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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2020)
OPINION Wallowa County Chieftain A4 Wednesday, February 12, 2020 For a 136-year-old, change is coming and welcome W hen you are 136 years old, sometimes it’s hard to adapt to newfangled ways. The Chieftain published its fi rst issue in 1884. A Jan. 7 1898 issue, yel- lowed, fragile and faded, is the oldest edition of the paper that still resides in our archive. Then, as now, the Chief- tain published once each week. Type was set in lead. Presses were hand- cranked. Papers were delivered by horse and buggy. The lead story in the 1898 paper is headlined “Cotton for Oregon.” It ends with the optimistic prediction: “If cot- ton can be raised anyplace in Oregon, the Imnaha country will lead the procession.” The paper also admonished everyone to attend the Joseph-Enterprise foot ball (sic) game on Jan. 15 in Enterprise. (Was this a precursor to the Super Bowl?) Things change. There was the telephone. Then the radio. Then TV. And now the Internet. Today we live in a world where news transmits at light-speed around the globe. For too long, the Chief- tain has remained in 1884 mode, faithfully publishing its print stories on Wednesdays, and usually hold- ing virtually all news stories until Wednesday before placing them on the webpage. In September, 2019 we began publishing portions of the paper online on Tuesday afternoon once the print edition had gone to press. We’d tiptoed cautiously into the late 20th century. Well, we have fi nally realized that Imnaha isn’t growing cotton, and it’s time to move wholeheartedly out of the 19th century and into the 21st. Beginning this week our news sto- ries, including sports, education, and business, will be published as our reporters complete them. Our print edition will remain a weekly, with its ads, coupons, and special sections. But online, we will be more like a daily, with stories posted as they hap- pen. You’ll have fresh news of Wal- lowa County at your fi ngertips. So check our webpage www.wallowa. com daily and you’ll fi nd new and wonderful things. We will continue to post news and information to our Facebook page in a timely manner as well. But these posts will be pretty slim and basic compared to the full article ABOVE Cotton was eastern Oregon’s big new thing in 1898. LEFT The Chieftain app is available for virtually all digital devices. that will be available on the Chieftain website. We’ll also take to Twitter. And Instagram. And any other new- fangled technology that comes our way. Publishing news as it happens is what newspapers do. As part of the EO Media Group, The Chieftain has also been bringing Finally standing up for ourselves when we killed Soleimani. Both were legal combatants; both were command and con- trol targets and both were legitimate targets under the laws of war. By Kim Hutchison So, why have the left and our press come so unglued over Soleimani? I have nited States has been involved in some real heartburn over the press’ labeling a deadly confl ict for years. Many of this as murder or assassination. It was Americans both military and civil- neither. He was a valid target and should ian have lost their lives in this confl ict. have been killed years ago. Intelligence agencies know who the bad Where was the left’s indignation over guys are. Finally, Intelligence has fi gured the killing of Osama bin Laden? Was that out that one of the very high ranking bad murder or was it assassination? My per- guys will be fl ying into an airport, and more sonal opinion, for whatever that’s worth, is importantly when he will arrive. All this that it was more about hurt feelings about info is kicked up to the powers that be and not being notifi ed before action was taken. it is decided at the top levels to take him Sorry, but the War Powers Act does not out. Aircraft are launched at the appropri- apply. Every President in offi ce since the act ate time and the target is engaged and at the was passed in 1973 has committed armed end of everything, his remains are in the forces without the consent of Congress. burning wreckage. And every time they do, the opposing And you are thinking that I’m talking side has the same complaints. And every about Iranian Quds time, they are wrong. Force Commander It all boils down to WHY HAVE THE LEFT Qasem Soleimani, a the Legislative branch high ranking person in attempting to take more AND OUR PRESS COME the Iranian government. power away from the SO UNGLUED OVER Nope! Who I’m really Executive branch when talking about is Mar- comes to military SOLEIMANI? I HAVE SOME it matters. shal Admiral Isoroku I just wish that Yamamoto, Command- REAL HEARTBURN OVER some of these Congress er-in-Chief of the Jap- Critters would read and THE PRESS’ LABELING anese Combined Fleet understand the acts/ during World War II. laws that they pass… OF THIS AS MURDER Admiral Yama- Oh, wait a minute, we moto was fl ying into OR ASSASSINATION. have to pass that law so Bougainville and was we can fi nd out what is IT WAS NEITHER. shot down on April in it. (Yes, sarcasm!) 18, 1943, by 1LT Rex While I am not T. Barber fl ying a P-38. While no offi cial a great fan of Trump, I’m glad that we record exists, it is strongly rumored that fi nally have a president that won’t go on President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered an apology tour and is kicking some butt. Sec. of the Navy Frank Knox to “get We have had too many years of draw- Yamamoto.” ing red lines and then watching countries Now, back to Soleimani, you can see the jump across them and we do nothing about parallels between the two actions. it. I’m glad to see that we have a President The only real difference is that we were that wants to put our country and all our at a state of war (declared by Congress) people fi rst. We are fi nally standing up for when we killed Yamamoto and we were not ourselves. A VIEW from the GALLERY U you news and informa- tion from our publishing partners, especially the Blue