NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Eastern highway growth
Justice through technology:
Circuit court continues work
amid coronavirus distancing
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Planning continues for
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation’s 2021-2024 State-
wide Transportation Improve-
ment Program, which has 44
projects planned for Eastern
Oregon’s roads.
The public can comment
until April 20 on projects
in the current draft by vis-
iting openhouse.oregondot.
org/oregon-draft-stip. A map
shows specific projects and
allows people to comment.
ODOT employees pre-
sented five projects at a public
outreach meeting March 10 in
John Day.
In-person hearings
restricted, jury trials
postponed
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The COVID-19 pandemic
has changed many aspects of
life and work, but the Grant
County Circuit Court contin-
ues on with adjustments and
technology.
Oregon Supreme Court
Chief Justice Martha Wal-
ters issued a revised order
restricting in-person hear-
ings on March 16, which has
been adjusted as the pandemic
continues.
“Primarily, we have moved
all jury trials except those that
have to be done because of
statutory requirements,” said
Senior Judge William D. Cra-
mer Jr., who is presiding over
Grant County Circuit Court.
“We’re not doing jury trials
unless we have to, but I do
have one in-custody criminal
case, and if I don’t release, then
we’ll have to do a jury trial.”
Cramer said, if a jury trial
is needed, jury selection will
be conducted and people will
be kept 6 feet apart from each
other in the courtroom and the
jury room. Cramer said the
court hopes to avoid putting
people in this situation, but
there is a cleaning protocol the
court follows.
“We are putting off as many
jury trials as possible until June
1,” Cramer said.
There has also been a
reduction in the amount of staff
present at the circuit court, and
many employees are starting
to work from home. The court
is maintaining two staff at the
office, Cramer said.
Cramer advises the public
to call the court ahead of time to
see if the matter can be resolved
by phone. If something needs
to be brought in, a dropbox is
set up at the office. The court
is not doing any face-to-face
discussion with the public, he
said.
The court is also help-
ing people by directing them
to online resources to obtain
documents.
Technology can also help
maintain social distancing. Cra-
mer said the courts in Eastern
I-84 Meacham-Kamela
pavement upgrade
Eagle file photo
Grant County Judge Scott Myers and Senior Judge William D. Cramer Jr. talk to each other at Cram-
er’s retirement party on Jan. 2.
Eagle file photo
The Grant County Courthouse remains open, but many depart-
ments inside have closed or changed policies because of the
coronavirus outbreak.
Oregon have been prepared,
thanks to their experience using
technology to accommodate for
rural, remote areas.
“What we’ve been work-
ing on is getting really good
conference calling informa-
tion out to our partners so they
can share that with their clients,
and phone appearance is what
we’ve been doing most of,”
said Tammy Wheeler, the trial
court administrator for Grant
and Harney counties’ 24th
Judicial District. “We have
video conferencing in both of
our court rooms in Grant and
Harney, and those link up with
our jails so that’s how we han-
dle our in-custody matters.”
Wheeler said a challenge
has been that the Polycom video
equipment the court uses is not
compatible with Skype, Zoom
and other video call services.
“We’re working towards a
product called Cisco WebEx,
and we’re getting ready to test
this out with attorneys the first
part of next week, and if you
have the app, litigants, attorneys
and witnesses will be able to use
it,” Wheeler said. “There seems
to be a desire with the attor-
neys to have a video conference
where they can see their clients
because they’re trying to avoid
contact with people as well.”
A5
“THE COURTS
ARE OPEN
AND WHEN
CRIMES ARE
COMMITTED,
THEY ARE
GOING TO BE
ADDRESSED AND
PEOPLE CAN
STILL BE HELD
ACCOUNTABLE.”
Sean Maloney from
ODOT presented the I-84
Meacham-Kamela pavement
upgrade project. Due to the
severe winter weather, this a
heavy chain area with high
maintenance costs.
“Essentially, we’re resur-
facing the freeway for 10.5
miles, and we are going to
upgrade some safety,” Malo-
ney said.
The passing lane will be
resurfaced, which will have
a 20-year life, and the truck/
slow lane asphalt will be
replaced with concrete and
have a 50-year life. To increase
safety, guardrails and median
barriers will be upgraded, and
a new cable median barrier
will be installed.
These
changes
are
expected to improve effi-
ciency with longer life and
durability against chain wear
and improve safety by elimi-
nating tire ruts.
The project is in design
for 2019-2020 with construc-
tion scheduled for 2021-2022
with an estimated cost of $50
million.
—Senior Judge William D.
Cramer Jr.
U.S. 20/OR 201: Burns
to Ontario
Cramer said the software
chosen is much less likely to
get hacked or have information
sold to another company by out-
side sources. Cramer added the
judicial branch is carefully plan-
ning this out to protect people
who call in or sign up for some-
thing like WebEx.
“The courts are open, and
when crimes are committed,
they are going to be addressed
and people can still be held
accountable,” Cramer said.
“We’re addressing what we can
address and at the same time
trying to protect staff and the
public.”
This section of Highway
20 and Highway 201 from
Burns to Ontario includes nar-
row and curvy sections that
force some oversized loads to
use long detour routes, such as
OR 78/U.S. 95. Also, during
highway closures, trucks park
along the highway, which
causes a safety concern,
Maloney said.
