OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
A4
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
OUR VIEW
Straight talk
about ‘sex
talk’ story
he lead story in last week’s edition of the Blue Mountain
Eagle focused on the so-called “sex talk” scandal, which
involved an inappropriate relationship between a former
Grant County corrections deputy and a jail inmate under her su-
pervision — including more than 100 phone calls, many of them
sexual in nature, that the inmate made from the jail to the deputy
on the deputy’s personal cellphone.
Some readers will wonder why we’re reporting on this issue
at all, given the personal and embarrassing nature of the alle-
gations. The answer is pretty straightforward: It’s our job. One
of the fundamental roles of a newspaper is to act as a watchdog
on government agencies. In this case, investigators from an out-
side agency determined that the deputy violated multiple pol-
icies governing the conduct of law enforcement offi cers, and
one has to wonder whether that level of familiarity with a jail
inmate could ultimately have put other law enforcement offi cers
in danger.
Others will ask why we’re reporting on this issue now, some
three years after the deputy was placed on leave while the claims
were investigated and more than a year after she resigned fol-
lowing a 30-day suspension. The answer to that question is also
pretty straightforward: It’s because that’s how long it took to get
the information.
As you might imagine, most public agencies are not eager to
advertise the fact that one of their own may have committed pol-
icy violations or criminal acts. And with 600-plus exemptions to
Oregon’s public records law, it’s all too easy for public offi cials
who don’t want to release information (or who are simply con-
fused by the byzantine provisions of the law) to say, “I can’t tell
you.” It took the Eagle’s previous editor, Sean Hart, two months
and more than four dozen emails to state and county offi cials
just to get confi rmation that the deputy was under investigation
by the Oregon Department of Justice. If not for Hart’s dogged
persistence, this story might never have come out at all.
Even then, more than a year would pass before the outcome
of the internal and external investigations into the deputy’s mis-
conduct — all of it public record — would be released. Just as
county offi cials were preparing to make the information avail-
able, the former deputy went to court to keep the records secret.
That case did not conclude until February of this year, with the
release of most of the records requested by the newspaper many
months earlier.
So, no, our goal here was not to reopen old wounds. It was
simply to give the public all the information it needed to under-
stand the extent of misconduct by a public offi cial in a position
of authority, as well as the discipline meted out for that miscon-
duct. Like you, we are frustrated that it took so long to be able to
do that.
T
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 two letters per person per
month. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday. Send letters by email to editor@bmeagle.com; by mail to Blue
Mountain Eagle, 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845; or by fax to 541-575-1244.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
USPS 226-340
John Day, Oregon
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
E DITOR
R EPORTER
S PORTS
M ULTIMEDIA
M ARKETING R EP
O FFICE A SSISTANT
Bennett Hall, bhall@bmeagle.com
Steven Mitchell, steven@bmeagle.com
sports@bmeagle.com
Alex Wittwer@awittwer@eomediagroup.com
Kim Kell, ads@bmeagle.com
Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY EO Media Group
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
Copyright © 2022 Blue Mountain Eagle
Periodicals Postage Paid at John Day and
additional mailing offi ces.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
(including online access)
One year ..................................................$51
Monthly autopay .............................. $4.25
Subscriptions must be paid prior to delivery
POSTMASTER — send address changes to
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
covered by the copyright hereon may be repro-
duced or copied in any form or by any means —
graphic, electronic or mechanical, including pho-
tocopying, taping or information storage and
retrieval systems — without written permission
of the publisher.
www.facebook.com/MyEagleNews
Space laundry lament
y NASA “boarding pass”
for the Artemis I moon
rocket shows the launch site
as Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
the spacecraft, Orion. Mileage to be
earned: 1,300,000 miles.
I’m an armchair space traveler.
NASA collected names to put on a
fl ash drive to be put aboard the Orion
spacecraft and send into space. Arte-
mis is now on the launchpad for
testing in April. After testing, the
uncrewed mission launch could be
sometime between May and July.
The Space Launch System rocket,
reported to be “the most powerful
rocket in the world,” is capable of
reaching into deep space.
From the comfort of my lawn
chair, I’ll read about the space
mission.
Artemis I is just the beginning.
Artemis II will have a crew and do a
moon fl yby. Then comes Artemis III
— astronauts on the lunar surface.
