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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2018)
Page 4A East Oregonian Friday, September 21, 2018 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor Founded October 16, 1875 Tip of the hat, kick in the pants A tip of the hat to the hundreds of volunteers who planned, set up, performed in and then, thankfully, cleaned up after the Pendleton Round-Up. In a brief survey of the rodeo attendees this year, we found several who had never been before. They were thoroughly impressed by the show and surrounding festivities. Others spoke about their first trip to the Round-Up, and we found many of them haven’t missed a year since. Creating that kind of experience is hard work, from the arena to downtown to the businesses working extra hours to make the visit extra special. For those of us who live in this town, it can be easy to take the Round-Up for granted 51 weeks out of the year. But the work that goes on behind the scenes is a Herculean effort. As those in the know say, there’s 356 days until Round-Up. There’s work to be done. A kick in the pants to U.S. Rep. Greg Walden for offering such a paltry debate, on a Friday night, in front of no live audience, in his quest for an 11th term in the U.S. House of Representatives. As voters and viewers, it’s hard to feel grateful for a single 30-minute time slot, which will air from a Bend television studio as Friday night football games kick off. Even in the smallest district in the U.S. it would be hard to fit the most pressing topics into that small of a window. In a district as large as the 2nd Congressional, we’ll feel lucky if we get more than a few sound bites. Walden’s opponent, Jamie McLeod- Skinner, has suggested three debates, including one in our corner of the state. At very least, we’d like to see the two spar for 90 minutes at the Bend debate. A tip of the hat to the Pendleton City Council for standing firm on Staff photo by E.J. Harris Koby Radley of Montpelier, Louisiana, flies head first off OLS Tubs Nickle Package for no score in the bull riding finals on Saturday at the Pendleton Round-Up. the most recent deal it had made with housing developer Saj Jivanjee. The council in the past has been willing to extend new offers each time Jivanjee has asked, including delaying loan repayment and restructuring terms of the original deal. And each time Jivanjee has said the changes are critical to keep work moving on the Pendleton Heights project. But allowing these kinds of deals to morph at a developer’s whim is a bad precedent, and we’re pleased to see the council put its foot down on the latest iteration. It’s also telling that Jivanjee has asked to receive duplicate incentives to any given to other developers in town, including property tax deferment and land donation. He seems intent to push the city as far as it will go at each turn. YOUR VIEWS Why is Greg Walden avoiding us? Jamie McLeod-Skinner in November. I follow Greg Walden pretty closely. I think it is the duty of any citizen to know what their elected officials are doing. I like to look at his Twitter account every now and then. One thing that has been coming up lately is the air quality of the state in the wake of nasty wildfires. This is certainly a topic worth discussion. He usually says something to the effect of “When I talk to Oregonians they say this ...” I find this phrase very interesting coming from Mr. Walden for one particular reason. When does he ever talk to Oregonians? A little context as to why I am upset with Mr. Walden. Last year he helped write a health care bill that would have taken care away from millions of Americans — one of whom was my father. My father was a teacher for many years and had good insurance through his job. But he was diagnosed with cancer and his doctor told him that he could no longer work. No job, no insurance. Ten thousand dollars a month for chemo. My father got on Obamacare and it made his last few months livable. When the Republican Party came to take my father’s insurance away, he called Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and she talked to him personally. I called Greg Walden. He never called back. Why would he? I’m a constituent. He doesn’t talk to constituents. He has been stonewalling Oregonians for the last year and a half. He hasn’t held a public town hall in over 500 days. What is he afraid of exactly? Why doesn’t he want to talk to us? It could be that he wanted to take away our health care. Since 20 percent of Oregonians in our district use the Affordable Care Act, that might be a sore point. It could be that he has refused to condemn Donald Trump on anything from children in cages, to his most recent tweet denying that 3,000 American citizens died in Puerto Rico. Perhaps he’ll prove me wrong. Perhaps he’ll change his tune and start working for us. Perhaps he’ll break away from Donald Trump and the Republican agenda of corruption and stealing our medicine. I do think that there is a good person deep inside Greg Walden. But he’s clearly not here now. Vote for Buehler won’t find pot of gold if elected governor Aaron Rouska Hermiston There is a television ad running in sup- port of Knute Buehler talking about how the graduation rate for Oregon students is very poor and