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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2022)
Blue Mountain Eagle Measure 110 Continued from Page A1 she described as a welcoming response. ³7KDW ZHOFRPLQJ ZDV RQH UHDVRQ 0U %HOW] decided to continue providing the array of services KHZDVLQWURGXFHGWRZKLOHZRUNLQJDW&KRLFHV´ Byus said. <The community needs of the addicted and houseless population who need or want to KDYHDGL൵HUHQWRSWLRQWKDQWKHRQO\RQHWKH\KDYH KDGIRUWKHODVWVHYHUDO\HDUV´ According to Oregon Health Authority data, %\XV¶FRPSDQ\ZDVRQHRISURYLGHUVDZDUGHG PLOOLRQWKURXJKWKHVWDWH¶VJUDQWSURJUDP 'DWDIURP2+$UHYHDOHGRQO\SHRSOHKDG entered treatment by the end of 2021. While there are limitations with the data, it provides a snapshot of how the funding appropriated for Measure 110 has been spent. (Grantees were initially required to spend the money in 2021, but the deadline was extended to June 2022.) Meanwhile, according to Lindsay, CCS has submitted an application for $2.2 million for the next round of funding for additional counselors, SHHU VXSSRUW VWD൵ UHQWDO DQG KRXVLQJ YRXFKHUV DQGFULVLVVWD൵ According to the OHA website, the Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council will YRWHRQJUDQWDZDUGV:HGQHVGD\)HE Labhart added that if Grant County gets the PRQH\ LW PLJKW EH WKH ³JUHDW OLWPXV WHVW´ DV WR whether lack of investment has been the issue in addressing addiction. Getting funding is just the start, according to Labhart. Across the country, employers are facing work force shortages 4 a problem CCS has faced as well. Labhart said while CCS has a full-time addic- tion counselor in Grant County, a second full-time SRVLWLRQKDVJRQHXQ¿OOHGIRUWKHSDVW\HDU Limited access There is no question more substance abuse services are needed in Grant County and COVID Continued from Page A1 tionary nature to outbreaks: <I was complaining that it was hyp- ocritical we had to wear masks EXW R൶ FHUV GLGQ¶W WKDW R൶ FHU VDLG WR PH µH[SOHWLYH LW ZH¶OO GHDOZLWKLWZKHQLWFRPHV¶´ The lawsuit also described SUDFWLFHVZKHUHFRUUHFWLRQDOR൶ cers would move from a quaran- tined unit to an uninfected unit without a mask, likely due to RYHUWLPH DQG VWD൶ QJ VKRUWDJHV at the facilities. <I think the (COVID-19) sit- uation shakes the entire founda- WLRQ´ &KDYH] VDLG ³:KDW ZH Wednesday, February 16, 2022 NEWS across the state. Recently, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health concluded that Oregon has the sec- ond-highest rate of drug and alcohol addiction in the country. Additionally, the data showed that 18.08% of people need but cannot get addiction treatment. Labhart said that Grant County historically has exceeded the state averages for binge drinking and tobacco use. For other substances, the county has generally been around or below the average in Oregon. For those who need drug treatment here, how- ever, access continues to be an issue. Most people, for instance, have to wait two to three weeks for an addictions assessment, Labhart said, though it might be possible to speed that up based on the severity of the need and other factors. While outpatient treatment is available in *UDQW &RXQW\ DW WKH &&6 R൶ FH LQ -RKQ 'D\ people can also seek help remotely to avoid the stigma of being treated for addiction while living in a small town. The waiting list to get into an inpatient facility UDQJHVIURPWKUHHWR¿YHZHHNVRUVRPHWLPHVORQ ger, Labhart said. Currently, there is not an option for inpatient treatment in Grant County. M110 in Grant