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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Saturday, August 10, 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 kick in the pants to federal and state authorities in the aftermath of the water crisis on the Warm Springs Indian Reserva- tion in Central Oregon. The reservation may be a sover- eign nation but the water crisis there — which began in May — should be a subject that makes everyone stop and take notice. The area has been without safe drinking water for a long time after a pipe burst and created a series of fail- ures with an aging system, leaving nearly 4,000 people to make due. The list of problems related to the issue is long. Firefighters can’t count on hydrants to work and sprinkler sys- tems, cooling systems, air-condition- ing systems, restrooms, toilets are all affected by lack of water. The Oregon Legislature recently earmarked money to help alleviate the problem but federal authorities have been slow to react to the crisis. The Environmental Protection Agency has threatened to fine the tribe nearly $60,000 a day if it doesn’t get safe water pouring through faucets by October. Whether the issue revolves around a sovereign nation or a local town- ship, the fact that nearly 4,000 people have to rely on donations for water is a sad commentary on where we are as a nation. Federal and state authorities need to work together to help the tribe solve this problem. Enough is enough. Surely, we can do better. A tip of the hat to all the volun- teers and fair employees that have worked to make the Umatilla County Fair the go-to place for fun this year. The fair has delivered on an unspoken promise to put a cap on the summer season with entertainment, fun and good food. A tip of the hat to the fire crews OPB Photo/Emily Cureton The Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon has been without safe drinking wa- ter all summer. Some people don’t have running water at all. In May, a burst pipe led to a cas- cade of infrastructure failures. That leaves around 4,000 people improvising for an essential human need. Mobile sinks and showers have been set up on the reservation. that worked to contain dozens of fires within the HK Complex south of Monument in the Heppner Ranger District. The fires consumed 2,455 acres before containment and the fire crews that battled the blaze should be commended for ensuring the fires did not scorch any more terrain. A tip of the hat to the crew from the Oregon Youth Conserva- tion Corps’s summer program that recently finished a project to create a database of Pendleton’s trees. The effort will help the Pendleton Parks and Recreation and Tree Commis- sions evaluate the health of our little urban forest. The four local teenag- ers involved in the program and their leader — Adam Charlton — made a difference for their community. OTHER VIEWS Michael the Basque owboy Kevin and I were rolling transformed into Michael the Rather Crude. sheep wire off a cliff and into Maz- At this particular gathering there were zoni’s draw on the morning of the three gallons of sheepy punch, five types Fourth of July. The other option was to be of guacamole, hillocks of mutton kabob, a around the main ranch house helping the spud salad, pasta in several permutations, boss and her perpetual guests prepare for and rice-o-rama, all garnished with a first- the gala party that was to be thrown that rate assortment of human females. afternoon. Michael fired up his act. I had seen it Kevin was a buckaroo, good with horse before. The first installment involved going flesh, wore his pants tucked into his boots, behind his truck and rearranging his cloth- ing so that a stick and a glove took the and didn’t take kindly to stirring marinade place of his left arm and hand. He began or folding paper napkins. I’d seen a cou- ple of holidays come and go on the ranch. with a whirling dance, singing the French national anthem and accompanying himself Risking a hernia was better than listening on air fiddle. At the apex of emo- to 10 performance artists trying to tion in the song, when the French invent the ultimate wine cooler. nation was surviving all turmoil, Kevin’s boon companion was Michael stopped whirling, stood a 3-year-old raven named Bro that in front of the women in his audi- he’d incubated and hatched some- ence, and out of his green gabar- where in the Musselshell country dine pants fly came his left index of central Montana. Bro was a full- finger, which then conducted the fledged bird and could fly as well rest of the song. as a wild one, but seldom needed Ah, that wacky sheepherder to take wing, preferring instead J.D. S mith humor. Kevin and Bro turned to ride on Kevin’s right shoulder. COMMENT their backs to the stage. Kevin’s shirt pockets were always The second act involved a full of sunflower seeds and Bro pantomimed sheep castration wherein helped himself. They both dipped Copen- hagen. Kevin