring should check their burn piles to ver- ify there is no longer heat in the burned area. Burn barrels are allowed by permit in The Dalles Unit (Wasco and Hood River counties) until 11 a.m. through June 30. However, open burning is no longer permitted across the District. Fire season in the district typically starts early to mid- June based on current condi- tions and forecast weather. In 2018, June 1 marked the start of fire season. The Central Oregon Dis- trict includes approximately 2.3 million acres of private, state and municipally owned forestland throughout cen- tral Oregon. For additional informa- tion on ODF’s Central Ore- gon District, including con- tact information and unit offices, visit odfcentralore- gon.com. Michael B. DesJardin Dentistry, PC Preventive, Restorative & Endodontics New Patients Welcome! Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm 208 NW Canton John Day 541-575-2725 mbddental@live.com michaelbdesjardinmd.com Mendy Sharpe FNP 124284 Apppointments available 98769 124275 3rd Annual Rummage Sale! Monument Senior Center Big thank you to Ty’s Mobile Welding and the Holly Ranch for sponsoring our Breakaway Roping. Thank you Broken Legg Ranch for the use of the arena. - Trisha and Monte • Furniture, beds, linen, toys, clothing, fabric, small appliances, paper back & hard cover books, art supplies, shoes, winter boots, coats in like- new condition, youth bicycle, putting range, golf clubs, 1898 antique clock (still runs), nice air bed, 3 man raft , tubes for fl oating the river, cookware, dishes, luggage, and lots more! Sunday will be $5 bag sale! • Refreshments will be available with lunch available by donation. • All profi ts go toward the general fund for operating cost of the senior center. Your donation is tax deductible! • Any questions or donations, contact Judy Harris at 541-934-2244 DONATIONS WILL BE TAKEN UNTIL THE DAY OF THE SALE 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 541-576-2160