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