A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
The weak
argument
for newsprint
tariffs
A
merican newspapers are
under attack — from
a Pacific Northwest
paper company and the U.S.
government.
It’s an odd and unfortunate
situation that will drive up costs
for newspapers, including this
one, unless the government
reverses itself.
As you probably know,
newspapers already face strong
economic headwinds. Online
shopping via big-name websites
has hurt local merchants, whose
advertising is the financial
foundation of this newspaper
and others. Meanwhile, many
readers have shifted from print
newspapers to online versions,
although both versions have
their attributes.
Like other newspapers,
it’s our job to adapt to
changing readership habits
and advertising opportunities.
We have no desire to reduce
our services and our local
community coverage.
But a paper mill in
Longview, Washington, is
taking a different tack: It’s
crying foul, claiming foreign
competitors don’t play fairly.
North Pacific Paper Co.,
which produces newsprint
and other paper, claims
the Canadian government
subsidizes Canadian paper
manufacturers, enabling them
to “dump” — that is, sell —
their products at below-market
prices in the U.S. The U.S.
Department of Commerce
bought that argument and has
imposed substantial newsprint
tariffs on newsprint imported
from Canada.
The result has been a
20 to 30 percent jump in
newsprint prices around the
U.S. Newsprint already is the
second-largest cost, next to
personnel, for publishers. You
can see that the price hike will
have a big impact.
It’s not only the economics
that concern us. It’s mind-
boggling that the Commerce
Department accepted such a
weak argument. Yes, paper
mills have closed in Oregon
and around the U.S. But
Canadian competition is not
the reason. The reality is that
newsprint demand throughout
North America has dropped
75 percent since 2000 as
technology has replaced paper.
Most folks understand
that. The tariffs, or duties, are
opposed by the majority of
U.S. newsprint manufacturers;
by their trade association,
the American Forest and
Paper Association; and by
newspapers and their trade
groups, including the Oregon
Newspaper Publishers
Association.
The opponents also
include a wide range of
other groups, such as the
Heritage Foundation, religious
publications, book companies
and chambers of commerce.
By boosting costs,
these tariffs will harm
local businesses, including
commercial printers,
bookstores, directory publishers
and newspapers. Unlike Wall
Street and the hedge fund that
owns North Pacific Paper, most
local businesses survive on thin
operating margins. Forced to
spend more in one area, they
must trim elsewhere — and the
local economy suffers.
That’s why we’d like
your help. We’d be most
appreciative if you could take
a moment to contact members
of Oregon’s congressional
delegation, asking them to
overturn the “countervailing”
and “antidumping” duties being
imposed by the Commerce
Department on Canadian
newsprint and similar paper.
Your voice matters.
So does the voice of
community newspapers across
this great nation.
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@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
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
P UBLISHED EVERY
W EDNESDAY BY
Creek 97856. Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax:
541-421-3075. Email: info@cityoflong-
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.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Crying wolf
To the Editor:
According to Aesop’s fable, a
lad tending his sheep in the fields
thought it humorous to run home
and cry, “Wolf, wolf!” The vil-
lagers rushed to the field to save
their sheep. But there was no wolf.
The boy laughed because he had
tricked his neighbors. A week later
he thought it would again be fun to
run home crying, “Wolf!” Again
concerned neighbors rushed to the
fields but, again, no wolf.
Even later, the youngster still
thought crying “wolf” was still
a funny joke, as he rushed to the
village for the third time. “Wolf,
wolf,” he cried loudly and repeated-
ly. But this time nobody paid atten-
tion to him. Nobody believed him.
Of course, he had to return to his
flock. To his dismay, in his absence,
a real wolf had killed many sheep.
His lying had led to this disaster.
Why repeat an ancient story
about telling the truth? We all know
the tale. It is because the Presi-
dent of the United States, the most
powerful person in the world, lies
constantly — constantly without re-
morse or punishment.
Actually the shepherd boy did
not care for his flock. The sheep
bore the terrible price for his lies.
Lying Trump cares not for his na-
tion. Are we deafened to lies? You
and I are already in jeopardy. The
governance of this country now
borders on the insane. The conse-
quences are ours to bear.
Leif Hatlestad
Rogue River
Fiber optics ‘a dead
horse’
To the Editor:
A morning with the science
channel (including tasteful inter-
ruptions of DQ burgers and colitis
symptoms) and “How the Universe
Works” is wondrously stupefying
and shows, in astounding detail,
planets beyond our solar system, el-
liptical orbits, elliptical planets, ice
dunes on Mars, Pluto has gas (my
sympathies for Pluto), new words
like “Goldilocks Zone” (which is
the even mean between too hot
and too cold) and all that presumed
scientific data, which is really only
theory.
How tantalizing to assume to be
able to determine planet formation
and composition outside of our own
planetary system.
However, the ever expanding
theory entrepreneurs were rudely
interrupted by the televised launch
of a state-of-the-art satellite, which
will further enable services of Irid-
ium NEXT. Iridium delivers its
uncompromising vision for the fu-
ture of global communications and
offers to dramatically enhance Irid-
ium’s ability to meet the growing
demand for global mobile commu-
nications on land, at sea and in the
skies.
