NORTHEAST OREGON ARTISANS | INSIDE
CONGRATULATIONS, 2021 GRADUATES | PAGES B1,2,9,10
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
153nd Year • No. 22 • 22 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
Passport pushback
Brogan McKrola
McKrola
indicted
on 20 new
sex crimes
Charges against at least
nine alleged victims carry
mandatory minimum
sentence of 120 years
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
A Mt. Vernon man who was on
pretrial release for sex crime charges
is back in jail, facing 20 new sex-re-
lated charges from 2015-2020.
Brogan C. McKrola, 22, is
accused of six counts of fi rst-degree
rape, one count of fi rst-degree kid-
napping, one count of fi rst-degree
sodomy, one count of fi rst-degree
unlawful sexual penetration, one
count of attempted fi rst-degree sod-
omy, four counts of fi rst-degree sex-
ual abuse, one count of second-de-
gree sexual abuse, three counts of
third-degree sexual abuse, one count
of luring a minor and one count of
harassment, along with two counts
of fi rst-degree aggravated animal
abuse, committed between June 1,
2015, and Dec. 4, 2020, according
to a secret indictment fi led May 25
in Grant County Circuit Court by
Special Deputy District Attorney
Tobias Tingleaf, a senior assistant
attorney general with the Oregon
Department of Justice.
The new indictment lists at least
nine diff erent alleged victims, six
for whom the related charges were
by “forcible compulsion,” two who
were “incapable of consent by rea-
son of mental incapacitation” and
two who were minors at the time of
the alleged off enses.
Thirteen of the charges are Mea-
sure 11 off enses, which carry man-
datory minimum sentences of at
least six years with no possibility
for any sentence reduction. If con-
victed on all of the new Measure 11
charges, McKrola faces more than
99 years in prison.
The animal abuse charges
allegedly occurred between July
1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2020, and
involved the unlawful and mali-
cious killing and torturing of a por-
cupine, according to the indictment.
Bail was set at $870,000 —
$50,000 for each class A and B felony
OPPONENTS SLAM BROWN’S
PLAN TO REQUIRE SHOWING
VACCINATION CARDS
File photos
ABOVE: Gov. Kate Brown.
INSET: A syringe is fi lled with the
Moderna vaccine.
cination passport” — a term popular among conservatives to describe
the COVID-19 inoculation certifi cates approved by the Centers for Dis-
ease Control.
ov. Kate Brown is getting blowback from political oppo-
House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, and the rest of
nents who are leveraging the actions of her allies in an
the caucus invoked recent decisions by two Brown allies: Washington
attempt to derail a new state policy requiring Oregon
Gov. Jay Inslee and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
residents to show proof
Inslee and Newsom administration
of vaccination at some
offi cials have said they will not require
venues and businesses
residents of their states to produce proof
with more relaxed
of inoculation in circumstances where
COVID-19 rules.
entry to a venue or building requires the
Brown had announced the new pol-
person be vaccinated against COVID-19.
icy earlier this month as a new way to
The House Republican letter said
build confi dence in when and where
Oregon should be in step with its neigh-
someone might be exposed to COVID-
bors as it has been on many — though
19, which has killed over 591,000 Amer-
not all — COVID-19 policies.
Eagle fi le photo
icans since last year.
“Oregon’s response to COVID-19
“This disease remains dangerous for The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the Grant County Health De- should not be an outlier on the West
those in communities with high rates of partment.
Coast,” the Republicans wrote. “We are
unvaccinated individuals,” Brown said.
reaching the end of the pandemic and
“That’s why I’m encouraging all Orego-
should be lifting mandates, not adding new
nians to roll up your sleeves, take your shot, and get a chance to change
ones. It is time to place our trust in Oregonians again. They have earned
your life.”
it.”
While Brown has framed the issue as one of public health, opponents
Brown has said showing certifi cation is a small inconvenience to
say it’s about privacy and personal choice.
ensure that someone who might spread a disease doesn’t get close to
The 23-member House Republican Caucus wrote to Brown on
See Pushback, Page A12
Thursday calling on her to reverse plans for what they called a “vac-
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
G
“OREGON’S RESPONSE TO COVID-19 SHOULD NOT BE AN OUTLIER ON THE
WEST COAST. WE ARE REACHING THE END OF THE PANDEMIC AND SHOULD BE
LIFTING MANDATES, NOT ADDING NEW ONES. IT IS TIME TO PLACE OUR TRUST
IN OREGONIANS AGAIN. THEY HAVE EARNED IT.”
—A letter from Oregon House Republicans
See Crime, Page A12
LOBBYING FOR LOGGING
Senator pushing for $1 billion more per year for more
aggressive forest management to reduce wildfi re risk
By Jayson Jacoby
EO Media Group
Contributed photo
Firefi ghters from a Umatilla National Forest Type 6
engine dig up and extinguish remaining hot spots
along the line of the Matlock Fire in 2020.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said
this week that he will lobby the
Biden administration to spend at
least $1 billion more per year for
logging, prescribed burning and
other work designed to make fed-
eral forests in Oregon and else-
where less vulnerable to wild-
fi res during a future when climate
change is likely to heighten that
threat.
“Forests are the heart of Ore-
gon’s identity,” Merkley, a Dem-
ocrat, said during an online press
conference on Thursday, May
27. “We have got to do a lot to
restore our forests, to make much
more substantial investments in
forest management.”
Merkley said he hopes to push
his campaign for more aggres-
sive forest management from his
position as chairman of the Sen-
ate Interior, Environment and
Related Agencies Subcommittee,
which he has held since February
2021.
Merkley convened an appro-
priations hearing on May 26
where he advocated for the fed-
eral government to boost spend-
ing on forest management.
Vicki Christiansen, chief of
the U.S. Forest Service, the fed-
eral agency that manages much
of the public forests in North-
east Oregon, testifi ed before the
subcommittee.
Merkley said one of his chief
goals is to double federal spend-
ing, from $40 million to $80 mil-
lion, for “collaborative” projects
on national forests.
Those are projects that Merk-
ley said are designed to bring
together traditional “rivals,” such
as environmental groups and tim-
ber industry representatives, to
work together to promote work
See Logging, Page A12