The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current, April 03, 2019, Page A4, Image 4

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    A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Brown, Democrats
not helping state
farmers, ranchers
O
regon Gov. Kate
Brown and the
Democrat majority
in the Legislature want to
make sure that no one in
the state, least of all farmers
and ranchers, receive any
benefi ts from regulatory re-
lief from the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
That’s bad for farmers
and ranchers, and it’s bad for
Oregon.
Part of Donald Trump’s
election campaign focused
on regulatory reform. As far
as agriculture is concerned,
he’s followed through.
The administration has
proposed new clean water
rules that are less ambigu-
ous and less sweeping than
the infamous “Waters of
the U.S.” rules proposed
in the waning days of the
Obama administration.
Under Trump, the EPA has
taken the position that out-
comes are more important
than punitive enforcement
actions.
There will always be hon-
est differences on environ-
mental policy. It seems,
though, that the impact of
each rule should be taken on
its own merits.
But Democrats in Oregon
have taken a more simplis-
tic approach: Obama rules
good, Trump rules bad.
Under House Bill 2250,
the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality and
the Oregon Health Author-
ity would have to regularly
check whether federal regu-
lations have been rendered
“signifi cantly less protec-
tive” since the end of the
Obama administration.
The DEQ and OHA
would then have to rec-
ommend or take actions to
ensure that Oregon’s envi-
ronmental standards are at
least as protective as federal
standards before the Trump
administration took offi ce.
Proponents of the legis-
lation argue it’s necessary
because the Trump adminis-
tration has sought to under-
mine the purpose of the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency.
Rep. Werner Reschke,
R-Klamath Falls, isn’t buy-
ing it.
He says the bill won’t
accomplish much of sub-
stance, but it will open the
state government to litiga-
tion from environmental
groups and others who dis-
agree with its assessments of
changes to federal policy.
“In effect, the bill by
default assumes new envi-
ronmental rules are and will
be worse than what pre-
viously existed and uses a
date to set the bar,” Reschke
said. “I fi nd this kind of pol-
icy making under the guise
of protecting Oregon’s envi-
ronment to be more political
science than science.”
We agree.
HB 2250 assumes that
any regulations passed prior
to Jan. 20, 2016, are, with-
out question, infallible. It’s
a position that probably
plays well to the base, but
doesn’t serve the interests of
Oregonians.
FARMER’S FATE
4 a.m. bedtime stories
I
’ve always believed that jet
lag was for amateurs. When
one grows up sleeping behind
the seat or on the fl oor of the trac-
tor their mom is driving, or behind
your dad on a forklift, one can
sleep anywhere — including tiny,
sardine-sized airline seats. Which
means, when you step off that
plane looking worse than your
passport photo, all you need is a
quick shower and you are ready to
adventure or work. That belief has
been upheld until this last trip to
the Orient — a trip on which my
3-year-old’s bladder just couldn’t
keep up with the airline apple juice
and ginger ale.
“I gotta go to the bathroom,
Mommy.”
It seemed we hadn’t been back
in our seats 30 minutes when I
heard, “Daddy, I gotta go again.”
I closed my eyes. At least he
wasn’t asking me.
“Wake up, wake up. I gotta go.”
I felt little fi ngers push up my eye-
lids. “I gotta go bad.”
Still later, “Are you sleeping? I
gotta go pee.”
I hummed the tune to “The
Wheels in the Bus,” as I unbuckled
my son and watched as he held his
daddy’s hand down the long aisle
back to the cramped little airplane
bathroom.
This toddler in the plane goes
up and down, up and down, up and
down
the toddler in the plane goes
up and down, all the long fl ight
through
Finally arriving home, after
more than 30 hours of bathroom
breaks in cars, buses and planes,
rummy didn’t begin to describe
our bleary eyes and achy muscles.
Falling into bed seemed like the
best thing to do, but it was the mid-
dle of the day, and both my hus-
band and I had work to catch up
on. Finally, 7 p.m. arrived, and
we gratefully collapsed into bed.
I am pretty sure
that we were asleep
before our eyelids
had closed. Unfor-
tunately, the won-
derful feeling of
sleep was more elu-
Brianna
sive for our 3-year
Walker
old. Pretty soon,
my eyelids were
peeled open: “Mommy, I’m hungry.
Mommy... mommy?”
My lips felt thick as I tried
talking. I tried encouraging him
to go fi nd something in the fridge.
There had to be something in there
he could eat: cottage cheese, but-
ter, frosting, candy bars — anything
so that I didn’t have to move. It
seemed to work, for a few minutes.
Too soon he was back, “Mommy,
I’m thirsty. Mommy... mommy!”
This time I pushed him off to my
husband, and I rolled over. What
seemed like minutes later he was
back. “Mommy, I can’t sleep.”
I groaned, “I thought Daddy
was going to get you something to
drink?”
“I already drank it,” he chirped
cheerfully. “Sing me songs.
Pleeeeease, Mommy? Please?”
This became a nightly rou-
tine for nearly a week. Regard-
less of how early we woke him up
or how hard we tried to keep him
from napping, he would fall asleep
around 7 or 8 — and be wide
awake by 10 p.m. My husband and
I had never felt so jet-lagged in
our lives. Up for a glass of water, I
glared at the clock on the oven. We
have got to stop meeting this way
4 a.m., I glared at blurry blue num-
bers. We’re supposed to be pillow
friends, not kitchen mates!
