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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2022)
GRANT COUNTY FAIR RESULTS |PAGES A8-A10 Wednesday, August 24, 2022 Rookstool on alert after dog is hurt By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — John Day City Council member Heather Rookstool is watching her back these days fol- lowing a suspected chemical attack on her family dog. Rookstool said the family’s pet bulldog, Zeta, was burned on her belly between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at their resi- dence on Northeast Seventh Avenue across the street from the skate park. Anyone who may have seen some- thing suspicious in the area at that time is asked to call the Grant County Sheriff ’s Offi ce at 541-575-1131. The incident has left Rookstool shaken and wondering why somebody would attack her dog instead of com- ing to her per- sonally and attempting to solve any issues they might have. The inci- dent has also hit her in the pocketbook to the tune of a $425 vet Contributed Photo bill she hadn’t budgeted for. Burn marks are visi- R o o k - ble on Heather Rook- stool said stool’s dog, Zeta, on she can’t say Wednesday, Aug. 10, for sure what 2022. the motiva- tion behind the attack was but the timing is “conve- nient” considering it happened a day after she cast the only vote against putting the pool bond back on the bal- lot in November. Even if politics wasn’t behind the incident, Rookstool said she wants the public to know someone in the com- munity is hurting animals. “Who’s to say it isn’t a random act that happened at my house? It could have been. There have been times in the past where we’ve had dogs poi- soned in Mt. Vernon. There have been things that happen in Grant County in the past that were just random,” she said. The veterinarian who treated Zeta was unable to determine exactly what caused the dog’s burns because of a decision to not perform a skin biopsy on the animal following the attack. Rookstool said that decision was made due to the amount of stress the animal had already endured. Eff orts to identify other possible reasons for the burn marks on Zeta’s stomach began immediately after her condition was discovered, with all but a deliberate attack being essen- tially ruled out. 154th Year • No. 34 • 16 Pages • $1.50 MyEagleNews.com Back to school New faces appear in key positions as students return from summer break Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle Students listen in Christie Winegar’s fi rst-grade class on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Students from Prairie City, Monument, Dayville and Long Creek headed back to school from summer vacation on Monday. Students in the Grant district start class next week. By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle G RANT COUNTY — Summer break is over and that means kids in Grant County are headed back to school. A new year brings new faces as many students around the county return to classes with new superintendents, principals and athletic directors for the 2022- 23 school year. All schools in the county save those in the Grant School District started on Monday, Aug. 22. Schools in the Grant School District begin classes on Monday, Aug. 29. New administrative hires throughout the county include Louis Dix, who takes over as the superintendent of Grant School District. Karen Shelton is now the principal at Grant Union High School after serving as the school’s vice principal last See School, Page A16 See Rookstool, Page A16 Recall drive targets pool supporter By JUSTIN DAVIS and STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle CANYON CITY — A petition to recall John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation District Director Lisa Weigum has been fi led with the Grant County Clerk’s Offi ce. The petition was fi led by Charlene Morris and alleges instances of public meetings law violations, public records law violations, a false election publica- tion and budget law violations. Weigum accused Morris of harassing her and said she has never knowingly or intentionally violated the law. Morris alleges that Weigum, in her role as a board member of the John Day/ Canyon City Parks and Recreation Dis- trict, violated Oregon revised statutes 192.620 to 192.670 by communicating via email with fellow board members in drafting the language for the pool bond measure that appeared on the May bal- lot. The statutes cover Oregon meetings law pertaining to regu- lar meetings, execu- tive sessions, public notices, minutes, the form of the agenda Morris and meetings con- ducted via telephone or email. At a joint meet- ing of the John Day City Council and the JDCC Parks and Rec District board on Feb. 22, Weigum stated Weigum that the board had dis- cussed the ballot measure language via email. While Oregon law allows for public bodies such as the parks and rec board to meet and deliberate electronically, it also requires that the public be able to moni- tor that electronic communication as it’s happening. Contributed Image This conceptual drawing shows what the proposed aquatic center would look like from the front. Jack Orchard, a Portland attorney who specializes in public records and public meetings law, said any discussion of the language for the pool bond should have been held in a public meeting that followed all the standard procedures the law requires. “The discussion of the bond mea- sure in any form was a public meeting matter,” he said. “It needed to be agen- daed, discussed at an open session with minutes kept. Notice of the meeting See Recall, Page A16
