A4
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
OPINION
Achievements
abound in our
communities
P
rogress, our new
special section inside
this week’s edition, is
a testament to what can be
accomplished when peo-
ple work together with the
shared goal of improving
their communities.
Despite being a small
county with high unemploy-
ment in an economically
challenged region, the sto-
ries of our communities are
not fi lled with failure and
woe.
Instead, when faced with
challenges, community
members rallied together
and overcame obstacles.
As you fl ip through the
pages — all 16 it took to get
everything in — you’ll read
about millions and millions
of dollars of funding secured
for important assets through-
out Grant County and doz-
ens of major projects coming
to fruition.
From an infrastructure
project in Seneca to park
upgrades in Monument,
from community hall and
school improvements in
Dayville to new storefronts
in Prairie City, positive
achievements abound.
New homes are being
built in Canyon City. Long
Creek has seen new busi-
nesses. Mt. Vernon will soon
have a new city hall.
John Day is working on
multiple projects to improve
livability and encourage
growth.
Tourism is on the rise,
transit has improved and the
fi rst commercial torrefaction
plant in North America is
being constructed right here
in Grant County.
Despite diffi culties, peo-
pled believed in their com-
munities and found ways to
make positive changes.
This county is home to
some amazing people who
are using their talents and
dedication to accomplish
some amazing things.
We applaud them for their
efforts and congratulate
them on their achievements.
With vision, teamwork
and a little Grant County
grit, we’re sure the progress
will continue for generations
to come.
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.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
• The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20500;
Phone-comments: 202-456-1111;
Switchboard: 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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
GUEST COMMENT
Did Oregonians vote for that?
By E. Werner Reschke
and Carl Wilson
A
s the Oregon Legisla-
ture enters the fi nal week
of the 2019 session, Sen-
ate Republicans have left the
state Capitol in protest of many
things.
Their absence means many
policy and budget bills remain
unpassed. However, a continu-
ing resolution, passed and signed
before Senate Republicans left,
will keep state government hum-
ming along for at least the next
three months.
At the center of the Senate
Republican protest is House Bill
2020, a Cap and Trade mech-
anism on carbon emissions.
Republicans in both chambers
have argued this bill will deci-
mate Oregonians who live out-
side of Portland.
Under HB 2020 gasoline
prices are expected to jump 22
cents per gallon to begin with
and go up signifi cantly from
there.
Heating by natural gas is also
expected to take a major leap
in price, causing average work-
ing families signifi cant stress
on their personal fi nances. All
of this to lower Oregon’s car-
bon emissions to a level deemed
acceptable by the extreme envi-
ronmental intelligentsia.
that is at the heart of the Senate
Republican walkout.
If you asked the average
Democrat in Oregon if this is the
agenda they approved when they
voted in 2018 I bet they would
say no.
Many Democrats are realiz-
ing their local party in Oregon
now refl ects Alexandria Oca-
sio-Cortez far more than Bar-
bara Roberts. Oregonians have a
built-in pioneering spirit, which
values both entrepreneurism and
the environment.
But when the pendulum
swings too far in one direction,
Oregon voters usually snap it
back. I believe we can safeguard
our environment without having
to kill our natural resource econ-
omy and dramatically raise the
cost of living for everyone else.
Oregonians did not vote for
Salem to usurp more control
and create a more intrusive role
in daily lives of Oregonian, but
rather for state government to be
more accountable and transpar-
ent to the voters.
So far those in the super-
majority aren’t hearing that
message.
E. Werner Reschke of Klam-
ath Falls represents House Dis-
trict 56, and Carl Wilson of
Grants Pass represents House
District 3 and is the House
Republican Leader.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Boardman to
Hemingway power
line ‘not real
smart’
To the Editor:
I am opposed to Idaho Pow-
er’s request to build a multimega-
watt power line from Boardman to
Hemingway, Idaho, near Boise.
When I was younger, we
caught steelhead and salmon in
the Powder River Canyon, on Big
Creek, Lick Creek, Velvet Creek,
Skookum Creek. Kids with fl y
rods could catch dozens of fi sh
during the day. We didn’t know
much about fi sheries, just being
farm kids, but those trout that we
caught all day long were steelhead
smolts, and the smaller ones in the
evening were salmon smolts.
Things started downhill with
the approval of the Brownlee,
Oxbow and Hells Canyon dams
with no fi sh ladders in 1958.
Much money was saved to supply
cheaper power to the region, and
it is cheaper if you discount block-
ing hundreds of miles of anad-
romous fi sh producing streams.
That defi cit is made up for with
hatcheries that are fi nanced partly
by a surcharge on electric bills.
Destruction of riparian zone hab-
itat was supposed to be mitigated
by Idaho Power, and somehow
they forgot to do that for almost
50 years until the relicensing pro-
cess was about to begin.
One thing that is not mentioned
on the B2H line: It does not end at
Hemingway. It will connect with
other power grids. We used to call
this as the Western intertie. Mod-
ern effi cient power generation and
distribution, designed by the same
people who lined up all the bat-
tle ships and airplanes at Pearl
Harbor. All the eggs in one bas-
ket where one smart guy with a
computer can make a third of the
United States go dark.
For decades we have fought
over the management of BPA
hydroelectric power on the
Columbia dams. Any power distri-
bution scheme that could alter the
balance of salmon and steelhead
and sturgeon is just begging for
an Endangered Species Act law-
suit. If that doesn’t scare the B2H
advocates, then there is the Treaty
of 1855 and the Bolt Decision and
tribal rights.
The Hells Canyon Complex
with no passage was one of the
biggest environmental blunders
ever. Compounding that with the
biggest white elephant power
scheme is not real smart.
Steve Culley
Baker City
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
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
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
HB 2020 was really the straw
that broke the camel’s back. But
there is a far more fundamental
reason for the Senate Republi-
can absence from the state Cap-
itol and that has to do with the
strong-arming Democrat lead-
ership who have a supermajor-
ity in both House and Senate as
well as control the Governor’s
Offi ce.
This absolute control on the
legislative process has meant
that Democrat leadership could
do whatever they want, and
indeed they have. Republican
members have argued all session
long they have been shut out
from any meaningful input on
almost every single policy shift
from historic norms — many put
in place by the citizen initiative
process.
It is this unwillingness of
Democrats to allow Oregonians
a direct voice on Cap and Trade,
but also the new sales taxes
found in HB 3427, overturning
Measure 88 (granting undocu-
mented people driver’s cards)
and special deals for special
interests in tax exemption sta-
tus — all major policy changes,
being passed by Democrat super
majorities without Republican
support and, more importantly,
without a vote from the peo-
ple. It is this blatant disregard
for Oregon’s working families
Online: MyEagleNews.com
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