ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
PHIL WRIGHT
News Editor
JEFF BUDLONG
Interim Hermiston Editor
TueSDAY, JulY 6, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
The fire
danger is
climbing
W
e have made a point to bring
up the danger from range and
forest fires before on this page
and in this space, but as the temperatures
climb the risk bears repeating.
That is because the specter of last
summer’s forest fires — that consumed
homes and inflicted millions in damages
to the western part of the state — looms
as our weather pattern continues hot and
dry and thunderstorms become a common
element.
Fire season has arrived earlier than
usual, and a moment of complacency or
carelessness while camping could ignite
a fire that gobbles hundreds or thousands
of acres.
While Mother Nature obviously plays a
key role in the start of fires, the public also
is an important part of prevention. Nation-
ally, human-caused wildfires make up
87% of all wildfires each year. Almost all
those fires could have been prevented.
So, the public, when out in the forests
camping, does hold a great deal of respon-
sibility regarding fire prevention.
No one wants to end a camping trip
with a raging forest fire in the back-
ground, so it is important to remember the
tips to keep safe. For one, make sure your
vehicle or trailer is in good mechanical
working condition. Sparks from a chain
as it hits the pavement could cause a spark
that shoots into a region of dry grass.
Mufflers also should be in good working
order.
Equipment is one leading cause of
fires. Another is just plain carelessness.
Common sense is crucial while out enjoy-
ing our state’s vast public lands. While
fire restrictions are already in place
throughout the region, it is important the
public understand that operating a genera-
tor next to a dry patch of grass probably is
not a good idea.
Area fire managers are worried, and
they should be. That is because the
climate is going to get hotter across our
state before it begins to cool off. Many
forest areas are already far too dry and
are, essentially, tinderboxes.
It is easy to shrug off the danger. To
adopt a sort of “it’s hot every year” philos-
ophy would be an error. Our public lands
are some of the greatest in the nation, they
provide ample recreation opportunities for
the residents of Eastern Oregon, and they
deserve to be protected. That means all
of us need to remember to use common
sense and caution when we are out in the
woods over the next few weeks.
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
Celebrate good times, commemorate hard times
DANIEL
WATTENBURGER
HOMEGROWN
T
hank goodness we remember how
to celebrate.
For the past 15 months, in-per-
son gatherings have been one of the
main culprits leading to the spread of
COVID-19. This put a serious damper
on the usual events and milestones that
mark our lives.
As each person and household
decided how they would navigate the
many evolving health guidelines, parties
lost their pizzaz. We ventured out to
the extent we felt safe — keeping social
circles small and precautions in mind
— and didn’t have the opportunity to
mingle with the community at large.
I’m not calling June 30 the end of
the COVID-19 era. At best it’s the start
of the third (and hopefully final) phase:
post-vaccine. Everyone who wants
a vaccine can get one, and as a state
approximately 70% of eligible people
have. Our numbers here in Umatilla
County aren’t nearly that good, and we’ll
continue to feel the ill effects of the virus
as people are resistant to immunizing
themselves.
But today I’m thinking about celebra-
tion, not sickness. And the good news is
that our regularly scheduled festivities
are back on track.
Sunday, July 4, was a big example of
that. Fireworks across the region and a
grand opening of the new Funland Play-
ground in Hermiston brought people
back together.
The Funland grand opening embod-
ied everything a community celebra-
tion should be. For starters, its goal is to
enrich the lives of the next generation.
It was created through the generous
support of the community. And it was
inaugurated with a crowd of smiling
faces and lots of laughter.
I couldn’t help but think of Jade
McDowell’s final column in the Herm-
iston Herald, published last week, about
the three kinds of people who make up
a town — the builders, the focusers and
the complainers. Funland is a testament
to the builders in Hermiston who are
undeterred by obstacles. (If you haven’t
read the column, I highly recommend it.)
Celebrations often are the result of
builders’ hard work and commemorate
an accomplishment that can be enjoyed
by everyone. The drafting and signing
of the Declaration of Independence, for
instance, or the planning and set up of
a local music festival. At their best they
motivate us all to join in the building
effort.
