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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2019)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, September 25, 2019 A3 Brown drops special session on death penalty law GOP leaders say it’s a ‘lost opportunity’ for victims By Claire Withycombe Oregon Capital Bureau Gov. Kate Brown will not call a special session to change a controversial bill limiting the state’s death penalty before the law takes effect on Sept. 29. Senate Bill 1013, which lawmakers approved this year, changed when prose- cutors can charge someone with aggravated murder — the only charge in Oregon for which the death penalty can be sought. During leg- islative hearings, lawmak- ers supporting the bill said it wouldn’t apply to old cases where defendants had already been sentenced. But, after the legislative session ended, the Oregon Department of Justice said the law could apply to peo- ple on Oregon’s death row who have been granted a new trial on appeal. Brown said in late August that she would call a special session if law- makers could round up sup- port for a change to clarify the law. But by Sept. 18, it was apparent that there wasn’t enough support for that change, she said. “While it is clear there is a misunderstanding regard- ing the intent of the words in Senate Bill 1013, it is also clear there is not suf- ficient support for a spe- cial session to pass a fix,” Brown said in a Sept. 18 statement, as lawmakers wrapped up three days of interim committee meet- ings at the Capitol. “When announcing my support for a special session, I said that it was conditional on stake- Oregon Capital Bureau/Sam Stites Oregon Gov. Kate Brown reflects on 2019 session during Lake Oswego appearance Sept. 12. holders and legislators crafting bill language that had the votes to pass. That has not been achieved. “I cannot justify the additional cost and time a special session requires without that support, and I will not be calling the leg- islature into a special ses- sion this month before the law goes into effect,” Brown said. A ‘lost opportunity’ Late last month, Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, said he sought a change to the law to have it apply only to offenses commit- ted on or after Sept. 29, 2019, when the law takes effect. Reached after the governor’s announcement, Prozanski said that a special session to pass the tweak had support in the Senate, but not in the House. “When we are faced with these type of situations, we look at it, we measure it, and then if we determine that something needs to be done, that we are willing to put politics to the side and actually finish and make cer- tain that the policy we actu- ally passed is actually inter- preted the way we intended it to be,” Prozanski said of his colleagues in the Senate. “We were not willing to play the politics that apparently is being played in the House.” Brown’s announcement was met with criticism from Republicans. “I am disappointed the governor did not take the opportunity to call lawmak- ers into session to fix the bungled death penalty bill,” tweeted new House Republi- can Leader Christine Drazan. “This was a lost opportunity to protect victims’ families, achieve a bipartisan solution and uphold the will of the voters.” Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. of Grants Pass claimed the bill “will inflict even more pain on the victims’ families who have already been horribly damaged and traumatized.” “Their horrific experi- ences will be public again as the worst criminals are given the chance of parole,” Baertschiger said. Advocacy groups like the American Civil Liber- ties Union of Oregon have opposed changes to Senate Bill 1013. The ACLU of Ore- gon has said that capital pun- ishment is disproportionately applied to people of color and doesn’t deter people from crime. The group has also pointed to errors and biases in the criminal justice system that lead to innocent people getting convicted and sentenced to death across the country. County Court approves fairgrounds parking lot lights, repairs Sam Palmer gives ‘hats off’ to SAR crew By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Work is moving forward on sev- eral projects at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day. Fairgrounds Manager Mindy Winegar updated the Grant County Court Sept. 18 about plans for upgrades and repairs at the facility. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter The court approved the instal- lation of five 33-foot metal light The Grant County Court discusses items on the agenda Sept. 18, poles for the fairgrounds’ main including Commissioner Sam Palmer, left, County Judge Scott Myers and parking lot for $20,000, which Commissioner Jim Hamsher. includes the cost of bases for each. The court also suggested Wine- Road. The court resolved the issue Winegar said 50-amp service at each pole will be added, using the gar move forward quickly on hir- of heat for both buildings, calling on Winegar and Hickerson to seek fairgrounds’ reserve account, at a ing a concrete finisher. “Time is of the essence, so we a package deal for the fairgrounds cost of $5,500. “Eventually, we can get a pump don’t interfere with your events,” and road department to have their heating needs addressed by one for that front lawn — which would said Commissioner Jim Hamsher. Both Hamsher and Commis- local business. pay for itself pretty quickly — and On Friday, Winegar said they summer irrigation,” she said, add- sioner Sam Palmer recommended ing electricity would also give Winegar continue to work with were looking into heating sources, them an option to expand vendor Voigt since he is “prompt” and and they plan to stick with oil booths and overflow from the RV familiar with the