how Kate Brown is respon- sible. What Dr. Buehler fails to remember is that his friends Lon Parks, Don McIntire and Bill Sizemore have gotten legislation voted in that has basically put a strangle- hold on spending for anything in Oregon. Had Dr. Buehler sat in on the same meeting as I did with actuarials (number crunchers) in 1990 when I was running for the House from District 57 he would have heard exactly what would happen if Bal- lot Measure 5 was passed. We were told what would happen and you are now see- ing police departments running on skele- ton crews, fire departments understaffed and school districts wondering how they are going to find enough money to keep class sizes down. We were told that if Bal- lot Measure 5 was passed it would hurt rural Oregon first and they were right; then came Ballot Measure s 47 and 50 and that made matters worse. Folks, Dr. Buehler is living in a delu- sional world if he thinks there is money to do everything he is proposing. I’ve known Kate Brown, and she sat in the same meet- ing as I did and heard what the numbers guys told us, and she campaigned against passage of Ballot Measure 5 as I did — and alas, it passed. The solution to Oregon’s financial prob- lems isn’t voting in Knute Buehler, it’s keeping Kate Brown and getting rid of ballot measures 47 and 50. Dr. Buehler fails to remember that not only did Ore- gonians vote in both those initiatives but the EPA also has made unfunded mandates that Oregon has to comply with or face the consequences all at the expense of the Ore- gonians that Dr. Buehler hopes will elect him as governor. Folks, don’t get snookered into voting for Knute Buehler for governor thinking that there is a pot of gold somewhere that will pay for his pipe dreams. Barbara Ann Wright-Dunagan Pendleton CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 La Grande office: 541-962-7691 U.S. SENATORS Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 Pendleton office: 541-278-1129 Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. LIMEY PASTOR Adoption and birth from above I write this on the eve of my I also think that it drew me mother’s birthday. I was adopted closer to God, the heavenly father, at the age of six weeks by Abba — and feel as close to him Gwenda Mary Brown, my new as I possibly could to any human adopted mother, and Gilbert Brown, father. I feel my father continues my new adopted father. My birth to draw me closer and closer. I mother, a young girl called Marilyn know that this drawing is the most Dobbs, and an unknown father powerful love; what father who Colin were needed to bring me to my loves does not want his children Brown new parents’ doorstep. My mother, to be close in spirit? What child Faith Gwenda (now passed), was born on does not love back a loving parent, September 20. being magnetized with that force, I only found out that I was adopted not fearful of making mistakes but truly wanting to be like the one who drew us into when I was about 12 years old. It was a shock, as if I was being suddenly dislocated fullness of life? Male and female he created us. We are to Mars. After this I still loved the only all sons and daughters of the living God. I parents I had known as much as ever, but truly want to be like my father from above, I felt enormously that I had somehow with the gift of my parents from here with been gifted with an inheritance that wasn’t all their normal holiness and kindness. We honestly mine. are imaged by those from who we receive My cousin Alan, as I found out much instruction and love. later on, had also been adopted. When I When I think of my former church in talked about this with him in his 30s – Eastern Oregon, and consider my friends calling him in New York where he had there, I feel my heart glowing like a hot moved and become a writer of detective coal. Every church is like the heart of a fire, stories — he asked me if I was a good and its congregation members are like the adoptee or a bad adoptee. hot coals breathing and glowing. I think of He had made a study of this. Some them warmly, each one, and the children I adoptees, according to Alan, feel that they have to prove to the whole world that there think must be growing fast and expanding into the God-shaped promise of adulthood. really is no connection with their adopted I feel the father’s love growing as I parents, and act out — thus, the bad think of them, praying for their success, adoptee. One of my friends at high school their own futures radiant with the promise had become a bad adoptee and had robbed that Jesus has provided them, that they a bank. His parents had run the local scout are loved, blessed and forgiven, and in the troops. passport that love has provided them, to My own path, I hoped, had been opposite. I first went to school to become a start their own families soon enough and to go and do likewise, with song and prayer, teacher when I was in my early 20s. I then in Jesus’ name. became a technology guy for some of the Amen. big companies. In my waning years I hope ■ I have tried to be a really good adoptee Colin Brown is the former pastor of Good — and have become both a pastor and a Shepherd Lutheran Church in Boardman. chaplain, albeit limey all the way. The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.