A2
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
LOCAL BRIEFING
Painted Sky program gets grant
JOHN DAY — The Juniper Arts Council has received
a $4,085 grant from the Oregon Arts Commission, the
state agency announced.
The nonprofit will use the money to support the Painted
Sky Center for the Arts’ World Tour Summer 2022, a pro-
gram that includes arts-focused summer camps and free
community events that celebrate different cultures from
around the globe.
The funds will be used to pay for art supplies, provide
arts instruction and cover other event-related costs.
Fire prevention eff ort gets funding
JOHN DAY — The Grant County Soil and Water Con-
servation District has been selected to receive state fund-
ing for a large-scale project to reduce wildfire fuels on
forest and rangeland.
The Upper John Day Valley Landscape Resiliency
Project was one of nine projects around the state cho-
sen to receive a share of $20 million in state grant money
to treat 156,000 acres at risk of catastrophic wildfire.
The projects will also bring in more than $15 million in
matching funds from federal, state, private and in-kind
investments.
The Grant County Soil and Water Conservation Dis-
trict is proposing to treat 30,000 acres east of John Day.
The district had requested a $2.3 million state grant tied
to $1.8 million in matching funds.
Comment opens on burn rule
SALEM — The Oregon Department of Forestry is seek-
ing public comment on a proposed change to rules govern-
ing prescribed burns in the state. The change is intended
to clarify an existing rule, the department said in a news
release.
The amended rules clarify that a person may conduct a
prescribed burn across land ownership boundaries if the per-
son obtains the proper permit. The amendment also clarifi es
that a person may obtain a permit if they demonstrate to the
department that they have obtained permission from every-
one whose lands would be aff ected by the proposed burn.
Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. Wednes-
day, March 2, and should be addressed to Tim Holschbach,
deputy chief of policy and planning for the department’s
Protection from Fire Division.
Comments may be emailed to sb762.rulemaking@odf.
oregon.gov or mailed to Oregon Department of Forestry,
Attn: Tim Holschbach, 2600 State St., Bldg. D, Salem, OR
97310.
Detailed information on the rulemaking eff ort can be
found online at https://tinyurl.com/3yv4xhhd.
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Mt. Vernon man
arrested in connection
with stolen vehicle
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
DAYVILLE — Grant
County Sheriff’s Office
and Oregon State Police
personnel arrested an
armed Mt. Vernon man in
the early morning hours of
Tuesday, Feb. 15, who was
allegedly in possession of a
stolen vehicle.
Daniel Antonio Lopez,
34, of Mt. Vernon was
identified as the driver
of a car reported to have
been stolen the previous
day in Deschutes County,
according to a Tuesday,
Feb. 15, press release from
the Grant County Sheriff’s
Office.
Grant County Sheriff
Todd McKinley said resi-
dents in Dayville reported
a 2007 Toyota Rav4 had
broken down and left in the
Dayville Mini Mart park-
ing lot.
McKinley said Lopez
was initially uncoopera-
tive when asked for his
identification and, when
arrested, was found to have
been carrying a concealed
handgun.
According to the Grant
County Jail inmate ros-
ter, Lopez was booked
on charges of possessing
a stolen vehicle and fel-
ony possession of a con-
cealed weapon without a
permit.
Online forum slated
on grad requirements
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Grant
County residents will have
a chance to weigh in on
state high school gradua-
tion requirements during an
online listening session next
week.
The virtual meeting will
take place from 6 to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, March 2, over
Zoom.
Last year, the Legislature
directed the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education to review
state requirements to gradu-
ate from high school. As part
of that review, the department
is working to determine what
matters most to people in Ore-
gon about earning a high school
diploma.
ODE is working with Ore-
gon’s Kitchen Table, a pro-
gram of Portland State Uni-
versity, to gather input from
people around the state
through a series of online
community conversations.
To participate in the Grant
County listening session, reg-
ister online at https://tinyurl.
com/2mcsj9hm.
