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NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Guns
Peterson
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
“This law will have the
effect of inviting an embold-
ened criminal element,” said
state Sen. Kim Thatcher,
R-Keizer. “It will make our
communities less safe.”
Proponents of SB 554 say
it should be up to local gov-
ernments and school districts
to decide if guns are accept-
able in their buildings. They
point to a Supreme Court
decision penned by late con-
servative Justice Antonin
Scalia in 2008 that suggested
such limitations were per-
missible under the Second
Amendment.
“As an elected official, I
believe it’s incumbent on me
and my colleagues to wel-
come the public,” Multnomah
County Commissioner Sha-
ron Meieran said. “Our
sense of safety is increas-
ingly threatened as our public
buildings have become focal
points for antidemocratic
extremists.”
Another proponent, Mult-
nomah County Sheriff Mike
Reese, noted that sheriff’s
offices are required to issue
CHLs to qualified appli-
cants without those appli-
cants demonstrating a need,
“and certainly no hands-on
proficiency test demonstrat-
ing responsible gun owner-
ship skills.” He said his office
saw an unprecedented crush
of people applying for the
licenses in 2020.
The state prosecutor,
Senior Assistant Attorney
General Daniel P. Wendel,
said in his closing argu-
ment the first-degree theft
charge was for submit-
ting a fraudulent invoices
in excess of $1,000 with
a grant application to the
Oregon Department of
Forestry on or about Feb.
15, 2013. Wendel said
Peterson used white out to
submit the same invoice
on different grant applica-
tions in 2011 and 2012.
Hostetter said at the
trial, for all of the charges,
Peterson acted under an
honest claim of right,
believing he was entitled
to the property or had a
right to acquire or dispose
of it as he did.
The charges that were
overturned — first-degree
aggravated theft and pos-
session of a stolen vehicle
— were for withholding
fire vehicles and equip-
ment in excess of $10,000
from the Monument Rural
Fire District in February
2013.
The appeals court
summary states Peter-
son acquired firefighting
equipment and vehicles
between 2001 and 2012
and formed the volun-
tary Monument Rural Fire
Department, serving as
its chief, with the goal of
becoming an official fire
district.
After voters approved
the Monument Rural Fire
District in November
2012, the Grant County
Court issued an order offi-
cially forming and estab-
lishing the district. Peter-
son separated from the
district after disagreements
with its board of directors,
retained the equipment he
had procured and did not
turn over the equipment
when the district demanded
it in 2013, according to the
appeals court summary.
“Nothing in the record
supports the view that, in
recognizing MRFD as a
formal fire protection dis-
trict, the county somehow
converted — or ‘morphed,’
to use the trial court’s term
— the voluntary depart-
ment into the district or
that the order establish-
ing the district otherwise
extinguished the depart-
ment as a matter of law,”
the appeals court ruling
states. “... And, as the dis-
trict’s board members
acknowledged at trial, no
action had been taken to
transfer ownership or legal
title from the department to
MRFD before the district
demanded the equipment
from (Peterson) in Febru-
ary 2013.”
Further, the appeals
court ruled the district
could not do business until
it filed its articles of incor-
poration in January 2014.
“The state does not
argue that a legal entity
that, by law, cannot engage
in business transactions
can nonetheless acquire
ownership of property
from another entity, even
assuming that it could oth-
erwise own property...”
the ruling states.
Walkout
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“I plan to be there,” Hansell
said.
The emergency declara-
tion extended Thursday gives
the governor the legal power
to issue executive orders on
health and safety, including
restrictions on businesses,
schools, meetings and activ-
Eagle file photo
Jaime Vandehey of Canyon City shoots a pistol at the hunter education field day at the law enforcement gun range in 2019. ODFW
instructor Mark Boss is standing nearby supervising.
“One of my concerns as
a sheriff in these divisive
times for our deputy sher-
iffs and police officers in
Multnomah County, when
they are responding to a cri-
sis call in a public building
such as a school, is that they
will encounter a CHL holder
who has brought a firearm on
campus, forcing our deputy
to make a split-second deci-
sion about that person’s inten-
tions,” Reese said.
