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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2019)
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019 Baker City, Oregon 4A Write a letter news@bakercityherald.com EDITORIAL Let voters decide on death penalty Like Kate Brown, who replaced him as Oregon governor, John Kitzhaber wanted to do away with the death penalty in the state. But at least Kitzhaber respected his constituents enough to recognize that this matter ought to be left to voters rather than the legislative or executive branches. When Kitzhaber declared a moratorium on execu- tions in Oregon in 2011, he supported the idea of putting the issue on the ballot. This was eminently reasonable — the last time voters decided on the death penalty, in 1984, 55% who cast a ballot sup- ported execution as a possible punishment. Moreover, that vote amended the Oregon Constitu- tion, which means the voters, having decided capital punishment should be an option, also reserved for themselves the option of changing their mind. Not that the sanctity of the Constitution has proved much of a deterrent for Brown and the Demo- crats who control the Legislature. They not only haven’t shown much interest in consulting voters about the death penalty, but this year they passed a law that severely narrows the defi nition of aggravat- ed murder — the only crime punishable by execution in Oregon. And although their intent was that the new law would apply only to future cases, Oregon Justice Department concluded the law could potentially also affect defendants who have already been convicted. The bottom line here is that Brown and her back- ers in the Capitol, being legally precluded from reversing voters’ 1984 decision, have been striving to thwart the electorate’s will anyway. Oregon has changed quite a lot in the past 35 years, with the electorate trending toward the left side of the political spectrum. It may well be that a majority would choose to remove capital punishment from the Constitution. Brown and the Democrats should advocate for giving voters that chance. — Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor ‘Get-Trump agenda’ muddies line between news, opinion Imagine you see someone standing on the sidewalk as a car passes by, going through a mud puddle that splashes all over him. The next day you read about the event in a newspaper. The headline says, “Auto Driver Tries to Drown Pedestrian,” and you realize you are reading The New York Times, the same paper that tried to make it sound evil that President Donald Trump had a telephone call with the prime minister of Australia. The call was not all that extraordi- nary, just the kind of thing presidents sometimes have to do. The Justice Department, you see, is investigating whether the Mueller probe into Trump allegedly colluding with the Russians was baselessly instigated by govern- ment offi cials. We already have had some scary developments along those lines, and, if it should be true, this could be even worse than Russian interfer- ence with our elections. If our own government and partisan politicians get away with turning laws and principles upside down so that bureaucrats instead of voters decide with help from members of Congress who presidents are, the America republic is gone, kaput, fi nished. They are at it again, with the usual assistance of certain news outlets that are more nearly views outlets. Part of the Justice Department probe con- cerns Australians playing a role in the shenanigans, and so, before depart- ment agents started checking out these JAY AMBROSE people, Trump was asked to call to assure the prime minister’s concurrence. As a signal of the threats to our system of governance, sources of some devious kind related the call’s content to the Times, which had this to say, high up in a front-page story: “The president is using federal law enforcement powers to aid his political prospects, settle scores with his per- ceived ‘deep state’ enemies and show that the Mueller investigation had cor- rupt, partisan origins.” This opinion, which does not belong in a straight news story, runs counter to the fact that Trump’s phone call was run-of-the-mill stuff in this sort of situ- ation. What’s more, the idea of “corrupt, partisan origins” of a two-year, multi- million-dollar effort fi nding nothing is hardly a Trump invention. It is the con- sequence of revelations the Times surely has noticed. This current investigation appears far more justifi ed than the Mueller embarrassment, and attacks on Attorney General William Barr for his role are also absurd. He’s supposed to sit back and twirl his thumbs when our democracy is at stake? Of course, the media focus has lately been on Trump’s impeachment-inducing Ukrainian phone call, which could be se- rious if Trump is proven to have had ul- terior motives in temporarily withhold- Your views Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com. fi nancially? According to the City fi nance director, the general fund, which pays some employees’ salaries, collects less per year than the expenditures. This fi nancial year the city is in the hole $93,790, next year $373,323 and 2021-2022 the amount will be $649,694. The city can NOT continue on this cycle unless they want to go bankrupt. At the last City Council meeting there were only 4 citizens to listen to the Councilors. My rehiring for the same position. I stated the City should put out a proposal to hire someone else, bringing new knowledge to town. The city has been paying Mr. Warner approximately $4,000/ month in benefi ts over his wages of $,8330/ month. If the city was to “rehire” him, he should only be paid $4,330/month or $51,960/year. The city should not pay his insurance and won’t pay PERS. Mr. Warner stated, “You probably could get someone for the position for $50,000 but they wouldn’t know anything.” Well, Mr. Warner what did you know before you started? Mr. Warner will also be receiving Social Security/ Medicare, and