NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Findley and Owens discuss the legislative session
Ontario man
indicted on 15
charges related
to kidnapping,
sex crimes in
Grant County
it,” he said.
He said he could support a dif-
ferent type of diploma, but the Leg-
islature threw out the essential skills
requirement until 2024.
One bill retools how
wildfires are fought
in the state
Move Oregon’s Border
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
As the legislative session wrapped
up, state Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale,
Eagle file photo
Eagle file photo
and Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane,
held a virtual town hall and had a lot Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, during an Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale
October session of Grant County Court.
to discuss.
One of the items at the top of
the wildland-urban interface areas
the list for both lawmakers was the $150 million. He said the legislation with ladder fuels and fuel up into
improves fire detection and suppres- the communities would be required
drought.
Findley said one of the most sig- sion resources and upgraded air tank- to increase resiliency efforts. He
nificant “side effects” of drought ers to modern aircraft — from the old said there is no funding to assist
are the wildfires. He touted Senate 75-year-old turbine to a jet-powered them, and he plans to pick up the bill
Bill 762, which Gov. Kate Brown aircraft.
in the following legislative session
dubbed as her “going home bill.”
Findley noted that there are some to address those “holes in the bill.”
He said it was one that she wanted issues that they ironed out at the last
Findley said there is also some
passed before the end of the session. minute. One, he said, was agreeing on additional funding for the range-
After several amendments and which properties would be in a wild- land fire districts in north Central
work in committee, he said the gov- land-urban interface. He said houses Oregon.
ernor signed the legislation on June or structures that intermingle with
“This is the tie that puts fire sup-
26. He said the bill retools how wil- wildland vegetation would be tagged pression tools, all the tools in the
dires are fought in the state.
as in the wildland-urban interface. toolbox available throughout the
One component, he said, is that To lower wildfire hazards, there are state,” he said, “which is a pretty
it gives the Oregon State Fire Mar- defensible space requirements. He good thing.”
shal proper additional authority to said they were able to take some of
Findley said, while he voted yes,
go in and work with districts and tap the most egregious conditions out of it took a long time to get to yes.
into assets at both federal and state the final bill.
“This is not the end point for this
levels.
For instance, he said a ranch in bill,” he said. “We have a lot of work
He said two years ago fires in Diamond in the middle of nowhere left to do on this bill. We can only
and around Sherman, Wasco and would have been considered in the make it better.”
Gillam counties could not get sup- interface and would have had to meet
port because it was considered a “no a host of requirements.
Owens’ report from the
session
man’s land,” a territory where no
“Some of that stuff did not make
Owens said most of the bills in
one is responsible for responding any sense,” he said. “We were able
to wildfires. As a result, it burned to inject some common sense into it.” the Education Committee that he
nearly 100,000 acres.
He said he was not happy with introduced were around educational
After the governor signed the land use provisions in the bill. choice and did not make it out.
He said three funding bills include
new legislation, agencies started According to Findley, the bill would
enacting it immediately because place restrictions on the size and $1.2 million for the John Day Waste-
Brown had full support for the bill.
type of roads. For example, the water Treatment Plant, $2 million for
Over the last seven days, Findley legislation would likely require a an aquatic center in John Day another
said, many fires in his district have 20-foot all-weather road, while any- $1 million for the planned Kam Wah
been provided additional resources thing over 1,000 feet would require Chung Interpretive Center, as well
as additional funding for the Grant
because of that bill. He said they put turnouts.
Additionally, he said there would County Public Safety Network that
aviation, air tankers and large heli-
copters on those fires almost imme- be building codes in high and will go to communications.
diately. He said it kept similar fires extreme fire danger areas, and elec-
Owens said he opposed a bill that
at less than 1,000 acres, where they tric companies would be required to dropped the essential skills require-
ment allowing high school students
likely would have burned 50,000 protect their grids.
The most significant portion, he to receive their diplomas.
acres in the past.