But sometimes they are simply the
reaction to the end of a difficult time.
They can help us move forward, leaving
the past behind and simply enjoying the
good things in life.
It’s been a long year, and for many a
lost year. Seeing loved ones for the first
time, eating at your favorite restau-
rant, or watching your kids climb the
to the top of the tallest playground slide
they’ve ever seen are all good things to
celebrate.
We still have difficult days ahead.
But celebration is cathartic, and I hope
everyone takes time to recognize what
we’ve come through before we move on
to our next challenges.
———
Daniel Wattenburger is the former
managing editor of the East Oregonian.
He lives in Hermiston with his wife and
children and is an account manager for
Pac/West Lobby Group. Contact him at
danielwattenburger@gmail.com.
YOUR VIEWS
A gift that doesn’t give to
most of us
A $500,000 gift: That’s the addi-
tional funding city hall has approved
to provide the Pendleton Chamber of
Commerce to promote tourism for the
next two years. Though they are not
requiring the chamber to develop any
statistical parameters to evaluate the
success or failure of their “Pendleton
Comes Alive” program, they’ve been
assured that this investment will bring
thousands of tourists to downtown
Pendleton for the free music, spending
millions on food, drink and motels. I
expect most will be local or from as far
away as Helix, Pilot Rock, Athena and
Weston.
Evidently, organizers are unaware
the local area will be saturated with
music events, especially in Walla
Walla, a city our officials have idolized
for years with their award-winning
downtown area. If you’ve been there
lately, you can see it’s evident that they
take a lot of pride in the professional
construction and attention to detail in
designing those numerous parklets.
I wished I could say the same about
ours. That philosophy of “if it’s worth
doing, it’s worth doing right” seems to
be missing.
The steady stream of rhetoric
emanating from city hall for years that
the city just doesn’t have adequate
resources to maintain our infrastruc-
ture and more revenue is needed has
resulted in the adoption of a “‘utility”
fee and several attempts at instituting
a gas tax. So how is it even possible
that city hall can suddenly agree to
fund this new program? Free money
is what they call it. It’s actually a part
of the millions of dollars the city has
received from the federal government
referred to as the “American Rescue
Plan” funded by your federal income
taxes.
Many cities are experiencing the
same infrastructure problems with
which Pendleton continues to struggle.
The powers that be have given cities
great latitude on how they spend those
“Rescue” funds. Many have elected to
use those for much-needed repairs on
and upgrading infrastructure. Our city
officials won’t commit.
The Convention Center manager,
for instance, has been forced to seek
outside sources for funding the reno-
vation of their bar/lounge/concession
area while city hall sits back flush with
cash. That facility alone has been a
major focal point for drawing in reve-
nue for local businesses year-around,
not one or two weeks.
You just have to ask yourself why
our city officials prefer raising taxes
and fees rather than use resources
currently available to maintain our
infrastructure.
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
Grocery store liquor sales
are a nonstarter
Your comparison of selling hard alco-
hol in grocery stores to self-service gas
stations is spot on, but in a whole different
way.
Neither is placed on the ballot to make
my life more convenient, but instead has
everything to do with money! The change
to alcohol sales will always be advocated
by those that will dig just a little further
into all of our pockets. Big Booze gains, as
they can spend their money to push their
products, and Big Food and their counter-
part Big Wholesale simply want to increase
their bottom line with more sales of
anything. And, as usual, Big Government
will find a way to manipulate the change to
dig just a little more tax out of our pockets.
Details schme-tails, it always looks
good on paper and is pushed that way by
the advocates of such change. looking
north to Washington state’s experience
shows that the real truth of such a changes
comes at the cash register, where a bottle
of booze is generally twice the price than
it is in Oregon. It is not hard to know, it is
simple: It is just another attempt to take
the money out of our pockets and put it in
theirs.
The change to the law to allow hard
alcohol sales in grocery stores should
never, and I mean never, make the ballot,
ever.
Carl Culham
Athena