A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Continuing saga
bodes ill for
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Kitzhaber and Cylvia
Hayes continues to
unfold much like an old-
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that doesn’t seem likely to have
a happy ending for the stars of
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things are going very, very
wrong for the pair came this
week, when news reports
revealed:
• Hayes hired a criminal
defense lawyer to represent
her, as questions mount about
her consulting income and tax
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Ellen Rosenblum to do an
“independent factual review”
of the allegations facing the
couple – only to be told she
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Amid these developments
came the astonishing assertion
by the Kitzhaber and Hayes
camp that she is not a
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Commission has no jurisdiction
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work, at least temporarily,
by delaying the release of
some of Hayes’ records and
complicating the various
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Bersin, the Ethics Commission
executive director, told
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review of actions by Kitzhaber
and Hayes may have to be
put on hold if the state has a
criminal investigation under
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From a practical standpoint,
the private citizen claim just
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government salary to meet the
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In addition, until
now, Kitzhaber has been
promoting, even showcasing
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garners a certain amount of
stature and respect, and the
record indicates she hasn’t
been shy about claiming that
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She’s been featured on a page
of the governor’s website and
given speeches with Kitzhaber
and on her own at various
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public employees to do her
bidding – from taking care
of her cat to making travel
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ol’ private citizens get those
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It’s hard to tell if this new
strategy stems from arrogance,
obliviousness or bad advice,
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the source, it shows a disdain
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And that doesn’t bode well for
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barely begun and already, he
faces calls for his resignation
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every right to wonder how
well the state’s business will
be conducted with such a high
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We suspect that when this
political drama comes to a
close, the only happy faces will
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L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Let’s coordinate
To the Editor:
I’d like to recognize the coun-
ty commissioners from Baker and
Wallowa Counties for sticking up
for their citizens and rejecting the
Forest Service’s attempt at getting
them to sign a cooperation agree-
ment trading their rights just for a
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I hope the rest of the coun-
ties that are involved in the Blue
Mountains Forest Plan Revision
will take a hard look at what the
two above counties have done
to protect the rights of the coun-
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give the Baker and Wallowa
County Commissioners a call and
find out why they made the stand
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People concerned about losing
their roads need to call or email
their respective commissioners
and ask about just where they
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anything but “coordination,” get
ready for a big loss of roads in
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It is crunch time – We either
stand our ground or loose a major
portion of your roads and trails
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commissioners’ meetings, make
an appointment with them, email
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all, no cooperation for them; it is
government to government using
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Chuck Chase
Baker City
Act” introduced in this Congress
and become an issue during the
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won’t get a lot of traction, until
ISIS shows the left wing that you
can be attacked here, right in your
shopping malls and maybe even at
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who fought them over there might
be attacked here for revenge is not
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“When seconds count, the police
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Steve Culley
Richland
Rebels take stand
To the Editor:
My father stood on the beach at
Normandy with fellow Americans
who spilled their blood and gave
their lives for our nation and our
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since forgotten those who fought and
died to protect our citizens from fall-
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7KDW QDWLRQ KDV QRZ JLYHQ RYHU
our rights to the narrow vision of an
entity of their own making whose
dedicated efforts are to curtail our
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lands our fathers fought, bled, and
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³HQWLW\´KDVOXUHGPDQ\HOHFWHGRI¿-
cials, moneyed individuals, and any-
one they could romance away from
their values and patriotism we once
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of our freedoms are labeled as “reb-
el rousers” and are wrongly being
demeaned for their effort in behalf
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Vets have rights, too because they refuse to sit back and
watch a raft of fanatical Napoleon-
To the Editor:
ic twits reduce our forest access to