“I do not believe you can get rid
The bill did not come cheap, he said, is the reduction of wildfire risk.
said. Findley said the price tag was Findley noted that homeowners in of essential skills without replacing
The lawmakers were asked about
a grassroots effort looking at flipping
Eastern Oregon’s counties to Idaho.
Voters in Grant County were
among five that told their commis-
sioners to hold meetings to discuss
the county joining Idaho as part of the
“Move Oregon’s Border” movement.
“Citizens for Greater Idaho” is
a political action committee that
advocates adjusting the current state
boundaries of Idaho, California and
Oregon, thereby increasing Idaho’s
size to encompass several rural coun-
ties in California and Oregon.
Owens said he wants to figure out
how to make Oregon more conserva-
tive to stay in Oregon.
“We’re struggling a little bit with
that,” he said. “We’re getting a lit-
tle bit more liberal than we are con-
servative, and that’s making people
frustrated.”
He said the odds of getting the
border moved are slim. Owens said
he knows people say that they will
not know until they find out.
“I’ll educate myself, and learn
more about it and move forward,”
he said, “but I still want to spend the
vast majority of my effort trying to
make Oregon a place that we want to
stay.”
Findley said he mentioned it four
times on the Senate floor throughout
the session.
“I said if you’re not going to leave
them alone and let them live like
rural Oregonians, then please sup-
port secession to the state of Idaho,
because the frustration level is just
too high,” he said.
Findley said moving the state bor-
ders would be a “heavy lift,” how-
ever, and would require the approval
of the Oregon and Idaho legislatures,
as well as Congress.
“It’s a grassroots effort,” he said.
“It’s not a top-down effort. It’s not
something that we in the state legisla-
ture can and should do. It has to come
from the ground up.”
A5
Blue Mountain Eagle
An Ontario man has been
arrested on sex crime and kid-
napping charges in Grant
County.
James W. Eaton, 44, is
accused of three counts of
first-degree kidnapping, three
counts of first-degree sod-
omy, three counts of first-de-
gree sexual abuse, three counts
of incest and three counts of
coercion with a single victim
younger than 12, according to a
July 6 indictment filed in Grant
County Circuit Court by Dis-
trict Attorney
Jim Carpenter.
In
three
alleged inci-
dents between
June 1 and
June 30, the
indictment
accuses Eaton
James W.
Eaton
of secretly con-
fining a minor
relative to forcibly engage in
oral intercourse while instill-
ing a fear he would otherwise
engage in anal intercourse.
Eaton is scheduled to enter
a plea at 1:15 p.m. July 29 in
Grant County Circuit Court.
In 1997, Eaton was accused
of five sex crimes including
incest in Jefferson County,
according to court docu-
ments that list his city of resi-
dence at the time as John Day.
He pleaded not guilty to the
charges but was found guilty
except for insanity on one
count of first-degree rape and
was placed under the jurisdic-
tion of the Oregon Psychiatric
Security Review Board for a
maximum of 20 years, accord-
ing to court documents.
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 Circuit
Court
Aaron M. Roseberry was
found not guilty by a jury June
22 on a count of harassment
constituting domestic violence
allegedly committed June 12,
2020. In the judgment of acquit-
tal, Circuit Court Judge Lung S.
Hung ordered security posted
in the amount of $5,500 be
returned.
Brandie B. Woodward, 45,
of Long Creek pleaded guilty
July 9 to two counts of posses-
sion of methamphetamine com-
mitted on Jan. 19, 2017. She
was sentenced to 10 days in jail,
18 months of supervised pro-
bation and 240 hours of com-
munity service. She was fined
$400 and ordered to pay $100
in attorney fees. A charge of
failure to appear was dismissed
based on a motion by Grant
County District Attorney Jim
Carpenter stating plea negotia-
tions in multiple cases warrant
the matter being dismissed.
