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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2015)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2015 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion — Editorial — For our teens Over the last week, both the benefi ts and potential drawbacks of media involve- ment came to light in a singular story— that of a missing teenager from Baker City. This was a situation in which local media of all types had a chance to spread the word in order to help bring someone’s child back to safety. Our job, in our view at least, was to report that he was missing, give details that would assist in his being located, and then report again when he was found. Past that, we have no desire to work on a follow-up article. Some details, which are clearly complex here, aren’t for public consumption and should remain within the teen’s family to work through. Mostly, there are things we wish we could say to this young man—or to any teenager going through a tough time for that matter. So here it goes: Dear Teenager, We wish we could get across to you just how precious your life is. When you become a parent, you’ll probably realize it profoundly and immediately, but right now you might just have to take our word for it. Across all this world, there isn’t an- other single person alive exactly like you. There’s no one else who was born with the same eyes, the same hair, the same laugh, the same voice. There’s no one who was given the same interests or abilities. God put into you a one-in-a-zillion set of gifts entrusted only to you. Run with them. Use them brilliantly. We hope you know that whatever hap- pens in life, most bad things pass. The ones that don’t pass? Well, you’ll be strong enough to get through those, too. We’ve been around a lot, lot longer than you, and our perspective is different. Even when life seems overwhelming, there are always brighter times ahead, and in those brighter times you’ll eventually be able to see why you went through the bad times. It’ll all make sense if you hang in there. Please know that even if your situa- tion made the media and a lot of people heard about it, most will forget. Faster than you’d guess, too. So don’t walk around fearing that people are wondering if you’re that guy from that story. Most aren’t wondering anything past what they’ll make for dinner. Life is one long series of decisions— one after the next, after the next. Make good ones. Why? Because as a general rule, good decisions will draw good into your life and bad decisions will draw the bad. It sounds simplistic, but it’s true. Manage your life deliberately, and realize each decision is part of that management. Stop and think. Is your decision illegal, immoral or unethical? If it is, change it. Surround yourself with decent people. By decent, we mean people who won’t try to push you into bad decisions. You know, the illegal, immoral, unethical kind. Good people will help you make good decisions that will draw good into your life. Don’t fi ll your life with “friends” who don’t help you accomplish that. They just take up all the room for the decent ones who would. And fi nally, we wish you knew that when times get rough, there are people all around you who would help you if you ask. You’d be surprised how many. — Guest Opinion — Labor crisis at ports affects agriculture By U.S. Rep. Greg Walden For the past nine months, operators and workers at the Port of Portland and 28 other West Coast ports have been locked in bitter negotiations over a collective bargaining agree- ment. Like pebbles thrown into a pond, the slowdowns and delays caused by the dispute have had a ripple effect throughout Oregon’s economy. Crops are sitting, rotting on the docks. Trucks sit idle at the ports. Prices of commodities are plummet- ing. Farmers are losing their custom- ers and communities are losing their livelihoods. And negotiations are still at an impasse after nine months, despite the involvement of a federal media- tor. The situation will only get worse. Since growers cannot reliably export their products, foreign customers have been forced to go elsewhere and may never come back. Onion growers in Malheur County —The Baker County Press Editorial Board (whom I met with this week) are shipping at less than their production costs, if they are able to ship at all For the record, the counties do not due to a backup on the railways. Pear “lose their seat at the table” if they refuse growers in the Columbia Gorge are to sign the MOU accepting cooperat- seeing shipments of perishable fruit ing agency status with the forest service. delayed by over a month, degrad- This narrative has been passed around by ing the value of the product. Cherry county offi cials far too long. What it does require is elected offi cials doing their jobs growers have lost thousands of dol- and being held personally accountable for lars due to the disruption, and Or- their actions. Instead of giving themselves egon’s potato farmers have seen their political cover when they sell our access sales decline 15 percent. Manufac- down the river. turers and transportation companies One county has shown personal integrity are also reporting a heavy reduction to protect its residents to see a forest plan in sales, reverberating throughout revision developed that protects the qual- Oregon’s economy. ity of life for all their residents, not just Nationally, agriculture exports the few infl uential companies that benefi t from the “go along to get