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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2020)
A4 OPINION Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, March 4, 2020 Take a few precautions to slow the spread of coronavirus T here is no denying news about the novel coronavirus arrival on the West Coast is a real and growing concern, but panic is the wrong move for residents of our great state. The third presumed case of the new virus that first erupted in China nearly two months ago was identified in Oregon on Monday in Uma- tilla County, and there is a growing amount of evidence that there will be more cases in Washington state. There is an awful lot of information out there regard- ing the virus, and already bizarre conspiracy theo- ries accompany some of the news. Want to know one critical way to avoid the new virus? Wash your hands. Often. It sounds simple, but that is one of the best ways to combat any virus. For solid information on the virus — verified informa- tion — the best source is the website for the Centers for Disease Control. The gov- ernment agency offers up tips to avoid contracting the virus and provides up-to-date information. Meanwhile, Gov. Kate Brown acted in a proper manner over the weekend when she announced the for- mation of a coronavirus task force. She told Oregonians in a news conference that state and local agencies are responding fast to the cases in Oregon. That is the kind of leadership the state needs now. It would be easy for the governor to give the crisis the basic amount of attention and instead focus on the ongoing political battle in Salem in the Oregon Legislature over a climate change bill. At this point, though, the governor and other elected leaders need to pull away from the familiar — and for some, apparently comfort- ing — partisan battles that are a highlight of the mod- ern Legislature and focus on what could evolve into a cri- sis. The governor has shown she isn’t going to ignore the issue, and that should be good news for voters. For the rest of us, the chal- lenge will be to take the con- cern about the coronavirus seriously but not to overre- act. That means judiciously sifting through the mountains of information available and finding reliable sources. There is a great deal unknown about the virus, but Oregon Health Authority officials recently emphasized that many people who get the malady do not get seri- ously ill. And, in the end, the same basic measures to fight other communicable diseases are crucial. Besides wash- ing hands, remember to cover sneezes or coughs and, if you do become ill, stay at home. Those are easy things to do and will go a long way toward hampering the spread of any virus, including the novel coronavirus. GUEST COMMENT Election security in 2020 E lection security is a big discussion topic for the 2020 elections where mis- information is the biggest threat to elections. The 2016 election saw the use of misinformation used in con- nection with elections like never before. We know that no votes were changed in 2016. In Ore- gon in 2016, adversaries tried to get into our voter registration system, and we stopped them. Our voting systems were very secure in 2016, but we are con- tinually improving the physical and cyber security of our elec- tion systems to make them even more secure for 2020. Earlier this month the Secre- tary of State partnered with the U.S. Attorney and FBI to host an Election Security Symposium. There were over 160 attendees that encompassed local election officials, members of the legisla- ture, candidates and federal and state partners. The symposium included information on election security risks and threats as well as tools and strategies to minimize and combat those risks and threats. In 2018 the Oregon TIGER (Threat Information Gathering and Election Resources) Team was born. The goal of the team is to identify threats and vulnerabili- ties to Oregon’s election system and to work together using the resources of federal, state and local governments to mitigate those threats and vulnerabilities. As part of the work of the Steve Trout WE WILL CONTINUE TO IMPLE- MENT BEST PRACTICES TO PRO- TECT OUR ELECTION SYSTEMS, AND YOU CAN HAVE CONFI- DENCE YOUR VOTE IS SECURE. TIGER Team, the Department of Homeland Security has been conducting on-site assessments at each of Oregon’s 36 county election offices. They are assessing physical and cyber threats and vulnerabil- ities. Actions are then taken to mitigate vulnerabilities that are identified. In preparation for this year’s elections, an exercise was con- ducted for all of the counties at their annual conference last summer simulating attacks on our elections. During the simulation exer- cise, official election websites were being hacked. Disinforma- tion was being spread on social media. Electrical power and communications went down. There was also training on avoiding phishing attempts and strengthening passwords. This exercise helped us be more pre- pared in case we are attacked. All 36 Oregon counties are members of the Elections Infra- structure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC). The EI-ISAC was established to support the cybersecurity needs of election administrators. Through the EI-ISAC, elec- tion agencies gain access to an elections-focused cyber defense suite, including inci- dent response and remediation, threat and vulnerability moni- toring, cybersecurity awareness and training products and tools for implementing security best practices. The Secretary of State’s office has multiple layers of defense controls, including hard- ware and software designed to prevent cybercriminals from gaining access or misusing our systems. As a result, the security of Oregon’s election systems has never been stronger. We thwarted efforts to com- promise our system in 2016 and are in an even stronger position now to combat any attacks on our election systems. Security systems are never finished and need to continue to be improved and modernized. We will continue to implement best practices to protect our elec- tion systems, and you can have confidence your vote is secure. Steve Trout is the director of the Oregon Elections Division of the Secretary of State. The Elec- tions Division oversees state elections, ensuring that voting reflects the will of the people. 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. Blue Mountain EAGLE Published every Wednesday by ‘We appreciate the welcome we received’ To the Editor: Almost a year ago, we came to John Day for the torrefaction project at the Malheur Lumber mill. As we have completed our parts of the project and we pre- pare to demobilize, we wanted to share a few things with the community. completion, and it’s time for us to head home. As we prepare to leave, we would like to express our appreciation for everyone in this wonderful community for making us feel at home. We can only hope that our future projects are in places like John Day with folks like you. We hope we were good neighbors, and we appreciate the welcome we received. Mike McCoy, vice president Industrial Mechanical Inc. 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 ...................................................Rudy Diaz, rudy@bmeagle.com Reporter ...................................................... Steven Mitchell, steven@bmeagle.com Sports ........................................................sports@bmeagle.com Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com Administrative Assistant ..................Christy Smith, office@bmeagle.com Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION The local residents welcomed us and accepted us as part of their community. The friends and new memories will last a life time. Early on, our goal was to support the local economy as much as possible. IMI has spent over $1.8 million with local contractors, suppliers, parts stores, lodging, meals and fuel suppliers, just to name a few. Now our work is nearing 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 © 2020 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