A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
An important
pillar in a
democracy
he fight for more
transparency is more
important now than ever
before, and one of our most
important jobs as a newspaper
is to consistently push to ensure
the light of clarity shines into
every corner of government.
To some extent we have it
pretty lucky in Oregon. The
state’s open records law allows
residents — and newspapers —
to seek records that may oth-
erwise be kept secret from the
public. The law is a crucial pil-
lar in our democracy, though it
is consistently tinkered with by
lawmakers.
Just as consistently, news-
papers and other legitimate
news outlets must remind read-
ers and lawmakers that in a
democracy the workings of
government and elected lead-
ers are open to public review.
That’s how democracy works,
and remains one of its funda-
mental themes. The people —
not bureaucrats or elected offi-
cials — oversee government.
Bureaucrats and lawmakers
serve at the discretion and plea-
sure of the people. Not the
other way around.
Since the deadly Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks, America
has gradually — and in some
cases, readily — moved away
from open government. The
terrorists that slammed jets into
the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon killed thousands
of innocent people, but they
also helped trigger a new era of
secrecy, where documents and
records that should rightfully
T
be accessible to the public are
hidden.
Some secrets — even in a
democracy — are justifiable.
A top-secret military experi-
ment should be shrouded from
the public view. Anything that
can harm our nation’s security
and give our enemies an upper
hand should be hidden.
Yet, that is most likely the
only justifiable secret in a
democracy.
As we stated, Oregonians
are fortunate in that our pub-
lic records law allows for a rea-
soned and precise method to
attain records regarding spe-
cific subjects that are important
to the public. As a rule — there
are, of course, always excep-
tions — bureaucratic institu-
tions, such as governments, err
on the side of secrecy always.
That means somewhere a per-
son not elected can decide arbi-
trarily to keep a document
hidden.
That is where our public
records law comes into play.
Make no mistake, the pub-
lic records process isn’t an
easy one, and if a specific state
agency wants to fight such a
request, it can lead to court bat-
tles and large expenses.
Why should a public agency
fight to keep records away
from the public in court? They
shouldn’t, but they often do.
Nothing is more import-
ant in a democracy than trans-
parency. When a government
agency or lawmaker fights a
public record request, the first
question should be: What are
they trying to hide?
FARMER’S FATE
Cock-a-Doodle-Ewe
D
andelion greens, Buddha’s
hand, quail eggs, cactus pears,
jicama and squid ink — all
tumble out of a mystery basket on a
television cooking show. Something
about the challenge of figuring out
how to use all those ingredients and
make something delicious is fascinat-
ing to me. Many times I have stared
into the fridge and imagined whipping
up a gourmet meal out of nearly gone
condiments and frozen food from last
year’s garden. Several times I have
even gone so far as to set a few items
on the counter. Pulling out recipe
cards and watching YouTube clips on
particularly challenging menu items
— such as baked Alaska or home-
made hollandaise sauce. Once after
an afternoon of these beautiful dishes
made easy in step-by-step instruc-
tions, my husband seemed surprised
when I served him toast and orange
juice for supper.
“What happened to all of those
delicious-looking recipes you were
looking at?” he asked, picking up his
sad piece of toast while looking long-
ingly at the cookbooks still setting on
the table.
“I wanted to make sure I mastered
the basics first.”
“Is there a main dish after this?”
he questioned.
I shook my head.
“But the recipes?” he stammered.
“The recipes were just step-by-
step instructions for preparing ingre-
dients I don’t have, in utensils I’ve
never heard of, to make a dish that
will probably make us wish we were
eating toast — so I saved a few
steps!”
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
To the Editor:
I agree with Mr. Wuerthner in his
comment that forests are restored
by natural processes. That’s about
all, though. The forest ecosystems
started changing dramatically when
white man hit the East Coast and
haven’t stopped changing ever since.
He points out a lot of problems that
contribute to where we are today, but
I don’t hear any answers to them.
Sounds as if he is against the
Malheur collaborative because log-
ging is part of the possible prob-
lem-solving ideas. Remember for
the past 30-40 years the environmen-
talists have guided and directed the
Forest Service in doing their work.
Now we can’t see the forest for the
trees. I’m glad to see that there are
some folks trying to work together
to find answers for our man-made
problems. We should remember,
man can’t live without nature, but
nature can do without man.
Ken Koser
Prairie City
‘We work to save
the kittens, not to
kill them’
To the Editor:
I am discovering there is a mis-
conception among people in Grant
County that if they call Hope 4 Paws
and give their kittens to us, or let
us know when neighbors or school
friends have kittens they don’t want
or can’t keep, that we will take them
to a shelter where they will be euth-
anized. It seems that the word “shel-
of room and resources to keep them,
and have to save the ones that they
can, and so they put the overflow to
sleep.
I read that there are about
500,000 cats euthanized every year
in the United States alone, so why
do you think we are working so hard
in helping people to spay and neu-
ter their cats in Grant County? There
will always be more cats than people
want, but we always hope for fewer
kittens that end up being thrown
into a pasture or even near a barn
where they are often just lunch for
the hawks or coyotes. Just giving
them away often means that we will
be trying to trap their offspring next
year as everyone who takes a kit-
ten isn’t able to really care for it, and
then it gets abandoned or neglected.