County %HIRUH0HDVXUHZHQWLQWRH൵HFWRQ)HE 1, 2021, Labhart noted, most Oregonians seeking drug and alcohol treatment did so under a court order following an arrest. <Upwards of 95% of people who need treat- PHQWGRQ¶WWKLQNWKH\GR´KHVDLG Before, possession of user amounts of drugs was generally a misdemeanor crime punishable E\DPD[LPXPRIRQH\HDULQMDLODQGD¿QHRIXS WR1RZLWLVFODVVL¿HGDVDYLRODWLRQOLNH DWUD൶ FWLFNHW Under the new law, getting caught with small amounts of drugs, including heroin, methamphet- amine, LSD and ecstasy, is punishable by a $100 ¿QHZKLFKFDQEHZDLYHGLIWKHR൵HQGHUDJUHHVWR undergo a health evaluation. were asking for only sounds H[WUDRUGLQDU\ LI ZH ZHUHQ¶W LQ extraordinary times, and so we needed something grander. And WKDWGLGQ¶WKDSSHQ$ORWRISHR SOHJRWKXUW´ Two Rivers has been espe- cially problematic, according to prison attorney Tara Herivel, who has litigated hundreds of cases against the Department of Corrections. Herivel said approximately 80% of her cases are against Two Rivers. Accord- ing to Herivel, despite the liti- gation and sea of lawsuits, Two Rivers in particular is <not afraid HQRXJKWRFKDQJH´ <The conversation I have a lot with my clients and people I ZRUNZLWKLVZK\"´+DULYHOVDLG <Why is it so horrible? Why GRQ¶WWKH\OHDUQ"7KH\¶YHEHHQ sued so many times, and I just GRQ¶W WKLQN WKH\¶YH EHHQ VXHG HQRXJK,WKLQNWKH\GRQ¶WKDYH real consequences, and they can brush away these individual suits like the kinds I do pretty easily. 7KH\ MXVW GRQ¶W IROORZ FRXUW RUGHUV´ +HULYHOVDLGLQDGGLWLRQWR¿O ing a majority of her prison cases against Two Rivers, she has had contempt of court motions DJDLQVW WKH SULVRQ¶V PHGLFDO department for failing to follow WKHFRXUW¶VRUGHUVOHDGLQJWRWKH release of an adult in custody 11 years ago. 3RVLWLYHFDVHVLQVWD൵PHP bers at Eastern Oregon prisons We are a small, no-till farm using organic practices, growing vegetables, nowers and culinary herbs. We are located one mile up the South Fork Road in beautiful Dayville, Oregon. Serving breakfast every Saturday and Sunday. Please call or text ahead to reserve a spot! (Think Cowboy Dinner Tree). Check us out on Facebook for weekly menus. Grant County Justice of the Peace Kathy Stin- nett said that before the Legislature began requir- ing the violations go through the Circuit Court sys- tem last summer, the Justice Court saw a total of three violations. <None of the three defendants provided proof of calling for the free assessment or paid the $100 ¿QH´6WLQQHWWQRWHG³8QOLNHRWKHU¿QDQFLDOREOL gations, there is no enforcement allowed on the ¿QHDQGVRDOOWKUHHRIRXUVDUHVWLOOGXHDQG MXVWVLWWLQJLQRXUFDVHORJ´ According to Cleo McCluskey with the Grant County Circuit Court, only two Measure 110 cases have gone through the system. In both cases, VKHVDLGWKHFKDUJHZDVLQLWLDOO\¿OHGDVDPLVGH meanor but was converted to a violation when the QHZODZFDPHLQWRH൵HFW6LQFHWKHQWKHFRXUWKDV not had any further violations. *UDQW&RXQW\6KHUL൵7RGG0F.LQOH\VDLGKLV R൶ FHKDGQRWLVVXHGDVLQJOHWLFNHW ³7\SLFDOO\´0F.LQOH\VDLG³WKHH൵RUWDWWKLV SRLQW UHDOO\ LVQ¶W ZRUWK WKH SDSHUZRUN EHFDXVH WKHUH¶V QR IROORZWKURXJK :H KDYH QR LGHD RI DQ\WKLQJHYHURFFXUULQJIURPWKHYLRODWLRQ´ McKinley said writing the tickets is a waste of WLPHLIWKHR൵HQGHUGRHVQRWKDYHWRIDFHWKHFRQ sequences for not following through on the viola- tions. He said he would rather his deputies focus on the criminal amounts of drug possession. <Something needs to change because what came out of it was not what was being sold to the SXEOLF´0F.LQOH\VDLG The Drug