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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2020)
HOSPITAL ERECTS EMERGENCY ROOM TRIAGE TENT | PAGE A3 Wednesday, April 8, 2020 152nd Year • No. 15 • 14 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com Emergency operations center scraps neighborhood watch plan By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant County Emergency Operations Center has canceled plans for a neighborhood watch program. Grant County Judge Scott Myers said April 1 the emergency opera- tions center will not follow through with the plan to train 11-15 volunteers to patrol various areas in the county during the COVID-19 public health crisis. “The EOC decided that there were just too many loose ends,” Myers said. Deputy Dave Dobler, the incident commander of the emergency opera- tions center, could not be reached for comment regarding the cancelation of the program. “Neighborhood watch was only a concept depending on how this emer- gency unfolded,” said EOC Public Information Officer Sam Palmer. “At this time there is no plans to pursue this.” Originally, Dobler said the goal of the program was to have another set of eyes and ears in the commu- nity. Dobler said the volunteers, in unmarked vehicles, would patrol Commissioners working with EOC deputized County coronavirus response center completes move, aims to fill vacancies neighborhoods in the county assigned by the sheriff’s office and report to the emergency operations center via county-purchased radios if they saw something. Dobler said the unmarked vehicles might allow the volunteers to witness potential criminal activity that they would not see in clearly marked vehi- cles. He said the volunteers would have no authority to apprehend crim- inals but could report activity to the emergency operations center. Dobler declined to name the vol- unteers. He said the volunteers would receive background checks and online training and be required to sign volun- teer agreements. Dobler said the neighborhood watch volunteers would not want to participate if their names were made public. “They don’t want their names in the paper, they just want to volun- teer,” Dobler said. The Eagle requested copies of those agreements and any rules or regulations for the neighborhood watch program March 24. County counsel Dominic Carollo responded March 27, stating, “At this time, no responsive records exist.” Eagle file photo Emergency Operatons Cen- ter Incident Commander Dave Dobler addresses Grant County Court. Grant County schools shift to online education By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer has deputized two county commissioners who have been working on the county’s coronavirus response. In a Facebook post April 4, the sher- iff said he had deputized his brother Sam Palmer, who is serving as the public infor- mation officer for the county emergency operations center, and Jim Hamsher, who serves as the county court’s liaison to the sheriff’s office. “I believe that Jim is not the type of person looking for a patrol car or a badge or a gun but he has taken his job as a com- missioner serious and spends a lot of time within our office,” Glenn Palmer said in the post. “Liability wise and when and where Jim comes and goes I believe it is in our best interest to deputize him.” Hamsher said he was deputized so he can understand staffing needs, moni- tor overtime and other intricacies of law enforcement. Sam Palmer said “there are no plans or needs for EOC volunteers or workers to be deputized.” He said there is no formal relationship between the sheriff’s office and the operations center, which is headed by Incident Commander Dave Dobler, a certified officer and sheriff’s office deputy who coordinates search and rescue. Sam Palmer said he is an active mem- ber of search and rescue and the medic for a multi-agency tactical team, and a former nurse for the jail and for special operations with the Oregon State Police and Drug Enforcement Agency. He said he was first deputized by Sheriff Fred Reusser in the late 1980s. Sam Palmer said he has been driving a sheriff’s office vehicle to transport medi- cal supplies. “All medical supplies are carried in a patrol vehicle ... for liability reasons,” he said. As Grant County enters a week that Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis- eases, warned Sunday would be the “hardest” week of the global pandemic, See Virus, Page A14 The Eagle/Rudy Diaz A bus at the Blue Mountain Eagle delivers supplemental educational packets for students in John Day. Districts loaning devices, trying to ensure internet connectivity By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County schools are transitioning from supplementary education to distance learning. Distance learning implements online educa- tion through Google Classroom, Google Hang- out, Zoom or other online programs in which teachers can interact with students. The Oregon Department of Education has directed schools to be ready for the change by April 13. “The staff here in Monument has been amaz- ing,” said Laura Thomas, the superintendent for Monument School. “They worked to meet ODE’s initial guidance of supplemental learn- ing and now have worked incredibly hard to make a shift to distance learning for all.” A challenge that schools are facing in pro- viding online learning to students is the lack of devices or connectivity from a household. Each school is handling the situation differently, but they are all dedicated to finding a solution to the problem with connectivity. The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Red cups in a fence at Grant Union Junior-Senior High School deliver the message, ‘We miss you.’ “We are customizing what each student needs based on grade, class and what the family has in terms of internet access,” said Dayville Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick. Several schools are temporarily providing tablets or laptops for free to students who do not have these devices. “We have families that don’t have access to internet or computers so we are also deliver- ing hard copies and signing out laptops to stu- dents that have internet but not the device,” said Prairie City Superintendent Casey Hallgarth, See Schools, Page A14 Resources available for businesses during uncertain time Economic Development assisting with Small Business Administration programs “AS WE NAVIGATE THESE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES, IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND CONTINUE MOVING FORWARD IN EVERY WAY WE CAN.” By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle A record number of people in the United States applied for unemploy- ment the last two weeks as COVID- 19 business closures and layoffs con- tinue, but Grant County resources are working together to help businesses and workers. Allison Field, the Grant County Economic Development director, talked about the unified efforts between Grant County Economic Development, the Grant County Chamber of Com- merce, the Grant County Emergency Operations Center and Oregon RAIN. —Stephanie LeQuieu, rural venture catalyst Eagle file photo Allison Field, the Grant County Eco- nomic Development director. “This is a scary time for small busi- nesses, as we are unsure how this is all going to unfold during the COVID-19 crisis,” Field said. “We have a frag- ile economy that hasn’t fully recov- ered from the timber industry hit in the ‘90s, which is why it is so important to put our political views and opinions aside, come together as a community and help one another. We need all our local businesses to get through this and recover if we want the Grant County economy to survive.” Currently, Economic Development is working in the EOC as a part of the finance group. They are in charge of Small Business Administration pro- grams, Field said. Economic Development has been sharing information regarding SBA programs, and one of the difficulties has been that it is constantly changing. “The hard thing is that informa- tion is changing and evolving daily, and that’s one thing we are trying to do working with the EOC is to provide the most current, up-to-date, factual infor- mation to business owners,” Field said. Seth Klingbeil, an employee at the EOC, started the Grant County COVID-19 webpage, https://gc-or- covid-19.info, which will help answer many frequently asked questions about See Resources, Page A14