A4
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 20, 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
A
tip of the hat to local police
agencies for stepping up time
and again to make big events
safer.
Collaboration and cooperation are
how rural communities throughout
Oregon pull off big events and attrac-
tions. Folks in Umatilla and Morrow
counties know that well. From county
fairs to the Pendleton Round-Up,
locals pour in from all corners of the
region to help.
Policing is no exception.
The Pendleton Police Department
last weekend had its hands full with
the Pendleton Whisky Music Fest.
Event organizers estimated 17,000
people attended, effectively doubling
the population of Pendleton for much
of a weekend. Pendleton’s finest would
have been hard pressed to handle the
load alone.
Oregon State Police pitched in with
some of its mobile response team —
troopers on bicycles. Officers from
Boardman, Hermiston, Pilot Rock and
the Umatilla Tribal Police Department
also assisted. The East Oregonian ran
a front page photo Tuesday, July 16,
showing law enforcement dealing with
a combative and bleeding man. Those
officers were Morrow County sheriff’s
deputies.
The sheriff’s deputies did not call
the East Oregonian demanding recog-
nition. They were just doing their job,
after all.
A job that nowadays involves social
work as much as traffic stops, deal-
ing with the mentally ill as well as
drunks, or stepping in to help some-
one overdosing while arresting a drug
dealer.
The job also takes wading into a
party pit in Pendleton’s July weather
where as many as 6,000 people were
shouting, gyrating and bouncing
around and into each other amid blar-
ing music just to get a hold of some-
one trying to take on security officers.
Most of us can think of more enjoy-
able ways to spend our days at a festi-
val. The willingness of local police to
take on these tasks means most of us
can.
A tip of the hat the Hermiston
School District for being a good stew-
ard of taxpayer dollars, which should
be good news for voters. The school
district was recently awarded the Cer-
tificate of Achievement for excellence
in Financial Reporting.
The district garnered the award for
the 12th year in a row. The district’s
financial reports and debt management
services — among an array of other
metrics — are measured by the Gov-
ernment Finance Officers Association.
While surely a boost for the district,
the award is more important because
it illustrates that an entity funded by
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Police officers subdue a suspect during Saturday’s Pendleton Whisky Music Fest.
public dollars isn’t wasting taxpayer
money. In a day and age where out-
of-control government spending is the
norm, this type of news about a local
school district is welcome.
A tip of the hat to all of those who
sponsored or volunteered to make
the Pendleton Whisky Fest and the
Pendleton Bike week a success. Local
events such as these enhance our
community and attract needed tour-
ism dollars. Such events take a lot of
preparation work but the end result is
worth it.
A kick in the pants to Presi-
dent Donald Trump for his contin-
ued insistence in creating controversy,
this time with four Democratic law-
makers. This consumes valuable time
better spent on key issues facing our
nation. While everyone — including
the president — has a right to speak
OTHER VIEWS
The journey is the
destination
T
he secret’s out. Northeastern Oregon is home to
in the Northwest literary world.
writers.
But the news is getting out about Northeastern Oregon,
Last Saturday’s East Oregonian featured April
too, and Pendleton Center for the Arts’ First Draft Writers’
Baer’s story about how EOU’s writing program, after a
Series has been part of this news. You have been welcom-
ing Northwest writers with graciousness and enthusiasm for
year’s hiatus, has teamed with Wallowa County’s Fishtrap to
more than six years, and the word has spread. Writers con-
offer students the opportunity to learn at Fishtrap’s Summer
tact us, hoping we have a spot for them though they
Gathering.
Under the leadership of President Tom Isko,
know our calendar is booked months ahead.
the story said, EOU has been working to expand
Why does all this matter? Because stories matter
degree programs and take a more prominent place
— they shape our societies, our very lives — and a
at the table in rural affairs. The MFA writing cur-
story isn’t a story until the circle is complete. Until it
riculum focuses on wilderness, ecology, and issues
has been shared. Heard or read. Received.
specific to Western communities. Fishtrap’s mis-
“Tell me a story.” Whether you get your sto-
sion since 1988 has been to promote “clear think-
ries from First Draft or Netflix or the news, or just
ing and good writing in and about the West — and
enjoy hearing about J.D.’s wayward goat, the lure is
B ette
Fishtrap Executive Director Shannon McNerney
irresistible.