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sheriff’s
Office reported the following
for the weeks ending June 30
and July 7:
Concealed
handgun
licenses: 6, 6
Average inmates: 9, 9
Bookings: 6, 11
Releases: 10, 10
Arrests: 0, 2
Citations: 3, 3
Fingerprints: 7, 1
Civil papers: 13, 4
Warrants processed: 11, 3
Assistance/Welfare check:
1, 0
Search and Rescue: 1, 0
June 28: Cited Charles
Brown, 62, Baker City, for
speeding, 87/65 zone.
June 28: Cited Beula Bull-
ard, 99, Mt. Vernon, for speed-
ing, 54/30 zone.
June 30: Cited John Dip-
pold, 18, Imbler, for speeding,
81/55 zone.
July 7: Cited David Kodesh,
26, John Day, for failure to obey
a traffic control device.
July 7: Cited Jacob Gonza-
les, 35, Prineville, for speeding,
50/30 zone.
July 7: Cited Kevin Lewis,
36, Spokane, Washington, for
speeding, 81/65 zone.
Oregon State Police
July 4: A trooper responded
to a single-vehicle crash near
milepost 165 on Highway 26.
Investigation revealed a vehi-
cle was eastbound and went of
the westbound shoulder when
attempting to pass a turning
hay truck. The vehicles did not
hit each other. The driver was
transported to the hospital for
evaluation of injuries.
July 5: A trooper contacted a
registered sex offender on West
Main Street in John Day. Tra-
vis J. Freniere, 34, of John Day
was out of compliance on sex
offender registration for failing
to report a change of address.
He was taken into custody with-
out incident and transported to
Grant County Jail.
July 5: A trooper issued
Brett A. Nelson, 58, Mt. Ver-
non, a citation in lieu of custody
for a cite and release warrant
for a probation violation out of
Josephine County.
Edwards Jr., 29, John Day, for
assault.
July 6: Arrested Christopher
R. Woodell, 37, John Day, for
assault and disorderly conduct.
July 9: Responded to a bur-
glary on Northwest Second
Avenue.
July 9: Responded to an
unattended death on West Main
Street.
July 11: Responded to a
domestic dispute on West Main
Street.
July 11: Arrested Jeremiah J.
Alsop, 51, John Day, on a Grant
County warrant.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
July 6: Fraud was reported
on Picnic Creek Road.
July 8: An unattended death
was reported on South Bridge
Street.
July 8: Theft was reported
on Patterson Road.
July 9: Cited Mantas M.
Enrique, 33, Gainsville, Florida,
for speeding, 53/30 zone.
July 11: Arrested Melinda
Moss, 42, Mt. Vernon, on a
Grant County warrant.
• Oregon State Police
July 11: Arrested Olle L.
Starnes, 51, John Day, on a
Grant County warrant.
• John Day ambulance
July 5: Responded with
Prairie City ambulance for a
woman with difficulty breath-
ing on North McHaley Avenue.
July 6: Dispatched for a
woman possibly not breathing
on Hall Avenue.
July 9: Dispatched with Sen-
eca ambulance for a 71-year-
old man who had fallen.
July 9: Dispatched for a
69-year-old man not feel-
ing well on Northwest
Third Avenue.
July 10: Responded for a
man who collapsed on Third
Avenue.
July 10: Responded for a
woman who was unconscious
behind a business on Main
Street.
July 11: Responded for an
unconscious woman on West
Bench Road.
• John Day fire
July 9: Responded to a
report of a hay trailer on fire on
Highway 395 near milepost 5.5.
• Prairie City fire
July 7: Responded to a fire
on North Cozart Avenue.
• Mt. Vernon fire
July 8: Responded to a pole
on fire on Highway 26 near
milepost 144.
• U.S. Forest Service
July 8: Received a report of
a fire on Rainbow Road.
Dispatch
John
Day
dispatch
responded to 148 calls for ser-
vice during the week of July
5-11, including:
• John Day Police
Department
July 5: Somer Robinson,
32, Dayville, was arrested on a
Grant County warrant.
July 6: Arrested Timothy
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