There are two “shelters” in
Deschutes County, and we mostly
use Bright Side in Redmond, where
there are wonderful folks who do the
best job in finding the right home for
each cat or kitten that we take over.
They have a vet on staff, a great
facility and a much larger population
of folks who can give the animals a
safe and forever home.
At these shelters they don’t euth-
anize an animal unless it is suffering,
which is much better than throw-
ing away unwanted pets or mov-
ing away and leaving them with no
resources to slowly die.
We can only hope that people
will get the message that they can be
part of the solution to the cat “over”
population, and not part of the prob-
lem. We work to save the kittens, not
to kill them.
Mary Brown, a volunteer
Prairie City
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
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To the Editor:
Something I hear from local pol-
iticians is that people have the com-
mon sense to wear a mask if it’s
their choice but resent the govern-
ment mandate. I want to believe that.
But then stuff like the recent “Burn
the Mask” protests in our next-door
state of Idaho demonstrate that the
common sense choice of many is
“never, ever.” I doubt that, when
Idaho lifts the mask mandate, all
those folks are going to run out
and replace their burnt masks and
start wearing them. Yet, people can
easily be a carrier, walking around
for several days before they show
symptoms. People can easily be a
carrier while having no symptoms
at all. Yes, we can wear a mask
hanging around our neck, and pull
it up if an elderly person walks
into the room. What if it is some-
one who has an elderly relative liv-
ing at home, unbeknownst to us?
What if someone has a weakened
immune system or a lung condi-
tion that we are not aware of? We
all teach our children to respect
others, to cover their mouth when
they cough, etc. This is no differ-
ent. There are laws about driving
recklessly. We care that a careen-
ing car on a public road can cause
great harm to others, maybe to
someone we love. If it was only your
own health that was at stake, forgo-
ing a mask would be a risk for you
alone. You will probably be fine. It’s
how the choice to opt out can poten-
tially, unwittingly affect others that
is the issue.
Marie Bryant
Prairie City
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MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
rooster on her back. She actually acts
a bit aggressive if you try to get too
close to her unusual friend.
Once the bottles are empty, and
the grain is gone, the barn kerfuf-
fle lessens. The rooster folds his head
under his wing and closes his eyes as
his ewe goes back to quietly chewing
her cud while her babies nurse.
Everyone says to work your way
up the ladder — and apparently the
rooster has climbed his — elevat-
ing his position from mere rooster, to
ruler of the barn with a simple cock-a-
doodle-ewe. It isn’t the highest roost
in the barn, but he is never without a
friend who is bigger than him.
When you own your own farm-
ing operation, you don’t spend much
time thinking about “climbing the lad-
der.” But every farm has a one — and
maybe we should take a few minutes
to climb one every now and again. It
doesn’t matter if it’s a step ladder or if
a few rungs are baler-twined together.
It may not even reach the barn rafters,
but every ladder has some breath-tak-
ing scenery and I’m willing to bet a
quirky friend that makes life worth
living.
I married mine. And although he
buys clothes he never washes, and I
collect recipes I never use — he’s the
perfect scenery in this farm life we
have made together. He’s the bin to
my forklift, the water to my ski, the
rooster to my ewe.
Here’s to climbing your ladder
and finding that quirky friend, who’s
always got your back — literally.
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate for the
Blue Mountain Eagle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
ter” has an association with big city
Wear a mask to
shelters where there are so many
protect others
unwanted pets they simply run out
Ecologist in the
forest
WHERE TO WRITE
We were both still
thinking about the
mouth-watering rec-
ipes and the subse-
quent dry toast when
we went out that
evening to feed the
Brianna
bummer lambs. As
Walker
soon as we entered,
the barn erupted in a
cacophony of voices. The hens tisk-
tisked us for disturbing them. For-
mer bummer ewes pushed close
for a possible taste of milk while
other ewes bawled to their babies
to keep their distance. The bum-
mer lambs squealed with delight at
their upcoming meal. The cat purred
mischievously, trying to “acciden-
tally” knock over the bottles of milk.
Through all these sounds though,
the most disgruntled of all was the
rooster. While all the other chick-
ens roost in the rafters of the barn
— the rooster sleeps on the back of
his favorite ewe. Night feeding is his
least favorite time.
He grumbles and fluffs his feath-
ers when she stands up, but his eyes
usually stay closed — probably hop-
ing it’s just a bad dream. Then as she
lumbers over to see us he really starts
to flap and talk. Which often piques
the interest of the lambs who then will
poke their face in his beak or occa-
sionally paw their hooves at his back.
He dislikes this very much, and will
begin letting out loud squawks to
express his disapproval of his bed
moving. The bigger the commotion,
the higher his voice seems to get — a
bit reminiscent of Barney Fife. But the
ewe doesn’t seem to mind the angry
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Blue Mountain Eagle
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