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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com August 19, 2015 A3 Merkley holds town hall No. 248 in Joseph By Steve Tool Merkley isn’t sold on 3DFi¿F 5iP trDde SDFt Wallowa County Chieftain About two dozen lo- cals attended U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s town hall meet- ing at Joseph Charter School Aug. 12. Casually dressed in jeans and long-sleeved shirt, the senator spoke of his latest activities in Washington, D.C., as well as answering a number of questions from the audience. Joseph Mayor Dennis Sands introduced Merk- ley, who in turn introduced county commissioners Susan Roberts and Mike Hayward before getting down to busi- ness. Merkley started by hon- oring the Magic Garden, a local community garden project dedicated to provid- ing thousands of pounds of healthy foods to schools and the community. JCS agri- culture teacher Toby Koehn and several JCS students re- ceived a certificate of recog- nition as well as a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol. Merkley also mentioned Congress’ efforts to replace the “No Child Left Behind” education program with a program called “Every Child Achieves,” which will give more flexibility to states and communities to control curriculum to fit community needs. Oregon wildfires con- cerned Merkley, who is working with Sen. Ron Wyden to create a policy that has the U.S. Forest Ser- vice base its wildfire fight- ing budget on average costs from the previous 10 years with the stipulation that overage spending in any par- ticular year be paid from the same source of funds Feder- al Emergency Management Agency draws from. Currently, the USFS bor- rows money earmarked for other projects, including forest health, to fill overage gaps. “It’s no way to run an enterprise,” Merkley said. JCS senior and Chief Joseph Days Rodeo Court Princess, Jesse-Ellen Wood- head, raised the first audi- ence question, asking Merk- ley how he planned to use Oregon’s natural resources to expand rural economic growth. Merkley answered that he is the ranking Democrat on the agriculture subcommit- tee of the Senate appropri- ations committee, and the By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Sen. Jeff Merkley, during his recent visit to Joseph, expressed his concerns about TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement among Pacific Rim countries that seeks to lower trade barri- ers. While Sen. Ron Wyden supports the pact, Merkley has reservations. “We had an economic family that was Ameri- ca and other developed countries, and then we brought into that fami- ly folks like Mexico that have a very low minimum wage, which puts our workers into direct com- petition with workers who Steve Tool/Chieftain U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley listens to a question from an audience member during his town hall meeting at Joseph Charter School on Aug. 12. About two dozen people attended the event. first Oregonian to sit on the committee since the days of Sen. Mark Hatfield. He add- ed that Oregon, as a fishing, farming and timber state, has a more diverse agricul- tural economy than the Mid- west “big farm” economy on which many government farm programs are based. “I’m trying to inject into that conversation the types of support and agricultur- al resources that will sup- port Oregon’s agriculture,” Merkley said. The senator said that poor forest health has par- alyzed second-growth for- ests. “That’s good for fires and disease, but not good for ecosystems or harvesting. We need to unlock that re- source.” He cited area coop- eratives and forest steward- ships as some progress made in that area. Merkley also addressed veteran’s concerns with homelessness and the health- care, which he said are a pri- ority. One audience member raised the question of the high cost of American-pro- duced medication despite the Affordable Care Act. The person noted the fact that USA-made medication GARAGE D00R Also specializing in INSTALLATION AND REPAIR Call Paul Vlietstra 541-263-1247 Licensed Bonded & Insured CCB#200036 is sold in Canada for a low- er price than Americans pay, but cannot be imported for Americans to buy at a lower price. “I think it’s outrageous that we invest funds in re- search, that there’s substan- tial benefits in having access to the American market, but we pay the highest prices in the world. The place where it’s most true is in Medi- care,” Merkley said. The senator suggested Medicare be given the op- portunity to negotiate drug prices just as the Veterans Administration does, or let the drugs be imported from overseas. He added that he’s been on the losing side in Congress in trying to change