A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Hard to stay on
top of GOP’s
shifting sands
E
ven when U.S. Rep.
Greg Walden is in
Eastern Oregon, he is
never far from the turmoil of
the Republican Party.
He is the chairman of
the National Republican
Congressional Committee
— making him about as
“establishment” as you can
be. Walden’s job is to get
Republicans elected and,
once there, make them the
most powerful force in
Congress.
That has never been an
easy job. Ego, assertiveness
and ambition abound. But it
has been a tougher job than
usual in the last decade as
Tea Party challengers have
gathered influence, driving
wedges through the party
and breaking the Republican
caucus into smaller factions.
They drove a Speaker of the
House to find a new line of
work.
But Walden’s job is about
to become even tougher.
Donald Trump is the
presumptive Republican
nominee — knocking
off more than a dozen
challengers on the way —
and all along he has been
insulting his competitors,
high-profile Republicans and
the party itself.
Yet he has won primaries,
and Republicans have
seen millions more ballots
returned this year than in the
last two primary campaigns.
There are lots of reasons
why, but no one can argue
that the biggest reason is
Donald Trump.
Walden told EO Media
Group that he doesn’t know
how a Trump candidacy
would affect the party. And
that answer isn’t really a
cop-out. No one would have
thought the party would be
where it is today, and it is
near impossible to predict
where it will be a year from
now.
Walden is trying to
stand on the shifting sands
of the GOP. The Bushes
don’t want any part of a
Trump-led party. Powerful
Speaker of the House Paul
Ryan is wishy-washy so far.
Republican voters are split
on just about everything
except their dislike of
Hillary Clinton. They want
to defeat her and deny her
the presidency and all that
comes with it.
Walden has some ideas on
how to make Trump more
palatable to the party, and a
more electable candidate.
He said the vice
presidential pick will be
important, and threw out the
name Joni Ernst as a VP he
could get behind. Ernst is a
popular junior senator from
Iowa, a likable character
and, importantly, a woman.
Perhaps that could help
the GOP win back some
of the large percentage of
women who do not have a
high opinion of The
Donald.
Whatever you think about
Donald Trump, the man will
not leave the Republican
Party as he found it.
He will either reinvent
it and restore it to the Oval
Office, or he will take a
hammer to the cracks already
appearing in its membership,
its legislators and the Grand
Old Party.
W HERE TO W RITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201
S. Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-
575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Can-
yon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509.
Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville
97825. Phone: 541-987-2188. Fax: 541-
987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John
Day, 97845. Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax:
541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.
net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601.
Fax: 541-421-3075. Email: info@cityo-
flongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426,
Monument 97864. Phone and fax: 541-
934-2025. Email: cityofmonument@
centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt.
Vernon 97865. Phone: 541-932-4688.
Fax: 541-932-4222. Email: cmtv@
ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie
City 97869. Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax:
820-3566. Email: pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca
97873. Phone and fax: 541-542-2161.
Email: senecaoregon@gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website: www.
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol,
Salem, 97310. Phone: (503) 986-1180.
Website: www. leg.state.or.us (includes
Oregon Constitution and Oregon Re-
vised Statutes).
• State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontar-
io (District: 60), Room H-475, State
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., Salem OR
97301. Phone: 503-986-1460. Email:
rep.cliffbentz@state.or.us. Website:
www.leg.state.or.us/bentz/home.htm.
• State Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R — (District
30) Room S-223, State Capitol, Salem
97310. Phone: 503-986-1950. Email:
sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us. Email:
TFER2@aol.com. Phone: 541-490-6528.
Website: www.leg.state.or.us/ferrioli.
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-332-
2313.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600 Pennsylva-
nia Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500;
Phone-comments: 202-456-1111; Switch-
board: 202-456-1414.
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D — 516
Hart Senate Office Building, Washington
D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244.
Email: wayne_kinney@wyden.senate.gov
Website: http://wyden.senate.gov Fax:
202-228-2717.
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D — 313 Hart
Senate Offi ce Building, Washington D.C.
20510?. Phone: 202-224-3753. Email:
senator@merkley.senate.gov. Fax: 202-
228-3997. Oregon offi ces include One
World Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon
St., Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204; and
310 S.E. Second St., Suite 105, Pend-
leton, OR 97801. Phone: 503-326-3386;
541-278-1129. Fax: 503-326-2990.