In an amendment to SB
554 passed Feb. 25, lawmak-
ers inserted language clari-
fying that concealed weapon
prohibitions are limited to
actual buildings, and not adja-
cent parking lots or parking
structures. The amendment
also sought to address concerns
gun owners might be caught
off guard by a prohibition by
requiring public buildings to
post signage about any ban.
And notably, lawmakers
declined a proposal to insert an
emergency clause into the bill,
a provision that would make
it operable right away if it’s
signed by Gov. Kate Brown,
and would make it harder for
opponents to refer the change
to voters.
ities. It also now covers vac-
cine distribution.
Oregon currently has the
second lowest rate of infection
in the nation, which Brown
and Oregon Health Authority
leaders have credited to strong
measures to cut off the spread
on the virus. While trends in
the past month have shown
a steep drop in COVID-19
cases, the OHA says the virus
is still a major threat and
spikes have been caused by
earlier moves to loosen the
rules to allow more social and
business interaction.
“When I issued my first
state of emergency declara-
tion last March, there were 14
known cases of COVID-19 in
Oregon,” Brown said. “Today,
we have now seen more than
150,000 cases across the state,
and, sadly, 2,194 deaths.”
The walkout caught sena-
tors who arrived at the Capi-
tol by surprise, with 18 Dem-
ocrats gathering on the Senate
floor, an activity that some
lawmakers have worried could
expose them to infection. All
lawmakers were wearing face
coverings on Thursday.
Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, the Legis-
lature’s longest-serving mem-
ber, came to the podium after
the roll call showed no Repub-
licans had come to the floor.
“I did not know they would
do this,” Courtney told the
senators. “Yes, there are hard
feelings here and there, but
nothing of this magnitude.”
Courtney called the Repub-
lican action “gameplaying”
and said he wouldn’t take part,
opting instead to adjourn until
next Wednesday.
“They need to be here and
do what they need to do to
show their opposition on the
floor and allow us to move for-
ward,” Courtney said.
The Republicans’ move
meant five bills that could
have been moved into position
for votes next week are now
delayed. The 18 Democrats
could not move ahead without
some GOP help.
“We need two more to sat-
isfy our constitution to have
a quorum to do the peoples’
business — all the people’s
business, not just our own,”
he said.
He asked the Republicans
to return to the floor for the
session next week. He then
gaveled the chamber into
adjournment.
“Very regrettable,” a glum
Courtney said.
Republicans walked out in
2019 and 2020 over carbon
cap legislation that Democrats
said they had enough votes to
pass in both chambers. House
Republicans joined in the
2020 walkout.
Democrats have introduced
legislation to lower the quo-
rum required to a majority and
force any member who misses
10 calls to the floor without
permission of the presiding
officer to be punished by for-
feiting their ability to run for
re-election. Both would need
voter approval to amend the
constitution.
Blue Mountain Eagle
reporter Steven Mitchell con-
tributed to this report.
NEW DEADLINES
Starting March 3rd
Classified Liners must be in on
Monday before 9:00 a.m.
Display & Class Display Ads must be
in on Friday before 4:30 p.m.
Legal Notices must be in on
Friday before 5:00 p.m.
195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845
541-575-0710 • www.bluemountaineagle.com
S233444-1
GOT INVASIVE ANNUAL GRASSES?
Grant SWCD Weed Control Dept. • Working for You in 2021
Thanks to the Grant County Court and Northeast Oregon Forests Resource Advisory Committee, Grant
Weed Control is able to offer a 25% cost share program for invasive annual grass control on private graz-
ing lands, through a Title II funded Grant Project. This program will provide a maximum $10,000 of invasive annual grass
control services with a $2,500 maximum landowner contribution to qualifying participants. To be eligible for participation,
the treatment property must not be actively irrigated and must be primarily managed for livestock grazing, minimum of
20 acres in size, located within Grant County, and must contain invasive annual grass species. Applications for this limited
weed control assistance opportunity will be ranked and funded on a first-come, first-served basis.
Contact: Grant Soil and Water Conservation District Office at
(541) 575-1554 or visit 721 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845
for applications and additional information.
The application deadline for this program is March 12th, 2021.
S230993-1