If you need interpreta-
tion services, send an email
to info@oregonskitchentable.
org.
Alberto (Al) Pablo Nicholas Sillonis
March 1, 1936 ~ January 17, 2022
Alberto (Al) Pablo Nicholas
Sillonis was last seen fishing
at the dock on the Snake
River below Hells Canyon
Visitor’s Center around 2 PM
on January 17, 2022. When
he failed to return home, the
search found his hat and a
fishing pole with line still in
the water. While some fam-
else. When Jeanette pointed
ily and friends were quick
out that a food item in their
to speculate that he was in
house contained onions, Al
the witness protection pro-
simply requested “Don’t tell
gram, had been abducted
anyone” and ate it anyway.
by aliens, or kidnapped by a
Al was an angler and had
femme fatale, the prime sus-
quite the collection of jokey
pect was identified as the riv-
fishing t-shirts. Moving to
er. Somehow, he fell in and
Weiser, Idaho in 2003 al-
did not survive.
lowed them to be closer (but
Al was born March 1,
not too close) to family, and
1936, in Boise, Idaho to Juan
provided a plethora of fish-
Agustin and Juana Zarandona Sillonis, Basque
ing opportunities, as well, to his dismay, a pun-
immigrants from Ispaster, Spain. He grew up and
gent odor of onions from time to time. He joined
went to school in the Big Bend area of Adrian,
Oregon. Al was drafted into the Army in 1959 and the Indian Head Fly Fishing club and made great
served in Korea. He was recalled during the Ber- friends. Starting in 2007, he recorded every day
lin Crisis in 1961 and served with an activated he fished and every fish he caught and started
National Guard Unit at Fort Lewis, Washington. including the fishing report in the Christmas let-
Between the Army and the US Forest Service, ter. For those family and friends lucky enough to
Al spent almost 38 years in government service. receive those Christmas letters, the annual fish-
A gypsy at heart, Al, by his choice, moved a lot ing report had become a thing of legend. Since
while working for the Forest Service. On June Al is not with us, the 2022 fishing report will be
5, 1971, Al and Jeannette Miles were married brief. On January 17, the river made the catch of
in Burns, Oregon. Daughter Diana was born in a lifetime.
Al will be dearly missed by his wife of 50 years,
Orofino, Idaho in 1974, followed by daughter Tre-
Jeanette,
daughters Diana and Tresa, sister Ce-
sa in Kalispell, Montana in 1976.
Al enjoyed photography, hunting, skiing, camp- cilia Lodzinski, brother Mateo (Mike) Sillonis,
ing, traveling, picking huckleberries, and bowling extended family members, and friends. He was
among other things. He was an ardent supporter preceded in death by his parents, brother Pedro
of high school athletics. Al was a friend to many (Pete) Sillonis, sister Carmen Eiguren, and infant
and a stranger to none, because he talked to brothers Carlos and Martin. A Celebration of Life
everyone who crossed his path, regardless of will be held at a later date. For those that may
whether they wanted to or not. He was the author wish to make a gesture of remembrance, the
of the coveted Grumpy Al’s I Hate Onions Cook- family requests that you support your local high
book. There is the possibility that his distaste for school booster club or athletic teams.
onions had become more habit than anything
Paid for by the family of Al Sillonis.
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Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
A group of young deer make their way across a fi eld in Summer-
ville on Monday, Jan. 17.
‘Deervid’ non-issue
in Oregon so far
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — The pres-
ence of COVID-19 among the
white-tailed deer population in
Oregon isn’t known, accord-
ing to offi cials with the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life, and it’s unlikely to be a
concern.
Reports of infections run-
ning rampant in the Midwest’s
white-tailed deer population
spurred numerous news outlets
to pen articles trumpeting the
dangers of a COVID-19 reser-
voir in the wildlife population.
The presence of COVID-19 in
deer has been detected in 15
states, including Iowa, Mich-
igan, Illinois and New York,
according to the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture.
