The Blue Mountain eagle., June 17, 2020, Page 5, Image 5

NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
A5
Oregon DMV detours around phone
logjam, gets more time for Real ID licenses
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Chris Fox, left, an owner and manager of the Riverside Mobile
Home Park, listens as discussions begin on ordinances.
City withdraws development
ordinances after appeal
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The John Day City Council
voted to withdraw Ordinance
No. 20-180-01, an ordinance
amending the John Day Devel-
opment Code to strengthen
and clarify enforcement pro-
visions within the code, and
Ordinance No. 20-185-06, an
ordinance amending the John
Day Development Code to
revise code language related
to manufactured homes.
Riverside Home Park
filed an appeal on proce-
dural grounds to the Land Use
Board of Appeals for these
two ordinances adopted by
the city council on May 12,
according to John Day City
Manager Nick Green.
“They had asked to be
notified, to have their attor-
neys notified, to the ordi-
nances that would affect the
park, and I neglected to do
that,” Green said. “We did
mail the notice to all property
owners within the city limits,
including Riverside, but I did
not send the notice directly to
their attorneys.”
Riverside and their legal
counsel requested that the city
council withdraw both ordi-
nances and refer them back to
the planning commission so
they would have the opportu-
nity to make comments.
The recommendation from
Green to the council was to
withdraw both ordinances and
refer them back to the plan-
ning commission for another
public hearing. A notice will
go out sometime in mid- to
late July, and a hearing date
will be set for comment.
The planning commis-
sion will make their decision,
and if there are substantive
changes, those will be made
by the planning commission
and then sent to the council,
according to Green.
In return for withdrawing
the ordinances, Riverside and
their legal counsel will dis-
miss the appeals, according to
the agenda for the meeting.
Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle
Services had bad news and good news
for customers stemming from the coro-
navirus pandemic.
The bad news was that DMV’s ini-
tial effort to reopen its field offices after
a 10-week shutdown hit a roadblock —
and not the physical kind.
The good news is that DMV was
able to get around it quickly — and
that more than 3.1 million Oregon driv-
ers will have up to 15 months, instead
of three, to obtain the kind of licenses
enabling them to board commercial
aircraft.
Assistant Director Travis Brouwer
of the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation, DMV’s parent agency, spoke
about both this week at a virtual meet-
ing of the Legislature’s Joint Commit-
tee on Transportation.
In the first hour after telephone lines
were opened June 1, DMV got 18,000
calls — the normal call volume is 1,000
per day — and DMV shut down the
lines soon afterward.
“We were faced with a deluge of
calls we did not anticipate,” Brouwer
said.
But with help from its computer sys-
tems vendor, DMV put up a substitute:
An online form for people to request
in-person appointments, with specific
times, at their local field office.
Of the 60 field offices, 38 were
able to reopen June 3 to provide lim-
ited services. All but six were closed
since March 25, after the first of Gov.
Kate Brown’s executive orders during
the coronavirus pandemic — and those
six were limited to commercial driver
licenses.
In a second phase, 57 field offices
will reopen by Monday, June 22, for
limited services. All 60 offices will
reopen by Aug. 3 with all services.
Many DMV services can be done
online or via mail. A new computer sys-
tem will enable DMV to expand that
list.
But renewals of regular drivers’
licenses require people to come in for
new photos and, for those 60 and older,
vision tests.
Vehicle registrations can be renewed
online or by mail. But for people in the
Portland metro area or Jackson County,
their vehicles must undergo inspections
by the Department of Environmental
Quality at stations now scheduled to
reopen June 15 and 16.
Drive tests for first-time license
applicants and others also require
in-person appointments. The tests usu-
ally are conducted by DMV vendors,
but Brouwer said vendors are unavail-
able in some areas of Oregon.
The pandemic did have one unantic-
ipated effect.
Oregon faced a deadline of Oct. 1
for licenses compliant with the Real
ID Act, a 2005 federal law whose goal
is to make state drivers’ licenses more
secure. Some of the hijackers involved
in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
on the East Coast used drivers’ licenses
to board commercial aircraft.
Oregon DMV will proceed with its
plan to start issuing compliant licenses
on July 1.
But Oregon’s deadline for compli-
ance with the federal law is now Oct. 1,
2021. ODOT’s Brouwer said the delay
will give DMV 15 months, instead of
three months, and many drivers now
can opt to obtain the new licenses when
their renewal time comes.
“As a result, it will significantly
reduce that surge of customers we were
predicting in the field offices,” he said.
The compliant licenses will be
required when state licenses are used
for federal purposes, such as boarding
commercial aircraft or entering federal
buildings.
Oregon will begin issuing noncom-
pliant licenses starting Jan. 1, when
House Bill 2015 takes effect. That law
does away with the requirement that
drivers show proof of legal presence in
the United States to obtain a state driv-
ers’ license, although drivers must pass
the other tests. These licenses cannot be
used for federal purposes and must be
marked to that effect.
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 Circuit
Court
Garrett B. Lent, 34,
pleaded guilty June 10 to a
count of harassment commit-
ted on Feb. 8. He was sen-
tenced to serve 18 months
of bench probation and pay
$200 in fine and probation
fees. A count of interference
with making a report was
dismissed.
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sher-
iff’s Office reported the fol-
lowing for the week of June
10:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 7
Average inmates: 9
Bookings: 6
Releases: 5
Arrests: 1
Citations: 1
Fingerprints: 0
Civil papers: 16
Warrants processed: 1
Assistance/Welfare check:
1
Search and Rescue: 2
Korah Butler, 18, Baker
City, was cited for violation
of basic rule, 77/55 zone,
driving while suspended and
driving uninsured.