The plan is to create pull-
out areas, which will allow
oversized loads to safely travel
and avoid using a detour. The
plan would also improve vari-
ous intersections, which cause
safety concerns regarding
truck parking issues.
The project will reduce
travel time and money for
haulers, and improve safety by
reducing the number of trucks
parked in travel lanes during
road closures. The project is
in design for 2020-2021 with
construction scheduled for
2022-2023 with an estimated
cost of $12.6 million.
OR 82: Bear Creek
(Wallowa River) Bridge
Just outside of the city
of Wallowa, an 80-year-old
bridge on Highway 82 is in
need of repair with deteriorat-
ing surfaces and an accumu-
lation of debris and ice on the
bridge at high water.
The plan is to replace
the existing structure with a
wider structure including two
12-foot travel lanes and two
8-foot shoulders and side-
walks, while improving the
alignment. The structure will
go from six spans to three.
The project will improve
safety for the traveling public,
reduce maintenance costs and
improve fish passage in the
river. The project is in design
for 2019-2021 with construc-
tion scheduled for 2022 with
an estimated cost of $15.4
million.
I-84: Exit 216 eastbound
offramp traffic
management
Howard Pastovit from
ODOT said the eastbound
offramp on I-84 at Exit 216
is one of the most frequently
closed and congested loca-
tions in Eastern Oregon.
“Our existing method of
closing is pretty inefficient,”
Pastovit said. “It takes our
maintenance crew from work-
ing on the road to maintaining
the traffic, and we are look-
ing at an automated system to
take care of that.”
The plan is to install new
variable message signs,
variable speed limit signs,
remotely controlled gates to
close the eastbound interstate,
blank-out signs to direct traf-
fic and cameras and lighting
to improve safety.
This plan will prevent
mile-long back ups and
relieve congestion, Pastovit
said.
The project is in design for
2021-2022 with construction
scheduled for 2023 with an
estimated cost of $1.9 million.
“Right now we have $1.9
million programed for that,”
Pastovit said. “It’s proba-
bly not going to cover every-
thing that we would like to do
so this will probably be built
in phases as funding becomes
available.”
COPS AND COURTS
Arrests and citations in
the Blue Mountain Eagle are
taken from the logs of law
enforcement agencies. Every
effort is made to report the
court disposition of arrest
cases.
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sher-
iff’s Office reported the fol-
lowing for the week of April
8:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 0
Average inmates: 14
Bookings: 1
Releases: 3
Arrests: 0
Citations: 0
Fingerprints: 0
Civil papers: 4
Warrants processed: 1
Assistance/Welfare check:
1
Search and Rescue: 0
Oregon State Police
April 1: OSP responded to
a single-vehicle, noninjury,
non-blocking crash at mile-
post 91 on 395B. After fur-
ther investigation Christopher
Compton, 48, displayed signs
of impairment. Compton con-
sented to field sobriety tests.
After further investigation,
Compton was arrested for
driving under the influence of
alcohol and was transported
to the Grant County Jail.
Compton’s BAC was 0.21%.
His vehicle was towed by
Frontier Towing.
April 3: A driver was driv-
ing a vehicle at 45 mph, nego-
tiating a right hand curve on
Highway 395B near mile-
post 119, when the vehicle’s
rear driver’s side wheel came
off. The driver lost control of
the vehicle, which traveled
in a clockwise rotation, turn-
ing 180 degrees. The vehi-
cle left the roadway, com-
ing to a controlled rest on the
gravel shoulder of the south-
bound lane pointed toward
the south. From roadway
evidence, the driver’s state-
ments and examination of the
wheel lugs, it was determined
that the lug nuts had not been
properly torqued and had
come loose. The vehicle was
driven from the scene.
Dispatch
John Day dispatch worked
84 calls during the week
of March 30 to April 5,
including:
• John Day Police
Department
March 30: Responded to
a call of graffiti and criminal
mischief.
March 31: Responded to
a report of a domestic dis-
pute. Angeline Smith, 21, of
John Day was arrested for
fourth-degree assault and
harassment.
April 3: Informed about
runaway children on West
Main Street.
April 3: Responded to a
driving complaint. Dharmen-
drakumar Yvas, 50, of John
Day was arrested.
• Oregon State Police
April 3: Advised of live-
stock on the roadway on
Highway 26.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
April 1: Two parties called
regarding a restraining order
violation and a dispute over a
house cat on Daly Street.
April 3: Received a report
of theft on South Fork Road.
• John Day ambulance
April 1: Responded to an
elderly woman that fell on
East Sixth Street.
April 1: Dispatched for a
man with difficulty breathing
on North Clark Street.
April 2: Received a report
of an 81-year-old man having
a seizure on Southwest First
Avenue.
April 3: Dispatched for an
elderly woman with difficulty
standing and weakness on Val-
ley View Drive.
April 3: Responded for an
80-year-old woman who had
fallen on Green Acres Lane.
April 4: Responded to
a 63-year-old woman with
shortness of breath on West
Main Street.
April 5: Received a report
of an 86-year-old man who
fell.
• Monument ambulance
April 1: Along with Mon-
ument Fire, John Day ambu-
lance, OSP and GCSO, dis-
patched for a man with a
compound fracture. All units
stood down. The reported
patient was playing an April
fools joke on his cousin.
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CHRISTENSEN
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