One evening after I had sung
every one of my son’s favorite
songs at least half a dozen times, I
told him it was Daddy’s turn to tell
him a story. My eyes burned, and
my legs throbbed. I wanted sleep.
I needed sleep. My toddler leaped
over the top of me, and I felt him
jump on my husband’s snoring
body.
“Tell me a story, Daddy!
Mommy said you’d tell me a
story!”
My husband groaned, and had
I cared to open my eyes, I am sure
he was sending me a dirty look
— or at least a dirty vibe, his eyes
may have been too tired to open
enough to send a look.
“It was a dark and stormy
night...” his story started. Soon my
sleep was again interrupted by a
squirming kid thrashing around
under the covers.
“Too scary, Daddy! Too scary!”
Scary bear stories. My husband
was telling our son, who was hav-
ing trouble going to sleep, scary
bear stories. Now he was wide
awake — and scared!
“No more stories, just songs,”
he pleaded.
My husband acquiesced and
began singing in a quiet voice:
Five little monkeys swinging
from the trees
teasing Mr. Crocodile you can’t
catch me
along comes Mr. Crocodile,
hungry as can be
... and CHOMPED (he sud-
denly lunged at the covers hiding
our son) that monkey right out of
the tree.
He sang the song over and
over, counting down with each
“chomped” monkey. Soon our
son was squealing and hiding —
scared and hyper — and not a
chance in this world that he was
going to sleep the rest of the night.
I felt kind of like that hun-
gry, cranky, crocodile — ready to
chomp something — and I decided
that my earlier belief needed to be
modifi ed: Jet lag is for amateurs
— and parents of toddlers!
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate
for the Blue Mountain Eagle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
WHERE TO WRITE
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
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
Capitol, Salem 97310. Phone: 503-378-
3111. Fax: 503-378-6827. Website:
governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State
Capitol, Salem, 97310. Phone: (503)
986-1180. Website: leg.state.or.us
(includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
• Oregon Legislative Information —
(For updates on bills, services, capitol
or messages for legislators) — 800-
332-2313.
• Sen. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario – 900
Court St. NE, S-301, Salem 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1730. Website:
oregonlegislature.gov/Bentz. Email:
Sen.Cliff Bentz@oregonlegislature.gov.
• Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court
St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-
986-1460. Website: oregonlegislature.
gov/fi ndley. Email: Rep.LynnFindley@
oregonlegislature.gov.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
Dugout fences
unsafe
To the Editor:
I was able to go see my grand-
son play baseball March 21-23 at
the Seventh Street Complex and
was surprised by something that
happened during the fi rst game.
A foul ball went into the dugout
where the South Umpqua players
were sitting, and one of the play-
ers was hit in the face and required
some stitches. It could have been
much worse if he hadn’t been hit
in the jaw but the throat or side of
his head. I was unaware that there
are no safety fences in front of the
dugouts in either fi eld, and only
what looks like a hitching post in
the fi eld where the Prospectors
play. That seemed even more dan-
gerous as the boys were leaning
on the top with their faces protrud-
ing toward the back of the batters,
looking rather like targets. Some
of the parents said there were other
schools that had inadequate protec-
tive fences, but some had enclosed
fronts with openings on each end.
Seems a sort of simple solution
to prevent a very serious injury, or
Publisher............ ......................................Chris Rush, crush@eomediagroup.com
Editor & General Manager ...............Sean Hart, editor@bmeagle.com
Reporter ...................................................Richard Hanners, rick@bmeagle.com
Community News .................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Sports ........................................................Angel Carpenter, angel@bmeagle.com
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Administrative Assistant ..................Makenna Adair, offi ce@bmeagle.com
Offi ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com
A different
perspective on the
city’s plans
To the Editor:
In regards to the many front page
articles about all the wonderful
things the city of John Day has done
and are planning to do, I would like
to offer a little different perspective
for your readers to consider.
To begin with, government at
any level should never be compet-
ing with private enterprise whether
it be a greenhouse, broadband or
what have you. Give me one exam-
ple of a government-run enterprise
that is not taxpayer funded, makes a
profi t and actually pays taxes.
The city of John Day, by their
own admission, is no exception. If
they can’t run the pool and the 911
center cost effectively, what are
the chances that a greenhouse or
broadband enterprise will be any
different, considering they have
1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
maybe just continue to play Rus-
sian roulette with the kids.
Mary Brown
Prairie City
Grant County .........................................$45
Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$57
Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60
Online: BlueMountainEagle.com
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Periodicals Postage Paid
at John Day and additional
mailing offi ces.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Phone: 541-575-0710
no experience, no trained person-
nel, no equipment and no capital.
Even if they obtain free taxpayer
grant money for construction, it is
highly unlikely that they will ever
be able to even cover the mainte-
nance costs.
As for the rest of the county
“stepping up,” we have been sup-
porting John Day businesses for
decades. But with today’s shopping
opportunities via broadband, we
no longer have to do so unless we
choose to. We can get most every-
thing we need delivered right to our
front door, saving time, money and
wear and tear on our vehicles.
The latest census shows the pop-
ulation of Grant County at 7,200
and the city of John Day at 1,700
of that total.
When you look at the facts pre-
sented, a logical-minded reader
might draw at least a couple conclu-
sions. One might be that perhaps the
city of John Day has not been mak-
ing very wise fi nancial decisions,
and it may also appear as though
the city of John Day needs the rest
of the county a whole lot more than
we need them!
Pete Hettinga
Dayville
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Blue Mountain Eagle
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