A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Newspapers
should be included
in stimulus efforts
A
s the world has been
divided into essen-
tial and nonessential
businesses, local newspapers
providing credible information
in this public health crisis fall
firmly into the essential camp.
The industry is facing an
unusual paradox, however.
Some essential businesses,
such as grocery stores, tele-
commuting software compa-
nies and manufacturers of med-
ical masks, have seen increased
revenues as demand for their
products spikes. But while the
appetite for local news is at a
high, newspapers across the
country have been forced to lay
off a significant percentage of
their staff and cut salaries, or in
some cases close altogether.
From a revenue standpoint,
it doesn’t matter how many
thousands more people are
viewing a story on a newspa-
per’s website if the newspaper
is removing the paywall from
stories with important pub-
lic health information about
COVID-19, and no one is will-
ing to buy advertising to go
with it. In a time of canceled
events, closed businesses and
economic uncertainty, advertis-
ing is one of the first line items
organizations cut from their
budget.
This confluence of the need
for credible local news and
plunging revenues for the com-
panies reporting that news
means Congress must make
sure newspapers are included
in stimulus efforts.
The Paycheck Protec-
tion Program, which received
a refill after the president
signed a $484 billion bill Fri-
day, allows chain restaurants to
count each individual restau-
rant as its own “small busi-
nesses” for the purpose of qual-
ifying for a forgivable loan to
cover payroll, rent and utilities.
Congress should provide affil-
iation waivers for newspapers,
allowing local newspapers
owned by larger parent com-
panies, such as Gannett/Gate-
house, to qualify as a “small
business” too. Those news-
papers may have a larger par-
ent company, but they are still
expected to support themselves
through local advertising and
subscription revenue.
Community members are
getting information about
COVID-19 testing, local
cases, closures, cancelations,
resources for the newly unem-
ployed, grants available for
businesses, food giveaways
and other crucial updates from
news outlets, which often have
a far greater reach into peo-
ples’ homes than a government
agency’s website. That’s a vital
public service that needs to
continue.
Congress should also look
at other grant options that will
help newspapers weather this
storm. Federal, state and local
governments also need to set
aside advertising dollars to put
out public service announce-
ments through newspapers
and other local outlets. If the
state of Oregon can pay Face-
book and Twitter to put spon-
sored “Stay Home, Save Lives”
posts into your newsfeed, they
can pay Oregon businesses that
are helping give Oregonians
the specific local and statewide
information they need to stay
safe.
News outlets were already
doing “more with less,” and
now they’re being forced to do
less with even less. That hurts
everyone. Call or email your
federal and state elected offi-
cials and ask them to provide
the rule change, grants and
advertising dollars necessary to
protect a vital public service.
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).
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
GUEST COMMENT
EOMG forums offer chance
to make informed decision
E
lections are important.
They are the bedrock of
our democracy, the founda-
tional element to our political system
and are the body politic’s way to con-
tinue on with a series of lawmakers or
make different choices.
That’s why I believe the upcom-
ing online candidate forums, spon-
sored by the EO Media Group,
are so important and, if you allow,
necessary.
Especially now, an opportunity for
voters to connect with candidates is
crucial. This isn’t a typical election
season. That’s why the online forums,
which will be livestreamed and will
not have a live audience because of
the COVID-19 virus outbreak, are
essential for voters.
The forums are slated on Friday,
May 1, for Democratic candidates for
Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District
slot and Saturday, May 2, for Repub-
lican candidates. There are 16 can-
didates running for the congressio-
nal positions. The EO Media Group
sponsorship of the forums is an
important public service. We believe
one of our core missions is to inform
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Jim Carpenter for
Sheriff’s office should Support current
circuit court judge comply with state law OTEC directors
To the Editor:
After a great deal of deliberation
on our circuit judge race in the upcom-
ing election, I have chosen to back Jim
Carpenter. I was on the grand jury for a
short stint, and he kept the discussions
on the facts of the case as per the laws
involved were concerned, and he was
well prepared. At a town meeting here
in the area where all three candidates
were present, he answered the ques-
tions as a judge would, nothing more
and nothing less. In today’s air of judi-
cial activism, I thought long and hard
on the subject and come up backing
Mr. Carpenter. Mr. Lamborn, while I
am sure is a fine person, answered the
questions with a lot of trivial dribble
and ended up on a completely differ-
ent subject. Mr. Raschio had a weak-
ness of “candor” with me personally in
one of the Grant County Court meet-
ings about his involvement with the
city of John Day being on their budget
committee. This set off warning buzz-
ers in my mind. After an individual
brought me information on his cam-
paign donations in the past, I cannot as
a small-town conservative vote for this
person. The candidate made donations
to the “Kate Brown Committee” and
“The Friends of Jennifer Williamson”
organizations. (Jennifer was the House
majority leader on the state level from
2015-2019.) For those of us in the bat-
tle of politics, that session of the legis-
lature brought forth onerous gun con-
trol and cap and trade, the job killer for
all of us. “A single lie destroys a whole
reputation of integrity” — Baltasar
Gracian. Yes, I urge voters to vote for
current District Attorney Jim Carpenter
in this election cycle. Everyone be safe
in your journeys.
