Happy Thanksgiving
The
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
PRAIRIE CITY SPORTS PREVIEWS | PAGE B1
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Phone
scammers
are after
your
precious
information
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
What began as an entic-
ing conversation with an
unknown phone number
ended in deception, hun-
dreds of gift cards and over
$25,000
stolen.
C a r l
Kalteich,
75, of Day-
ville
has
been a vic-
tim of fraud
and
has Carl Kalteich
been chas-
ing lies for over four years.
“I was vulnerable,”
Kalteich said. “I’m a lonely
man, and I don’t like being
alone. These scammers got
into conversations with me.
They pretend to be women,
since some of them are
men, and they will sweet
talk you and tell you how
much they love you. That is
when they hooked me, and
I was stupid enough to give
my bank account numbers
so I could deposit checks
they sent me.”
Every check he received
from the scammers was
voided, and he was left on
the hook for the funds.
The scams began with
a text message Kalteich
received from an unknown
number. The message
announced that he won
thousands of dollars and
could claim the money if
he paid a $900 delivery fee
and gave his card number
over the phone.
Kalteich did not fall for
that attempt, but the initial
contact with the scammer
alerted other scammers that
Kalteich answers their mes-
sages. With this informa-
tion, scammers began send-
ing him more messages that
were denied by Kalteich
until a woman who went by
the name of Sarena Flou-
rence messaged him.
“I had a gal that con-
tacted me named Sarena,
See Scams, Page A12
151st Year • No. 48 • 20 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
Patrolling
the streets
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Officer Sam Stinnett has been a part of the John Day
Police Department for over a year.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Officer Sam Stinnett speaks on the radio in his John Day Police Department vehicle.
Stinnett reflects on life as a police officer
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
W
hile 12 p.m. marks the start
of a lunch break for many,
it marks the beginning of
a 10-hour shift for Offi-
cer Sam Stinnett. With an
energy drink in the console, Stinnett turns his
focus to the streets of John Day.
As an officer for the John Day Police
Department, he carries out various tasks such
as patrolling the streets and taking calls, but
anything can happen at any moment.
“You get to work every day, and you got
your plan of what you’re going to do through-
out your day,” Stinnett said. “About 4 p.m., a
call comes in, and we end up heading to the
hospital. We were there dealing with the situ-
ation until 10:20 p.m. You never know what
you’re gonna do.”
During a two-hour ride along with Stinnett,
he shared his experience on the force while
waving back at the people who gave him kind
gestures on the road. Some people smiled at
Stinnett, some waved, some gave a one-finger
sway with the pointer finger, but no matter the
type of kind gesture received, he did his best
to return a kind gesture to each person he saw.
He was born in Canyon City and has moved
back and forth between Grant County and
places like Bend and Idaho, but he always
found himself back in the county.
His interest in the legal system started when
he worked at the Grant County Jail.
“I found it interesting how the legal system
worked because I had never been a part of it,”
Stinnett said. “I always said I was never a peo-
ple person, but working at the jail, you had no
options. You had to talk to people there. When I
figured I was kind of good at that, the next step
was to be in law enforcement and talk to peo-
ple on the streets.”
He also has friends and family members on
the force that motivated him to join. One of the
best parts of the job for Stinnett is the opportunity
See Officer, Page A12
Youths explore careers at Blue Mountain Hospital
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Students from every high
school in the county received a
crash course in health care job
opportunities at the Nov. 14
Rural Health Career and Col-
lege Day held at Blue Moun-
tain Hospital.
A total of 75 students,
mainly freshmen and sopho-
mores, attended the four-hour
event from Grant Union, Prai-
rie City, Dayville, Monument
and Long Creek, and one stu-
dent taking online courses also
attended.
Breakout sessions were
held every 20 minutes with
visits to various departments,
including nursing, laboratory,
emergency medical services,
rehabilitation services, phar-
macy and more.
Groups also joined mainte-
nance director Steve Hall for
information about the many
duties and projects his team
handles, including operating
the boiler, maintaining equip-
ment, troubleshooting break-
downs and coming up with
innovative solutions and con-
struction designs for improve-
ments to indoor and outdoor
areas of the hospital.
A panel of 11 Blue Moun-
tain Hospital staff members
who graduated from Grant
County schools spoke about
the directions they took that
led to their career at the Blue
Mountain Hospital District and
answered the students’ ques-
tions. Some on the panel com-
pleted a college or university
degree, while some moved into
a job at BMH from high school.
Representatives from Cen-
tral Oregon Community Col-
lege (Bend), Oregon State
See Careers, Page A12
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Hospital District Maintenance
Director Steve Hall, left, shows students proj-
ects he and his team have tackled around the
hospital. Students from left: Aiden Taylor, Jes-
se Douglass, Ethan Walker, Ian Coombs, Kate
Hughes and Parker Neault.