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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2020)
Opinion 4A Saturday, August 22, 2020 Other Views A community with no local newspaper? That’s bad news hat would my town be without a newspaper? If you haven’t asked yourself that question, perhaps it is time to consider just what the newspaper means to this community. Because the doleful fact is, too many small towns and mid-sized cities are losing their newspapers right now. An extensive study from the Univer- sity of North Car- DEAN RIDINGS olina released in CEO, AMERICA’S January found by NEWSPAPERS last year, 2,100 newspapers had disappeared, or almost 25% of the 9,000 newspapers published in 2004. That translates to 1,800 communities that 15 years ago had their own newspapers that now have no original local reporting, either in print or digital. Note this report was released just weeks before the coro- navirus pandemic swept up newspapers in the same finan- cial catastrophe that’s devastated businesses of all types and sizes and thrown millions out of their jobs and households into terrifying economic uncertainty. What does a community lose when it loses its newspapers? The most obvious is the community’s access to news about itself: the workings of its town hall; information about taxes and property values; the operation of schools for its children; the achievements, or the criminal activities, of local residents; the scores of local ball teams; schedules and reviews of movies, concerts and restaurants; and the offer- ings of local small businesses. During this pandemic and in spite of their deep financial troubles, newspapers continue to provide the unique local news and information about COVID-19 — from testing spots to restrictions and openings to dining options — unavailable from any other source. But the less obvious losses when a newspaper disappears may be the most devastating to a community. Researchers in 2018 found when a local newspaper closes, municipal borrowing costs — and therefore resi- dents’ taxes — go up. Losing a paper, the study said, creates a “local information vacuum.” It turns out lenders depend on local reporting to judge the value of government projects — and the officials in charge of them. Without that infor- mation, lenders tend to charge higher rates. Communities without newspapers also are more likely to be victims of corruption petty and grand, local incidents the national media will never uncover. The most glaring example comes from the small California city of Bell, where — without the eyes of a local newspaper on them — the city council engineered passage of a virtually unnoticed referendum to get around a new state law capping council member salaries. Within five years, council members were taking home a cool $100,000, the police chief was being paid $450,000 — and the city manager of this municipality of just 37,000 souls was making nearly $800,000. Losing a local newspaper, another study found, also can lead to more political polarization — something no commu- nity, nor our nation, needs now. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to avoid becoming another “news desert.” For one thing— subscribe. But there also is pending bipartisan legislation that deserves your support. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act (H.R. 7640) provides for tax credits that support the three pillars of trusted, fair and accurate journalism: people who subscribe to newspapers or other local media; busi- nesses that advertise in local newspapers; and newspapers that staff their newsrooms with journalists who cover the community. The tax credits aren’t permanent and sunset after five years. In a nutshell, this bill would provide every taxpayer tax credits up to $250 a year to spend on subscriptions to qual- ified local newspapers. It would give businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees tax credits of up to $5,000 the first year and up to $2,500 for the next four years for advertising in local newspapers or local media. And it would give local newspapers a tax credit of 80% of its compensation to jour- nalists in the first year and 50% for the next four years. This legislation provides a lifeline for everyone affected by the pandemic: local readers, local businesses, local news providers. Asking your legislators in Washington to support the Local Journalism Sustainability Act is a simple step you can take to help your community from becoming yet another news desert. Just go to www.usa.gov/elected-offi- cials for contact information for your legislators. Your right to fair and trusted local news and information is worth the effort. ——— Dean Ridings is CEO of America’s Newspapers, an alli- ance of local newspapers and related establishments com- mitted to explaining, defending and advancing the vital role of newspapers in democracy and civil life. W Other Views Working to stop B2H power line ug. 27 is the deadline for contesting Idaho Pow- er’s proposed but unneeded power line through Union County and Eastern Oregon. For anyone who believes that Idaho Power’s A WHIT DESCHNER BAKER CITY Boardman to Hemingway Transmis- sion line will provide more benefit than damage — forget it. Presently Idaho Power is polishing up their 700-plus page application for their permit from the Oregon Department of Energy. However, contrary to their PR about being a down-home honest corporation, their track record of misinformation remains on course. Here are some — just a few of many — items that Idaho Power is trying to slip by and hide unnoticed in their permit application. The transmission line would run 305 miles through Eastern Oregon, and Idaho Power proposes to weasel out of responsibility for wildfires they start during construction or from downed