• U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R — (Sec-
ond District) 1404 Longworth Building,
Washington D.C. 20515. Phone: 202-225-
6730. No direct email because of spam.
Website: www.walden.house.gov Fax:
202-225-5774. Medford offi ce: 14 North
Central, Suite 112, Medford, OR 97501.
Phone: 541-776-4646. Fax: 541-779-
0204.
• Pending Bills: For information on bills
in Congress, Phone: 202-225-1772.
G UEST C OMMENT
Investing in CASA, children
By Lisa Romano and Tracey
Blood
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Oregon’s child welfare agency,
the Department of Human Services
(DHS), has been in the news too often
over the past few months for all the
wrong reasons — closures of foster
care programs, lawsuits alleging ne-
glect and abuse of children, fi ring of
upper management and failed federal
reviews. These problems highlight
the need for the state and citizens to
understand the importance of CASA
programs as an independent voice
that provides oversight to vulnerable
children in foster care.
CASA stands for Court Appoint-
ed Special Advocates. There are 23
CASA programs in 35 of 36 counties
in Oregon, the vast majority of which
are non-profi t organizations. CASA
volunteers are legal parties in depen-
dency court cases, and they advocate
solely in the best interest of children
in foster care. They are committed
to ensuring that each child in foster
care fi nds a safe, permanent home as
quickly and effectively as possible.
Volunteers are typically assigned
a child — or siblings in a family
— whom they visit at least once a
month. CASAs have statutory au-
thority to access the child’s records,
investigate all relevant information
about the case, participate in court
hearings and ensure that other legal
parties (including DHS) are fulfi ll-
ing their obligations to the child. For
example, CASAs often attend meet-
ings at school, go to doctor appoint-
ments, work closely with the child’s
attorney and negotiate with the DHS
caseworker. As a result, CASAs
provide accountability and have a
comprehensive and fi rst-hand under-
standing of the child’s life.
According to DHS, more than
11,400 children were in foster care in
2015. More than 1,800 CASA volun-
teers helped 4,926 of these children.
In Grant and Harney counties alone,
more than 73 children were in foster
care in 2015 with nine CASA vol-
unteers serving the local program.
While CASA is proud of our work,
we are falling short of our goal to
serve every child in need in Oregon.
CASA has been proven to be
cost-effective: CASA leverages $5
for each $1 of state general funds. If
CASA programs were fully funded
by the state, CASA volunteers could
be assigned to every child in foster
care to ensure they are as safe as
possible, have the services they need
and have their voices heard in court.
CASA regularly provides input to
the government about child welfare
issues and contributed to House Bill
4080, which established the Gov-
ernor’s Child Foster Care Advisory
Commission. As a vital resource
to both children and their families,
CASA hopes to be involved in future
conversations about how to improve
the dependency system, including
having a seat on the new Child Fos-
ter Care Advisory Commission.
Investing in CASA means invest-
ing in and protecting Oregon’s chil-
dren who are victims of neglect and
abuse.
Anyone interested in informa-
tion on volunteering locally can visit
www.grant-harneycasa.org or call
541-575-5574.
Lisa Romano is the Executive Di-
rector of the Oregon CASA Network.
Tracey Blood is the Executive Direc-
tor of Grant-Harney County CASA
Inc.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Just say “yes” on
Initiative 12-58
To the Editor:
I found it impossible not to re-
spond to last week’s letter to the
editor and ad posted in the paper
opposing initiative 12-58. The main
point for opposition was to save our
children and community. I couldn’t
agree more with both points, but
maybe with a different point of
view. We do need to save our chil-
dren!
Our schools are under-funded to
the point they always face budget
cuts, staff layoffs, student programs
being cut and forcing students to be
responsible for participation fees.
Some parents can’t afford to pay, so
their child loses the opportunity to
participate! That’s why some stu-
dents lose interest in school!
Most graduates have plans to
move away to hopefully fi nd a job
in a county that has something to of-
fer in the job market. The best way
to save the community is to bring in
good paying sustainable jobs.
Local government offi cials
should encourage free market ideas
especially something as unique as
the hemp and marijuana market.
Opponents say Grant County can
get money somewhere else for
schools. Please tell us all which
business or product you know of
that the state will share tax revenue
with any county that participates
just by allowing private land own-
ers to grow a legal agricultural crop
or open a business they choose on
their own land. This makes us eligi-
ble for a portion of millions of dol-
lars in tax revenue, not to mention
the boost our local economy des-
perately deserves from producers,
processors and dispensaries!
