GLEASON POOL OPENS FOR THE SUMMER
The
PAGE A10
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
MyEagleNews.com
151st Year • No. 25 • 18 Pages • $1.00
BUILDING SKILLS
Monument SkillsUSA members, volunteers construct park sidewalk
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Members of Monument School’s Skill-
sUSA chapter put their knowledge to the
test, completing a sidewalk project at J.
Dempsey Boyer Park.
Eleven student and nine adult volun-
teers fi lled the city park on May 15, roll-
ing up their sleeves to smooth things out
on “pour day.”
The sidewalk, which covers the length
of the park, will give easier access to the
park and picnic area.
“It will help a lot of elderly and dis-
abled and kids to help them be safer, so
they don’t trip over the old overgrown
path that used to be here,” said junior
Miranda Cook.
Many of the students in the SkillsUSA
chapter, led by adviser Michele Engle,
were also taking Engle’s agriculture con-
struction class, a career technical educa-
tion course.
SkillsUSA is a career and technical stu-
dent organization chapter, similar to FFA.
Spearheading the sidewalk project
were senior Kyla Emerson, the chapter
See Park, Page A18
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Monument teacher Michele Engle and parent and
city council volunteer Heather Bowlus help with
the edging of the park sidewalk.
SEE 15 MORE STORIES ABOUT LOCAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN NEXT WEEK’S PROGRESS SPECIAL SECTION
FIRE SEASON
Lightning the
evening of June 12
caused four fi res
on the Malheur
National Forest.
Contributed photo
Todd McKinley
BEGINS IN A FLASH
Lightning strikes cause four forest fi res
Blue Mountain Eagle
F
ire season is here.
The Malheur National Forest
received multiple lightning strikes
across the forest June 12.
On Thursday, three fi res were
reported on the Prairie City Ranger Dis-
trict and one on the Emigrant Creek Ranger
District, according to a press release.
All the fi res were contained at one-tenth
of an acre or less.
The Grant County Fire Defense Dis-
trict announced regulated closures for fi re
season take effect June 15. Check with
local jurisdictions for burning restrictions.
The Oregon Department of Forestry
implemented fi re season June 10 with
restrictions.
Forest offi cials remind visitors to use
campfi re safety. Fires must be surrounded
by dirt, rock or a commercial fi re ring in
an area that is cleared of fl ammable mate-
rial with a radius of 3 feet.
Make sure fi res are completely cold and
out before leaving the area. When using a
generator, make sure it is in an area with
a 10-foot cleared radius of any fl ammable
material. Always carry a shovel and 1 gal-
lon of water.
To report a wildfi re, call 911 or John Day
Interagency Dispatch at 541-575-1321.
Air horns of protest can’t stall action on climate bill
Oregon House passes
cap and trade bill,
sending it to Senate
By Aubrey Wieber
Oregon Capital Bureau
Democrats gained enough sup-
port in the House to move forward
on a massive environmental plan to
price carbon after a week of turmoil
and uncertainty.
House Bill 2020, which would
implement a cap and trade program,
passed out of the Joint Committee
on Ways and Means June 12 and
passed on the House fl oor Monday.
It could be voted on in the Senate as
early as Thursday. It’s the most sig-
nifi cant piece of legislation still in
the works, with the legislative ses-
sion ending in two weeks.
The legislation — and the 116th
amendment proposed on it —
passed out of committee on a 13-8
Oregon Capital Bureau/Claire Withycombe
Log truck drivers rallied at the Capitol on June 12 to protest House Bill 2020,
which would implement a cap and trade program. Despite their presence,
the bill passed out of its fi nal committee 13-8. It passed out of the House 36-
24 and could be voted on in the Senate this week.
party vote with Sen. Peter Courtney,
D-Salem, temporarily sitting in for
Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose.
Johnson, the most conservative of
the Senate Democrats, has been a
vocal opponent of the bill, saying it
would destroy the state’s economy.
At about 20 minutes, it was eas-
ily the shortest of the 20 hearings the
bill has endured.
Business trade groups have
long opposed the bill, but individ-
uals working in industry have also
made themselves seen in hearings
for months. June 12 was no differ-
ent, as log truckers rallied in front
of the Capitol in the morning before
fi lling the hearing room and over-
fl ow room, dressed in their well-
worn pants, boots and suspenders.
They apparently didn’t feel heard
in the brief, 20-minute hearing, so
they took to their trucks. For an hour
and a half after the hearing they per-
formed an auditory assault on law-
makers, driving around the building
blowing their loud air horns to make
sure they were literally heard.
Under the cap and trade program,
a 52 million metric ton cap will be
placed over 80 percent of the state’s
emissions.
See Climate, Page A18