A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Now is the time
to voice your
opinion, vote
E
lection Day is just
around the corner, and
if you have not done so
already, please weigh in on the
issues facing our county and
our country by fi lling out your
ballot and turning it in at an
offi cial ballot drop box by 8
p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8.
After a tumultuous campaign
season fi lled with mud-slinging
and negativity, it can be easy to
be discouraged.
Maybe you feel no candidates
represent you. Maybe you feel
your vote as a minority party
doesn’t matter. Maybe you feel
the whole system is corrupt, and
nothing you can do will change
anything.
While these feelings are
certainly understandable, we
urge you to pick up your pen
and take a few minutes to
fi ll in a few ovals, marking
your choice for the people to
represent you in the important
decisions that will be made in
the months ahead.
Even if you feel as though
no suitable choices exist in a
national race or a state race, the
ballot is fi lled with a number of
positions far closer to home.
The race for county sheriff,
for example, impacts every
person in the county, and
only county residents have
the opportunity to decide
who will lead the county law
enforcement agency.
Most cities in Grant County
will have the opportunity to
select a mayor or city councilor.
These people directly represent
you in important discussions
and decisions that will have a
noticeable impact not only in
your community but on your
wallet as well.
While it may be diffi cult to
choose between the candidates,
especially for local volunteer
positions, the Eagle has
provided resources to keep you
informed. Search the candidates
on our website. Read the
articles from our Capital
Bureau. Look at our Election
Guide that was published in the
paper Oct. 19 or search for it on
our website.
Many of the issues can be
confusing, but we’ve tried to
make it as simple as possible,
so you know what and whom
you’re voting for.
Take a few minutes. Inform
yourself. Then cast a vote.
It’s that simple.
If nothing else, consider it
the last task you must complete
to bring an end to this ugly
campaign season.
The candidates and measures
you choose may not win in the
election, but at least you’ll know
you tried.
You’ll know you did
everything you could to make
positive changes in your county
and your country.
And, if you’re dissatisfi ed
with the results, you’ve got a
while to start campaigning for
the next election.
G UEST C OMMENT
Make mental health a priority
By Susan Johnson
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Many of us ignore physical
symptoms — an aching tooth, a
shoulder which locks up, early signs
of diabetes or high blood pressure.
Maybe we’re afraid of the dentist,
don’t want to face possible surgery
or don’t want to deal with medica-
tions and lifestyle changes.
We may also ignore signs of de-
pression and other mental illnesses
for a variety of reasons. We might
feel mental illness is a sign of weak-
ness, or fear that friends, family or
employers would judge us or dis-
criminate against us. Already, too
many Americans experience preju-
dice, discrimination, abuse and vic-
timization based on a mental health
diagnosis. And for too long, Amer-
icans paid for health insurance that
did not recognize that treatment for
mental health and substance use
disorders is as essential as other
medical treatment.
It’s time for us to let people
who are living with mental health
conditions know that they are not
alone, and that this administration
is providing important protections
for people experiencing mental
illness.
A recent report from the Mental
Health and Substance Use Disorder
Parity Task Force includes a series
of new actions and recommenda-
tions to ensure that insurance cover-
age for mental health and substance
use disorder services is comparable
to — or at parity with — general
medical care because, just as with
other illnesses, we can’t afford to
neglect our mental health.
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 ongcreek.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 Capi-
tol, 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. Web-
site: www. leg.state.or.us (includes Oregon
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
Constitution and Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information — (For
updates on bills, services, capitol or messag-
es for legislators) — 800-332-2313.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
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 — (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.
Mental illnesses take huge tolls
on individuals and society as a
whole. The annual direct and in-
direct economic costs of mental
illnesses in the United States, par-
ticularly untreated mental illnesses,
are estimated to be in the hundreds
of billions. Productivity and income
are reduced, healthcare costs for
other illnesses rise and addiction,
homelessness and disability rates
rise. Most importantly, individuals
and families suffer.
According to the most recent
statistics, 43.4 million adults aged
18 or older experienced some form
of mental illness in the past year,
and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention project depression
will be the second leading cause of
disability worldwide by 2020.