Vote “yes” on 12-58. Then we
can regulate marijuana sales, mak-
ing it less likely children will get
their hands on marijuana. We could
actually hear some good news when
Grant County receives their share of
the tax revenue from the state, and
when the unemployment rate drops
from jobs created in the private
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
P UBLISHER ............................... M ARISSA W ILLIAMS , MARISSA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITOR .................................... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
A DMINISTRATIVE A SSISTANT ........ K RISTINA K REGER , KRISTINA @ BMEAGLE . COM
E DITORIAL A SSISTANT ................ C HERYL H OEFLER , CHERYL @ BMEAGLE . COM
C OMMUNITY N EWS .................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
S PORTS ................................... A NGEL C ARPENTER , ANGEL @ BMEAGLE . COM
M ARKETING R EP ....................... K IM K ELL , ADS @ BMEAGLE . COM
O FFICE M ANAGER ..................... L INDSAY B ULLOCK , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
sector, our economy will actually
grow! And if we apply a solution
to a problem, our local government
can have a teaching moment and
fi gure out the best thing they can do
is keep their nose out of the private
land owners’ business!
Brad Olson
Mt. Vernon
greatly appreciate your support. And
I, as another devoted resident of our
great county, would appreciate you
voting for her as well.
Greg Jackson
John Day
The treasurer Grant
County deserves:
Julie Ellison
To the Editor:
Hemp is one of the oldest domes-
ticated crops known to man. The Co-
lumbia History of the World states
that the oldest relic of human indus-
try is a scrap of hemp fabric dating
back to approximately 8,000 B.C.
So what exactly is hemp, and how
is it different from marijuana that
we consume medicinally and recre-
ationally? Its seeds and fl owers are
used in health foods, organic body
care and other nutraceuticals. Hemp
fi bers and stalks are used in clothing,
construction materials, paper, biofu-
el, plastic composites and more.
Last year, the Hemp Industries
Association estimated the total retail
value of all hemp products sold in
the U.S. at $620 million. Sadly, all of
the raw hemp materials were import-
ed from other countries. Hemp is an
attractive rotation crop for farmers.
As it grows, hemp breathes in CO2,
detoxifi es the soil and prevents soil
erosion. What’s left after harvest
breaks down into the soil and pro-
vides valuable nutrients. Hemp re-
quires much less water to grow!
FACTS: It takes four months
to grow enough hemp to make the
same amount of paper that it would
take 4 to 10 acres of trees to grow
over a 20-year cycle! In 1941 Henry
Ford made a car out of hemp and
other composites that were more re-
sistant to blows from a sledge ham-
mer than other steel cars were.
I’m still in awe we had to put
this plant on a ballot hoping people
will vote “yes” to grow a sustain-
able product on our own land!
Cindy Kidd
Mt. Vernon
To the Editor:
I was involved with Jackson
Oil, Inc., for 39 years. When I owned
the oil business, I always considered
my employees to be my greatest as-
set. When my father passed away in
1971 and my mother needed some
help with the business, I discovered
my fi rst big asset in Bernie Carson.
Thirteen years later, another great as-
set joined my business, and my life,
by the name of Julie Ellison.
Julie served as my bookkeeper,
offi ce manager, confi dante and friend
until the day I retired, 26 years later.
During that time, she did a fantastic
job for me and all of our clientele
across the county.
Among Julie’s various job func-
tions, she worked tirelessly to: man-
age banking deposits and oversee
our various lines of credit; properly
manage accounts payable, thereby
keeping our business credit standing
in good order, which allowed us to
consistently seek out new vendors;
oversee and manage accounts re-
ceivable; promptly respond to any
customer concerns or questions; and
put the business and our customer’s
satisfaction fi rst — always.
I know Julie is more than capable
of fi lling the role of Grant County
treasurer. I have no doubt that she
would — and will, if given the op-
portunity — do a fantastic job for our
county. When you go to vote in this
month’s primary election, please con-
sider casting your vote for Julie. As
a loyal, dedicated and honest citizen
of Grant County, I know she would
Hemp and
Initiative 12-58
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offi ces.
Grant County .....................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710
USPS 226-340
See LETTERS, Page A5
Copyright © 2016 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.
www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews
@MyEagleNews