Next anticipated mission — from the
moon to Mars.
Wait on a little. Back up a couple
summers ago when NASA provided
times and locations where the Inter-
national Space Station could be seen
without a telescope. In Grant County,
near sunset or sunrise, I spotted the
ISS several times like an oversized
star briefl y trailing across the sky. A
covey of quail occasionally joined
me as I sat in my lawn chair.
Cruising through the NASA web-
site, I happened onto a short piece on
a tour of the International Space Sta-
M
@MyEagleNews
tion with astronauts
showing where they
work, eat, use the
bathroom, etc. What
an educational look
into weightless life
in space.
Jean Ann
I later read
Moultrie
about the rest of
the story. Report-
edly the International Space Sta-
tion smells. The word used — it
“stinks.” It seems that the astronauts
exercise two hours a day to coun-
teract the weightlessness. And they
sweat. Water is limited and any liq-
uids are recycled. Their clothes are
used over and over. No space station
laundromats. After a year, what to
do with 160 pounds of smelly laun-
dry per person? Toss it out to burn
up in space? Send it back to Earth to
be laundered? (The ultimate: “Hey,
Mom, would you wash up my 160
pounds of space laundry? Here’s
some long-handled tongs and a gas
mask.”)
Lest I dwell too much on the chal-
lenge, especially for longer future
missions, there is hope for a reso-
lution. NASA has partnered with
Procter & Gamble, the maker of
Tide laundry detergent, to work on
the challenge — with what and how
to wash clothes in space with less
water? The answer could serve not
only astronauts, but also communi-
ties with drought conditions or lim-
ited water throughout the world.
Along with the Artemis I launch
for a lunar orbit, another stunning
launch — that one in December 2021,
namely the James Webb Space Tele-
scope. Instead of orbiting Earth, the
telescope is now a million miles from
Earth and orbiting the sun. This bog-
gles my mind. Not only is it orbiting,
but it’s programmed to stay in a path
where Earth’s shadow helps shade the
enormous telescope lenses. Currently
the telescope’s workings are being
adjusted with plans that by summer
stunning pictures of previously unex-
plored vistas will be seen.
Several years ago, while visit-
ing Warsaw, Poland, a guide pointed
out the school where Copernicus, an
astronomer in the 1400s, studied and
announced that the sun did not revolve
around the Earth, but that the Earth
and the other planets in our solar sys-
tem revolved around the sun.
Then came Galileo in the 1500s,
who is known as the father of the
telescope.
Today, “a Golden Age of
Astronomy.”
Grant County, a location not inun-
dated with “light pollution” from
large cities, makes for a grand spot to
do nighttime gazing for an armchair
space traveler.
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. It’s speculated that if
the author lived centuries ago and her
ancestors depended on the author’s
bravery to explore new lands, she’d
still be living in a remote cave carv-
ing stick fi gures of mastodons with a
sharp rock on the cave walls.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Illegal immigration
getting out of hand
To the Editor:
The lieutenant governor of Texas
just announced that at the present rate,
by the end of President Biden’s fi rst
term, 20% of the population of the
United States will be here illegally. As
of May 23 the Border Patrol will no lon-
ger be enforcing Title 42. This action
will bring about another huge infl ux of
illegal immigrants.
We have always welcomed legal
immigration, but this infl ux of unskilled
laborers will only bring down the
income of our unskilled citizens. Many
are not only illiterate in English, they are
illiterate in their native language.
At a time when many entry-level
jobs are disappearing because of auto-
mation, this will only make matters
worse. I recently stopped at a McDon-
ald’s restaurant and ordered and picked
up my meal without talking to a single
person.
I hope the action of the Texas gov-
ernor of shipping the illegal immigrants
to Washington, D.C., will wake up Con-
gress as to what is happening to this
country.
Ralph Goodwin
John Day
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
Email: www.MyEagleNews.com
Phone: 541-575-0710
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Pool will benefi t
whole community
To the Editor:
I am writing to express my enthu-
siastic support of the pool bond, ballot
measure 12-80.
