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Wednesday, April 8, 2020
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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