A16
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
EOC
Continued from Page A1
Since then, the former
EOC incident commander and
interim emergency manager
Dave Dobler resigned, and the
EOC staff went from a team of
12 to two.
Grant
County
Com-
missioner and EOC liai-
son Jim Hamsher said in July
the remaining EOC staffers
worked remotely and on an
on-call basis and that the court
would be leaving decisions
regarding the EOC’s future to
the new emergency manage-
ment coordinator. At the time,
the staff consisted of Deputy
Incident Commander Chris
Rushing and Logistics Man-
ager Seth Klingbeil.
Gray, who helped Dobler
write the county’s pandemic
plan in March, said he recog-
nizes part of his job will be
to earn the community’s trust
when it comes to emergency
management.
“I know how incident com-
mand should work, and I know
that it’s not been necessarily
working the right way there in
Grant County, and that’s one
reason they have me here,” he
said.
Gray, a state-certified Inci-
dent Command System instruc-
tor, said he has 20 years of Fed-
eral Emergency Management
Administration experience.
Gray, a veteran, said he was
Harney County’s Community
Emergency Response Team
instructor, and after COVID-
19, he plans to bring emer-
gency response classes to the
county’s first responders and
citizens.
“I’m going to be build-
ing up a team, not just of our
first responders but of some
volunteers like residents who
want to help, and bringing
them, bringing the residents
into emergency management
so that they are there helping
us,” he said. “This is not some-
thing that we just shut the door
and keep behind closed doors
and nobody sees what we’re
doing.”
Gray said he will be
working with public health
immediately.
“They’re going to be my
main people to deal with
because this is a medical
issue,” Gray said. “They’re the
public health officials. We need
to work with them so that we
protect as many people as we
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
A helicopter takes off from the Grant County Regional Airport Thursday to respond to one of several fires in the county.
“I KNOW HOW INCIDENT COMMAND SHOULD WORK, AND
I KNOW THAT IT’S NOT BEEN NECESSARILY WORKING
THE RIGHT WAY THERE IN GRANT COUNTY, AND THAT’S
ONE REASON THEY HAVE ME HERE.”
—Paul Gray, Grant County emergency management coordinator
Eagle file photo
Alcohol and cleaning supplies sit on the shelf at the Grant Coun-
ty Emergency Operations Center in May. New Emergency Man-
agement Coordinator Paul Gray plans to move the EOC back to
the Emergency Management office.
can.”
Gray said he bases his
approach to emergency man-
agement and public safety on
protecting lives, property and
the environment — in that
order.
“Number one is always
going to be life so I need to
protect as many people as pos-
sible,” he said. “Now COVID
is not necessarily affecting the
environment or anything else
so I’m not too worried about
that, but I am worried about
PIONEER FEED &
FARM SUPPLY
60561 HWY 26,
John Day, Oregon 97845
541-575-0023
people and their jobs and
everything else.”
He said he recognizes clos-
ing businesses hurts the com-
munity as a whole, and there
needs to be “give on both
sides” in how the local offi-
cials approach responding to
the pandemic.
He said there are parallels
to the 1918 Spanish flu and the
coronavirus pandemic. Both
COVID-19 and the Spanish
flu, Gray said, started with low
mortality rates, but the number
Hello Grant County,
Can you believe it is August already?
With everything going on, I am finding it
difficult to keep track of time.
I have to say, I am so thankful to live
in Grant County, especially during this
time. I am so proud of how well we are
doing as a county during this pandemic.
We are very grateful to all of our
member businesses who continue to
show their support through the payment
of their membership dues. Thank you for
your continued support and remember,
we are here for you.
At our meeting last month, the board
approved our 2020-21 operating budget.
It is posted on our website: www.
gcoregonlive.com. In the budget this
year, we included a line item for Business
Enhancement. This is a matching grant
available to member businesses to use
for repairs and improvements to their
businesses. A committee has just finished
writing the procedure for applying for
this grant. After the board approves it,
the grant will be available.
As you probably already know, the
Chamber has taken over the maintenance
of the Conestoga wagon at the Dixie
View Point. Last month, someone set
fire to one of the wagon wheels and
thankfully Ingo Wedde discovered the fire
before it had gotten too bad. We are so
appreciative of his quick action in getting
the fire put out! Repairs have been
made, and the wagon is almost as good
as new. We are working on new ads for
the advertisement/information section. If
you would like to advertise there please
contact the Chamber as space is filling up
fast.
We are still not able to hold our
luncheon, but the board will have their
monthly business meeting on Thursday,
August 20th at 10:30 at the Chamber
office. Space is limited due to social
distancing requirements.
