MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019
Baker City, Oregon
4A
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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