A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
‘Silent mass
disaster’ demands
nation’s attention
V
iewers of television
crime shows get
the impression that
discovery of human remains
sets off an intense response,
complete with FBI facial
reconstruction experts, swift
and accurate DNA tests and
vast electronic databases that
match subtle clues with lists
of possible victims.
Reality is more like the
situation the EO Media Group
reported in Wahkiakum
County, Washington. The
piece, titled “Riverbank
skeleton an unsolved mystery”
is on Page A8.
A body is discovered, and
local officials do what they
can — with few resources —
to determine whether a crime
has been committed and who
the person is. Ultimately, in a
large nation, each new set of
unidentified remains joins a
large number of others and is
gradually forgotten.
“The facts are sobering,”
Nancy Ritter of the National
Institute of Justice said in
the NIJ Journal. “On any
given day, there are as many
as 100,000 active missing
persons cases in the United
States. Every year, tens
of thousands of people
vanish under suspicious
circumstances. Viewed over
a 20-year period, the number
of missing persons can be
estimated in the hundreds of
thousands.”
Some of these missing,
which Ritter describes as “the
nation’s silent mass disaster,”
are missing because they
are dead. More than 40,000
sets of human remains await
identification in evidence
rooms. Only 6,000 of these
are entered in the FBI’s
National Crime Information
Center database. Many
remains are buried without
even a DNA sample being
obtained.
The NIJ makes a variety of
good suggestions. All require
federal or state funding. They
include providing free tests
of unidentified remains and
collecting reference samples
from the families of the
missing.
It’s shocking to learn
the scale of this problem.
An advanced nation should
make the methodical science
available to us a reality, not
a TV gimmick. We can be
certain murders are occurring
that are never discovered,
much less solved.
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, Canyon
City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax:
541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@centu-
rylink.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@cityofl ong-
creek.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 Revised
Statutes).
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
• State Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario (Dis-
trict: 60), Room H-475, State 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 Offi ce 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, Pendleton, OR
97801. Phone: 503-326-3386; 541-278-
1129. Fax: 503-326-2990.
• U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R — (Second
District) 1404 Longworth Building, Wash-
ington 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.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Don’t be fooled
To the Editor:
Abe Lincoln said, “You can fool
all the people some of the time, and
some of the people all the time, but
you cannot fool all the people all
the time.”
The election to recall County
Commissioner Boyd Britton is an
attempt to fool the people of Grant
County with unsubstantiated and
inaccurate claims of wrongdoing.
Please consider the facts, not the
misrepresentations, when you vote
in the recall election. Don’t be
fooled: Vote no on the recall.
Mark and Adele Cerny
Bear Valley
Long Creek Ambulance
crew are true lifesavers
To the Editor:
I would like to take the oppor-
tunity to let the Long Creek Am-
bulance crew know how much I
have so deeply appreciated them
throughout the years. They are all a
great and amazing group of people
who all deserve huge medals for all
that they do. They have gone above
and beyond to save the lives of oth-
ers. Since 2003, I have been plagued
with atrial fi brillations (an irregular
heartbeat). Even though I was told
A-Fibs are rarely ever fatal, they
can easily scare you to death. Many
times I have called upon the Long
Creek Ambulance crew to transport
me to the BMH where I had to be
cardioverted to get my heart back to
a normal beat. This has happened to
me 12 different times; I know had
it not have been for such an effi -
cient, compassionate, caring group
of EMTs I would have died. I can
easily say I owe them my life, and
mere words are not enough to ex-
press my gratitude to these people
who have worked so very hard to
gain the knowledge to save lives
and to know what to do in such
dire times of need and to show so
much compassion and comfort. Of-
ten times, the crew would say to the
hospital staff, “Take good care of
her, she’s special to us.” Well, you
are all very special to me also, and I
will forever appreciate each and ev-
ery one of you. You have truly been
an awesome ambulance crew, a
true blessing to our community and
to the surrounding area. May God
bless you for all that you have done.
Nancy Morgan
Long Creek
Harney County
resident fears for
Grant County
To the Editor:
Your Harney County neighbors
know what you are going through
– another destructive recall of an
elected county offi cial; and it is not
likely that it has anything to do with
his performance as a county com-
missioner. We know it is like the
recall that targeted our judge, Steve
Grasty. We defeated it with a land-
slide of “no” votes, sending a mes-
sage to the pro-militia, anti-govern-
ment activists in our county. The
purpose of these recalls is to replace
offi cials who don’t adopt their ex-
treme ideas. “One by one,” they
say. Everything in their message is
about what is wrong in government.