Policy Alliance, the main group behind Measure 110, wrote in a Feb. 1 press release that the treatment infrastructure to support the GHFULPLQDOL]DWLRQODZLV³JHWWLQJR൵WKHJURXQG´ /DEKDUW VDLG WKH FHQWUDO SKRQH QXPEHU R൵HQGHUV call for drug assessments to have the $100 tickets ZDLYHGRQO\R൵HUVWUHDWPHQWLIWKH\DVNIRULW +H VDLG WKHUH LV D ³JLJDQWLF GLVFRQQHFW´ between people getting assessments and people getting help. ³:HFDQKDYHDOOWKHWUHDWPHQWLQWKHZRUOG´ Labhart said, <but we still have to get folks in the GRRU´ 4 including EOCI, Two Rivers, Snake River Correctional Insti- tution and Powder River 4 pre- ceded every spike of COVID-19 among the adult population in January. The correctional facilities handle medical cases through their own health care settings, according to Bernt. In Ontario, Dr. Garth Gul- OLFN WKH FKLHI PHGLFDO R൶ FHU for the Snake River Correctional ,QVWLWXWLRQ WHVWL¿HG WKDW D IHYHU was not a symptom of COVID- 19, that COVID-19 testing was ³KDUPIXO´DQGVDLGWKDWLW³FDQEH WKHHQHP\´DFFRUGLQJWRUHSRUW ing from the Malheur Enterprise. The reporting also indicated that Dr. Warren Roberts, Correc- WLRQV¶ WRS PHGLFDO DGYLVHU KDG been ordered to stop perform- ing surgeries and had a history of malpractice. <Cases are handled internally to the extent possible through our Health Services units and LQ¿UPDULHV´ %HUQW VDLG ³,I DQ LQGLYLGXDO¶V V\PSWRPV VXUSDVV our ability to care for them, they are transferred to a hospital for FDUH´ A spokesperson for Two Riv- ers declined to comment on the COVID-19 outbreak at the facil- ity, citing a need to go through the Oregon Department of Cor- UHFWLRQVIRUDXQL¿HGUHVSRQVH EOCI saw a milder outbreak than it had at the start of the pan- demic, according to supervising executive assistant Ron Miles. <In addition to masking, ZH¶YH GRQH RXU EHVW DELOLW\ WR maintain social distance or main- tain 6 feet of distance between everybody, but the challenge with that is putting 1,700 peo- SOHLQWRDDFUHORFDWLRQ´KH said. <So social distancing is not JRLQJWREHHDV\WKDW¶VMXVWDIDFW RISULVRQOLIH´ EOCI saw one case among its Malheur Continued from Page A1 IURPVRPHZKRIHHOWKDW,URQ7ULDQJOHKDVSUR¿WHG at the expense of smaller rivals. One way to remedy the perception of win- QHUVDQGORVHUVZRXOGEHWRR൵HU smaller, independent contractors what the Forest Service refers to as blanket purchase agreements, which can cover the same sorts of services as the stewardship FRQWUDFWEXWZLWKPRUHÀH[LELO ity in the terms of the agreement. Trulock For one thing, Trulock said, the DJHQF\FRXOGR൵HUVKRUWHUFRQ tract periods and bring in more contractors. Mark Webb, executive direc- tor of Blue Mountain For- est Partners, pointed out that there is a tremendous amount of risk associated with a long- Rude term stewardship contract. He pointed out that with a steward- ship contract, most task orders run on a two-year timeframe. <So not only do they have to get all of the FRPPHUFLDOKDUYHVWLQJGRQH´:HEEDGGHG³EXW WKH\¶YHJRWWRJHWDOOWKHVHUYLFHZRUNDVVRFLDWHG ZLWKLWWRR´ Tim Rude, the owner of John Day-based Rude Logging, was one of the contractors on the origi- nal stewardship proposal to work with Iron Trian- gle. At the Feb. 10 meeting, he asked who would ultimately decide what company gets the long- term contract. 