When I was 19 my country ³GHVLJQDWHG´URXWHV
gave me a used M14 and quite a
We have sat back too long and
bit of ammunition free and they the “entity” has grown deep roots in
even gave me $55 extra a month to our county without our united stand
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they gave me a foot-long knife to nity to stand up now by writing to
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I survived and came home, and WKH HGLWRU SXEOLF RI¿FLDOV RU \RXU
now I go to the Veteran’s hospital neighbors demanding our rights be
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Judy Kerr
ly some people I suspect were not
Canyon City
veterans wrote some laws; one
of them is in great big letters as
I enter the VA grounds, promis- Let’s talk, not snipe
ing a year in jail should I possess
D ZHDSRQ 7KH SUDFWLFDO HIIHFW LV To the Editor:
Regarding the on-going road clo-
that even though I am a veteran
and a noncriminal, I have to travel sure debate failure: I have 40 years
168 miles one way unarmed be- of expertise designing sustainable
cause my final destination is the QDWLRQDOIRUHVWURDGV,ILQGWKHDQ-
tics and posturing between sheriff,
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Inside are some more signs: *UDQW&RXQW\&RXUWDQGDORFDOQR
“for your protection no guns or road closure group of private citi-
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Reminds me of two or three
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Combat veterans remember rely- bull elk trying to push their weight
ing on guns and knives for protec- DURXQG,WPD\LPSUHVVWKHHONOD-
tion and would like to have one in dies; but this belligerent style does
our personal cars instead of rely- QRWKLQJWRIXUWKHUORQJWHUPJRDOV
7KLV WKUHHULQJ FLUFXV KDV FUH-
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, PHQWLRQHG WKLV WR 5HS *UHJ ated a destructive turkey-shoot at-
Walden in one of his town meet- mosphere: the problem is who is a
ings; he took notes but I am still IDXOW"
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waiting to see if does any good
to elect a Republican when it achieve forest goals hold officials
comes to rolling back the liberal DFFRXQWDEOH´ -DQ VHHPV WR
JXQDJHQGD,WVXUHZRXOGEHQLFH fault our elected county officials
to see some pushback in Oregon for troubles on the road closure
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six gun bills in the Legislature but Jim Sproul says we are the ones at
Oregon’s law-making body is de- fault, as stakeholders – “and it got
cidedly short of any veteran per- WKLVEDGEHFDXVHZHOHWLW´
Frankly, I find this fault-
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I would like to see a “Veteran’s finding a waste of energy, like
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Second Amendment Restoration VKRYHOLQJ
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Let’s solve it instead!
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must seriously and calmly discuss
their concerns about national forest
road closures, and Malheur Nation-
al Forest Supervisor Steve Bever-
lin seems ready to have a friendly
discussion or hearing with all con-
cerned, local forest landowners and
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Cliffs and landslides are good
reasons for closing a road; so are elk
calving areas, and culturally special
historical sites are another legitimate
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Economics, also, can cause road
closures; we can’t pave or blade ev-
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Where is the happy spot of com-
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County Commissioner Boyd
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of the Forest” article:”I think we
really plowed through some new
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have a really, really big time impact
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Our grandkids will be proud of
us if we keep the forests open for
business and outdoor recreation for
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it be great to be friends of Malheur
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No more snipe hunting with out
a license!
Dave Sandersfeld
Canyon City
Oppose covert tax
To the Editor:
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the Oregon Legislature’s 2015 ses-
sion was for Senate Bill 324, which
extends the sunset for a low carbon
fuel standards (LCFS) program set
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reduce the “carbon intensity” of fos-
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be given “carbon intensity credits”
for their production of “renewable”
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oline and diesel will be forced to
purchase these “carbon intensity
credits” to “mitigate” their carbon
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7KH 'HSDUWPHQW RI (QYLURQ-
mental Quality estimates this will
increase the price of gasoline by
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er user groups are estimating costs
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SB 324 requires no notification
of the covert tax to be provided
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won’t realize that they are paying
an extra $2 to $20 to fill up their
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plete elimination of all Oregon
greenhouse gas emissions would
not result in a measurable differ-
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It’s not about social justice,
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poverty levels spend the highest
percentage of their income for en-
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harm by forcing artificial and unaf-
fordable increases in energy prices
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Oregonians concerned about
this misguided policy should con-
tact their state representatives and
senators and urge them to oppose
6%
Sen. Doug Whitsett (R-Dist. 28)
Klamath Falls
etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity
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