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.
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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