project. heat. She said Ed Staub & Sons park. Four trees will be removed on recently looked at the current heat- County Judge Scott Myers said the north side of the pavilion and ing system. She hopes the replacement will Winegar should move forward their roots killed, Winegar said with the bid. after the meeting. A tree at the be done before winter and said, Plans are moving forward for flower circle, which is near the depending on when the work is concrete work on approximately small animals barn, is dead and completed, she may have to cancel some events. two-thirds of the pavilion floor will also be taken out. “The majority of people, I think, affected by tree roots. Winegar noted that she had Levi Voigt of Strux Engineering reached out to the Occupational will be understanding,” she said. In other county court news: recently assessed the pavilion and Safety and Health Administration, • Grant County Regional Air- determined the building is struc- and they will assess the building turally sound, Winegar said. port Manager Haley Walker with Ryan Palmer in October. “That is good news,” she added. Winegar and the court had dis- requested $3,000 to pay an inde- The court approved by consen- cussed the problem of the pavil- pendent consulting engineer as sus to move forward with engineer- ion being down from two heaters part of the process of receiving ing drawings for replacing a large to one. the federal funding for the runway portion of the pavilion floor and A solution arose when Grant decoupling project. constructing updated, ADA-ac- County Roadmaster Alan Hick- A $6.25 million grant was cessible bathrooms. The work also erson, appearing before the court secured through the federal Depart- includes fixing the stem walls and with lead mechanic Joe Bennett, ment of Transportation’s Airport flooring near the large roll-up door requested a backup propane heater Improvement Program, funded at on the north side of the building. for their shop on Lower Yard 100% with no match needed. The independent consulting engineer works out an estimate for the project and compares it to the estimate of the airport’s consultant of record. The two fee estimates “have to be within 10% of each other before we can move forward,” Walker said at the meeting. Friday, Walker said the two esti- mates were within 2.2% of each other, so she expects work will move forward during the 2020 construction season. • The court approved increasing Planning Director Hilary McNary’s work hours from 30 hours a week to 35 hours a week through the end of the year. McNary’s request was read in the court. “She has several different things that came in, including the new mapping with water in Silvies Valley and other water locations for flood maps. A lot of things are landing on her office at once, and I think she makes a good case for us to temporarily increase her hours,” Myers said, adding that if a spe- cific accounting of how the extra hours are spent is wanted, they can make that happen. • The court discussed and approved the signing of a $4,000 Grant Young Memorial Planning Assistance grant that can be used for staff time and staff pay but not office equipment. • The court approved continuing with Sally Bartlett, who now lives in the Burns area, to provide their Title III administrative services through December. Myers said Bartlett is “very good” at coordi- nating the Title III, and Hamsher said during the extension period he would like Bartlett to prepare the new Grant County Economic Development Coordinator Alli- son Field to take over the Title III duties. Palmer said he would like to have an accounting of Bartlett’s time, adding the taxpayers would expect that. • Myers picked up a 350-pound letter-board sign Sept. 4 from Bend for the Grant County Library. The height of the sign will be taller than the city of John Day allows, so a variance was obtained for $475. • Palmer said Grant County Search and Rescue helped find a central Oregon man in his 70s who had been missing for 10 days in the area of Fields Peak. “He was alive, but on his last legs,” Palmer said. “Our hats off to our SAR.” • Judy Kerr, in the audience, asked when the court discussed a new rule banning the use of used personal thumb drives to down- load the court proceedings via the court administrative assistant. Myers said it wasn’t discussed in court, but a new rule was made by human resources and Myers after a cyber security audit was made for the building. “We’ve been advised to either sell them a CD with the information on it or have them bring in a still-packaged, brand- new thumb drive each time,” he said. Hamsher said the rule is set up to prevent viruses from being introduced into the court’s com- puter system. • The Veterans Service Office is planning a “Veterans Stand Down” fair for November 2020. The activ- ity will connect veterans with help- ful local resources. • Myers attended a Northwest Housing Authority Board meet- ing, as chairman of the board, Sept. 17 in La Grande. There are 860 low-income housing units in Grant, Wallowa, Union and Baker counties, which are 96% full. • A meeting about the future of a potential public pool was scheduled, past press time, Tues- day, Sept. 24, at the Grant County Regional Airport in John Day. Please join us for our CAMPFIRES &COCKTAILS ANNUAL INSTALLATION DINNER Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at the John Day Elks Lodge 1824 No Host Social Hour 5:00-6:00PM Dinner 6:00PM Program to Follow Several Guest Speakers will be presenting important information about “The Future of Grant County” Everyone welcome! ‘Bring a spouse or friend’ Choice of Tri-tip or Salmon Dinner will be provided by the Chamber Please RSVP your dinner choice and number of guests by September 25th. gcadmin@gcoregonlive.com | 541-575-0547