Grant County Justice
Court
Exceeding speed limit:
Rayme K. Lacey, 44, John
Day, Aug. 7, 79/55 zone,
fined $200.
Oregon State Police
June 7: OSP stopped a
pickup for a traffic viola-
tion. During the contact,
OSP became aware of multi-
ple firearms concealed in the
backseat. Neither the driver
or passenger had a concealed
handgun license, and OSP
knew the driver to be a con-
victed felon. Pending further
investigation, OSP seized a
.357 revolver, a .22 revolver
and a .22 semi-automatic
handgun. Investigation is
ongoing.
June 8: OSP conducted a
traffic stop for a speed viola-
tion on Highway 395B near
milepost 109. OSP contacted
a 72-year-old male driver and
a 66-year-old female passen-
ger. After further investiga-
tion, OSP consent searched
the vehicle. OSP located
more than 1 ounce of mari-
juana that was purchased in
California. The 66-year-old
woman, Marlene J. Law of
Bedford, Kentucky, was cited
in lieu of custody, for import/
export of marijuana over 1
ounce.
June 10: Responded to
milepost 18.9 on Highway
207 in Wheeler County for
a reported fatal motorcy-
cle crash. The 2018 BMW
motorcycle was traveling
southbound when it couldn’t
negotiate a corner. The motor-
cycle left the roadway into the
ditch on the northbound side
of the road. A 72-year-old man
was ejected from the motor-
cycle landing in the ditch
and sustaining fatal injuries.
The motorcycle was towed
by Frontier Towing. Assis-
tance was also provided by
the Wheeler County Sheriff’s
Office, Oregon Department of
Transportation and Air Life.
The highway was shut down
during the incident.
June 12: OSP stopped a
vehicle for a traffic violation
near milepost 154 on High-
way 26. On the initial con-
tact, OSP saw a used meth-
amphetamine pipe on the
floor between the driver seat
and door. OSP took the driver,
Benjamin X. Adams, 23, of
Riverside, California, into
custody for unlawful posses-
sion of methamphetamine.
Upon searching the car, OSP
located a suspected bindle
of methamphetamine in the
driver door pouch, a second
methamphetamine pipe in the
center console, a small bag-
gie of suspected methamphet-
amine on the passenger floor-
board near the center console
and an orange bong with sus-
pected
methamphetamine
residue in the backseat. The
driver admitted the baggie on
the passenger floor belonged
to him. A 17-year-old passen-
ger admitted the orange bong
was hers and she used it to
smoke
methamphetamine.
OSP learned the juvenile was
from California and had left
California without the knowl-
edge or consent of her guard-
ian grandmother. OSP arrested
the juvenile for unlawful pos-
session of methamphetamine
and ultimately released her
to the custody of the Grant
County Juvenile Department.
Doug’s Towing responded
and removed the vehicle.
OSP transported Adams to
the Grant County Jail where
OSP lodged him for unlawful
possession of methamphet-
amine and endangering the
welfare of a minor.
Dispatch
John Day dispatch worked
180 calls during the week of
June 8-14, including:
• John Day Police
Department
June 8: Cited Steven War-
rington, 30, of John Day for a
driving while suspended vio-
lation and driving uninsured.
June 9: Cited Adrian
Couey, 35, of John Day for no
insurance and driving while
suspended.
June 9: Cited Travis J. Fre-
niere of John Day for driv-
ing while suspended and no
insurance.
June 9: Responded to a
report of dispute on East
Main Street.
June 12: Responded to a
report of a restraining order
violation on Southwest First
Avenue.
June 12: Cited Travis Fre-
niere of John Day for driv-
ing while suspended, driv-
ing uninsured and for expired
vehicle registration on West
Main Street.
June 13: Responded to a
report of an assault on West
Main Street.
June 13: Responded to a
report of a man who had fallen
and with a broken ankle.
• Oregon State Police
June 9: Advised of an
injured deer on Luce Creek
Road.
June 14: Received a report
of a noninjury crash on High-
way 395 near milepost 31C.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
June 8: Received a report
of trespassing at Carpenter
Pond.
June 9: Received a report
of a civil problem on Pine
Creek Road.
• John Day ambulance
June 8: Dispatched for a
woman with difficulty breath-
ing on West Main Street.
June 8: Dispatched for a
man who fell on Northwest
First Avenue.
June 9: Paged for a woman
who fell and injured her hip
on Valley View Drive.
June 10: Responded for
a 65-year-old man who had
taken too much medication
on West Main Street.
June 10: Paged for a sub-
ject that had fallen with a pos-
sible injured knee on Aslin
Avenue.
June 11: Responded to a
man with pain in his ribs on
West Main Street.
June 11: Along with Mon-
ument ambulance, paged for
a man with a possible stroke
on Highway 402.
June 12: Responded for
a 65-year-old man on West
Main Street requesting to be
seen at the hospital.
June 12: Responded to
a 1-year-old child who had
been choking.
June 13: Along with Long
Creek ambulance, responded
to a 71-year-old male patient
in need of pain management.
• John Day fire
June 10: Responded to an
illegal burn on Marysville
Road.
• Long Creek ambulance
June 10: Along with John
Day ambulance, dispatched
for a patient with swelling
and splitting of the feet on
East Main Street.
• Oregon Department of
Transportation
June 10: Advised of a dead
deer on Highway 395 near
milepost 7/8.
• Dayville fire
June 13: Dispatched for a
downed power line that was
smoldering on Highway 26
near milepost 133.
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