A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Brown sounds
the alarm over
water supplies
T
iming is everything in
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true for moving public
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when California would get
serious about the severe
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Brown announced an executive
order aimed at reducing the
state’s water usage by 25
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made his announcement in a
location in the Sierra Nevada
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being covered by snowpack, the
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As our sister publication, the
Daily Astorian, noted in a recent
editorial about antiquated water
laws, the West suffers from a
systemic impediment to smarter
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Even so, there is a lot that a
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Brown announced a rebate
program to push replacement
of older generation washing
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The state Water Resources
Control Board has issued orders
to curtail lawn watering, and the
Los Angeles Times said that 50
percent of Los Angeles water
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room for improvement in the
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In addition to use restrictions,
there are new planning
guidelines in place that aim
to feed the aquifer underneath
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California was a desert
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aqueduct building is of another
era, and was followed by an
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senators pressed defensive
legislation to prohibit the study
of transferring water out of the
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Today the idea of more
populous states tapping
Northwest supplies seems even
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and Washington, the watersheds
that feed the Columbia
River also have record low
snowpacks, and much of this
region is grappling with its own
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All of the Western states
should be looking at the broad
array of conservation techniques
known to hydrologists to
conserve water use in urban
settings and streamline delivery
to agriculture for critical food
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a step in the right direction,
but as the new California
restrictions make clear, this is
a responsibility that all of us –
urban and rural – must
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F ARMER ’ S F ATE
A friendship composed
of drops of kindness
By Brianna Walker
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
We cannot tell the precise mo-
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at last one drop makes the vase over-
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A series of kindnesses will also at
last make the heart run over and you
suddenly are aware of your friend-
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Such is the case with a neighbor-
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husband’s” friends, but somehow
he made his way into my life, my
cellphone and quite often into my
kitchen – the effects of several of his
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“Hey kid,” he asked one day, “Ya
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my yes was going to result in a half
a bin of onions on my porch the next
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Being that my husband hates
onions, I think he was less than
appreciative that Jim’s generosity
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laughed “He’s the only vegetarian
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Jim often brought us homemade
pickles, tomatoes, cucumbers and
squash, but his gen-
erosity extended far
past garden produce
– he was generous
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doesn’t happen of-
ten in this day and
Brianna
age; maybe it never
Walker
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enough hours in the
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is forever calling – but Jim always
took the time to answer a call from
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Often he’d bring his wife and what-
ever supplies he thought you might
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even on holidays – it didn’t matter,
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Thanksgiving Day we found our-
selves with new baby lambs and no
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key to help us herd sheep in the dark,
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He’d never begrudge you his
help, or make you feel obligated to
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The minutes passed quickly when
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the world and it was always fun to
compare places we’d been and the
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We always had a good time BSing
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religion, politics, guns, agriculture,
wolves; he had an opinion or sto-
ry about them all, and before we’d
know it, minutes would often turn to
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He had the vocabulary of a sailor, the
wardrobe of a redneck, and a heart to
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the pallbearers lay down their bou-
tonnières on his casket, I felt a deep
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tissue-clad attendees, I think the
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The tears continued to fall, and
probably will at unexpected mo-
ments, but missing someone gets
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though it’s one day further from the
last time you saw each other, it’s one
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And until that day, may we take a
lesson from Jim: take time for the
people that matter, and in so doing,
we’ll spread our own drops of kind-
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Brianna Walker contributes col-
umns on the Farmer’s Fate occasion-
DOO\LQWKH%OXH0RXQWDLQ(DJOH
S TEP BACK IN TIME
Note: This column of items from
the Blue Mountain Eagle archives is
compiled by Eagle staff writer Cheryl
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100 years ago
– April 1, 1915, Grant County
Journal
ORRECTION
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• A photo caption in the April 1 issue of the Eagle gave an incorrect name place (Prairie City) but now residing