lines. Local volun- teer fire departments will carry the burden of fire containment. In other words, they can start a fire like the one that burned up Paradise and kill 80-some people but won’t be responsible. Where the power lines cross pri- vate lands, access roads used for building and maintaining the power lines may be gated and locked, denying public access. Road building will be allowed within 25 feet of streams, meaning the current laws protecting streams and rivers in Oregon are worthless. We are let- ting an out-of-state corporation run roughshod over regulations made to protect us and our environment. ODOE plans to allow Idaho Power’s power line to exceed the World Health Organization’s rec- ommended decibel level and Idaho Power is fudging its numbers, meaning it does not know either because of incompetence or the company does know and is pulling the wool over our ears. ODOE requires a bond to restore the land in case Idaho Power quits the project or goes bankrupt. ODOE is allowing a bond amount of $1 good for 50 years. What is the pur- pose of a buck bond if it doesn’t protect the citizens it is there for? Who is ODOE working for? This is the iceberg’s tip. What other stop-at-nothing tactics Idaho Power has hidden in this application is anyone’s guess. ODOE can’t tell us nor does it appear they plan to. Unfortunately, public input for this near-final round is closed but not for our public representatives. La Grande-bred Stop B2H is fighting an entire stable of corpo- rate law-trained Goliaths. But where are the rest of our representatives to stop this debacle? Don’t let Idaho Power ruin Eastern Oregon. Gov- ernment agencies such as ODOE are there to protect the public, not to help out-of-state for-profit corpora- tions invade and erode the standards of our rural endangered lifestyle. It’s way overdue for other represen- tatives to kick in for what they were elected and/or hired to do: Repre- sent the people. Stop B2H. ——— Whit Deschner has lived in Baker County for the last 38 years and is the instigator of The Great Salt Lick, a fundraiser for Parkinson’s research in Baker City for the past 13 years. Contact your public officials President Donald Trump: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Wash- ington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414; fax 202- 456-2461; to send comments, go to www. whitehouse.gov/contact. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C. office: 313 Hart Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., 20510; 202- 224-3753; fax 202-228-3997. Portland office: One World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St. Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; 503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900. Pendleton office: 310 S.E. Second St. Suite 105, Pendleton 97801; 541-278- 1129; merkley.senate.gov. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office: 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Wash- ington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-5244; fax 202- 228-2717. La Grande office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-0885; wyden.senate.gov. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd District): D.C. office: 2182 Rayburn Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515, 202-225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. La Grande office: 1211 Washington Ave., La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400, fax, 541-624-2402; walden. house.gov. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov. Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read: oregon.treasurer@ost.state.or.us; 350 Winter St. N.E., Suite 100, Salem OR 97301-3896; 503-378-4000. Oregon Attorney General Ellen F. Rosenblum: Justice Building, Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400. State Sen. William S. Hansell (29th District/Athena): Salem office: 900 Court St. N.E., S-423, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986- 1729. Website: www.oregonlegislature.gov/ hansell. Email: sen.billhansell@oregonleg- islature. gov. State Rep. Greg Barreto (58th District/Cove): Salem office: 900 Court St. N.E., H-384, Salem, OR 97301; 503-986- 1458. Website: www.oregonlegislature.gov/ barreto. Email: rep.gregbarreto@oregon- legislature.gov. State Rep. Greg Smith (57th Dis- trict/Heppner): Salem office: 900 Court St. N.E., H-482, Salem, OR, 97301; 503-986- 1457. Heppner office: P.O. Box 219, Heppner, OR 97836; 541-676-5154; Website: www. oregonlegislature.gov/smithg. Email: rep. gregsmith@oregonlegislature.gov. Oregon Legislature: Legislative docu- ments and information are available online at www.leg.state.or.us. City of La Grande: Mayor Steve Clem- ents, City Manager Robert Strope; P.O. Box 670, La Grande, OR 97850; 541-962-1309; fax 541-963-3333. Union County Commissioners: Donna Beverage, Matt Scarfo and Paul An- deres; 1106 K Ave., La Grande, OR 97850; 541-963-1001; fax 541-963-1079. Wallowa County Commissioners: John Hillock,Todd Nash and Susan Rob- erts; 101 S. River St., Room 202, Enterprise, OR 97828; 541-426-4543, ext. 11. Elgin City Council: Mayor Allan Duffy, 501 N. 11th St., 541-437-1016, mayor@city- ofelginor.org; Mary West, 260 N. 5th Ave., 541-805-0443, councilor3@cityofelginor. org; Kathy Warren, P.O. Box 697, 541-786- 9611, councilor6@cityofelginor.org; Risa Hallgarth, P.O. Box 525, 541-437-9462, coun- cilor2@cityofelginor.org; Rocky Burgess, 800 N. 14th St., P.O. Box 854, 541-786-2417, councilor1@cityofelginor.org; David Reed, 1011 Detroit St., P.O. Box 368; 541-975-3306, councilor4@cityofelginor.org; Ryan Martin, councilor5@cityofelginor.org. La Grande City Council: Mayor Steve Clements, Gary Lillard, Nicole Howard, Corrine Dutto, Mary Ann Miesner, Justin Rock; through the city manager’s office, 541-962-1309.