7UXORFNVDLGWKH)RUHVW6HUYLFH¶VQDWLRQDOSUR FXUHPHQW R൶ FH ZRXOG PDNH WKDW GHFLVLRQ7UX lock told the Eagle in a phone interview that his role would concern what goes into the package as IDUDV¿QDQFHVDQGFRPPHUFLDOWLPEHUYROXPH The plan, Trulock said, is to open the bidding process in November. same day the facility transferred adults in custody from Deer Ridge, it began seeing a spike in cases, with 85 cases on Dec. 21, 2020. As of Feb. 8, 10 employ- ees at Two Rivers had not yet stated either their vaccination or exemption status. Powder River had just two, and EOCI had six. 2XWRIWKH'2&HPSOR\ ees reported to have been under the vaccination compliance executive order in 2021, nearly KDG ¿OHG DQG UHFHLYHG D medical or religious exemption, according to DOC data from October 2021. The number of in-custody deaths across the state also appears to be increasing, with four reported deaths within a ¿YHGD\SHULRGEHWZHHQ-DQ DQG -DQ 6LQFH WKH VWDUW RI the pandemic, 45 adults in cus- tody have died after testing pos- itive for COVID-19, according to DOC data, while 17 of those deaths are from adults in custody at Two Rivers, the highest out of all prisons in Oregon, despite being the third-largest prison in Oregon. EOCI, which has a VLPLODUSRSXODWLRQVL]HRIDGXOWV in custody, saw four deaths throughout the pandemic, while PRCF saw none. The Department of Correc- tions keeps a spreadsheet of positive tests for COVID-19 on its website, but that data- base has not been updated since 1RY 2൶ FLDOV ZLWK WKH '2& VDLG VWD൶ QJ LVVXHV DQG the tediousness of entering the data by hand had made the task too resource-intensive. Daily COVID-19 statistics and cur- rent active cases can be found on the Department of Correc- tions website through their COVID-19 tracker at www. oregon.gov/doc/covid19/Pages/ covid19-tracking.aspx. VWD൵RQ'HFDFFRUGLQJ to the DOC data. Six days later, WKH IDFLOLW\ VDZ LWV ¿UVW FDVHV among its adults in custody pop- ulation, before it peaked at 47 positive cases among the adults in custody and nine cases among WKHVWD൵RQ-DQ,Q2FWREHU (2&,KDGPRUHWKDQ active cases. $VRI)HE(2&,KDG]HUR active COVID-19 cases, accord- ing to the DOC COVID-19 website. Powder River, in Baker City, saw a small outbreak of 21 cases by Jan. 29, which fell to eight cases on Feb. 8. Herivel said that Powder River was one of the best prisons in Eastern Oregon when it came to COVID safety. On the other hand, Two Riv- ers had nearly 15% of its adult population test positive for the &29,'YLUXVRQ-DQ 0LOHVVDLG(2&,R൵HUVYDF cines to the adult in custody SRSXODWLRQ DV ZHOO DV R൵HU ing vaccine booster clinics from time to time for prison- ers to keep up to date with the COVID-19 vaccines. Previous reporting by the East Oregonian through numerous interviews with law- yers representing clients at Two Rivers, as well as inmates themselves, had shown a lax regard for COVID-19 safety at Two Rivers. Inmates cited improper mask wearing by VWD൵ PHPEHUV DQG PL[LQJ RI COVID-19-positive inmates with the general population for work. According to previous report- ing by Oregon Public Broadcast- ing, Two Rivers saw a spike in infections during December DIWHU WZR VWD൵ PHPEHUV tested positive, and the facility transferred 10 positive individ- uals from Deer Ridge Correc- tional Institution, Madras. The Burns 2022 CSA Shares Available. Call or Text to reserve! 541-602-0303 Harney County Fairgrounds Sunday Feb 27 8:30 - 4:30 and spring Bazaar and craft sale Trinkets Treasures Collectibles One-of-a-kinds Jewelry Primitives Vintage S277496-1 Reclaimed Furniture Toys and Games Lots of local hand-crafted items ADMISSION DGXOWROGHU 6HQLRUV ZLWKGRQDWLRQRIFDQV RIIRRGIRUORFDOIRRGEDQN $JHVDQG\RXQJHUIUHH Vendors sign-ups: 541-903-5849 www.centraloregonfleamarket.com S278457-1 A16