A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Attempt to
intimidate
newspaper
a red flag
M
alheur County
Sheriff Brian Wolfe
effectively ended a
broiling controversy last week
when he announced that there
would be no investigation of
a local newspaper regarding
alleged telephonic harassment
of a local official.
The Malheur Enterprise
newspaper in Vale reported
county officials sought out
advice from Wolfe about the
possibility of opening an offi-
cial inquiry of the weekly
publication.
Officials assert that the
newspaper crossed a line and
potentially set itself up for tele-
phonic harassment charges by
making phone calls and send-
ing emails to the county’s eco-
nomic development director,
Greg Smith, as it reported on
economic development.
The Enterprise reported
the story Monday in its online
edition.
The timing of the move
by the county is interesting
— the Enterprise had just fin-
ished an investigative story
about county economic devel-
opment projects — but Smith’s
involvement in the issue is
troubling. Smith, who also rep-
resents Umatilla and Morrow
counties in the Oregon Legisla-
ture, essentially complained the
Malheur Enterprise was send-
ing questions regarding a story
to personal email addresses of
economic development offi-
cials. Questions, it appears,
Smith did not want to answer.
Smith, by the way, uses
two email addresses to con-
duct county business. Neither
one is secret or “personal.” In
fact, last year Smith gave out
his personal cellphone number
to the public and told the audi-
ence at a government meet-
ing he was available “at any
time,” and they could call him
directly.
So why is he complaining
now about the Malheur Enter-
prise seeking information on a
story in the public interest?
Using emails to send ques-
tions or calling public officials
while working on a story is
about as standard an operating
procedure for newspapers as
putting ink on paper.
It is a routine way for report-
ers to secure information from
elected and appointed leaders
so the public can be informed.
There is no “harassment” about
the practice.
At first glance the saga
could seem to fit into a small
box of modest face-off between
officials and a newspaper in a
far-off place.
Except it can’t be dismissed.
When elected or appointed
leaders try to intimidate —
which seems to be the case
here — a newspaper and its
reporters from a story, aver-
age voters should give it their
undivided attention. And they
should be worried.
Thankfully, Wolfe made the
right decision.
When public officials
squawk about being asked
questions, that should send up a
red flag of warning to voters.
Bend newspaper buy is an opportunity
W
hen Heidi Wright called
me June 3 to sug-
gest that our company
should take a look at bidding on
Bend’s daily newspaper, The Bul-
letin, I was at once startled, skep-
tical and intrigued.
We hired Heidi as our chief
operating officer in June 2017 —
away from The Bulletin, where
she had been the chief finan-
cial officer of its parent com-
pany, Western Communications.
At that point, we had just bid
on two other newspapers out of
Wescom’s bankruptcy in Baker
City and La Grande.
Pursuing the Bulletin prospect,
the board of EO Media Group
convened two impromptu meet-
ings. For the first of these ses-
sions, at the Sheraton Portland
Airport Hotel, we invited Daily
Astorian Publisher Kari Bor-
gen, who had also worked within
Western Communications. Asked
what she thought of the oppor-
tunity, Kari said: “It’s exciting
and it’s scary.” That typified our
deliberations, during which we
probed the risks and assessed the
promise.
My daughter, Susan Forrester
Rana, flew up from Oakland for
our second board meeting, during
which we set our top bid for The
Bulletin. By this time my cousin,
Kathryn Brown, had made con-
tact with a longtime family asso-
ciate who is an executive of the
Bank of Eastern Oregon. In addi-
tion to that bank financing, Heidi
was speaking with prospective
investors in Bend who were eager
to have our pursuit of ownership
succeed.
The auction on July 29
occurred in the office of the Port-
land law firm Tonkon Torp. Our
group — including my cousin
Approach
coordination
responsibly
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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
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
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Truth in
county residents to review it.
You’ll find that coordination is
regionalism
just one among several forms of pub-
To the Editor:
The Grant County Court approved
Ordinance 2019-07 last week.
Legally, the ordinance is unneces-
sary. It’s also confused — for exam-
ple, about the need to have a Natural
Resource Committee or invoke coor-
dination. Still, I support it because,
surprisingly, it explicitly recognizes
Forest Service and BLM authority to
regulate and manage federal public
lands within Grant County.
This has two consequences. One
is that Ordinance 2019-07 renders
other county laws like Measure 10,
12-38, 12-37 (UN Free!) and Ordi-
nance 2013-01 — which challenge
such Congressionally-delegated
authority — null and void, legally
speaking. The other is that it obligates
court members to pursue their coordi-
nation responsibilities in good faith as
responsible partners. The ordinance
thus serves as an important corrective
to the unproductive and sometimes
adversarial position that has char-
acterized county government since
2013.
