FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2016 4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS Opinion / Local — Letters to the Editor — Obama paid off terrorists To the Editor: I’m not one to keep quiet when I see gross negligence, lack of judgment and just plain stupidity on the part of those who took an oath the “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution of the United States. The move this past week will af- fect our history for decades to come. Our “Fearless Leader” in the “People’s House” has done what amounts to irreparable damage to national security. National policy is to not pay ransom to rogue countries, we do exchange prison- ers. That’s fine! The problem facing us now is that a precedent has been set, and it is the wrong precedent. We just paid $400 million to a State sponsor of terror for the release of political prisoners they were holding. Included in this scenario are the facts that the funds were in unmarked, untraceable foreign currency, delivered in an un- marked jet, in the middle of the night and the plane that was to carry the prisoners to freedom was held for four hours on the tarmac to await the arrival of another air- plane. This information came from, Saeed Abedini, one of the released prisoners. So now, despite the denials from Presi- dent Obama, it was a nefarious deal. Now his Legacy will be the nuclear Armaged- don to come via Iran. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the future of our children and grandchildren. If we do not change the direction our country is headed, then Hillary will con- tinue upon this path of mutual destruction, which has been the goal of her Socialist agenda for decades. Our generation is go- ing to be the last one to taste freedom, and I do not want to leave that legacy to my families to come. Peggie Longwell Baker City Meeting to fight war on parents of meth addicts To the Editor: I have reserved a room at the library from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. On August 12th to see if something can’t be done about the war on parents of meth addicts. I lost a son to suicide because of the devil drug and have a daughter at Coffee Creek. Both became addicts in their teenage years. My ex-wife Jorja and I have learned a lot over the last decade or so from being on the front lines of drug epidemic. One thing is clear, our so-called war on drugs isn’t working. Ask any law enforce- ment officer, a prosecutor, a defense attor- ney, sheriff, or mental health professional. Watch the jail roster. The same individuals show up time and again. We are becom- ing a nation of grandparent parents and time moves on. You look at the future and wonder how the hell are you going to raise a teenager when you are approaching 80. Those who have been abused by the prison industry with exorbitant phone call rates, complex visitation rules and fees and fines imposed by get tough on crime legislators that have to be paid by parents trying get an addict back on their feet will know exactly what I’m talking about. “Leadership” seems to be clueless about what it means to be a parent victim of the meth/ heroin epidemic. It’s time to ex- plore legislation and also time to consider some legal action, possibly class action, against the state and federal government. I’m not a public speaker. It might be best that children don’t attend but I do invite law enforcement, lawyers and the public and addicts who have fought the battle. I’ve had enough. If you have too let’s start leading the leaders. Steve Culley Baker City Rail Fire tops 11,500 acres outside Unity The Rail Fire started Sunday afternoon, July 31, approximately five miles west of Unity, Or- egon. Northwest Incident Management Team Twelve (NWIMT#12) assumed command of the fire at 6:00 a.m. Monday, August 1. The fire area received light to moderate precipita- tion Tuesday. This gave firefighters an opportu- nity to continue building contingency lines. Recent efforts have focused on completing containment lines and preparing for necessary burning op- erations, so containment figures have changed little. Fuel breaks have been completed along road- sides and in strategic areas where containment can be safely achieved. While the fire continues to burn well within established contin- gency lines, it is burning in steep inaccessible terrain where direct engagement would pose unnecessary risk to firefighters. Once the limited burning opera- tions begin, containment figures will reflect not only the effects of those actions, but also the significant efforts invested in prepar- ing the containment lines. These tactics are consistent with the fire management objectives of limiting risk to firefighters, while also preventing further spread onto private and public lands. Containment is at just 10% with about 11,550 burned. 