Iridium may potentially enable
partners to create innovative prod-
ucts and solutions that haven’t even
been conceived of yet, made possi-
ble through the flexibility of Iridi-
um’s network. Iridium NEXT offers
to: 1) Support more bandwidth and
higher speeds for new products;
2) Enable partner solutions on a
scale not yet imagined; 3) Provide
service continuity and backwards
compatibility; and 4) Be the world’s
first turnkey platform for innovative
new capabilities by supporting new
Iridium PRIME satellites.
All claims which bring home
the strong message that the govern-
ment-backed white space, through
strategically placed towers, offers
to provide wider coverage than the
minimal coverage capabilities of lo-
cal fiber optics being touted by the
cities of John Day and Seneca and
a quorum of the county governing
body.
These entities are on the cusp of
obligating massive county funds to
supporting horse-and-buggy inno-
vations that benefit very few. Such
fiber optics will be outdated before
it even gets operational and, hanging
from exposed poles, can be brought
down by a single pellet from a BB
gun or shotgun. Open your wallets,
Grant County residents, you may be
paying for a dead horse through the
next millennium.
Judy Kerr
Canyon City
What’s your reason?
To the Editor:
What’s your reason? “Because
I just don’t like it” seems to be
the basis for the argument against
allowing state legal marijuana
production in Grant County. Af-
ter talking with people, I’ve yet
to hear anyone bring a fact-based
argument against it. I welcome the
debate. We need the discussion in
our community so we can make
an informed decision on whether
to lift the ban Grant County has in
place that makes us ineligible for
a share of the millions being col-
lected in state revenue.
So here are some facts you
should know prior to a debate:
The proper name is cannabis, not
dope or marijuana; it’s cannabis.
People have been using it for
thousands of years for medicinal,
spiritual and recreational reasons,
and there has never been a single
overdose death, ever. It’s impos-
sible; you cannot overdose on
cannabis. Doctors are now recom-
mending it for multiple conditions
like PTSD, seizures, arthritis, can-
cer and more. Cannabis can help
people addicted to opioid painkill-
ers get off those dangerous drugs
and save them from a life-threat-
ening addiction. A person is less
likely to be violent after smoking
cannabis than before they smoked
it.
Under current Oregon law,
any law-abiding citizen over 21
in a banned county can grow four
plants and smoke cannabis on their
property. So supporting a ban on
recreational sales does nothing to
keep cannabis out of Grant Coun-
ty. So I’m urging citizens to make
an informed decision and vote yes
on initiative 12-71 on May 15.
Look into the millions of dollars
of state revenue we’re missing
out on because some people “just
don’t like it.” Is it worth it?
Damon Olson
Mt. Vernon
What is
Initiative 12-71?
To the Editor:
What is Initiative 12-71? Initia-
tive 12-71 is a voter initiative on the
May 15 ballot. Voters will decide
whether to allow recreational mari-
juana sales and production in Grant
County or to continue a ban, which
makes Grant County ineligible to
receive a portion of the millions
being collected in tax revenue from
the state’s recreational marijuana
program.
The OLCC oversees and regu-
lates the program just like they do
alcohol in the state. The only differ-
ence is the security and surveillance
requirements are much higher for
marijuana businesses than liquor
stores. The 20 percent tax that is col-
lected from sales is then distributed
to counties that participate in the
program.
It’s no different than the tax on
alcohol or the proceeds the lottery
pays the state for legalized gam-
bling. Maybe you never gambled or
had a drink of alcohol in your life,
but your local schools, roads, police
and other services have all bene-
fited from the tax the state collects
from gambling and alcohol reve-
nue. We’re losing out on a potential
billion-dollar industry. Participating
counties have to be smiling all the
way to the bank!
The longer we continue this
ban the more revenue they collect.
There’s a couple of guarantees that
come with voting yes on 12-71: jobs
and revenue, the two things that ev-
eryone can agree is needed to save a
collapsing economy.
This is a way of collecting tax
revenue for a 911 program, police
and schools, and your property taxes
won’t go up. Opportunities like this
for revenue don’t come up often, so
vote yes and bring some positive
economic news to Grant County!
Sonny Dryden
Mt. Vernon
L
etters policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for Blue Mountain Eagle readers to express themselves on local, state, national or world issues. Brevity
is good, but longer letters will be asked to be contained to 350 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person. No thank-you
letters. Submissions to this page become property of the Eagle. The Eagle reserves the right to edit letters for length and for content. Letters must
be original and signed by the writer. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers should include a telephone number so they can be reached for
questions. We must limit all contributors to one letter per person per month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters to editor@bmeagle.com, or Blue
Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or fax to 541-575-1244.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
I NTERIM P UBLISHER .............K ATHRYN B. B ROWN , KBBROWN @ EOMEDIAGROUP . COM
E DITOR & G ENERAL M ANAGER ... S EAN H ART , EDITOR @ BMEAGLE . COM
R EPORTER ............................... R ICHARD H ANNERS , RICK @ 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
O FFICE A SSISTANT .................... A LIXANDRA P ERKINS , OFFICE @ BMEAGLE . COM
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County .....................................$40
Everywhere else in U.S. .....................$51
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
Periodicals Postage Paid at John
Day and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Copyright © 2018 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