Take care and stay well!
Tammy Bremner
Manager, Grant County Chamber of
Commerce
S201890-1
of cases and deaths ticked up.
“I’m not saying this is
the Spanish flu”, he said. “It
could be something that is not
as bad, but it’s still moving
forward.”
He said it is a disease
researchers are still learning
about, and until they know
more, he has to take it seri-
ously and let public health
take the lead.
As the county saw the
start of fire season in the area,
Grant County Regional Air-
port Manager Haley Walker
said aviation — not just fire
crews, but aviation as a whole
— has picked up considerably
and that the day-to-day oper-
ations of the airport would be
difficult alongside the EOC.
She said the EOC, with staff
working remote and rarely, if at
all, coming into the airport ter-
minal does not conflict with the
aviation activity.
Walker said the lightning
storms are not just igniting
fires, they have also prompted
pilots to land at the airport and
rest in the terminal until the
storms blow over.
She said there is more going
on at the airport than just fire
crews responding to fires.
Meanwhile, Gray said he
has been going through the
county’s emergency plan and
said ultimately his plan is to
shorten, simplify and con-
dense the emergency plan to
a 50-page book that fits in an
officer or first responder’s back
pocket.
“During a flood, they can
open it up, and they know
what their responsibilities are,
instead of having a 555-page-
book that nobody ever opens
up,” he said.
Gray said he has other plans
that include researching grants
for the county. In less than
year, he said, he wrote roughly
$450,000 in grants for Harney
County.
“That’s another aspect of
me coming up there,” he said.
“I know how to write grants.”
Gray said writing plans,
grants and working with any-
thing that has to do with public
safety is what he “eats, sleeps
and breathes.”
“I got in this to help the
public, to make sure that every-
one is on the same board, so
that we could protect as many
of the residents as possible,”
he said. “I personally treat it
like family. Everybody in the
community is part of my fam-
ily, and I want to bring that to
Grant County.”
Fair
cowboy, dropped off his kids
that turned teenagers, and we
raised his two kids on top of
ours,” Aasness said.
Aasness said he helped lay
the groundwork for the Ranch
and Rodeo Museum in John
Day and is proud the museum
honors the dedication and work
ethic of the western lifestyle.
He said he likes to spend
time in the tack room on his
property.
“Anybody that is married
to what used to be a red-haired
woman needs a tack room to go
to,” he said.
Aasness said his tack room,
with saddles he’s put hundreds of
miles on, stirrups and horseshoes,
doubles as his “man cave.”
He said he is thankful to the
people he has worked with over
the years and the friendships he
has built.
“Grant County has been
very good to us,” he said.
Continued from Page A1
He said working with the
work crews was a rewarding
experience.
Aasness, who moved to
Grant County with Diane, his
wife of 60-plus years, from
South Dakota in 1957, said that
John Day was a great place to
raise their four kids.
Aasness said he is grateful
for his wife.
“Diane was an excellent
wife, mother, and homemaker,”
he said.
Together, the two raised two
boys and two girls.
Aasness joked they had a
“good breeding program.”
He said they also took in
two teenagers from a family
friend and put them through
high school.
“A good friend of mine, a
4-H AND FFA
LIVESTOCK EVENTS
Events closed to the public
but available online at
the Grant County Oregon
Extension Office’s You Tube
channel, youtube.com/chan-
nel/UCzZ7GlGz0VpHHKZd-
ceOKtYQ.
Wednesday
The beef live stream starts
at 1 p.m., with the over-
all grand champion and
reserve determined at
6:30 p.m. and breeding at
7:30 p.m.
Thursday
The swine live stream starts
at 9 a.m. with the show-
manship overall champion
and reserve swine deter-
mined at 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Swine market livestream
kicks off at 8 a.m., and the
grand champion and re-
serve swine will be named
at 3:30 p.m.
PUBLIC GRANT
COUNTY FAIR
EVENTS
No food or drinks will be sold,
but attendees are welcome
to bring their own food and
drinks. Social distancing is
required at the outdoor arena,
and state guidelines cap
attendance at 250 people.
Friday
• Team branding and dog
trials kick off at 1 p.m. at the
fairgrounds’ outdoor arena.
Saturday
• The parade starts at 11 a.m.
at Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School and travels to
John Day Auto Parts.
• The Grant County Youth
Livestock Auction begins
with dinner at 5 p.m. and the
auction at 6 p.m. at the east
end of the Heritage Barn. Op-
tions to bid include in-person,
with strict social distancing
guidelines; by phone to 541-
620-0521 or 541-377-0030; or
online by creating an account
with LiveAuctions.TV.