A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Blumenauer
widens urban-
rural divide
Y
ou have to hand it to U.S.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer.
He’s not afraid to take a
stand, especially when the issue
will have zero impact on his
district and when the victims will
be hundreds of miles away.
The Portland Democrat sent a
letter to President Barack Obama
recently urging him to use the
Antiquities Act to establish the
2.5 million-acre Owyhee National
Monument.
The law allows a president to
unilaterally designate a national
monument, which forbids multiple
use of the land. The act is often
used by lame ducks to shove such
designations down the throats of
local residents and curry favor
with environmental groups.
The distance from Portland
to the proposed monument: 368
miles.
“A growing statewide coalition
of local citizens, businesses,
conservation organizations,
recreational interests, sportsmen,
and other diverse partners
support permanent protection
of the Owyhee Canyonlands,”
Blumenauer wrote to Obama.
But, he wrote, “there are some
local interests who are opposed to
such a designation.”
The “local interests” are
Malheur County residents,
including ranchers and others who
for generations have depended
on the canyonlands area to graze
cattle. They fear grazing and
other economic activities would
ultimately be banned if the
monument were designated. That
would most likely put them out of
business. Last spring, 90 percent
of Malheur County voters opposed
the monument proposal in a
county-wide advisory vote.
In essence, Blumenauer is
telling rural Oregonians that their
opinion doesn’t matter, and neither
do their businesses, many of which
have been in Malheur County
since long before he and his
Portland friends ever heard of it.
There is a lot of talk these
days about the urban-rural divide,
about how urban folks lack an
understanding of rural areas. These
same people say rural residents
need to understand the needs of
urban folks.
But when it comes right down
to it, urban residents say they
have the votes, and whether rural
residents agree or not, that’s tough.
That’s Blumenauer’s stand, and
the stand of others who want the
canyonlands “protected” from the
generations of Oregonians who
have ranched there.
Blumenauer, in his support for
the Owyhee National Monument,
just made the urban-rural divide
wider. He demonstrated — again
— that the wants of Portland’s
elites outweigh the needs of rural
Oregonians.
The next time you hear folks
talk about the need for urban and
rural Oregonians to listen to one
another, remember that, on issues
such as this, urbanites only seem to
hear what they want. Blumenauer
mentions the possibility of a “win-
win” solution for all communities
in Malheur County should the area
be set aside as a playland for hikers
and campers.
What he really means is, “We
win, you lose.”
Inviting fraud
in road repair
A
dd potential fraud to
the lengthening list of
problems with Oregon’s
Department of Transportation.
Well known for its exaggerated
forecasts and increasing bonded
indebtedness despite higher taxes,
a recent article shed light on the
agency’s vulnerability to fraud in
road repairs.
Nick Budnick of Pamplin
Media reported that ODOT’s
road-paving inspection program
has more cracks than any of the
worst streets in Grant County.
The report revealed that:
• Asphalt contractors can
game ODOT’s inspections and
compromise road quality, leading
to premature potholes and further
costly repairs.
• Oregon does not track asphalt
quality results systematically or
use testing methods common in
other states.
• Contractors often know in
advance where and when ODOT
will conduct asphalt inspections.
Worse, these vulnerabilities
have been well known to ODOT
management since at least 2005.
That’s when the Federal Highway
Administration pointed out these
issues in a nationwide report
and made recommendations
for improvement. Eight years
later, the feds conducted a new
study and reached the same
conclusions. Another federal
report described the quality
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
checks used by Oregon as “very
weak,” saying they “will only
detect severe problems with
contractor test results.”
Former ODOT employees
also have called attention to the
agency’s lax oversight system.
“Quality control was not taken
seriously,” a long-time quality
control specialist told Budnick. A
former internal auditor for ODOT
said there is a “huge risk of
fraud.” A former quality assurance
specialist said that while there are
plenty of good road contractors,
“it is easy for a contractor to
falsify documentation.”
ODOT managers downplay
these concerns. They claim there
is no evidence that contractors
are gaming the system. But they
note that the state has suspended
several contractor technicians,
one of whom was suspected of
fraud.
Doing nothing and refusing
to acknowledge the potential for
fraud despite repeated warnings
is a glaring example of wrong
at ODOT — an agency that will
collects $4.6 billion in revenue
this biennium.
Legislators should keep that
in mind as they craft a new
transportation spending bill.
Taxpayers ought to remain
skeptical when ODOT asks
for higher taxes and fees.
Reform must come before more
revenue.
F ARMER ’ S F ATE
Grandpa’s Ivy League education
By Brianna Walker
For the Blue Mountain Eagle
Nearly everyone in this country is
concerned with getting a good educa-
tion. Going to the right schools, tak-
ing the right classes and getting high
grades. Hours are spent sending out
applications, studying for SATs and
visiting campuses trying to decide
what school, college or university
will provide you or your child the best
education possible.
But some of the best lessons I
ever learned had nothing to do with
scholastics, and everything to do with
Grandpa Johnny.
Grandpa loved teaching small
children about hygiene. He taught
me, all my cousins, my children, their
children, and I’m sure many, many
others. I think I was probably 4 or 5
when he traumatized — er, I mean
taught me my fi rst lesson. He called
me over real close, and then suddenly
took out his teeth! I was traumatized,
Grandpa was amused and I don’t
think my parents had to encourage
me too hard to brush my teeth after
that. Hygiene lessons learned.
Grandpa taught us about sleeping
habits. This was one lesson I wasn’t
so keen on learning. He thought noth-
ing of getting up before the crack of
dawn to start on chores — and if truth
be told, I didn’t think much of it ei-
ther! He and I both agreed the morn-
ing was the best part of the day; we
just disagreed on where we should
spend it. He and my sister would rise
bright eyed and bushy tailed, and I
would drag myself out of bed, min-
utes before school started, and that’s
when I learned that in the Rayl house
there are no such things as Sleeping
Beauties. In the Rayl house, they are
Lay-a-bed-Uglies.
