ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
PHIL WRIGHT
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
SATURDAy, JUnE 5, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Tip of
the hat,
kick in
the pants
tip of the hat to efforts by
Umatilla County officials to get
in on the ground floor of federal
funding for the CAHOOTS Act — Crisis
Assistance Helping Out On The Streets
— a bill being promoted by Sen. Ron
Wyden. The bill would provide funding
for partnerships between law enforce-
ment and mental health agencies that
would form two-person teams available
24/7 to respond to calls for nonviolent
situations involving mentally ill or home-
less individuals.
Umatilla County commissioners told
Wyden they are setting aside money to be
ready to participate right away, and lead-
ers from around the area met last week-
end with Wyden to discuss mental health.
Members of local law enforcement
have reported in recent years they are
spending an increasing amount of time
responding to calls for disturbances or
trespassing involving people who are
mentally ill or impaired by drugs. We
agree with them that police are not the
ones that should be at the forefront of
dealing with our mental health crisis. A
CAHOOTS-style program could be the
solution.
Of course, there are a lot of import-
ant details the county would need to get
right. Counselors being put in a posi-
tion of responding to violent situations
they’re not trained to deal with isn’t any
better than police being asked to respond
to mental health situations they’re not
trained for. But this shows promise and
we’re glad the county is being proactive
about looking for a way to better deal
with the problem.
A kick in the pants to anyone being
careless with fire right now.
Drought conditions and record-hot
weather are combining for what experts
are predicting will be a particularly nasty
fire season this summer. This is abso-
lutely not the time to throw a cigarette
out the window, light fireworks over
dry grass or leave a burning pile of yard
waste unattended.
Please, be careful with anything that
could spark a fire, from charcoal grills to
lawn mowers. Follow recommendations
from fire departments and insurance
companies for creating a defensible space
around your home. We can’t control the
weather, but we can do our part not to
make hot situations worse.
A
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
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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
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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
The border is a travesty
In Sen. Jeff Merkley’s recent virtual
town hall, he dismissed concerns
about rampant illegal immigration and
repeated the adage that immigrants
have lower crime rates than citizens.
One has to wonder what the sena-
tor would say to the parents of Mollie
Tibbets of Iowa who was brutally
stabbed to death in 2018 by an indi-
vidual here illegally, or the parents of
Sara Root killed by a man here ille-
gally from Honduras who was street
racing while legally intoxicated and
ran into Sara’s car, killing her.
It is estimated by Pew Research that
over 12 million individuals live in the
U.S. illegally and the number is grow-
ing, with more than 178,000 appre-
hended at the border in April.
According to the Oregon Depart-
ment of Corrections, more than 6%
of the felons in Oregon’s prisons are
here illegally and cost taxpayers $33
million per year.
Under President Joe Biden’s “open
border” policies, many are simply
released into the U.S.
A majority are looking for higher
paying jobs, but if only 1% of the 12
million commit a serious crime, that
adds up to 120,000 crimes that would
not have been committed had these
illegal migrants been prevented from
entering the country.
Most citizens support legal immi-
gration with reasonable numbers
allowed in who will be vetted and
required to learn about our govern-
ment and laws.
What is occurring on our border
now is a travesty and should reflect
badly on our senators and president.
Larry Nelson
Bend
Some freedom, at last
In Ryan Haas’ story published in the
East Oregonian (“Oregonians who are
fully vaccinated mostly do not need to
wear masks,” Friday, May 14), I was
pleased to read that Oregon residents
who are fully vaccinated, and who have
waited the full 28-day duration, are able
to be in public without wearing masks
(with the exception of certain facilities/
circumstances).
This is exciting news and is great
for human morale as we look toward
getting back to normalcy and trying to
get social networking and our economy
back on track. I myself have received
the Pfizer vaccine. I’m excited to have
the freedom to not have to wear a mask,
especially with graduation over and
summer right around the corner.
Brooke Dornberger
Weston
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