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.
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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.
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