the law. Kathleen Ackley, exec- utive director of Wallowa Land Trust, asked about the possibility of getting fund- ing for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is slated for expiration in September. The Wallowa Lake Moraines Partnership, Happy 80th Birthday! Mom/Grandma, Mamie McCrae Aug. 23. We wish you a Happy Birthday! There will be an open house Sunday Aug. 23rd from 1:00 to 3:00 p. m. at Mamie's home. Love, Family and Friends The Destination for All Your Outdoor Summer Needs! Stop in and check out our selection of sun care needs, first aid items and allergy treatment and prevention Give us a call today! - Fri • 541-426-7455 senator, asking him if he supported the removal of wolves from the endangered species list. Merkley replied he supported the delisting of wolves from east of Hwy 395, but not west of the highway. “There’s basically no wolves in that area yet, and I think they should have their fair share of the chal- lenge,” Merkley said. Thank you to all our sponsors! Compassionate | Convenient | Confidential Hours: 9 AM - 6 PM • Mon of which WLT is a part, is in line for a Forest Lega- cy Grant through LWCF. It could allocate enough funds to buy a significant portion of the lake’s east moraine, thereby preserving it for fu- ture generations. Merkley had nothing promising to add regard- ing the LWCF funding but expressed his concern that the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision, which allows for virtually unlimited political campaign funding by individuals or corporations, could allow oil drilling companies, which fund the LWCF by govern- ment mandate, to use their influence to stop funding the LWCF. Merkley added he was hopeful LWCF could get funding by getting attached to some key legislation. Merkley fielded the last question, put by JCS Future Farmers of America member Raymond Seal who asked the senator to define his position on the Pacific Northwest Gray Wolf Management Act. Merkley replied he support- ed continuing funds for wolf deterrents as well as tax credits for ranchers affected by wolf depredation. Seal further pressed the often earn $1 per hour. TPP doubles down on that with countries like Malay- sia, that has a slave labor problem and with Vietnam that pays less than $1 per hour.” Merkley said several of the included countries have no minimum wage at all. “That means manu- facturing will leave and go there. If you’re an inves- tor, it’s a very good deal because you can play off American workers against foreign workers, and low-income workers from Mexico against low-in- come workers from Malay- sia and so on. If you’re a worker, it’s a very bad deal because it undercuts your leverage to get a share of the American Dream.” 541-426-7455 306 W. North Street, Enterprise Arrowhead Chocolates • J.B. Bane Electric Bank of Eastern Oregon • Boggan's Oasis • Bollman Funeral Home Beecharmed Marketplace • Wild Carrot Cameron's Wallowa County Ace Hardware Chopper’s Car Wash • Community Bank • Copper Creek Deb's Apparel & Gifts • Hayes Printing & Graphics Eagle's View Inn & Suites • Edison Perry & Company, P.C. Enterprise Electric • Enterprise Flower Shop Enterprise House Bed & Breakfast GEMS (Greater Enterprise Main Streets Group) Goebel's Gas Station Heidi's Hair Care • Johnson, Roland - Attorney At Law Josephy Center • Kooch Century Farm • Kellermann Logging Lear's Main Street Pub & Grill • Les Schwab Tire Co. Log House RV Park • Longhorn Espresso • Lostine Tavern Mothers • M Crow • Mad Mary & Co. Main Street Motors • Matterhorn Village Mountain Getaway Lodging Mountain View Motel & RV Park • Northwest Fence Co. Pit Stop BBQ • Ponderosa Motel • Wallowa County Chieftain Speedway Motors • Stangel Industries Stein Distillery • Stewart Jones Designs Stubborn Mule Saloon & Steakhouse • Summit Racing The Bookloft • Thompson Auto Supply - Napa To Zion • Umpqua Bank • Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce Wallowa County Brokers, Kent Sands, Broker Wallowa County Commissioners • Wallowa Food City Wheatland Insurance • Wilderness Inn • Wildhorse Resort & Casino Wolfe Ranch - Wayne & Gordon • Wortman Angus Ranch Sculptors & Artisans TW Bronze - Tim Parks • Parks Bronze - Steve Parks Moonshine Glass - Russell Ford • Olaf Pottery - Ted Juve Water color painting - Dennis Rienke • Engraving - Brad Samard Engraving - Debbie Gilbert • Metal Art Work - Chad & Eric Stangel Big shout of THANKS to Bruce Blevins & NSRA Safety Inspection Team and to the Sinclair Brothers for shooting the great pictures from their 40’ Bucket Truck! Also a special thank you to all of the participants, judges, vendors, volunteers and all of the spectators who attended the event! See you next year! www.mainstreetshowandshine.com