A16
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wolves
Police
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
Takeaways from this
year’s count
In Northside, Torland
said this was the first year a
pup made it through the win-
ter. He said that means the
area has successful breed-
ing, but to be considered a
breeding pair, the wolves
have to have two pups make
it through winter.
He said they saw one pup
make it through the winter
in Desolation.
Torland told the Eagle
there were reports during
archery season of hunters
seeing up to 10 wolves. He
said this was possible, but
the hunters were not able to
substantiate the statements
with pictures.
“By no means do we think
that this is the exact num-
ber of wolves in the county
at any time,” he said. “But
this is what we’d consider a
minimum population.”
Problems on the
horizon?
Torland said in Grant
County the wolves are mov-
ing into areas where they
could pose more of a prob-
lem for livestock producers.
He said this includes live-
stock wintering locations,
calving areas and places
where grazing permits are
issued.
He said the agency is
trying to communicate to
landowners best practices
to prevent depredation,
such as picking up bone
piles and removing other
attractants.
In 2020, confirmed wolf
depredations in the East
Wolf Management Zone
included seven dead cows,
five injured cows, one dead
llama, one injured llama,
one dead working dog and
one injured working dog
across Baker, Union, Wal-
lowa, Umatilla, Morrow and
Harney counties, according
to the report. In the West
Wolf Management Zone, 15
cows were killed in Klam-
ath County and one was
killed in Jackson County.
The Budget Committee
included the revenue from the
local option levy in the bud-
get it approved. Green said,
if the levy does not pass, the
transition option would be
triggered.
John Day City Coun-
cilor Heather Rookstool said
she favors giving residents
a chance to vote. However,
she said people need to also
understand what would hap-
pen if the levy does not pass
and if the county does not
want to work out a consolida-
tion agreement.
“I like the idea of the
option, but if they say no and
the county says no, I want
residents to understand what
kind of service they’re going
to get,” Rookstool said. “It
will be emergent services
only... The public needs to
listen and make their voices
heard because this is their one
chance to do that.”
Green said he doubts there
will be a huge reduction in
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
The John Day City Council and Budget Committee talk about the John Day Police Department April 20.
the quality and consistency
of service as long as there is
an agreement and the county
honors it. However, he said
the risk is that the city would
lose control of the depart-
ment, and the city would have
to rely on the agreement.
Firearms
Split view of changes
The Rules Committee
proposes to combine it with
a narrower version of Senate
Bill 554, which passed the
Senate on a 16-7 vote March
25. All votes for it came
from Democrats; one Dem-
ocrat joined six Republicans
against it, and the rest were
excused or absent.
The original bill would
bar all firearms from state
The estimated cost for
police modernization over the
next five years is $253,466,
which would require a five-
year levy of $50,693 per year
to cover, Green said.
John Day Mayor Ron
Lundbom said another con-
cern was the voters passing
the levy but the city need-
ing to request more money to
meet unexpected costs.
“Halfway through this
five-year cycle, we have
another union negotiation,
and something might come
up in that (which) makes
us come back to the vot-
ers again and say, ‘We need
more money.’” Lundbom
said. “That’s an unseen vari-
able, but a real possibility,
and that’s something we need
to think about too.”
“NO ONE IS UNDER THE ILLUSION THAT ENACTING A SAFE STORAGE
LAW WILL STOP ALL GUN VIOLENCE. MANY RESPONSIBLE GUN
OWNERS ALREADY LOCK UP THEIR GUNS. THE GOAL OF THIS SAFE-
STORAGE FIREARMS BILL IS TO CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE
PORTION OF GUN OWNERS WHOSE CARELESS ACTIONS LEAD TO
DEATH AND INJURY OF OTHERS.”
Continued from Page A1
“No one is under the
illusion that enacting a
safe storage law will stop
all gun violence,” Prusak
said. “Many responsible
gun owners already lock up
their guns. The goal of this
safe-storage firearms bill
is to change the behavior
of the portion of gun own-
ers whose careless actions
lead to death and injury of
others.”
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
—Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-West Linn
buildings, including the Cap-
itol, and local governments
would have the option of
barring them from their own
buildings. In essence, the
ban would apply to the esti-
mated 300,000 holders of
concealed-handgun licenses,
who are now exempt from
weapons bans in public
buildings.
The proposed amendment
would narrow the scope of
the Senate bill.
The proposed ban would
apply to the Capitol, but not
other state buildings. (State
courts, which are often in
buildings maintained by
REPORTER
The Blue
Blue Mountain
Mountain
Eagle,
a family-owned
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in a
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counties, already ban weap-
ons by orders of the presid-
ing judges.)
It would allow boards of
the seven state universities,
17 community college dis-
tricts and 197 school dis-
tricts to bar firearms from
their buildings, but not their
grounds. Unlike the Sen-
ate-passed bill, cities, coun-
ties and special districts
would not be allowed to
bar firearms borne by con-
cealed-handgun licensees.
Sen. Ginny Burdick, a
Democrat from Portland and
a longtime supporter of fire-
arms regulation, said the pro-
posed change goes too far.
“I’ve been in this pro-
cess a long time, and I under-
stand the necessity for com-
promise,” she said at a Rules
Committee hearing. “But the
amended version goes way
too far in terms of weakening
the bill.”
Though the proposal
would still bar firearms
inside the Capitol, she said,
“In the climate we live in,
state buildings need to be
included.”
She also said, if school
boards have discretion to bar
firearms from their build-
ings, their grounds need to
be included, “because sports
activities can get pretty hot,
as we all know, and they
need to be covered.”
As passed by the Senate,
public sidewalks and streets
are excluded from regulation.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a
Democrat from Eugene who
leads the Senate Judiciary
Committee, offered substi-
tute language.
“It only seems appro-
priate for us to give local
control to school boards,
community colleges and uni-
versities to make the deter-
mination what is best for
them and their properties,
not just their buildings,”
he said.
The House committee is
considering other amend-
ments, including one by Rep.
Brian Clem, D-Salem, that
would enable local govern-
ments to regulate firearms
in public parks. He also pro-
posed an amendment that
would do away with state pre-
emption of most local fire-
arms ordinances — a law that
dates to 1995 — but conceded
it would go nowhere.
Previous killings
Oregon has experienced
two notable instances of gun
violence in schools.
In 1998, two died and 25
were wounded at Thurston
High School in Springfield
after expelled student Kip-
land Kinkel shot his parents
to death. Kinkel, who was 15
at the time, is in a state prison.
In 2015, an assistant profes-
sor and eight students died,
and eight were wounded, by
a student gunman at Umpqua
Community College near
Roseburg. The gunman took
his own life.
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum said she has
taken part in marches spon-
sored by Students Demand
Action, part of the national
group Everytown for Gun
Safety.
“This bill makes a clear
opportunity for Oregon lead-
ers to show our young people
that we hear them and we care
about their safety,” Rosen-
blum said to the committee.
“It takes a small but import-
ant step in ensuring that Ore-
gonians can learn safely
without the threat of gun
violence.”
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