A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Tone matters
in debate over
public access
I
n their resignation letter
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Access Advisory Board offered
an unintended irony when they
pressed the County Court to
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While criticizing the Court for
its actions, the letter failed to
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of those very rules with their own
comments in recent meetings
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civility in the road discourse has
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Court played a role in the
eventual meltdown of the access
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for a participatory process
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contentiousness that ensued
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vague purpose, without the Court
providing a detailed charter for
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this group was left largely on its
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It’s no surprise, then, that the
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we suspect those who quit the
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Sproul, then chair of the access
group, to restore the forest
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information only to concerned
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to interested citizens of Grant
County are for information
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duties suggests the separation
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without the constraints of
transparency that go with serving
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the tone of the road discussion
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some social media platforms; a
few of the more strident voices
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and agencies for personal
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apparently reached a point where
demonizing those with different
views is seen as an effective
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We hope that as the discussion
moves forward, the former
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rules they urged on the Court and
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As for the Court, we urge the
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rules of conduct for their own
meetings and to post them clearly,
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L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Kudos to hospitals
To the Editor:
Over the past three months I had
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with the Veterans Administration hospi-
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I was transferred to Blue Mountain
Hospital for follow-up care, and I cannot
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The director of nursing services and
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minutes, additional staff was called in so
the level of care was not decreased, and
those who came in were very willing to
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porting our local hospital in every way
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I hope you don’t need their services
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Eddie Smith
Prairie City
Roads or timber?
To the Editor:
When did we come to the point in
Eastern Oregon that we found our-
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ORRECTIONS
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honored should have included the fol- Court hearing had a typo in the name
The answer lies directly under our
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her granddaughter, Rhonda Millwood,
Errors may be reported to editor@ terested” parties to negotiate projects
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The Grant County Court, as one
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Blue Mountain
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In order for Iron Triangle to move for-
ward with getting its projects complet-
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195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845
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Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
es Council that any interference or
John Day, Oregon
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performing road closures will jeopar-
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
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P UBLISHER Marissa Williams, marissa@bmeagle.com
That is where we have come as a
E DITOR Scotta Callister, editor@bmeagle.com
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A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com
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E DITORIAL A SSISTANT Cheryl Hoefler, cheryl@bmeagle.com
support what we want to do, we’ll
C OMMUNITY N EWS Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
S PORTS Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
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M ARKETING R EP Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
what other choice do these companies
C USTOMER S ERVICE R EP Lindsay Bullock office@bmeagle.com
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PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY:
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EO Media Group
Service simply does not allow the proj-
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access)
1 year
This isn’t just in Grant County; it’s
Grant County
$40.00
throughout
the Eastern Oregon counties
Elsewhere in Oregon
$48.00
and the only way to address it is to tell
Continental U.S., Outside Oregon
$55.00
the commissioners that our motorized
Outside Continental U.S.
$60.00
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Who
stands up and says enough is
See the Blue Mountain Eagle on the Internet
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John D. George
POSTMASTER — send address changes to
Bates
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EAGLE
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
Copyright © 2015 Blue Mountain Eagle
All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced
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A dearth of honor
To the Editor:
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tion, concealment, consorting, and
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other since 1986 after joining the
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ment militia 10 years ago, I felt
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I thought to have found the per-
fect opportunity attempting to right
the wrongs done to the American
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only to find that self-serving inter-
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dishonor, dishonest, (mis)direc-
tion, deception, derision, and de-
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in the political world from all in-
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of time to find the one person in
county law enforcement committed
to serving the interest of the peo-
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are involved in selfish interests
and grandstanding, which elimi-
nates their view of justice and pa-
triotic duty (dishonor); hiding self
advancement and financial gain
(dishonest); leading people to view
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good (deception); scoffing or ig-
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ing to represent the people of this
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I missed (mis)direction which is
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to camouflage the attempt to repre-
sent the people that, to date, local
and federal governments have mis-
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the spoilage within, so in self-in-
terest, I will deny any association
with un-American entities that are
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from the people who paid for it,
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right to freedom of speech which
your attempt at misdirection can’t
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Judy Kerr
Canyon City
Girls take aim
To the Editor:
Grant County often has nearly
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As the visiting coordinator said,
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Daughters of the pioneers, I salute
you!
Katy Nelson
Canyon City
Credit to Cheyne
To the Editor:
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well done for trying to implement a
plan that logs some of the millions of
dead trees over 21 inch DBH on the
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In communities all over Eastern
Oregon the logging of these trees
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There are thousands if not hun-
dreds of thousands of acres of trees
that need this same attention in ev-
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The misuse of our greatest re-
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omy as a whole has depended on
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Instead of commenting nega-
tively on the Draft Environmental
Assessment I urge people to write
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tively on this plan, and hope that
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forests to help school funding, re-
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give our small rural communities
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some much needed attention to our
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Ben Holliday
John Day
Parklike home not
good for deer
To the Editor:
I’m writing this letter to Steve
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his family:
Steve, the 10-year forest initiative
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on, and leaving an area where we
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remaining trees and see nothing we
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ed in to smaller and smaller areas or
forced to retreat to private land and
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far as we are concerned, the loss of
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We need a place to rest and get out
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place to escape hunters during hunt-
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to leave a mosaic pattern of cover
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al would help us immensely, and it
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What has happened to common
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us and the mills need the logs, and
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Dean Elliott
Canyon City
etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity
is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you letters.
Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must be original and
signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for questions. Deadline is 5
p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.