NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Program
converts motels
to transitional,
emergency housing
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County officials
are in the second phase of
a grant process that would
allow them to acquire hotels
to turn into housing facili-
ties for people impacted by
wildfires, COVID-19 and
those released from incar-
ceration as they enter back
into society.
According to the Ore-
gon Community Fund web-
site, Project Turnkey is
a statewide program that
converts motels and hotels
to permanent transitional
or emergency housing. The
grant provides a total of
$65 million.
The community fund’s
webpage noted that the
state established two funds:
one totaling $30 million
to be awarded in coun-
ties and tribal communities
impacted by the 2020 wild-
fires; and one totaling $35
million for the remaining
28 counties in the state.
A5
Adult wolf hit, killed by car
County pursuing Project Turnkey grant
County Commissioner
Sam Palmer, who attended
a meeting with the county’s
steering committee earlier
this month, said in an email
April 7 that Grant and
Umatilla counties are the
only two counties on the
east side of the state look-
ing at the grant.
Grant County adult
probation director Mike
McManus said OCF’s grant
representatives are work-
ing “pretty close” with the
county because they want a
“frontier community” like
Grant County to be a part
of the program.
The National Center
for Frontier Communities
defines a frontier commu-
nity as a sparsely populated
area geographically iso-
lated from population cen-
ters and services.
Both Palmer and McMa-
nus emphasized that it is
early in the process. For
his part, McManus said
he does not know how
much the county would
receive if the state awarded
Grant County with the
grant.
Nonetheless, he said
conceptually that the grant
would work because the
state would buy a local
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
hotel and pay the appraisal
and operating costs for the
short term.
He said there are hotels
that they have in mind, but
he declined to comment on
which ones.
McManus said the pro-
gram would be benefi-
cial for drug offenders and
addicts reentering society.
As a probation officer, he
said when he sends some-
one to drug treatment — be
it in Baker City or Pendle-
ton — when they return to
Grant County, more often
than not, they have a dif-
ficult time continuing their
sobriety.
He said for the county
to have a transitional house
where they can work their
way back into the commu-
nity locally would be a plus
for the county.
He said finding hous-
ing is a significant bar-
rier for many recovering
drug addicts coming out
of jail.
McManus said, while
there is no “solid plan” at
this point, a transitional
housing facility would pro-
vide people with “another
avenue” where they would
have ongoing treatment
and other services.
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
An adult wolf from the Cor-
nucopia pack in eastern Baker
County was hit and killed by a
car on Highway 86 near Rich-
land last week.
Several motorists reported
the dead wolf, starting around
6:30 a.m. Thursday, said Brian
Ratliff, district wildlife biolo-
gist at the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife office in
Baker City.
The wolf was hit near Mile-
post 36, about five miles west of
Richland.
Ratliff said he doesn’t know
who hit the wolf. No one has
reported doing so.
The dead wolf, a male
weighing 95 pounds, was born
in the spring of 2019 along with
two other pups, Ratliff said.
That litter elevated the group of
wolves to pack status.
Although the wolf did not
have a tracking collar, Ratliff
said a GPS signal from a col-
lar fitted to a female wolf in
the Cornucopia pack, also part
of the pack’s spring 2019 litter,
showed that wolf, early Thurs-
day morning, was near the point
on the highway where the male
wolf was killed.
Also, during a wolf census
Contributed photo/ODFW
A gray wolf in Oregon.
flight this winter, ODFW biol-
ogists saw a gray wolf with the
Cornucopia pack with colors
similar to those of the wolf hit
on the highway, Ratliff said.
Based on previous GPS
signals, that pack has crossed
Highway 86 in that area, he
said.
The Cornucopia pack’s
breeding male and female pro-
duced their first litter, consist-
ing of three pups, in 2019, and
another litter in the spring of
2020.
At the end of 2020 the pack
consisted of seven wolves, Rat-
liff said.
Someone shot and killed the
Cornucopia pack’s breeding
male in late September 2020 in
the Skull Creek area of the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National For-
est, about one mile east of Eagle
Forks Campground.
Oregon State Police inves-
tigated the case, but no sus-
pects have been arrested.
Based on this winter’s
aerial survey, the Cornuco-
pia pack doesn’t have a new
breeding male, Ratliff said.
If another male had taken
over that role, the two breed-
ing wolves would have been
running very close together,
and that wasn’t the case, he
said.
It’s possible, however, that
the pack’s breeding female did
mate, and if that happened, the
female will move soon into a
den to have her pups, Ratliff
said.
Biologists will be able to
determine that she’s gone to
a den based on data from her
tracking collar, which emits
radio signals rather than GPS
signals.
April 11: Cited Harrison E.
Caron, 31, for driving uninsured
and suspended on Highway 26
near milepost 163.
• Oregon State Police
April 8: Received a report
of a cow on Highway 395 near
milepost 76.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
April 5: Dispatched to a
report of theft of personal prop-
erty on Eastside Lane.
April 5: Received a report of
theft on North Johnson Street.