Mountain Eagle (John Day), Baker City Herald, La Grande Observer, East Ore- gonian, and for agri- cultural and forestry issues, Capital Press. We offer our read- ers only the stories we feel are relevant or of interest to Wal- lowa County. This includes informa- tion about the state legislature and bills important to Wallowa County, as well as news from forestry, agri- culture, and education. Recently we have also run timely stories about our neighboring areas, including the wide- spread, damaging fl ooding in Umatilla County. Similarly, we share news of LETTERS to the EDITOR Lumping legal youth shooters with gang members is a complete misrepresentation Dear Editor, In the Chieftain of Feb 5, 2020, you pub- lished an article authored by a Jake Ellison, who claims an address or to be representing or is somehow affi liated with the University of Washington. In this article he claims to present docu- mentary evidence that rural kids commonly carry handguns illegally and that they there- fore are more likely to commit crimes and be bullies. He cites documentary evidence, statistics, supposed research and claims that all this is “well-documented.” Please note that not once does he back up any of his evidence or research with actual citations or specifi c studies! More to the point, why would the Chieftain reprint these lies and misrepresentations? As was fi nally noted in the last sentence, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to possess a handgun. It is quite legal for youths to handle, shoot with and compete with a handgun under supervision. To lump youth shooters, legally partic- ipating in shooting under supervision with gang members illegally carrying is a com- plete misrepresentation and if there is any truth in his statistics, he would have to be combining legal use with illegal. I assume that the Chieftain has not hired this anti-gun zealot as an opinion writer. I also assume that the Chieftain could have presented this article as opinion instead of carrying it as a hard news story. In the future, please refrain from print- ing this kind of misinformation and partisan propaganda as fact. Doug Wickre Joseph Comments on previous issue I’d like to comment on three things in last Wallowa County’s Newspaper Since 1884 M EMBER O REGON N EWSPAPER P UBLISHERS A SSOCIATION Published every Wednesday by: EO Media Group VOLUME 134 USPS No. 665-100 P.O. Box 338 • Enterprise, OR 97828 Offi ce: 209 NW First St., Enterprise, Ore. Phone: 541-426-4567 • Fax: 541-426-3921 Contents copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Wallowa County with our sister publi- cations, making timely publication of our stories more widespread and more important than ever. The only thing that is changing at the Chieftain is that our local sto- ries will be posted on our website as they are written. They will be acces- sible sooner on the website than in print. Our print publication remains unchanged. In the future, as in the past, we will remain laser-focused on Wal- lowa County. It’s just that we are now making that news available to those with web or app (subscription) access at light speed, multiple times per week, as well as the good, old-fashioned, horse-and-buggy paper edition speed on Wednesdays. And in case any- one decides to plant cotton in Imnaha, you’ll be the fi rst to know. Just check the Chieftain app on your iPhone. General manager, Jennifer Cooney, jcooney@wallowa.com Editor, Ellen Morris Bishop, editor@wallowa.com Publisher, Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com Reporter, Stephen Tool, steve@wallowa.com Reporter, Bill Bradshaw, bbradshaw@wallowa.com Administrative Assistant, Amber Mock, amock@wallowa.com Advertising Assistant, Cheryl Jenkins, cjenkins@wallowa.com week’s paper. The article by Ron Polk pointed out that diesel exhaust carries dangerous health haz- ards, especially for children and the elderly. It also mentioned that diesel pollution in our area is very low. But if you’re in downtown Joseph, Enter- prise, Lostine or Wallowa (much of the time), in the back of a diesel school bus, or near a running diesel rig you’re breathing unhealth- ful air. Simply put, anytime you, your children, or anyone smells diesel, your lungs, or theirs are being exposed to an especially harmful substance. It was also very disappointing to see State Senator Hansell’s guest editorial about the leg- islature’s new Cap & Trade bill. His statements suggest that he’s not fond of the free market system or democracy. The bill will result in the price of fos- sil fuels refl ecting a more true market value (where the costs to taxpayers for dealing with the problems caused by fossil fuel use are fac- tored in). Senator Hansell’s statement that he’ll use whatever means necessary to defeat the Cap & Trade bill is an obvious reference to his will- ingness to fl ee the state, during the legislative session again. That’s antithetical to democracy and a fl agrant slap in the face to Oregon voters and taxpayers. Lastly, I urge the County Commissioners to reverse the cuts to the county’s recycling pro- gram and make it more robust than before, even if that means increasing the tipping fee for garbage disposal. Not all county services pay for themselves, nor should they. For example, we don’t expect the sher- iff’s department to generate as much revenue it spends — it’s a service for the public good. Recycling is in the public good and should be treated the same. For suggestions about more effective man- agement, county commissioners could creat- ing a citizens committee on solid waste and recycling. Leon Werdinger Joseph Periodical Postage Paid at Enterprise and additional mailing offi ces Subscription rates (includes online access) Wallowa County Out-of-County 1 Year $45.00 $57.00 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery See the Wallowa County Chieftain on the Internet Wallowa.com facebook.com/Wallowa twitter.com/wcchieftain POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallowa County Chieftain P.O. Box 338 Enterprise, OR 97828
