A6
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Chlorpyrifos action
puts farmers
in a pinch
I
n its decision to phase out
the pesticide chlorpyrifos,
the folks at the Oregon De-
partment of Agriculture appear
to have forgotten someone: the
farmers.
Chlorpyrifos is an insec-
ticide that’s been around 55
years. It is used on dozens
of crops in Oregon to keep
insects, worms and mites at
bay. It is also used on golf
courses and in greenhouses,
wood treatments and roach
traps and to kill mosquitoes.
Chlorpyrifos is an import-
ant tool. It works well and is
affordable. On farms and in
commercial settings, additional
training and protective equip-
ment such as respirators, gloves
and coveralls are required
when the insecticide is applied,
and the fields are off-limits
to others until deemed safe.
Household uses, where most of
the concern was centered, have
already been banned or phased
out.
Instead of awaiting direction
from legislators, whose job it
is to write laws and make pol-
icy, the state agriculture depart-
ment went ahead and convened
a work group to come up with
a plan to phase out the use of
chlorpyrifos. That’s fine.
But, importantly, the ODA
neglected to offer Oregon
farmers adequate help in find-
ing alternatives or replacements
for chlorpyrifos. Just because
an insecticide is banned doesn’t
mean the insects will go away
on their own.
An undocumented letter that
was circulated in the legislature
last year by a lobbyist for the
organic industry said that doz-
ens of alternatives for chlorpy-
rifos are already available to
farmers.
That was apparently wrong.
Either that, or someone lost the
list.
Now Oregon researchers are
playing catch-up to find alter-
natives and replacements for
chlorpyrifos that are effective
and affordable.
And, unfortunately, they are
trying to do it without adequate
funding.
Since chlorpyrifos was
banned in California, the state
has provided more than $5 mil-
lion in grants for research into
alternatives.
In Oregon, research-
ers have $381,107 from two
USDA specialty crop grants
to do the same job. That will
address a handful of crops out
of the more than 50 on which
chlorpyrifos is used.
Depending on what the
researchers find, it could be
years before the alternatives
and replacements are fully
labeled and available for use.
Under the ODA plan,
chlorpyrifos will be phased
out for most uses by the end of
2023.
For the state’s farmers, the
clock is running on whether
adequate replacements and
alternatives will be in place by
that deadline.
Without adequate state fund-
ing for research, the odds of
meeting that deadline are slim.
We urge the ODA to work with
legislators to adequately fund
this research.
FARMER’S FATE
One toaster, five love languages
“B
ut your language of love
is time,” my husband
teased me. “You want
to have undivided attention. Instead
of words, acts, touch or gifts, you
just prefer to spend meaningful time
together. ”
I rolled my eyes. My language of
love is time. But this is ridiculous.
I’m holding my finger on the lever
of the toaster while browning myself
two slices of bread. I’m not sure what
happened, but the lever on the toaster
quit working. It still toasts bread, but
it won’t latch down at the bottom.
Meaning that someone has to really
want toast to stand there the entire
time they want their bread to continue
roasting. I realize it’s only a minute
or so, but in that minute, I am accus-
tomed to getting out a plate, the butter
and a knife, and whatever toppings
I want to add — and now I stand,
spending every morning with the
toaster. And while my love language
has always been time, I am beginning
to hate this kitchen appliance.
Yes, I could just replace it, but
I also have a little too much of my
grandparents in me, whose philos-
ophy was, “It still works!” And it
does. All except for the little latch
that allows it to work by itself. We
have tried everything from attempt-
ing to wedge in a wooden spoon, to
holding the lever down with summer
squash. Nothing has worked well, and
we have often found ourselves skip-
ping the toast entirely, or making it in
the oven.
I’ve always taken pride in the fact
that I’m frugal. I can
make do, or do with-
out, and I’m good
with that — usually.
That was before my
sunglasses broke too.
I was stepping
Brianna
from the boat to
Walker
the dock, when the
screw in my sun-
glasses decided to wiggle out. Sec-
onds either way would have found
both the screw and the arm of the
sunglasses either in the boat or on the
dock — but as fate would have it, it
fell in the 6 inches of water between
the boat and dock and the left arm
had disappeared before I realized they
were off my head.
My sunglasses are like my pock-
etknife — I never go anywhere with-
out both — so I straightened what
was left of my glasses, and kept on
with life.
Of course with only one arm hold-
ing them on, I was constantly wrin-
kling my nose and trying to keep
them straight. It was impossible to
look down, which meant I picked
melons squinting without glasses.