April 5: Casie C. Coyne,
52, of Prairie City was cited on
Highway 26 near milepost 173.
April 7: Received a report of
a horse with a saddle but no rider.
The horse owner was contacted
and reunited with the horse.
April 7: Received a report
of a juvenile with no permit or
license, driving an SUV and
vaping in Prairie City.
April 8: Received a report of
three kids missing. The children
were located by a parent.
April 9: Cited Svetlana V.
Izotov, 21, of Vancouver, Wash-
ington, for speeding on Highway
26 near milepost 150.
April 9: Cited Charlotte G.
Dougharity, 75, of Mt. Vernon
for speeding on Highway 26
near milepost 147.
April 10: Responded to a
crash with injuries on Highway
395S near milepost 13.
• John Day ambulance
April 9: Along with Prai-
rie City ambulance, paged for a
68-year-old who fell and dislo-
cated her knee near the Prairie
City post office.
• Prairie City ambulance
April 9: Along with John
Day ambulance, responded for
an 86-year-old woman who fell
on West Sixth Street.
• John Day fire
April 9: Received a report of
a structure fire on the corner of
South Canyon Boulevard and
Sixth Street.
• Dispatch
April 8: Received a report of
a goat running through down-
town Prairie City. The animal
was returned by Prairie City
public works.
COPS AND COURTS
Arrests and citations in the
Blue Mountain Eagle are taken
from the logs of law enforce-
ment agencies. Every effort is
made to report the court dispo-
sition of arrest cases.
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sheriff’s
Office reported the following
for the week of April 7:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 7
Average inmates: 8
Bookings: 11
Releases: 12
Arrests: 1
Citations: 1
Fingerprints: 3
Civil papers: 11
Warrants processed: 5
Assistance/Welfare check: 1
Search and Rescue: 1
Casie Coyne, 52 of Gig Har-
bor, Washington, was cited for
violation of basic rule, 82/65
zone.
Grant County Justice
Court
Violation of the basic rule:
Zachary T. Tschanz, 26, Red-
mond, March 26, 51/30 zone,
fined $265; John C. Tschar-
ner, 72, Mt. Shasta, California,
March 22, 73/55 zone, fined
$165; William R. Westmore-
land, 31, La Pine, March 4,
85/55 zone, fined $265; The-
resa M. Payne, 47, Prineville,
March 9, 75/55 zone, fined
$165; Thomas M. Kellar, 46,
Spokane, Washington, March
31, 77/55 zone, fined $165.
Exceeding speed limit:
Jayson D. Greer, 50, Lakev-
iew, March 3, 61/45 zone,
fined $140; Ramirez L.
Domingozz, 32, Salem, Sept.
13, 50/35 zone, fined $165;
Peter E. Williams, 64, Port-
land, Oct. 31, 80/65 zone, fined
$265; Darlene L. Phillips, 48,
Adams, April 8, 75/65 zone,
fined $165; Zena J. Peik, 48,
St. Charles, Illinois, March 23,
54/35 zone, fined $165; Brinn
E. Jones, 34, Enterprise, March
14, 43/30 zone, fined $165.
Driving while suspended:
Ramirez L. Domingozz, 32,
Salem, Sept. 13, fined $440;
Darlene L. Phillips, 48, Adams,
April 8, fined $440.
Driving uninsured: Ramirez
L. Domingozz, 32, Salem,
Sept. 13, fined $265; Peter E.
Williams, 64, Portland, Oct.
31, fined $265; Matthew W.
March, 48, Yachats, March
18, fined $265; Michelle N.
March, 42, Yachats, March 18,
fined $265.
Registration sticker expired:
Michelle N. March, 42, Yach-
ats, March 18, fined $115.
Thomas E. Pfeifer pleaded
guilty April 5 to a count of
driving while suspended. He
was sentenced to 18 months of
probation, 20 hours of commu-
nity service and ordered to pay
$1,135 in fines.
Steven M. Warrington
pleaded guilty April 5 to a count
of unlawful possession of meth-
amphetamine. He was ordered
to pay a $100 fine.
On March 31, the court
granted a judgment for Cam
Credits Inc., against Thomas
and Brittany Zirkel for
$7,434.22.
Oregon State Police
March 28: A cellular trail
camera sent a picture to a Fish
and Wildlife trooper depicting a
vehicle unlawfully entering the
Philip Schneider Wildlife Area.
The trooper responded to the
location and located the vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle was not
present at the time. The driver
was later contacted and issued
a citation for Unlawful Entry on
State Wildlife Areas.
Dispatch
John Day dispatch worked
161 calls during the week of
April 5-11, including:
• John Day Police
Department
April 6: Steven Warrington,
31, of John Day was arrested on
a Grant County misdemeanor
warrant.
April 7: Somer Robinson, 32,
of John Day was cited for driv-
ing while suspended and unin-
sured on Bridge Street.
April 8: Responded to a
report of a domestic dispute at
South Canyon Boulevard.
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