along” mental- have been reduced by $1.75 billion ity, and that is Baker County. every month because of the labor Integrity isn’t about doing what is easy, slowdown. At the Port of Portland, or personally advantageous. Integrity is Oregon’s largest port, 95 percent of standing behind the words you say and shipments are being delayed, with doing what is right. That seems to be sorely missing from a great deal of elected delays averaging four to six weeks. — Letters to the Editor — About Intregrity To the Editor: Integrity - “An adherence to moral principles, honesty.” Where has that gone, and why can’t we fi nd it in the discussion on the motorized access restrictions to The Blue Mountains. Some work in shades of gray, elected to positions they feel they need to protect to continue their paychecks and their posi- tions of power. Some work in backdoor deals to protect their business venture to access resources they need to keep themselves afl oat. Some work in “partner- ship” with groups that strive to see general motorized use removed from the forest under some moral calling of protectionist dogma that infl ates their egos and swells their pocketbooks with lawyer fees. When companies begin to state “why does the public need to be there” and civil servants tell business’s that ‘any interference or preventing the Forest performing road closures will jeopardize timber outputs on the Forest,” we see the lack of Integ- rity from both elected offi cials and civil servants alike. The offi cials and civil servants nowadays. John George Bates Baker County Press Subscribe Today! Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County Press reserves the right not to pub- lish letters containing factual falsehoods or incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or detracting from specifi c for-profi t business- es will not be published. Word limit is 375 words per letter. Letters are limited to one every other week per author. Letters should be submitted to Editor@TheBakerCounty- Press.com. Advertising and Opinion Page Dis- claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest Submitted Photo Greg Walden represents Oregon’s Second Congressional District, which covers 20 counties in south- ern, central, and eastern Oregon. On top of that, the Port’s largest car- rier, Hanjin, announced recently they are cancelling service to Portland, a double whammy for Oregon agricul- ture and other industries. Enough is enough. It’s time to end this crisis. I’ve teamed up with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to introduce a resolution calling on both sides to swiftly reach an agreement. It’s time they get their work done before more people suffer. And we’re calling on the President to get involved too. A similar situa- tion in 2002 was only ended when the President got involved to end a lock out. While it is encouraging that President Obama has sent a member of the cabinet to help mediate the dispute, he must do more to publicly urge both sides to end this confl ict as soon as possible. And if the situation should move into a strike or lock- out, he should immediately use the legal authority Congress has granted him to settle the dispute and end this crisis. More than one in fi ve Oregon jobs depend on trade. And 40 percent of our agriculture products are shipped internationally, according to the Oregon Farm Bureau. The labor dis- pute at West Coast ports has already harmed our fragile economy, and it will only get worse if not resolved. It’s time to end this crisis and get Or- egon products—and our economy— moving again. Opinions or Letters to the Editor express the opinions of their authors, and have not been authored by and are not necessarily the opinions of The Baker County Press, any of our staff, management, independent contractors or affi liates. Advertisements placed by political groups, candidates, businesses, etc., are printed as a paid service, which does not constitute an endorsement of or fulfi llment obligation by this newspaper for the products or services advertised. — Contact Us — Name: The Baker County Press Address: PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 City, State, Zip: Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails Offi ce location: TBA Email address: Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com Phone: E-Only $29.95/yr. Print (Delivery) $39.95/yr. Inside Baker City City Limits Only Print (Mail) $49.95/yr. Outside Baker City City Limits Only 1. Make check payable to: Black Lyon Publishing, LLC 2. Mail the check with this completed form to: PO Box 567, Baker City, Ore. 97814 To pay by credit card, please visit www.Th eBakerCountyPress.com Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com Published weekly every Friday. Subscription rates per year are $29.95 all areas, e-mail delivery. $39.95 print issue, home delivery, Baker City city limits only. $49.95 print issue, mail delivery, outside Baker City city limits only. Payment in advance. A division of Black Lyon Publishing, LLC Copyright © 2014 YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS President Barack Obama 202.456.1414 202.456.2461 fax Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov US Rep. Greg Walden 541.624.2400 541.624.2402 fax Walden.House.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 503.378.3111 Governor.Oregon.gov State Rep. Cliff Bentz 503.986.1460 State Sen. Ted Ferrioli 541.490.6528 Baker County Commissioners Bill Harvey; Mark Bennett; Tim Kerns 541.523.8200 541.523.8201