PERS pay. Should he be paid another $100K? Come to the meeting on Tuesday, Oct 8. Let the councilors hear your opinion on rehiring Mr. Warner. If you can’t make it to the meeting, contact the councilors either by phone or e-mail. Remember — They work for us, the citizens of Baker City! How do they know what you are thinking if you don’t tell them! Penny Rienks Baker City up at about the same time as the fi rst wave of illnesses was winding down. The result was one of the longest infl uenza seasons on record. The year before wasn’t exactly a pic- nic, either: That season marked the highest death toll from the fl u in decades, according to an Associated Press story. Part of the problem the last couple of seasons was that the fl u vaccine those years turned out not to be a particularly good match for the viruses in circulation. To some extent, this is because concocting each year’s vaccine is a bit of educated guess: Scientists need to be able to predict, some six months in advance, which particular strains of the virus will be in circulation. Some year’s guesses are better than others. But another issue is at work as well: Most of today’s vaccine is produced by growing fl u virus in chicken eggs, a 70-year-old technol- ogy. One big downside of the technology is that it takes too long to whip up a different vaccine to battle a surprise strain. Last week, in a bit of news that might have been over- shadowed by other news out of Washington, the Trump administration urged a renewed effort to modernize production. Assuming that the administration follows through, there’s no doubt that researchers would welcome a bump in federal funding. It might even help with work that’s taking place here in Oregon. A fascinating recent story in The Oregonian outlined efforts by Jonah Sacha, a vaccine expert at Oregon Health & Science University, to create a universal fl u vaccine — a one-time shot that would successfully guard against all ver- sions of the fl u. It’s a remarkably diffi cult goal, since the infl uenza virus is notorious for its ability to constantly change, but Sacha’s work is showing enough promise that his lab recently collected a $1.7 million grant. But even if everything goes perfectly, Sacha’s vaccine won’t be ready for at least another fi ve years. In the meantime, your best defense this infl uenza season is to get vaccinated. Even if this year’s vaccine turns out to be not a par- ticularly good match for this year’s fl u strain, the vaccination can be helpful: Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases said that people who get vaccinated and still get sick can expect a milder illness, and a lower risk of pneumonia, hospitalization or death. (The latter isn’t an idle concern: The fl u kills about 24,000 Americans on average every year, the CDC says.) As for the rest of the season’s precautions against the fl u, you know the drill: Cover your coughs and sneezes. Wash your hands frequently during fl u season. (A recent study showed washing is more effective than hand sanitizers.) And, if you do get sick, stay home: It’s not true that misery loves company, and it’s especially true during fl u season. City Council should not rehire Fred save the city $6,000, from the PERS payments. husband and I were two. I suggested that once Warner as city manager How will this $6,000 help a city in dire straits an employee retires it should be permanent, no Calling all Baker City citizens: Tuesday, Oct. 8 the City Council is planning on rehiring Fred Warner — after he retires from his city manager position — to be the new city manager. Does this make any sense? They plan on paying him $101,953/year (his current salary). The city will also pay his health, dental and vision insurance for $12,000/year, plus a life insurance policy. The Councilors say by ‘rehiring’ him they will ing aid to Ukraine. But even this case is mostly fl imsy and the accusers have plenty to answer for. The whistleblower, for instance, is not a whistleblower in the usual sense. This person seems to have based his or her charges on what others said, not direct knowledge, and now he or she wants to remain unidenti- fi ed. The reason cited is fear of physical attack when the real fear may be that the whole truth comes out. But if neces- sary, surround the person with troops. This business of revealing what is said in presidential phone calls is itself frightening, to say the least. How can presidents and foreign leaders have candid, strategic exchanges if the whole world has a chance to learn what was said. Those telling us it’s wrong to try harder to protect the information would probably advise unlocked doors after burglaries. What I am writing is a self-confessed opinion article, not a straight news story, and so I think it is OK for me to end with a sentence about the Times like the sentence I quoted by the Times: The newspaper is using freedom of the press to aid its get-Trump agenda, fl atten those whose common sense gets in the way and show that this president is guilty of everything and anything no matter what the facts are. OTHER VIEWS Editorial from Albany Democrat-Herald: We’ve turned the calendar into October, which means it’s time to fully confront the rites of autumn: raking leaves, loading up on pumpkin spice (to include, apparently, in ev- erything edible for the next two months) and making your appointment for an infl uenza vaccination. Experts said last week that, while it’s too early to know for sure what the prospects are for this year’s fl u season, the best way to boost your odds is to get a fl u shot, and it’s not too early to do that. The good news is that this year’s fl u season doesn’t appear to be off to an early start, said Dr. Daniel Jernigan, fl u chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nevertheless, a review of the last two fl u seasons may well increase your desire to get vaccinated: We’ve been through a pair of rough ones. Last year, as you might recall, a new strain of the infl uenza virus started