Oregon offi cials aren’t too
concerned, however, and said
the probability of infection
among the hoofed ruminant
population was low, and lower
still was the chance the deer
could reinfect humans.
“It’s a low probability,” said
Colin Gillin, state wildlife vet-
erinarian for ODFW. “It’s not
been shown that it’s a threat to
Oregonians.”
Gillin said that due to the
relatively low population of
white-tailed deer in Oregon, as
well as the lack of petting zoos,
research facilities or farms,
meant that the risk of human-
to-deer contact is remote.
In fact, most interactions
between Oregonians and
white-tailed deer generally
involve fi rearms.
If there’s a concern among
hunters, Gillin said, proper san-
itation, vaccinations and mask
wearing can mitigate the risk of
exposure of COVID-19 to the
wildlife population in Oregon,
and to hunters.
The veterinarian also noted
that, in the case of a disease
such as COVID-19, the virus
would change due to absorbing
DNA from the host.
“When a virus goes into a
new host or a new species, it
takes on some of the genetic
material of that species or host
and it changes the virus a bit,”
Gillin said.
Gillin also said that there’s
“not a lot of evidence at this
point that it easily goes into
other species of deer like black-
tail deer, mule deer or elk.”
“It may,” he said, “but so far
there’s been no evidence that it
causes disease in the deer, and
there’s no documented evi-
dence that it comes back out of
the deer so it’s acting like a zoo-
notic disease.”
Deer aren’t the only animals
to have been known to suff er
COVID-19 infections. Early
in the pandemic, mink farms
suff ered tremendous losses as
farms across the world culled
their minks due to the virus
running rampant. Denmark
culled nearly 17 million minks
in November 2020 after it was
found the virus had been trans-
mitted to minks, mutated and
was transmitted back to the
human handlers, according to
reports from NBC news.
But whether or not the virus
will be seen in Oregon’s deer
population remains a mystery.
Offi cials with ODFW aren’t
actively testing or research-
ing the virus in Oregon herds.
But it’s also unlikely infected
deer from the Midwest would
end up in Eastern Oregon,
given that the longest recorded
migration path of a white-tailed
deer is less than 400 miles.
Still, Gillin said the state
is keeping close watch on any
new developments regard-
ing COVID-19 in the wildlife
population.
“There’s quite a few really
good researchers out there
working on this in the Mid-
west. They’re putting a lot of
resources into it, and we’re in
contact with those individu-
als,” Gillin said. “We have our
ear to ground on the topic, but
we’re not engaged in active
research in Oregon because of
the low risk.”
Ralph Palmer
November 11, 1946 ~ December 21, 2021
Ralph Palmer, age 75 of John Day,
Oregon, passed away December 21,
2021 in Beaverton, Oregon after a heart
attack in November 2021.
Ralph Edward Palmer was born on
November 11, 1946 in Hood River, Or-
egon, to Kenneth Allen and Clara Mae
Berry Palmer, both deceased.
Ralph graduated from Kamiakin
High School, Washington, in the Spring
of 1963. Ralph was vice-president of
his senior class, a member of the Na-
tional Honor Society, and participated
and lettered in the athletic programs of
football (wingback two years) and track (sprint relays and 440
yard dash).
He served in the U.S. Navy.
He is survived by one son, two sisters, Wanda Rose McFar-
lane, Barbara Creech (James) and one brother Kenneth Allen
Palmer. He has many cousins living in the Northwest.
In later years Ralph began renting an apartment in John Day
Oregon (2002). He did yard work and maintenance on the apart-
ment complex until his heart attack. He was meticulous in his
work and cared for everything as if it were his own. Ralph was a
quiet, private person and kept his word.
He lived by this scripture, Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord
with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In
all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
He was a simple man with a simple Faith. He lived a quiet,
private life.
Enjoy your home in Heaven, Ralph.
Ralph will be interned at the Willamette National Cemetery,
Portland, Oregon.
S282484-1
Paid for by the friends of Ralph Palmer.
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