768 people, 25 crews, 10 dozers, 30 en- gines, 19 water tenders and 7 helicopters are assigned to the fire. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Baker County Sheriff’s Department and Emer- gency Services and local residents are involved. Trauma workshop planned A free workshop is planned at Commu- nity Connection of Baker County, 2810 Cedar St., Baker City, Wednesday, August 24, 2016, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Handling strong emo- tions surrounding past experiences is difficult. A free workshop will be held at the Community Con- nection to introduce you to another tool to assist in dealing with these emo- tions. “We all have traumatic events in our past,” said George Wheaton, the fa- cilitator for this workshop. “These memories can, in some cases, be very limit- ing in our lives, preventing us from achieving all we would wish to accom- plish.” “PTSD is frequently talked about with our veterans returning from combat missions, but life itself can be a combat mis- sion leaving scars in all our lives,” said Mr. Wheaton. Such things as: the death of a parent, child, or other loved one, divorce, whether as a spouse or a child of di- vorce, the process of aging and feeling alone, an embarrassing event at work or school, being abused, physically or emotionally, can all leave deep emotion- al scars which sometimes we have even completely blocked out of our con- sciousness. This workshop on En- ergy Medicine will explore how this field of medicine has helped individuals Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker County Press reserves the right not to publish letters containing factu- al falsehoods or incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or detracting from specific for-profit businesses 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@TheBakerCountyPress. com. Advertising and Opinion Page Disclaimer: Opinions submitted as Guest Opinions or Letters to relieve emotional traumas from their past. You will also look at how physical problems are sometimes exacerbated by these old emotions and can be re- lieved through the applica- tion of Energy Medicine. According to Wheaton, this is something we can all do for ourselves once we have learned the tech- niques he will be teaching during this workshop. A recent arrival in Baker City, Wheaton has been a student of personal growth and interpersonal relationships since the’s. He has extensive training in psychology, including training as a facilitator in Transactional Analysis and as a practitioner of the Emotional Freedom Tech- nique (EFT) also know as Tapping. 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 affiliates. Advertisements placed by political groups, candidates, businesses, etc., are printed as a paid service, which does not constitute an endorsement of or fulfillment ob- ligation by this newspaper for the products or services advertised. Shriners weekend CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ... and the Shrine Steer (the groups have donated the steer every year to be auctioned off, since the first Shrine Game, and have raised more than a quarter million dollars for the Shriner’s Hospital); East-West past Shrine Game players; Baker County Shrine Club; Al Kader Shriners Motor Escort Unit; Al Kader Pa- trol Unit Color Guard; Al Kader Shriners, of Wilson- ville; Shurtah Club, active and retired law enforce- ment officers; Al Kader Desert Patrol; Central Oregon Shrine Club; Al Kader Patrol’s World War II vintage jeep and people hauler; Nydia Daughter of the Nile Queen Sharon Kelly; nationally famous, award-winning Al Kader Oriental Band; Kader Klowns; Calliope Corps, with the Al Kader Cal- liope, a unique musical instrument, hand-built in 1923, pulled by a minia- ture locomotive, built on a 1990 Jeep Wrangler frame; Al Kader Hospital Support Club, one of the Shriners’s newest clubs; Lincoln County Shrine Club Renegades; Snake River Shrine Club; Al Kader Shrine Club, of Pendleton; Klamath Falls Shrine Club; Hillah Shrine Club; Hillah Shrine Oriental Band; El Korah Shriners; El Korah Sand Duners; El Korah Cameleers; El Korah Daughters of the Nile Iras Temple #40; El Korah La- dies Oriental Shrine; Order of the Eastern Star Grand Grand Chapter of Oregon; Daughters of the Nile Roy- alty, including Queen Pam Thomas, Princess Royal Jenny Isserman, Princess