Bob Pereira
John Day
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
To the Editor:
This letter addresses the same issue
described in the Feb. 19 Blue Moun-
tain Eagle: request for viewing/inspec-
tion of a clearly defined set of pub-
lic documents. I was advised by Grant
County Sheriff’s Office that a CD has
been prepared in response to my pub-
lic records request, which I can pur-
chase. But I wish to see the originals.
Oregon law gives me a right to do so
(ORS 192.314).
Then I was informed that I may
indeed view the original documents,
contained in files and other formats
— after paying $288 for time spent to
research, compile, organize and other
office related chores, plus time for
someone to supervise my inspection
of said records. At $36 per hour, that’s
eight hours total. They’re allowed to
charge for extra time related to doc-
ument viewing, but how much addi-
tional time is needed on top of the time
they have to spend to categorize and
file complaints on a running basis? It
seems rather subjective and a “punish-
ment” for a legitimate request. (The
Eagle’s $1,200 bill, cited in the Feb. 19
issue, breaks down to 33.33 hours. A
week’s workload.)
I therefore requested to view the
19 files only. Referred to as “files,”
I assumed them ready for viewing. I
have yet to be advised of a date.
Point is: State law requires compli-
ance with lawfully and officially des-
ignated duties. Keeping records and
making them available to the public is
one of those duties. This falls mainly
to the undersheriff and office staff. In
putting a price on compliance, the pub-
lic is asked to pay again for services
already paid for through taxation.
Vega Nunez
Ritter
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
Marketing Rep .......................................Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Online: MyEagleNews.com
Phone: 541-575-0710
To the Editor:
There are three members of the cur-
rent OTEC board of directors up for
re-election this year. Many of our elec-
tric cooperatives are facing challeng-
ing and demanding decisions in the
coming few years, and this will impact
the membership’s ability to benefit
from the affordable power that OTEC
provides.
Key issues relating to federal and
state legislative actions could have
major damaging effects on OTEC
members, while still providing reli-
able and constant power needs to
meet demands. Ongoing infrastruc-
ture issues and the effects of the recent
pandemic flu are creating, for the first
time in years, many challenges that
the board of directors are managing in
conjunction with the leadership of the
OTEC organization.
Typically it can take up to two
years for each new board member
to complete training, to get certified
and to gain the knowledge needed to
address the current critical issues facing
the OTEC leadership. Can we afford
this training time given the current
circumstances?
Therefore, I ask you to take time to
carefully consider your choice in select-
ing which individuals you think can
provide our cooperative with strong,
consistent and experienced leadership in
the years ahead by casting your vote to
re-elect board members.
The investments we have made as
members of this cooperative in trust-
ing and depending on these individuals
to continue to provide our community
with reliable power will be achieved if
we choose to maintain the board’s cur-
rent level of knowledge and expertise.
Julie Riel
Hines
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send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
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John Day, OR 97845-1187
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Office Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, office@bmeagle.com
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
mium. That’s why I hope you all tune
in, if you can, and watch.
The forums are being livestreamed
by La Grande-based Eastern Oregon
Alive TV, a local internet TV station,
and on the Blue Mountain Eagle’s
Facebook page. And if you are unable
to watch the events live, the forums
will be archived and available for
viewing at your convenience on the
Eagle‘s website or on EOAlive.tv fol-
lowing the events.
The forums are being moderated
by Chris Rush, the regional publisher
of EO Media Group’s east side pub-
lications, including the Blue Moun-
tain Eagle and East Oregonian. Voters
can submit questions to CD2forum@
eomediagroup.com in advance of the
forums or on Facebook Live during
the event.
The only way voters can make an
informed decision is to be able to hear
what the candidates have to say.
So, if you get the chance, please
go online and watch the forums. It
isn’t only a good way to be informed,
but it is important to our democracy.
Andrew Cutler is the editor of the
East Oregonian.
readers regarding
issues that impact
their lives.
Elections —
who wins and who
does not — make an
impact at the local
Andrew Cutler level. The candidate
we choose to repre-
sent us in Washington, D.C., is cru-
cial to nearly every facet of our lives.
That’s why we must choose wisely
and the forums will allow area vot-
ers to gain some perspective on all the
candidates.
Normally, as we all know, by
this time in an election season there
already would have been numerous
open debates, fundraisers for candi-
dates and other opportunities to list
and ask questions of the candidates.
Because that just isn’t possible now,
the forums will help democracy by
furnishing a platform for all of us to
hear what the candidates have to say,
their goals and their views on specific
subjects. Election time is near. Ballots
go out April 29 and the primary elec-
tion is May 19.
So that means time is at a pre-
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Blue Mountain Eagle
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