IRUWKHZLQQHURID-HHSRQWKH79JDPHVKRZ³7KH3ULFHLV5LJKW´ in Portland has held options on a large
7KHZLQQHU¶VQDPHLV4XLQQ/XQGERP7KHSKRWRLVUHSULQWHGRQ3DJH$ amount of the land on lower Dixie
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Creek and along the John Day River
Readers can report errors to the Blue Mountain Eagle at editor@myea- below the mouth of the creek for some
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time, and has been making efforts to
interest capital and get a gold dredge
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have shown a disposition to help him
Blue Mountain
in every possible way, and it is well
that this is the case, for the installation
of a dredge on these properties means
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78 years ago
195 N. Canyon Blvd. • John Day, OR 97845
– April 9, 1937, John Day Valley
541-575-0710 • Fax 541-575-1244
Ranger
•
The
Monument
High School se-
USPS 226-340
nior
class
has
announced
their annual
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
play,
a
three-act
comedy,
“The
Ready
John Day, Oregon
Made Family,” will be Saturday night,
$SULO7KHFDVWLV*HUWUXGH+DO-
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
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E DITOR Scotta Callister, editor@bmeagle.com
PHU :LOOLDPV )HUQ *LOPDQ *LOEHUW
A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT Kristina Kreger, kristina@bmeagle.com
Burke, Helen Round and Merle Leg-
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OHU$GDQFHZLOOIROORZZLWK)OHWFK-
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M ARKETING R EP Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Long Creek High School students are
C USTOMER S ERVICE R EP Lindsay Bullock office@bmeagle.com
having a contest to select a queen for
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Copyright © 2015 Blue Mountain Eagle
All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced
or copied in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
taping or information storage and retrieval systems — without written permission of the publisher.
have been placed in various stores in
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The standing of the candidates, Ka-
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nior; Oral Crowley, sophomore; and
Chloris Crowley, freshman, will be
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70 years ago
– March 23, 1945, Blue Moun-
tain Eagle
• Wise use of leftover kitchen fats
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collections of used household fats
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in 1945 fats-oils supplies, according
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in small towns have been called on
to contribute a large share of the 250
million pounds of used fats set as this
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50 years ago
– April 1, 1965, Blue Mountain
Eagle
• Modern dial telephone service
for the customers of the Juniper Tele-
phone Company in Baker, Malheur
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when Public Utility Commissioner
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the company to the Oregon Telephone
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phone serves about 850 telephones in
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30 years ago – March 28, 1985,
Blue Mountain Eagle
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LW\7KHMDLOKROGVVL[PDOHSULVRQHUV
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County Sheriff’s Department is study-
ing the possibility of solving over-
crowding by shortening sentences of
model prisoners and increasing credit
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20 years ago
– March 30, 1995, Blue Moun-
tain Eagle
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ty voters was clear Tuesday evening,
almost three to one, in support of a
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federal authority over public lands
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commanding margin with 1,375 votes
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10 years ago – March 23, 2005,
Blue Mountain Eagle
*UDQW8QLRQ¶VEDWVZHUHERRP-
ing, and a total of 28 runs crossed the
plate as the Prospectors opened the
2005 baseball season with a pair of
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as tossed a two-hitter and struck out
nine, and his teammates banged out
12 hits, including six for extra bases,
as the Prospectors rolled to a 20-1
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game, starting pitcher Kerry Ash-
mead was equally tough as the Pros-
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L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Skeptical about roads
To the Editor:
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the reasons the Forest Service gives for
road closures when they deny they are
closing roads to meet a road density quo-
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Though it’s doubtful that the closures
met all the required government guide-
lines, including public involvement,
skepticism should exist for the generic
overused and abused reasons given for
such closures: water quality and wildlife
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I recreate in the Silvies area and spent
two years surveying and inventorying
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sandy soil, some sage brush, and an oc-
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nects two main roads across these open
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a rock and sand road designated for clo-
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roads have already been closed prior
to any required environmental or road
closure documents at the direction of an
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headed up the planning interdisciplinary
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A question is raised when six roads
embedded in this area of the Silvies wa-
tershed are listed for closure under the
Marshall Devine Environmental Assess-
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Another question waiting to be an-
swered is how many citations were
issued by law enforcement agencies
representing the Forest Service for folks
“violating” forest road closures when
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Questions, questions, questions, and not
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Judy Kerr
Canyon City