Jackie Holloway, and Princess Badaura Carol McGinnis; Haines Stam- pede Rodeo Court Princess Kachira Phillips (Queen is Delaney Van Arsdall); Haines Stamped Demo- lition Derby; Elkhorn Archers; Blue Mountain Community College; Bak- er County Sheriff Travis Ash; Forest Green; Haines Fire Protection District; American Legion Auxil- iary; B&K Recycling and Pipe Supply; and Baker County 911 Dispatch. Burrows issued the following statement, in appreciation of the efforts of Rose: “On behalf of the Baker County Shrine Club, I would like to acknowl- edge the generosity of Mr. Damon Rose, owner of Marilyn’s Music Plus, for his gracious help in setting up and allowing the club to use a sound system, for me to announce the parade last Saturday. We Shriners like to have fun (no kidding!), while helping children, like Chelsea Thompson and her family, of North Powder. Chelsea lost part of her right leg in an accident recently. This charitable work is our mission, and folks like Mr. Rose help the Shriners to carry out that mission. We like to think that we help our re- spective communities with our charitable work, and Mr. Rose, who obviously shares our values, helps make our work possible. It’s a wonderful thing, and what small town America is all about. Thank you, Mr. Rose, for your charity and generosity, in helping ‘get the word out,’ and in making the whole day’s events of parade and foot- ball game a big success.” The BCLA and the BCC spearheaded an even more successful Gridiron Tailgate & Grill (this was its second year), at Geiser Pollman Park, serving lunch from noon on. BCLA President Jake Bingham, BCLA Trea- surer Martin Arritola, and Grumpy’s Auto Repair owner J.R. Streifel manned the grill, barbecuing choice tri-tip, that was marinated in a “secret recipe,” Ar- ritola said. This fundraiser included either sliced strips of the tri-tip or a hot dog, and veggies, salad, and chips. The tri-tip lunch sold for $10, and the hot dog lunch sold for $5. Bingham said it was a more successful event this year, as he noted that it was easier to get more customers, since the venue had changed (last year, the event was held in a vacant lot on 10th Street). As part of the fundraising events, there was both a si- lent auction and a live auc- tion held, and the live auc- tion included two footballs, one signed by members of the East squad, and the other signed by members of the West squad. Baker City Manager Fred Warner, Jr. acted as auctioneer, and Jack Applegate had the high bid of $500 for the West football, and Tom Hafter took home the win- ning East-side’s football, with the high bid of $300. Terri Siddoway and her son, Matt, were at the park with the Shrine Steer, that Matt raised, to be auc- tioned off during half time of the East-West football game. The steer weighed between 1,400 and 1,500 pounds at the time, said Terri, and the auction has always been a successful event, with bidders pur- chasing the steer, donating, and then re-auctioning the animal, raising thousands of dollars—over $20,000 last year. 2nd annual teen wellness event ahead Baker County com- munity organizations and healthcare providers will be holding the 2nd Annual Wellness Event to address the health needs of adoles- cents. Although this compre- hensive wellness check will serve as a sports physical, this event is not limited to athletes. In ad- dition, there will be no out of pocket costs for these visits, so we encourage all incoming Juniors to par- ticipate and take advantage of this great opportunity. The event will be held on Thursday, August 11th at St. Luke’s Eastern Oregon Medical Associates facil- — Contact Us — ity at 3950 17th Street in Baker City. The girls ses- sion begins at 5 p.m, while the boys session starts at 6 p.m. If you have any ques- tions, please feel free to call The Baker County Health Department at 541- 523-8211. YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS The Baker County Press President Barack Obama PO Box 567 Baker City, Ore. 97814 202.456.2461 fax Open Monday-Thursday for calls 9 AM - 4 PM Open 24/7 for emails 202.456.1414 Whitehouse.gov/contact US Sen. Jeff Merkley 503.326.3386 503.326.2900 fax Merkley.Senate.gov Phone: 541.519.0572 TheBakerCountyPress.com US Sen. Ron Wyden 541.962.7691 Wyden.Senate.gov Kerry McQuisten, Publisher Editor@TheBakerCountyPress.com US Rep. Greg Walden Wendee Morrissey, Advertising and Sales Wendee@TheBakerCountyPress.com 541.624.2402 fax David Conn, Advertising and Sales David@TheBakerCountyPress.com Published weekly every Friday. 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