I hope you all had a great Fourth of July. I spent much of the holiday in Dayville, where the community put on a terrific Independence Day celebration. I had a great time watching the parade, checking out the car show, watching the goat-roping and chatting with the folks I met, from local business owners to retired teachers to out-of-town visitors and even some friends from John Day I bumped into. I had a delicious Jake Burger (free this year in honor of the new fire hall) and sampled a fine homemade IPA. I’m sure you could find bigger Fourth of July celebrations in bigger cities, but none more heartfelt, genuine and downright enjoyable than what’s available in small Grant County communities like Dayville.

Don’t forget our community open house coming up on Wednesday, July 19, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Blue Mountain Eagle office, 195 N. Canyon Blvd. in John Day.  Come check out our remodeled digs, meet the people who produce your newspaper every week and join us for hamburgers, hot dogs and cold drinks. We hope to see you there!

In case you missed last week’s edition, we had stories on a plea deal in the Brandon McKrola rape case, the roster of Grant Union/Prairie City players who made the all-state softball team, the post-fire renovation of 1188 Brewing Co., a pair of women who bring higher education services to Grant County and the final installment in the Bobbie Kolada series.

Coming up this week, look for our coverage of local Fourth of July festivities as well as stories on new rules at Grant County subsidized housing complexes, summertime road repair projects in the area and a Mt. Vernon rodeo queen competing for a national title.

If you’d like to help support our independent local journalism, please consider subscribing to the newspaper. And if you’re already a subscriber, please accept our heartfelt thanks — we can’t do this work without you!

— Bennett Hall, Editor