A4
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 8, 2019
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Tip of the Hat,
kick in the pants
T
hey rarely get the type
of attention and praise
they deserve but a big
tip of the hat to the teachers,
parents, guidance counsel-
ors and administrators for all
the help they provided students
of the Class of 2019 to reach
graduation.
For every student who ambles
across the stage at graduation
there is usually someone — par-
ents and teachers — who stood
behind them and proved to be a
key asset to their success.
Selfless devotion to seeing
students succeed isn’t lauded
enough in our society. We should
all remember that our school
officials have a tough, often
thankless job of educating our
young people and setting them
up for success in the future.
They deserve a tip of the hat.
A kick in the pants to those
who end their graduation cele-
bration by drinking and driving.
Celebrating graduation is a tradi-
tion across the nation but every-
one should remember to hail the
major milestone safely.
Celebrating through exces-
sive drinking and then climb-
ing behind the wheel is foolish
and carries the potential of hurt-
ing a wide swath of friends and
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
family. We want everyone with
young graduates to celebrate, but Pendleton graduate Kodi Crawford keeps cool with a hand fan while waiting for the begin-
ning of a graduation ceremony June 1 at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds.
do so in a safe way.
A kick in the pants to the
A tip of the hat for the
can do better. And we should.
Oregon Department of Human
D-Day celebrations across the
A tip of the hat to Umatilla
Services, which boasts it is
County, Hermiston School Dis- nation and in Europe. The men
the state’s primary agency for
trict and Good Shepherd Med- who fought and died at places
helping Oregonians achieve
like Utah and Omaha beaches
ical Center for ensuring local
“well-being and independence.”
high schools continue to furnish some 75 years ago are fading
Lately, though, the agency has an onsite medical clinic.
into the background of history,
been mired in controversy over
but this week dignitaries from a
The service is more than just
its failure to serve our state’s
number of different nations con-
a convenient resource — it’s an
foster children. That shouldn’t
verged at Normandy to mark
essential piece of the broader
be the case. The agency gobbles
the day when the liberation of
educational blueprint for our
up millions in taxpayer dollars
children. The three entities
Europe began.
every year yet can’t seem to get
didn’t have to continue the ser-
We owe the men who came
basic care of children right. The
vice but chose to do so. That
ashore on D-Day a debt that can
issue isn’t a new one, either. We
action should be lauded.
never be repaid.
YOUR VIEWS
A healthier Morrow
County is within us
There are many things about our
community that make it such a great
place to live, work, raise our families,
and retire. If you ask folks why this is
so, it’s likely you’ll hear a variety of
reasons; however, the one thing I can
say with confidence is that everyone
you talk to will tell you how fortunate
they feel to have essential health ser-
vices in every corner of our county.
The renewal of the Morrow
County Health District Local Option
Tax once again makes it clear that a
healthier Morrow County is a mission
worth the investment. On behalf of
all of us at Pioneer Memorial Hospi-
tal, our doctors, nurses, nurse practi-
tioners, physician assistants and sup-
port teams working in our family of
health clinics, our home health divi-
sion, EMS, the board of directors, and
administrative team, we thank you
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.
for your continued trust and for the
privilege of serving your healthcare
needs.
Hopefully, you have had an
opportunity to read about the over-
all Healthier Morrow County initia-
tive. If you have not, I invite you to
become familiar with all the ways
we’re working with our community to
improve health and wellness.
More than anything, we encour-
age you to explore all the services
and programs we operate and support
for the benefit of every community
in the district. We launched Health-
ier Morrow County with the intent
of increasing our visibility, provid-
ing new channels to share important
health and wellness information, and
a hope that we could achieve a higher
level of community engagement. I
can report that the responses we’ve
heard to date are very encouraging,
and you can rest assured, we’re just
getting started.
Please stay connected with us
through social media, continue to
share your ideas, give us feedback on
our new publication “Living Health-
ier,” that will be in your mailboxes
this July, attend one of our many free
programs, and finally, we hope you
will allow us to be your first choice
for care.
Wishing you a safe and healthy
summer.
Bob Houser, CEO
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
Heppner
Anyone but Trump
Only Trump would be able see peo-
ple flipping him the bird and then
tell his entourage full of lap dogs
to admire how they consider him
“Number One.” He won’t be happy
until he has embarrassed us fully to
the entire world.
When I return home from visits to
my daughter’s home in Australia, I’m
immediately asked by Americans,
“Did you see any kangaroos?” When
I get to Australia I’m immediately
asked by them, “How could America
elect somebody so ignorant and rac-
ist?” I don’t have an explanation for
them because I’m still mystified by
the support for this buffoon posing as
a statesmen.
Trump wouldn’t know diplo-
macy or decency or common sense if
they came up and bit him on his big
orange backside. His phony tough
facade, contradicted by his made-up
medical affliction to avoid service in
Vietnam, clearly shows his coward-
ice. He wasn’t a fan of that war and
it was so far away. Seriously? The
words of a true hero to all that honor-
ably served.
Anybody but Trump in 2020!
David Gracia
Hermiston
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Pendleton, OR 97801