Grandpa was a clock watcher.
Lunch was at noon,
along with Luke and
Laura and later Per-
ry Mason, quitting
time was 4. Chores
at 5, and bedtime
was at 9 p.m. Sharp.
Brianna
“It’s 9 o’clock,
Walker
you’ll turn into a
pumpkin,”
he’d
say, shutting off the TV or lights, or
whatever switch he was close to as he
quickly headed to bed. My grandma
would wait until the bedroom door
shut, and on went both the TV and
lights. That’s when I learned another,
albeit more subtle lesson: The rooster
may rule the roost, but who rules the
rooster?
Grandpa also taught the days of
the week. This was another lesson
that didn’t fall on receptive ears.
Those ears belonging to my dad’s
mom, Grandma Edith. I am not sure
how the original discussion came
about, but what resulted was a decade
long dispute over the Lord’s Day.
Grandpa Edith believing it to be Sat-
urday, and Grandpa Johnny doing as
much as he could to convince her it
was on Sunday. The more fl ustered
she became, the more Grandpa John-
ny would tease her. He would get
her so riled up, she could only swat
at him. If there was ever a lull in the
conversation and Grandma Edith was
within hearing distance, you can be
sure that Grandpa would ask about
the Lord’s Day.
But Grandpa wasn’t always a giant
tease, sometimes he was extraordi-
narily polite — sometimes too much.
Grandpa taught us that exaggeration,
even at its fi nest, can really choke a
person. Grandpa, during some of his
earlier years, ate dinner at a potluck
after church. After one bite of a piece
of pie he took, he was trying to fi gure
out how to get it swallowed. It was
about that time the baker of the pie
asked him how he was enjoying it.
And Grandpa laid it on thick. Grand-
ma Betty recalled “he just wouldn’t
shut up” and he told her many times
in many ways just how great a pie she
had made. A few weeks later, the lady
baker presented him with a whole pie
to take home — because he had loved
hers so much. Grandma Betty seemed
to gleefully recall serving it to him,
feeling his exaggeration had earned
him his “just desserts.”
Grandpa also taught his daughters
about frugality. The old 8-mm video
panned across a fi eld of dead sheep,
before quickly stopping with a close
up of a ewe. I had heard the story
years before, of how my Grandpa had
bought a herd of sheep, just to have
them die shortly after of liver fl ukes.
Times were hard, and the wool was
worth quite a bit of money, so ev-
eryone (kids included) went out and
plucked the wool off the dead ani-
mals — farm families don’t let assets
go to waste, regardless of the smell.
Like family stories so often are, I had
assumed that it had been exaggerat-
ed with the passing years. But here
it was, the spinning, splotchedy fi lm
documenting their family outing. It
was all true. Their girls, the youngest
looking about 6, were all participating
in plucking wool off the dead sheep.
That’s a lesson best learned without
the experience.
I thank God for dead sheep, den-
tures and the many lessons learned
from Grandpa. Those quirky mem-
ories will provide a way to hold on
to the things we love, the things we
are, the things we never want to lose,
without quite so much pain.
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Offense
unintentional
To the Editor:
It appears that voicing my opin-
ion was the signal for the manufac-
tured media mindset of an attack
dog to hit the end of his chain.
Through attempts to twist words
and selective editing, he claims
that my statements and references
are unclear, incoherent and vague.
I have to agree when his limit-
ed level of perception is based on
media reporting. His awareness
of community issues is restrict-
ed to the path the media chooses
to lead him. Underlying issues of
our county are missed or hidden
because of reporting failure and
the diversion of attention by the
skewed half-truths, lies and ir-
relevant trash talk. He claims my
remarks are “downright insulting
to a large proportion (possibly the
majority) of the citizens of Grant
County.”
It would indicate that he be-
lieves “the majority” of Grant
County citizens have intellectual
disabilities. In doing so, he under-
estimates the wisdom, intelligence
and ability of understanding of
the majority of Grant County res-
idents, and he overestimates his
ability to learn or recognize basic
facts of our customs, culture and
civil rights. It obviously does not
occur to him to ask why the media
is on the attack, but the majority in
our County are asking the question.
His statement that “the media
is the fourth branch of power in
the United States” should scare
the hell out of everyone, especial-
ly when that power is represented
nationwide by politically led sub-
terfuge.
An example of subterfuge are
letters submitted by a New Hamp-
shire outsider who has no inkling
of what goes on in Grant County.
Perhaps he is a persona of the local
media supporters furthering their
agenda? Or the rant of an ex-For-
est Service supervisor in Idaho
who County Commissioner Brit-
ton stated was “not good for Grant
County” while he was here, so why
should anyone pay attention to his
tripe now? If I offended “the major-
ity” of Grant County citizens, it was
unintentional. I will identify my in-
tended recipients better next time.
Judy Kerr
Canyon City
Nice to see fair
alive again
To the Editor:
I just wanted to comment on how
great the Grant County Fair was this
year.
As soon as you stepped on the
grounds, you could see all the hard
work that the Fair Board, Mary Weav-
er and all the volunteers had put into
making this year’s fair a success.
It was wonderful to see the pavilion
full and look at all the exhibits.
It was great having so many dif-
ferent events to attend, and to see all
the support in our county. After such
a challenging summer last year, it was
nice to see our fair come alive again.
I appreciate all those who put so
much time and energy into making it
happen. I look forward to the fair
next year.
Linda K Hunt
Long Creek
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