ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
SATURDAy, FEBRUARy 20, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Tip of
the hat,
kick in
the pants
A
tip of the hat to the snow plow
drivers, electrical line work-
ers, plumbers, truck drivers,
first responders and others who worked
through the state’s heavy snowfall to help
keep people safe, with running water,
electricity and needed supplies.
While thousands on the west side of
the state shivered through power outages,
we’re grateful the lights stayed on in
Eastern Oregon and that Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation’s snow plows
were out in force to quickly clear inter-
states and highways.
A tip of the hat to Umatilla County
Public Health, which this week released
a schedule of vaccine opportunities
that run through the end of April. Even
though there will likely be some adjust-
ments as vaccine allocation to the states
continues to evolve, the information
released on Thursday, Feb. 18, is a far
better starting point than the previ-
ous strategy, which in recent weeks
has involved instructing senior citizens
to watch Facebook pages for random
announcements.
The vaccine rollout hasn’t been
perfect, but we’re glad to see it seems to
be improving all the time.
A tip of the hat to scientists study-
ing flooding in the Columbia Basin
for providing us with better information
to limit or prevent damage from future
floods.
It should come as no surprise to anyone
who lives in the region that scientists
have found flooding events are increas-
ing in frequency and that the water level
of those events also continues to increase.
As reported in the East Oregonian’s
series on the one-year anniversary of
the February 2020 flood, research from
Oregon State University conducted over
two years at nearly 400 sites showed a
“ubiquitous” increase in flood magnitude.
Modeling from the study predicts flood-
ing will continue to become more severe
in the Columbia River Basin over the next
50 years due to climate change.
Data from such studies can help arm
our communities with the knowledge
to adapt to this changing landscape and
prepare for future events. Now it is up to
property owners, developers and commu-
nity leaders to take the warnings seri-
ously.
EDITORIALS
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.
LETTERS
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:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
YOUR VIEWS
Learning to live with
coronavirus
Science seems to be catching up
with logic. The claims many “anti-
science” physicians were making nearly
a year ago are now being publicly
accepted by the scientific community
and media.
CNN and many other sources are
finally reporting that the novel corona-
virus will become endemic, meaning
it is a virus we will just have to learn to
live with. David Heymann, professor of
infectious disease epidemiology at the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine, warned in October 2020 that
the virus appeared to be on course to
become endemic. “It is not a matter of
this being a special disease. This is one
of many that we will have to balance
our living with and understand how to
deal with it as we do influenza, as we
do with other infections.”
Considering the research shows
novel coronavirus has few adverse
effects in children, it seems logical that
at this point one of the best things we
could do to mitigate the impact of the
virus in the long run would be to allow
children exposure to it, offering them
the gift of natural immunity.
It also seems illogical to expect that
Americans will continue to embrace
masks, eye protection and social
distancing measures for the sake of
preventing a common viral infection
for which we have a range of prom-
ising therapeutics. Seems that if we
examined the evidence based on actual
science, instead of fear, we would be
led to more logical conclusions.
Rebecca Patton
Enterprise
Stop coyote killing contests
Coyote killing contests are barbaric
and cruel. I would like to thank Reps.
Brad Witt, Rob Nosse, Sheri Schouten,
Janeen Sollman and Marty Wilde for
their support and sponsorship of House
Bill 2728.
I’m asking all representatives to
vote for HB 2728, and put an end to
these grotesque coyote killing contests.
There is overwhelming support, across
the state of Oregon, to stop this awful
practice; it simply does not represent
the majority of Oregonians and their
support for science-based, humane and
ethical wildlife management policies.
Studies have shown that the kill-
ing contests do not reduce coyote
populations, but instead can cause
splintered packs, and increased repro-
duction rates. These contests have also
not proven to be an effective means
to reduce conflict with livestock or
increase game species. Please follow
suit with Washington, Colorado, New
Mexico, Arizona, Massachusetts, Cali-
fornia, and Vermont, and finally stop
coyote killing contests and pass HB
2728.
Renee Espenel
Portland
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
GOVERNOR
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
REPRESENTATIVES
Bobby Levy, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-376
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.BobbyLevy@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Cliff Bentz
2185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
Medford office: 541-776-4646
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-415
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us