H usted
hopes that with this connection, Northeastern Ore-
This year I was fortunate to attend the Fishtrap
COMMENT
gon “could become the literary hub of the Pacific
Weekend as the week of writing workshops was
Northwest.”
wrapping up and the year-long celebration of Ursula
I had to smile, because I’m one of those who think we
K. Le Guin was culminating. The theme of this year’s Sum-
already are.
mer Fishtrap had been Steering the Craft, after the title of
In fact, I remember Fishtrap founder Rich Wandschnei-
Le Guin’s fiction handbook, and all the workshops had cen-
der, who had complained that Oregon writers’ conferences
tered around her ideas. One such idea was central to Molly
could seem more like gatherings of I-5 writers, saying only
Gloss’s keynote address: that writing, as Ursula often noted,
half jokingly that we were the obvious geographical center
is practice.
of Northwest writing. Just look at the map. Montana, Idaho,
A bit like T’ai Chi, I thought. Practice, practice. Always
Washington, Oregon — yes, there we are, at the center of
learning, always striving, though never quite reaching that
that circle.
“farthest shore.” But so worth the effort, because the journey
With the help of the Wallowa Valley Arts Council, Kim
— well, the journey is the destination, as they say.
Stafford, and historian Alvin Josephy, the first Fishtrap Sum-
And the journey itself can be a blessing.
mer Gathering was born. Every summer since 1988 people
On the last night of the Gathering, with lightning flash-
ing and rain pounding on the awning above our heads, we
have been writing with and learning from writers like Molly
watched Arwen Curry’s “The World of Ursula K. Le Guin,”
Gloss and Craig Lesley, Ursula K. Le Guin, David James
a documentary that will be shown on PBS’s “American
Duncan, Yusef Kumenyakaa, Debra Earling, Gary Snyder,
Masters” in October. Afterward, as we waited for Ursula’s
Luci Tapahonso. Thirty-two years of this. Just imagine.
Since Fishtrap is open entry, both beginning and experi-
friends Molly Gloss, Scott Russell Sanders and Luis Urrea to
enced writers get to learn from each other, and McNerney
share their insights, Rich Wandschneider turned to me and
and her staff create an atmosphere of inclusivity.
said, “Bette, aren’t we lucky to have known her? And all the
Of course there are other writing programs, and people
millionaires in the world can’t take that away from us.”
can study for MFA degrees from Missoula to Eugene. Port-
Which was exactly how I was feeling.
land’s Literary Arts hosts the Oregon Book Awards and writ-
———
ing fellowships, the Portland Book Festival, Portland Arts &
Bette Husted is a writer and a student of T’ai Chi and the
Lectures, and more. No question, Literary Arts is the big dog natural world. She lives in Pendleton.
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.
their mind, clearly attacking lawmak-
ers personally doesn’t help move the
nation forward. We face an array of
problems, and the President’s com-
ments only distract from then national
issues that need to be solved.
A tip of the hat to the Umatilla
County Sheriff’s Office for pur-
chasing a new utility vehicle that will
make the agency more versatile and
flexible when responding to an emer-
gency. At first glance the acquisi-
tion may not appear to be a big deal,
but when you are in an accident and
trapped in a secluded place, suddenly
the new vehicle is a pretty import-
ant addition. The investment is a good
one, and the sheriff’s office should
be lauded for having the foresight to
make the buy.
YOUR VIEWS
President lacks the moral
characteristics to lead the country
The Donald certainly was not the first presiden-
tial candidate to realize that the historical and deeply
ingrained racism and bigotry in our country could
be tapped into for political purposes. However, other
candidates who realized this had principles, values,
and a moral upbringing that precluded them from
exploiting these negative characteristics for political
and personal gain.
Unfortunately, The Donald does not have any
principles and values to live by, so in 2016, he and
his supporters rode racism and bigotry all the way
to the White House. Currently, he is trying the same
strategy and method for a second act. We all saw the
ugly scenes Wednesday in North Carolina — “Send
her back! Send her back!” Back to where? Michigan?
Thankfully, as we all know, the four congress-
women are not going anywhere.
And there was The Donald, playing head cheer-
leader and goading them on with their racist chants.
Now, is this “leadership”? Is this what we have come
to accept from the occupant of the Office of the
President of the United States? Could anyone even
imagine this kind of conduct from Abraham Lincoln
or Dwight Eisenhower (both Republicans), or from
any other previous president? Of course not.
The Donald was strutting around and basking
in all the glory and adulation he always receives
in places like Montana and North Carolina. Why
doesn’t he hold a “rally” in Los Angeles, San Fran-
cisco, Portland or Seattle? After all, he is the presi-
dent of the entire country. However, The Donald will
only set foot in places where it is politically safe to
go.
It was laughable when I read that The Donald is a
“street fighter.” The Donald is the worst kind of cow-
ard; one of his official policies is to lock up toddlers
and children in cages. Remember, these are his pol-
icies in his role as the President of the United States
(Commander in Chief). Also, would a respectable
street fighter evade the military draft during war-
time (Vietnam), or even peacetime, like The Donald
did?
If The Donald is re-elected, then the Statue of
Liberty needs to be removed. Otherwise, it would be
blatant hypocrisy of our entire country to profess to
honor its principles while electing a bigoted and rac-
ist president.
Bob Shippentower
Pendleton
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Pendleton, OR 97801