Though disabling when symp-
toms persist, depression is treatable,
and most Americans greatly im-
prove with treatment, services and
recovery supports. Signs of depres-
sion include experiencing some of
the following, most of the day, for
at least two weeks:
• Persistent sad, anxious or
“empty” mood
• Feelings of hopelessness or
pessimism
• Irritability
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness
or helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in
hobbies and activities
• Decreased energy or fatigue
• Moving or talking more slowly
• Feeling restless or having trou-
ble sitting still
• Diffi culty concentrating, re-
membering, or making decisions
• Diffi culty sleeping, early-morn-
ing awakening or oversleeping
• Appetite and/or weight changes
• Thoughts of death or suicide,
or suicide attempts
• Aches or pains, headaches,
cramps or digestive problems with-
out a clear physical cause and/or
that do not ease even with treatment
Physical diseases like diabetes,
arthritis or heart disease can in-
crease your risk of depression. Fac-
tors such as age, gender, ethnicity,
family history, major life changes
and where you live can also play a
role in depression.
Help is available. If you or
someone you love exhibits signs
of depression or another mental ill-
ness, the fi rst step is to get screened.
In Oregon, you can call or visit
Alcohol and Drug Help Line at
1-800-923-4357, Mental Health
Crisis/Suicide at 1-800-273-8255
or Youthline at 1-877-968-8491 for
assistance.
For providers near you, vis-
it Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration’s
Treatment Services Locator, or call
1-800-662-HELP (4357). If some-
one is in immediate danger, call
9-1-1.
The National Institute of Men-
tal Health has a list of suggestions
to help support treatment. You can
also fi nd more information at SAM-
HSA’s website or at mentalhealth.
gov.
Mental health is essential to
overall health. Make mental health
a priority!
Susan Johnson is the regional
director of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Re-
gion 10.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
‘Bacteria of truth
grows every day’
To the Editor:
Running for the highest offi ce in
the land, and she can’t pass a crimi-
nal background check. The bacteria
of truth grows every day.
W. Toop
Canyon City
Robocalls and junk
faxes illegal
To the Editor:
In light of being interrupted mul-
tiple times by junk faxes and robo-
calls, I’d like to give my neighbors
some information on laws pertaining
to this issue.
As of Oct. 16, 2013, federal law
requires prior express written con-
sent for all autodialed (robo) and/or
pre-recorded calls/texts sent/made to
cell phones and pre-recorded (robo)
calls made to residential land lines.
All unsolicited calls and texts made
specifi cally cell phones are 100 per-
cent illegal!
Congress fi rst addressed annoy-
ing telemarketing calls and junk fax-
es in the Telephone Consumer Pro-
tection Act of 1991 that amended the
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 ........ J ACKIE O SBORNE , JACKIE @ BMEAGLE . COM
R EPORTER ............................... R YLAN B OGGS , RYLAN @ 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
Communications Act of 1934 and
has since been re-amended in 2013,
2015 and 2016.
Under the act, robocalls are unso-
licited prerecorded calls to landline
home telephones and all autodialed
or prerecorded calls or text messages
to cell phones, emergency numbers
and patient rooms in health care fa-
cilities. SMS text messages to cell
phones are considered “calls” under
the TCPA and illegal. Purely infor-
mational calls and calls for non-com-
mercial purposes are exempt only if
they are made to a landline; even
then it applies only to calls that are
manually dialed and do not contain
a pre-recorded message. The TCPA
provides for either actual damages
or statutory damages ranging from
$500 to $1,500 per unsolicited fax/
call/message.
Dishonest companies ignored
portions of the law and/or out-
sourced their operations overseas, so
Congress amended the CAN-SPAM
Act of 2003 (Public Law No. 108-
187) making it illegal to send junk
faxes from within the United States,
and made it illegal to send them into
the United States from countries out-
side our borders like Mexico, India
and China.
Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
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Grant County .....................................$40
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Email: www.MyEagleNews.com Phone: 541-575-0710
wrote the Junk Fax Prevention Act
of 2005: senders of an unsolicited
advertisement to a fax machine are
strictly liable for a minimum of $500
per page; even if one sends an unso-
licited fax by accident, minimum lia-
bility of $500 per page attaches. Be-
fore you say, “It’s a waste of time,”
think about this: If Sen. Gordon
Smith could consider your time and
supplies valuable enough to write a
law that penalizes junk faxers $500
per page, then why wouldn’t you?
Lynn Johnson
Bend
Town cleanup a
notable difference
To the Editor:
You may have noticed the peo-
ple cleaning up around town on Sat-
urday, Oct. 22. These were people
who donated their time and effort
without so much as a whimper,
without asking for thanks or recog-
nition. Their work made a notable
difference, and I would like them
to know they made a difference by
giving up their entire Saturday sim-
ply to help others.
Kay Cotham
John Day
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offi ces.
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send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
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John Day, OR 97845-1187
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