36 CFR § 219.4 and Federal Reg-
ister Vol. 77, No. 68 (April 9, 2012)
provide the legal context for this
good faith effort regarding coordina-
tion. I’ve asked the Eagle to post this
information online and encourage
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
Online: MyEagleNews.com
tic opportunity that will become
immensely significant to all of
Oregon. With the decline of for-
merly influential daily newspapers
such as The Register-Guard of
Eugene and others, The Bulletin
will become a beacon in a part of
Oregon that is gaining economic,
cultural and political significance.
The Bulletin will become a heavy-
weight partner for our Eastern
Oregon newspapers in Umatilla,
Union, Baker, Wallowa and Grant
counties — and for our papers on
the Oregon and Washington coast
and the Capital Press as well.
Our newspaper group fosters a
culture of collaboration. That has
allowed us to punch well above
our weight. In collaboration with
the Pamplin Media Group, we
have formed a statehouse bureau
that reverses the decline in cov-
erage of the Oregon Legislature
and state agencies. In 2006 our
papers collaborated on a series
of articles about climate change.
In addition to pieces that were
informed by science, each news-
paper developed cameos of scien-
tists, naturalists, farmers and fish-
ers who spoke about what they
were noticing in their region’s
natural environment. That series
won an award of Special Merit
in the national Grantham Prize
competition.
The environment and climate
change are the primary issues of
the 21st century. Our series — 12
years old — is ripe for an update.
And The Bulletin’s participation
in such a venture would give a
new series even more impact.
Steve Forrester, the former edi-
tor and publisher of The Daily
Astorian, is the president and
CEO of EO Media Group. Con-
tact him at sforrester@eomedia-
group.com.
Kathryn, Heidi
and our CFO Rick
Hansen and our
lawyers — were
placed in one
room while the
three-man team
from Adams Pub-
Steve
lishing Group was
Forrester
in another. Rhode
Island Suburban Newspapers, the
party that made the initial bid on
The Bulletin, did not show up for
the auction. To honor our family’s
ambitions and the gravity of the
moment, Kathryn wore a Pendle-
ton jacket that had belonged to my
mother, Eleanor.
At 10 a.m. we moved to
another conference room — the
bidding site. When the Adams
trio entered, we stood to greet
them. Mark Adams, the compa-
ny’s CEO, sat two seats away
from me; Heidi was to my left. In
a thrilling auction that would last
15 minutes, Adams would be their
bidder, Heidi ours.
The bidding requirement
was to raise by minimum incre-
ments of $50,000, beginning
at $2,550,000. After the initial
round of bidding drove the price
to $3,050,000, the Adams group
left the room to confer privately.
There was a second conference at
the $3,450,000 mark, after which
Mark Adams jumped the bid to
$3.6 million. Heidi hesitated for
what seemed to me 20 seconds.
But Rick clocked it at 15 seconds.
Even though we were below our
ceiling, her hesitation seemed an
eternity. Instead of raising our bid,
Mark Adams graciously congratu-
lated us on our acquisition.
In taking ownership of The
Bulletin, our company is not sim-
ply buying another property.
It is taking hold of a journalis-
lic engagement required by fed-
eral law; that county government is
just one among several entities fed-
eral agencies are required to coordi-
nate with; that federal agencies are
required to coordinate their land use
plans with the land use plans and pol-
icies counties are responsible for,
per state law; and that consistency
between federal plans and county
plans is not required. Clearly, coor-
dination itself does not confer any
unique status on county governments.
It does however offer them some
important opportunities. For example,
locally, county government is tasked
with public safety and search-and-
rescue responsibilities. If the county’s
wildfire protection plan prioritized
strategic fuel-break and WUI corridor
treatments along county roads (and
elsewhere) to provide escape routes
and enhance public safety during
wildfires, or its search-and-rescue
policies addressed access needs and
how roads are closed — with gates
rather than berms, say — federal
agencies would likely try to accom-
modate such objectives and consider-
ations in their plans.
I hope court members will
approach coordination responsi-
bly and take advantage of such
opportunities.
Mark Webb
Mt. Vernon
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send address changes to:
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To the Editor:
Junk cluttered on property
amidst overgrowth of weeds and
brush is not a treasured “regional
flavor.” Nor is it iconic in any sense
of “western” or “cowboy.” To the
contrary, negligence of such sort
only reinforces the crudely cartoon-
ish characterizations of rural peo-
ple general.
Historically, such characteri-
zation of rural people as “lesser
than city folks” has been applied to
politically neutralize public sym-
pathy that otherwise would weigh
government policies more in recog-
nition of how vital to national eco-
nomic health and character are the
occupations of — and lifestyle —
of rural people.
Junk and clutter are not heroic
bulwarks against “uppity influ-
ence.” It is instead passive aggres-
sion against the community. Behav-
ior-wise, as adolescent as that of a
rebellious teenager refusing to clean
up his or her room.
Worse, though, it reinforces
all the discrediting characteriza-
tions that have politically victim-
ized rural people since the late 19th
century — which then they mobi-
lized to fight by forming the Grange
System.
Storie Mooser
Prairie City
Copyright © 2019
Blue Mountain Eagle
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