Since the quarantine, I don’t stray into
town for anything that isn’t 100%
needed and farm related — anything
else I can get online. But sunglasses
are like shoes, one needs to be able to
try them on, take them for a spin —
see if they hide the fact that my left
eyebrow is higher than my right —
which makes buying online difficult.
Besides, they still worked.
I’ve said before, it’s all in how you
spin it. I wasn’t wearing broken sun-
glasses. They were the original “tan-
through” glasses. No more pesky tan
lines on the side of my face or rac-
coon eyes — at least on the left side.
At the river a few weeks later, a
guy stopped to ask me where I got
one-sided sunglasses to match my
one-strap swim-suit. I just smiled
and said they were a one-of-a-kind
designer pair.
One friend suggested baler twine,
another gorilla tape. Still another told
me she was glad I wasn’t inhibited by
social norms. I admit they look a little
unusual — but hasn’t anyone seen the
models on the Hollywood runway?
Those outfits are much less practi-
cal than my glasses! I sported my
“designer” glasses for over a month,
waiting for the style to catch on.
Then one day, a package arrived
in the mail with a brand new pair of
glasses and a case. A gift from a girl-
friend on the west side. I felt a bit dis-
loyal as I traded my one-of-a-kind
glasses for the new, sleek, tan-line,
raccoon eyes model. Disloyal — but
happy to be able to have full range of
motion of my head again!
Of the five languages of love,
words, acts, touch, time or gifts, my
language is still time — but I’m start-
ing to find the occasional gift isn’t
so bad. And with the amount of time
we’re all spending with that toaster,
I think it may be a great time to
become bilingual.
Brianna Walker occasionally
write about the Farmer’s Fate for
the Blue Mountain Eagle.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Reporting COVID-19 aid fraud
U
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
• 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
nfortunately, scammers
are taking advantage of
the Covid-19 pandemic in
a variety of ways including sub-
mitting applications and receiv-
ing funding using another person’s
identity. Victims may very well be
unaware until they receive a letter
from the Small Business Adminis-
tration informing them of payments
due.
It is critical that those suspect-
ing their identity has been stolen act
quickly to limit financial loss and
damage.
SBA officials recommend
identity theft victims do all the
following:
• Contact the Processing and
Disbursement Center to report sus-
pected fraud by calling 800-366-
6303. Their team will make a note
to the file and place a hold on
funds if they have not already been
disbursed.
• Notify the SBA Office of the
Inspector General to report any sus-
pected fraud on the OIG’s Hotline
at 800-767-0385 or email OIGHo-
tline@sba.gov.
• Place a fraud alert on credit
reports. Contact one of the three
major credit reporting agencies.
Whichever company is contacted is
required to tell the
other two: Expe-
rian.com/fraudalert,
or 1-888-397-3742;
TransUnion.com/
fraud, or 1-800-
680-7289; or Equi-
Greg
fax.com/Credit-
Smith
ReportAssistance,
or 1-888-836-6351. Consider add-
ing an extended fraud alert (valid
for seven years) or a credit freeze to
credit bureau reports.
• Reach out to the Federal Trade
Commission at IdentityTheft.gov
to file a report about the situation.
Once a person has entered their
information, the site will create an
Identity Theft Report. Print it or
save it to a computer; it will need to
be referred to later.
• Contact the Oregon Attorney
General’s Office at 877-877-9392 or
by emailing help@oregonconsumer.
gov. It is possible to file an online
complaint on their website by click-
ing the Consumer Protection tab.
• Victims should contact the
Social Security Administration as
soon as possible, even if they are
not sure their number has been
compromised at 1-800-269-0271 or
submit a report online at https://oig.
ssa.gov.
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Online: MyEagleNews.com
Phone: 541-575-0710
While it is a good thing Congress
has passed another round of Pay-
check Protection Program funding
(much of which is a forgivable loan),
it does give scammers a new oppor-
tunity to steal someone’s identity.
It is critical that all people (not
just business owners) take every pre-
caution they can to protect their per-
sonal information. Our offices have
received reports from non-business
owners who received a letter from
SBA stating an EIDL loan of sev-
eral thousand dollars was taken out
in their name and that a payment was
due soon.
With that said, the PPP is an
excellent program, and it is very
much worth applying for. Business
owners, and especially those who
have not previously applied, should
get their financial information in
order now and, equally important,
research the allowable expenses so
the loan may be forgiven.
Greg Smith is the director of the
Eastern Oregon University Small
Business Development Center, 1607
Gekeler Lane, Room 148, in La
Grande. For free, confidential business
advising, call 541-962-1532 or email
eousbdc@gmail.com.
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Blue Mountain Eagle
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Another Round of PPP is
Coming
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