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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2019)
A4 OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, August 14, 2019 There’s nothing like a county fair A time-honored tradi- tion that hearkens back to a simpler time, a county fair typically serves as a demarcation line between the end of summer and the start of school. The fair is sort of that milestone of the summer, a place in time that signals the last big local event until autumn. The Grant County Fair opens today in John Day, and if you get the chance, we urge you to stop by. That’s because there will be plenty of features for just about everyone of any age. From across the county, young people will converge as FFA and 4-H members show their steers, lambs, hogs and rabbits. The youth — and their parents and sib- lings — have spent count- less hours preparing their animals for final judging. These young people illus- trate another one of those long-standing elements to a county fair: hard work in the heat and dust to accomplish a long-term goal. In addition to the enter- tainment and activities throughout the day, Par- malee will headline this year’s concert Friday night. The fair has done a great job bringing in entertainment to add another draw. And if you haven’t seen the freestyle bullfighting, it’s something you have to see. A stop at the fair is also not just about the entertain- ment or the animals. In a real way the fair represents the quintessential fabric of Americana. In a sense the Grant County Fair is a way to see the values — hard work and determination — we all cherish at work. Not only have all the kids invested so much of their time, the fair staff has done a great job on several projects to get the fairgrounds look- ing great. Besides all of that, though, going to the fair is just a good time. Fair food, meeting up with friends and seeing a daughter or grand- son show their prized steer are all part of the ambience of a local event that really has no peer. Take a little time out this week to visit the 110th Grant County Fair. GUEST COMMENT Entrepreneurship alternative to military spouse employment A s the nation experiences unprecedented economic growth and nearly the low- est unemployment rates in his- tory, President Donald Trump and the U.S. Small Business Admin- istration are working to ensure military spouses are part of the prosperity. While the unemployment rate in Oregon is 4.1%, the unemploy- ment rate among military spouses is 24%, a whopping five times the state rate. This is an alarm- ing number in itself, but it’s even more discouraging when you con- sider that the majority of military spouses report they want or need to work. Frequent moves between duty stations cost military spouses job options, time and money. Accord- ing to a recent survey, on average, military families report difficulty making ends meet at twice the rate of most civilian families. In the same survey, half of military families report the source of finan- cial worries is their spouse’s dif- ficulty finding employment. This lack of income creates additional pressure on already stressful situa- tions for military families. That is why the U.S. Small Business Administration believes entrepreneurship is a strong alter- native to employment for military spouses. Entrepreneurship offers a more flexible and sustainable source of income for our nation’s more than one million military spouses. It allows spouses to be their own boss, set their own schedules and erans Business Outreach Center that provides training and financ- ing opportunities to entrepreneurs from the U.S. military commu- nity. In partnership with the SBA, the VBOC equips veterans, mili- tary spouses, active-duty service members and their families with no-cost, one-on-one advising, low-cost technical training and a variety of business resources. Third is the Boots to Business Reboot program. An extension of Boots to Business, an installa- tion-based training for active mil- itary members, this one- or two- day in-person course is offered off installations for veterans and military spouses. The curriculum helps those interested in explor- ing business ownership or other self-employment opportunities by leading participants through the key steps for evaluating busi- ness concepts. It also provides the foundational knowledge required to develop a business plan. Supporting entrepreneurial paths for military spouses is the least we can do for our military men and women. We can power their American dream of small business ownership while their families sacrifice to protect our rights to pursue that dream. Jeremy Field is the regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration Pacific Northwest Region, which serves Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. The SBA empowers entre- preneurs and small businesses with resources to start, grow, expand or recover. use their unique perspectives to solve consumer problems. Technology provides the tools for military fami- Jeremy Field lies to create a vir- tual office from almost anywhere. Plus, growth in industries like e-commerce remotely expand opportunities to grow a customer base. Entrepre- neurship can provide a flexible means for additional revenue that traditional employment cannot. Entrepreneurs taking the leap into small business ownership don’t have to do it alone. In addi- tion to the SBA’s core programs related to technical assistance, access to financing and busi- ness expansion through export- ing and government contracts, the SBA has programs specifically designed for veterans and military spouses. The most recent addition to SBA resources for military spouses is the announced part- nership with the Veteran Entre- preneurial Training and Resource Network, which features a pilot training program for military vet- erans, military spouses and imme- diate family members. Funded through an award of $100,000 from President Trump’s second-quarter salary in 2018, this 26-week program will feature 13 weeks of classroom sessions as well as 13 weeks of peer-to-peer mentoring sessions. Another resource is the Vet- 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@ cityoflongcreek.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.CliffBentz@oregonlegislature.gov. • Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale – 900 Court St. NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503- 986-1460. Website: oregonlegislature. gov/findley. 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. Blue Mountain EAGLE Published every Wednesday by County needs coordination ordinance To the Editor: The Forest Service (FS) Travel Management Plan that will dictate forest road closures is looming on the horizon and urged by Regional Forester Casamassa. Let’s look at some assumed theory and “best available science” such as is used by the FS to justify the massive closure of public land access. The current Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) used to offi- cially designate roads closed to motorized vehicles on the Mal- heur National Forest (MNF) lists 1,925 individual roads; approxi- mately 90% are attributed to wild- life protection supposedly with consensus of Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. The most recent FS Road Management cle is allowed on Forest Devel- oped Roads or segments shown in Exhibit (A). Exceptions to law enforcers, firefighters or organized rescuers. One could theorize that an estimated 1,925 (CFR) to 13,640 (70% of the inventory) roads are only avail- able to non-motorized traf- fic and more bicycle paths are being constructed with each project in current forest plan- ning. Assuming each closed road averages 1 mile, that is over 13,000 miles of road set aside for no motorized access (bicycles, horses, hikers, etc.), closing access to public lands to the elderly, vets and all with disabilities requiring motorized assistance. Grant County defi- nitely needs an ordinance to invoke government agencies to coordinate management of our county’s public owned lands. Judy Kerr Canyon 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, office@bmeagle.com Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Inventory List contains approx- imately 13,640 roads; roughly 70% are determined mainte- nance level (ML) 1 and declared closed under a blanket statement by previous MNF supervisors Raaf and Beverlin; new FS proj- ects “reclose” those and add still more by indiscriminately chang- ing ML 2 roads to a ML 1 under random pretext. In response to my FOIA request, the FS retrieved 2,236 pages of archived environ- mental documents on projects as far back as 1990 to find roads that had escaped closure and are now included in a road closure contract awarded to Hanging Rock Exca- vation Construction Inc. Research of these antiquated projects shows numerous inaccuracies, which indicates that the contract is pro- gressing under insufficient data. FS Order 0604-030 (2003), signed by MNF supervisor Roger Williams, referencing 36 CFR 261.50, states no motorized vehi- Online: MyEagleNews.com 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including online access) Grant County .........................................$45 Everywhere else in U.S. .......................$57 Outside Continental U.S. ....................$60 Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery 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 Phone: 541-575-0710 Copyright © 2019 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. facebook.com/MyEagleNews @MyEagleNews
