GO! EASTERN OREGON MAGAZINE | INSIDE
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‘French
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PAG E 6
APRI L 6–13
, 2022
WWW .GOE
ASTE RNO REGO
Experience
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Listen
Tunesm
Night ith
PAG E 14
N.CO M
MA T TIEL
page 8
makes a concer
in BAKER C t stop
ITY
Mattiel/Contri
buted imag
This artwork
e
graces the
newest album
cover of Matt
iel’s
,
April 13, 2022 Georgia Gothic. The
band plays
, at Churchill
School in Bake
r City.
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
154th Year • No. 14 • 18 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
RISING
TO THE CHALLENGE
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Corum Ketchum has been hired to fi ll the newly created position
of community development director for John Day.
John Day hires
project director
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — When
Corum Ketchum was study-
ing community development
in college, his mentor, Joe
Marushack, told him to “fi nd
communities where awe-
some happens.” That mind-
set has led Ketchum to John
Day.
Ketchum was hired to fi ll
the newly created position
of community development
director. He started his duties
remotely on March 8 and has
since relocated to the area.
The University of Oregon
graduate brings consider-
able knowledge and experi-
ence to John Day as he takes
over the role of community
development director for the
city’s various grant-funded
projects.
City Manager Nick Green
says discussions regarding the
need for the position started
several years ago as the num-
ber of projects increased.
Green said the city can get the
funds for these projects but
“you still need somebody to
do the work” of implement-
ing them.
Ketchum’s duties will
include interfacing with the
public about ongoing projects
and explaining why the city is
undertaking those projects as
well as getting feedback from
the community.
Overseeing Main Street
revitalization eff orts, parks
development, the Kam Wah
Chung infrastructure improve-
ments, the aquatic center
buildout (if approved by vot-
ers) and coordinating with
the Ford Family Foundation’s
Grow Rural Oregon program
are all things that Ketchum
will be tackling as community
development director.
Ketchum says the variety
of projects the city is currently
undertaking is what brought
him to John Day.
The 29-year-old already
has two years of rural com-
munity development work
under his belt, using rural
community growth strategies
much like those proposed for
John Day in the rural town of
Veneta, west of Eugene. He
also has community develop-
ment experience in the Salem
suburb of Dallas.
Ketchum says he wants
the community to know he’s
“here to help” and that he has
experience working in rural
communities.
Green says there were sev-
eral qualifi ed applicants when
the position of John Day com-
munity development direc-
tor needed to be fi lled, but
Ketchum’s experience and
education in community
development set him apart
from all the other candidates
for the position.
The job pays $64,620 per
year, half of which will be
funded by the Ford Foun-
dation’s Grow Rural Ore-
gon program for a fi ve-year
span. Green says that deal was
“hard to pass up” consider-
ing the community has a gen-
uine need for the position and
would only be paying half the
cost to fi ll it. Green says he
was doing much of the work
Ketchum is slated to under-
take and hopes that the hire
takes a lot of things off of his
plate.
Green also expects the
position of community devel-
opment director to continue to
be fi lled after the Ford Foun-
dation’s GRO funding for the
position expires in fi ve years.
“I don’t see the projects
stopping,” Green said. “I think
the position will continue and
the need for the position will
continue.”
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Trooper William Blood stands beside his patrol car on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The Oregon State Police recognized Blood for
helping a busload of stranded teenagers in Prairie City.
State trooper comes to the rescue
with pizza for hungry high-schoolers
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
P
RAIRIE CITY — A bro-
ken-down school bus, hun-
gry teenagers and a con-
cerned Oregon State Police
trooper all crossed paths on
the night of Feb. 11, and the outcome
was a win for all concerned.
Trooper William Blood, working
out of OSP’s John Day outpost, was on
patrol that Friday when he came across
a disabled Union High School bus on
the side of Highway 26 in Prairie City
and approached to check on the occu-
pants, who turned out to be the school’s
boys and girls basketball teams.
The engine was still running, so the
bus had heat, but Blood learned the
basketball players would be stuck in
the area for some time as their replace-
ment bus made its way to their location
from Union. He also learned the kids
riding the bus were hungry and that no
restaurants or convenience stores were
open in the immediate area.
Blood then drove the 13 miles to
John Day and found lights on in The
Outpost restaurant, but the establishment
was closed. But he saw a woman work-
ing inside and knocked on the door.
After he explained the situation, the
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
The Oregon State Police challenge coins awarded to Trooper William Blood.
woman agreed to turn the ovens back
on and make fi ve large pizzas for the
stranded kids. Blood paid for the piz-
zas — two pepperonis, one Hawaiian,
a meat lover’s and a combo — out of
his own pocket and delivered the food
to the hungry kids back in Prairie City.
Blood has worked in law enforce-
ment for 20 years. His fi rst posting
was as a police offi cer in Cornelius,
southwest of Portland, in 2002. From
there, he made his way to the Hillsboro
Police Department in late 2009. In
November of 2018 Blood was hired by
the Oregon State Police, and he’s been
stationed in John Day since early 2019.
Blood has a son on the John Day
basketball team, and on Feb. 11 he
combined all of his breaks for the day
into one in order to go watch him play
against the Union team that evening.
Following the game, Blood returned to
work and spotted the broken-down bus
while on patrol in Prairie City.
See Challenge, Page A18
County opens 2022-23 budget process
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
CANYON CITY — The Grant
County Budget Committee met on
Monday, April 4, to start the process
of creating a budget for the 2022-23
fi scal year.
County Treasurer Julie Ellison is
proposing a balanced budget of just
under $93.7 million, up about $6.2
million from $87.4 million in the
current fi scal year. The budget proj-
ects a county work force of 83.58
full-time-equivalent employees, up
from 80.74 FTE in 2021-22.
Ellison’s fi nancial plan will be
evaluated and discussed in detail by
the budget committee, which consists
of the three Grant County Court mem-
bers and three citizens. Ultimately, the
committee will make a fi nal budget
proposal which must then be approved
Blue Mountain Eagle, File
The Grant County Budget Committee has begun meeting to determine the coun-
ty’s budget for 2022-23.
by the court.
While Monday’s discussion did not
include the topic of law enforcement
funding, the issue loomed large none-
theless as the county’s draft budget
included a $300,000 contribution from
John Day to cover the cost of bring-
ing on three more patrol deputies to
the Grant County Sheriff ’s Offi ce —
despite the John Day City Council’s
earlier rejection of the county’s fee-
for-service proposal.
Ellison said she had been told that
the county could use $700,000 in fed-
eral COVID-19 relief funding should
city and county offi cials not reach an
agreement before the budget commit-
tee fi nishes its work, which must be
completed before the end of the fi s-
cal year on June 30. According to
County Commissioner Jim Hamsher,
federal dollars from the American
Rescue Plan Act can be used for law
enforcement.
However, ahead of Monday’s
meeting Hamsher said he would rather
the county present a counteroff er to
the city that is similar to Prairie City’s
agreement with the Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
See Budget, Page A18