At the same time, the solutions they
offer are unworkable or non-exis-
tent. Our message to them is: We
recognize there are problems, but
we choose to work with our govern-
ment leaders, not hate them. Even
if the anti-government concerns are
sometimes valid, their methods of
dealing with issues are destructive
and dangerous.
When you look at who has come
to our counties to “educate” us, a
lot of red fl ags are raised. It isn’t
education when only one interpre-
tation of the Constitution is offered
by KrisAnne Hall. It isn’t education
when Richard Mack appears and
declares a sheriff’s oath requires
him to disobey laws that they don’t
like. It isn’t education when Angus
McIntosh tells ranchers they own
the public lands just because they
use it. Those interpretations are not
education; they are indoctrination.
What they accomplish with their
passionate deliveries is an emo-
tional response in people who are
already vulnerable because of prob-
lems in their lives and in their com-
munities. Engage county leaders;
don’t target them. Common sense
should tell you the answers will
come when people who disagree
sit down together and fi nd ways to
make things work.
To use a controversial recall
that will create greater division be-
tween neighbors, business owners
and customers, church members,
friends and family is a huge mis-
take. When will this stop? Where
will it stop? I hope for Grant Coun-
ty it begins to end with voters loud-
ly declaring “no recall!” Please, de-
feat this recall.
Jeannette Vinson
Burns
‘This recall is not
about Boyd or any of
his so-called misdeeds’
To the Editor:
One of the reasons offered by
those trying to recall County Com-
missioner Boyd Britton is that he
does not recuse himself when the
County Court is dealing with the
Forest Service and other govern-
ment agencies. The implication is
that he is using his elected offi ce to
boost business for his welding com-
pany and, following that logic, that
Boyd is corrupt. Let’s examine the
charge.
Apparently Boyd’s business
averages about $4,200 yearly in
sales to the Forest Service. If all
that landed in Boyd’s pocket, some
might try to argue he is cashing
in, although even that would be
quite a stretch. But that’s not how
small business works. I started a
business in 1977 and ran it for 35
years. Like most small businesses,
in some years we lost money, some
years we broke even and in the very
best years we approached about 10
percent in profi t. Boyd’s welding
business would be similar, I’m sure,
meaning $4,200 in sales might net
him $400 in a good year.
Let’s get real. Boyd would have
to be completely nuts to attend all
those many meetings and spend all
the other time-consuming duties re-
lated to being a commissioner (as
well as take the heaps of abuse that
we give to elected offi cials these
days) to make perhaps $400 a year.
The math is simple: Boyd’s per-
sonal income would be higher each
year if he could work more at his
shop and he avoided all the public
service.
This recall is not about Boyd or
any of his so-called misdeeds. As
they have pretty much admitted, it
is all about promoting the agenda of
a small group who are attempting
to take over our county one elected
offi ce at a time.
Let’s stop the nonsense. I en-
courage all of you — including
those of you who were misled into
signing the recall petition — to now
vote no.
Jim Kelly
Kimberly
Recall Britton ‘before
the dike breaks’
To the Editor:
The decision to mount a recall
of County Commissioner Boyd
Britton was undertaken after much
“thoughtful deliberation” and
checking of facts through Coun-
ty Court minutes, FOIA requests
and witness accounts. The petition
itself was limited to 200 words or
less, stating factual information,
not opinion, beliefs or false claims.
Petition circulators are not allowed
to discuss or provide additional in-
formation during the process of col-
lecting signatures. There are severe
penalties for doing otherwise.
In his rebuttal in the July 13
Blue Mountain Eagle, I feel Com-
missioner Britton displayed, at the
very least, a callous attitude toward
the victims of the Canyon Creek
Complex. Eyewitness accounts,
accounts by fi refi ghters themselves
should have prompted an investiga-
tion.
The forestry should have borne
the cost, but, barring that, the Coun-
ty Court seems to fi nd plenty of
money for pet projects, why not an
investigation? Regarding forest ac-
cess issues, I believe Commission-
er Britton said it best himself last
week in the Eagle: “Britton said he
doesn’t recall the court ever deny-
ing permission for the Forest Ser-
vice to close any roads.” Why not
wait until the next election? When
a dike starts leaking and the leak
gets worse, you stop it before the
dike breaks. Waiting causes more
damage. I look forward to fresh per-
spectives and voices on the County
Court.
Patti Yellow Hand Bull
Monument
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