changed shirts often. Michael, with the assistance of his dogs, By mid-afternoon we had tired of watch- jumped a phantom lamb, flipped it over, ing rolls of wire bouncing down through cut the scrotum with an imaginary knife, then stretched out the testicles, bit the chord the boulder patch, and were sitting in the in two with his Medicare teeth, and came shade discussing the fact that we hadn’t up smiling, with his tongue pushing a big died young after all, when the big triangle lump in his cheek. dinner bell on the ranch house porch called At this performance, though, things us to make an appearance at the party. backfired a little on Michael. Just as he We hopped in the work truck and gran- ny-geared down off the precipice. stood up with the pretend sheep oys- ter in his mouth, wide-eyed and check- In keeping with the bosswoman’s theme ing for hardening nipples in his audience, of the week, the guest of honor at this Bro crapped down the back of Kevin’s party was Michael the Basque, a 75-year- shirt. This hit a hidden nerve in Michael old retired sheepherder who was a living library of sheep information. (“No be ‘fraid the Basque’s stomach. He gagged hard and sprayed second-hand sheepy punch all over sheep. We be lucky. Sheep no can bite.”) the food table. The domino effect set in, I had partied with Michael the Basque and half the guests began to wretch. Bro before, and warned Kevin to go light on took advantage of the confusion to attack Michael’s “sheepy punch,” which did bite, being composed of equal parts of Wild Tur- the Chihuahuas. key, vodka and lime Koolaid. That pretty much ended the party. By Michael was a good, honest, generous the time the bosslady had sorted out the person, but, like all of us, he packed around mess, Michael the Basque was passed out a couple of minor personality flaws. One in the front yard, his dogs were locked in was in his choice of dogs. He kept Chi- the chicken coop, the guests were in their cars headed out of the ranch, and Kevin had huahuas, bred the critters, and was always packed his gear bag, drawn his wages, and accompanied by an entourage of six or split for Montana. eight of the yappy, asthmatic, hairless little Last I heard, he and Bro were working speed bumps. His other quirk might have evolved from an auction yard somewhere near Helena. I finished the cross fence by myself. his having been born on the French side ——— of the Pyrenees. When he was half-full J.D. Smith is an accomplished writer and of sheepy punch and there was a human female within 40 acres, Michael the Basque jack-of-all-trades. He lives in Athena. C YOUR VIEWS Letter title misstated writer’s meaning I’d like to apologize to Donna Big- gerstaff if she got the impression that I insinuated that the public comments were intentionally omitted from the July 2 city council meeting. The East Oregonian changed the title of my letter, adding the “or something else,” making it sound like omission could have been intentional in her part. Rick Rohde Pendleton Recall efforts a waste of time, resources The current recall against Gov. Kate Brown is a clear misuse of the recall pro- cess. The recall should only be used when there is clear evidence of serious wrong- doing, such as using your public posi- tion for personal gain, using public funds for purposes other than their intended use, engaging in criminal conduct while in office, or other serious transgressions. However, policy disagreements and dis- putes do not justify a recall, nor does the current rationale of many of the recall supporters that the will of the people is “not being heard.” In our last statewide general election, “the will of the people” was to elect Kate Brown to be our governor for the term. Those that wish to see Kate Brown leave office need to get better organized and use their persuasion skills to convince Ore- gon voters to vote her out of office at the next statewide election. A recall will obvi- ously redirect our current elected state officials’ time and energy, and resources, from focusing on current statewide issues and concerns. Bob Shippentower Pendleton CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES GOVERNOR Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, OR 97301-4047 503-378-4582 REPRESENTATIVES Greg Barreto, District 58 900 Court St. NE, H-38 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1458 Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us 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. Greg Smith, District 57 900 Court St. NE, H-482 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1457 Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us SENATOR Bill Hansell, District 29 900 Court St. NE, S-423 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1729 Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us 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 the editor to editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