As the parent of two young chil-
dren, I consider access to swimming
lessons a necessity. Water safety is a
serious concern. Despite my eff orts to
fi nd opportunities to swim, my kids
have never experienced consistent, for-
mal swimming lessons taught by pro-
fessionals. As a result, they do not
know how to swim. I want my children
to be strong swimmers so they can play
safely in the creeks, rivers, and lakes
we love to frequent.
Pools are not just for kids! Access
to a pool allowed me to remain active
throughout my fi rst pregnancy, some-
thing I sorely missed while pregnant
with my second child. Pools can be
used for physical therapy after surgery
or injuries, and for low-impact activ-
ity. They are great for those with mobil-
ity issues, and can benefi t adults and
children with a wide range of therapeu-
tic needs. The new pool would be built
according to current accessibility stan-
dards, and would better serve the full
spectrum of community members.
As a homeowner in Canyon City,
I will be impacted by the increase in
property taxes. A pool is a community
resource, but typically not a source of
revenue; if we want a pool, we have to
pay for it! Taking advantage of grants
to reduce the cost is a smart and respon-
sible way to fi nance such a signifi cant
project.
I want to live in a community that
is committed to the health and well-be-
ing of its residents. The pool bond is an
opportunity for each voter to support
these values. Please join me in voting
yes on the pool bond on May 17.
Jesse Schaefer
Canyon City
Join me in voting for
pool bond
To the Editor:
As a parent and taxpayer, I am vot-
ing yes on ballot measure 12-80! Glea-
son Pool is in a state of disrepair and
does not meet our community’s needs,
especially for individuals with disabili-
ties. Truth is, our 64-year-old pool must
be replaced as it is inadequate and no
longer able to reliably serve our res-
idents. Could Gleason Pool be refur-
bished? Maybe, but at signifi cant cost
to bring the pool up to today’s code,
standards, and to address all the defi -
ciencies. Also, a refurbishment will not
signifi cantly extend the useful life of
Gleason Pool or be able to expand the
pool to add an additional lane. Why
spend two million dollars to bandage
a failing facility when we could invest
that money in a new pool that will give
us another 60-plus years of service?
Did you know that drowning is the
leading cause of death of children under
the age of 4? For this reason, we were
regular users and took advantage of
swim lessons as water safety is import-
ant to our family. Navigating the dress-
ing room with young children and a
stroller was challenging given there are
no zero-entry access points. I cannot
imagine how many barriers are present
for individuals with diff ering abilities.
Finances are a concern for every-
one but for homes with an assessed
value of $100,000 today, that trans-
lates to less than $6 a month for a new
pool. That sounds like a great return on
investment for our community! For less
than the cost of a latte and a sweet treat,
we can help fund a new, modern, and
accessible facility that serves all attend-
ees equitably and allows for future
expansion.
Please join me in casting your vote
in favor of bond measure 12-80 for a
new pool! Continually funding emer-
gency repairs is simply not enough and
is not sound fi scal policy. We need to
think long term and invest in our future.
Please vote yes on May 17!
Ashley Armichardy
John Day
Swimming lessons
can be a lifesaver
To the Editor:
Nearly 30 years ago I participated
in an event with a dozen or more teen-
agers at Magone Lake. After leav-
ing their cars, the kids ran to the old
docks, jumped in the water, and swam
towards the log that is still in the mid-
dle of the lake. Some were excellent
swimmers, some were not.
Shortly after jumping in the water,
several swimmers began to struggle.
Adults shouted to get the attention of
two young men with a canoe to pro-
vide help. As the canoe raced back to
assist the struggling swimmers, we real-
ized with horror that one of the boys had
been left behind, treading water in the
middle of the lake. We were immedi-
ately concerned that he could not swim
well and would drown far from shore.
We learned later that he had taken
swimming lessons at the old John
Day swimming pool. Luckily, he had
learned how to tread water very well.
His life and the lives of his future chil-
dren were saved by the eff orts of his
parents and swim teachers in educating
him to swim.
Over the years, recalling that inci-
dent, I have often thought, how much
is the life of one young man and his
future generations worth? I support the
construction of the new pool and the
passing of the Parks and Recreation
bond. The relatively small amount of
money that I will pay over the life of
the bond is well worth the cost to save
the lives of young men and women.
Grant County needs a pool so that
children have access to swimming
lessons.
How much is one life worth to you?
Join me in voting in favor of the pool
bond.
Dan Cronin
John Day