NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
A3
Middle Fork, Canyon Creek experience flooding May 20
Highway 395
remains closed
south of Pilot Rock
Thursday morning
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Several areas in Grant
County experienced flooding
May 20.
Dave Dobler, the coun-
ty’s interim emergency man-
agement coordinator, said
the National Weather Ser-
vice forecast did not expect
the amount of precipitation
received Tuesday night or
Canyon Creek rising 1 inch
per hour for 13 hours.
“Galena
experienced
flooding in some areas
(Wednesday) ...,” he said May
20. “One home is surrounded
by water, and we have had
contact with them. They do
not have any requests for
assistance at this time.”
The flooding caused the
closure of Middle Fork Road,
as well as Highway 395 south
of Pilot Rock. The county
road department worked to
clean up Middle Fork Road,
he said.
Dobler said there was
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
A sign warns drivers entering Canyon City from John Day.
Contributed photo/Dave Dobler
Flooding in Galena Wednesday.
minor flooding in the usual
areas on Highway 395 south
of Canyon City and along
Canyon Creek. He said
there were no evacuations or
sand-bagging.
Search and rescue person-
nel made contact with several
residents in impacted areas
May 20, he said, and helped
two residents remove pumps
and equipment near Canyon
Creek along Southwest Brent
Drive.
Water levels around Grant
County receded Thursday
after Wednesday’s flooding.
Grant County Commis-
sioner Jim Hamsher said
Galena and the Middle Fork
were the most impacted areas.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Sandbags placed in front of a home entryway as rain continues
on May 20.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Sandbags around Canyon Creek at the Inland Bridge as rain falls on May 20.
Contributed photo/Dave Dobler
Flooding in Galena Wednesday.
The bridge on Inland Street over Canyon Creek as water
flows on May 20.
Baker County judge declines to vacate opinion
that would end governor’s coronavirus closures
Buehler rules out bid for governor
By Gary A. Warner
For the Oregon Capital Bureau
Knute Buehler says he will
not run for governor in 2022
and endorses President Don-
ald Trump’s reelection this
November.
Buehler, the former two-
term state representative from
Bend, lost the Republican pri-
mary for the 2nd Congressio-
nal District on Tuesday. It was
his third loss at the polls for a
major office, following unsuc-
cessful bids for secretary of
state in 2012 and governor in
2018.
In an exchange of emails, the
55-year-old Buehler said Thurs-
day he wouldn’t run again for
the state’s top job in two years.
“No, I am not considering a
run for governor in 2022,” Bue-
hler said. “But I will support a
candidate who can help restore
fiscal responsibility and bring
government accountability to
the state I love so dearly.”
Buehler didn’t specifically
rule out a run for some office
someday but spoke of his per-
sonal political career in past
tense.
“Politics and public service
has been an exhilarating expe-
rience made possible by family,
friends, and tremendous sup-
porters,” he said. “I’ll never for-
get it but it is time to change my
focus to other pursuits.”
Debbie Ausmus
245 South Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845
OPEN WED. & THUR.
9 am - 5 pm
sion granting the preliminary
injunction.
Brown’s attorneys, mean-
while, argue that the governor’s
executive orders are not sub-
ject to the 28-day limit in that
law because her initial declara-
tion of an emergency related to
the coronavirus was under a dif-
ferent law — a general emer-
gency statute that has no time
limit. Brown has since extended
the emergency declaration to
July 6.
541-575-1113
24 hrs/7 days wk
debbie.ausmus@
countryfinancial.com
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S188348-1
Baker County Circuit Court
Judge Matt Shirtcliff is standing
by his May 18 opinion that Ore-
gon Gov. Kate Brown exceeded
her legal authority in issuing
executive orders related to the
coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter dated May 26,
Shirtcliff wrote, “I have elected
to stand by original ruling.”
The Oregon Supreme Court
had given Shirtcliff a deadline
of 5 p.m. Tuesday to respond
to the alternative writ of man-
damus the Court issued on
Saturday.
That legal document asked
Shirtcliff to either vacate his
May 18 ruling, which tempo-
rarily prevented the state from
enforcing the governor’s exec-
utive orders, or to issue a writ-
ten opinion defending his deci-
sion. The Supreme Court issued
a stay on May 18, which tem-
porarily put a halt to the prelim-
inary injunction and allowed
the state to enforce the gover-
health emergencies, is subject
to that law’s 28-day limit on
such emergencies. By that mea-
sure the executive orders ended
in early April, and the plaintiffs
contend the governor no longer
has the legal authority to restrict
a variety of activities, includ-
ing the current 25-person limit
on public gatherings, including
church services.
Shirtcliff agreed with the
plaintiffs and cited the 28-day
limit in his May 18 deci-
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have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an
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MyEagleNews.com
S189352-1
S190547-1
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
nor’s execu-
tive orders.
The state con-
tinues to have
that authority.
Shirtcliff’s
third option
Judge Matt
is the one he
Shirtcliff
chose — to
not vacate his decision but not
issue a supplemental written
opinion.
The issue now returns to the
Oregon Supreme Court.
Attorneys representing the
governor have until Thursday,
May 28, to file briefs related to
the preliminary injunction. The
plaintiffs attorney have until
June 2 to file responding briefs.
The current legal issue is the
preliminary injunction, not the
lawsuit itself.
Whether or not the Supreme
Court decides to reinstate the
injunction Shirtcliff granted
May 18, the lawsuit could pro-
ceed to trial in Baker County
Circuit Court.
The plaintiffs, led by Elk-
horn Baptist Church of Baker
City and represented by Salem
attorney Ray Hacke of the
Pacific Justice Institute, which
defends religious freedom,
argue that Brown, by invok-
ing in her executive orders a
state law dealing with public
S185394-1
139101
Closure orders remain
valid until Oregon
Supreme Court can
rule on the matter
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