A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
OUR VIEW
Change of
heart about
VA plan is
good news
G
ood news from Congress is often hard to come by but
the recent announcement from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s
oﬃ ce that a plan to modify the Jonathan M. Wainwright
Memorial VA Medical Center in Walla Walla into an outpatient
clinic is no longer an option was a bright spot among the usual
fare of depressing information that leaks from the nation’s capi-
tal.
Wyden said in a press release earlier this month that he “wel-
comed the news” that a group of bipartisan senators will block
the plan originally conﬁ gured by the veterans Asset and Infra-
structure Review Commission. That plan would have shut down
the 31-bed residential rehabilitation and treatment program and
moved it to Spokane.
Wyden, in a recent town hall meeting, reported he’d heard
from veterans about how the plan to turn the facility into an out-
patient clinic would make a negative impact.
All the gratitude for the decision can’t rest with Wyden, of
course, as a number of other prominent senators also chimed in
to stop the plan from becoming a reality. Yet, Wyden’s inﬂ uence
was surely a factor and we thank the senator for that assistance.
The fact is the concept was a bankrupt one from the very
beginning. Why the federal government would want to short-
change our veterans on any issue is not only a mystery but
grossly unfair. Surely money had a lot to do with the decision. It
is no secret the costs of the Veterans Administration continue to
climb at an unprecedented rate. Taxpayers are ultimately billed
for those costs, just like taxpayers end up footing the bill for any
conﬂ ict the nation ﬁ nds itself in.
Caring for our veterans is one of those unseen and often not
talked about aspects of our foreign policy. When the call erupts
across the nation to let slip the dogs of war, the upfront costs are
always high. Yet when a conﬂ ict is over, those costs continue as
the men and women who shouldered the burden need long-term,
costly care.
We owe our veterans a great deal, including excellent health
care. The fact the plan to turn the Walla Walla clinic into an out-
patient center has been abandoned is good news.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Memories of bicycle jaunts
I
spotted the black, inanimate
objects near a store in town. One
man stood guard while the rest of
the riders shopped for food.
“I’ve never seen such beauti-
ful bikes!” I said to the guy stand-
ing guard. Each bicycle a jumble of
gears and chain, the frames sleek yet
sturdy. “Where are you biking to?”
“Not the whole Oregon route this
time,” said the man. “We started at
Mitchell, rode to Long Creek. Com-
ing to John Day we hit sun, torren-
tial rain, and snow. We’re heading to
Dayville, then back to Mitchell.”
When the rest of the group
returned, the bikers, dressed in lean
and lithe biking outﬁ ts, clustered
around their transportation. I won-
dered what the bikes would look like
if they were alive. Deﬁ nitely black
panthers, muscled and alert with
paws clawing the ground, impatient
to race onto the open road.
Knowing my own current bike,
dusty and with two ﬂ at tires, reclined
in a shed, I broke out in a case of
reminiscence for my own bike Glory
Days. My bicycle as a kid was a blue,
one-speed, Schwinn beauty, heavy as
a freight train locomotive.
We lived at the edge of town
with ﬁ elds and woods to explore. On
gravel roads, we pushed our bikes up
steep grades. Coasting down a gravel
hill allowed opportunities to wipe
out on corners, spreading gravel like
a road grader and
leaving us bloody
with a generous
supply of scabs.
Sometimes we skid-
ded into a ditch and
landed on softer
objects: poison oak,
Jean Ann
thorny berry canes,
Moultrie
rotted ﬁ r logs —
home to stinging ants.
In a word, what did owning a bike
give us? Freedom!
My younger brothers and I
explored with the intensity of Lewis
and Clark. What did we discover?
Some of our ﬁ nds: trees to climb,
pond ﬁ lled with tadpoles, the world’s
biggest mud puddle, perfect kite-ﬂ y-
ing hill, and ﬁ elds with frolicking
colts, calves, lambs and piglets.
What skills did we learn?
We gained the ability to pedal
like crazy with one leg, while hold-
ing the other leg on the bike handle-
bars to keep farm dogs, with their
breath like a ﬁ restorm, teeth like
grizzly claws, and the personality of
a Tasmanian devil, from divesting us
from a pant leg and an ankle bone,
as they raced after our bikes, snarl-
ing and slobbering in anticipation of
fresh meat.
After we shared this dog-related
information, others spread rumors
that what we thought were raised
with grizzlies were more along the
breeding line of cocker spaniels,
probably inviting us in for cookies
and milk.
One big discovery while out bik-
ing — ﬁ nding the patch of black-
berries in a gully oﬀ a gravel road.
These weren’t low-growing native
blackberries but rather “Himalayan
blackberries,” considered an “intro-
duced invasive pest.” The huge pur-
ple berries have an intense black-
berry ﬂ avor.
Drawbacks to Himalayan black-
berries: lot of seeds, fragile fruit
(puddle in a berry pail before you can
reach home), vines a story or more
tall and thicker than a man’s thumb,
thorns as persistent as barb wire and,
as sometimes in life, the best berries
dangled deep into the plants.
Not a problem for a kid with a
bike. My brothers and I raced home.
We biked back to the berry site wear-
ing long-sleeved shirts and berry
pails tied with rope at our waist. We
returned home bloody, disheveled
and triumphant. We handed Mom our
berry harvest and our request.
Mom knew the challenge of pick-
ing Himalayan blackberries. My
brothers and I enjoyed warm Hima-
layan blackberry pie on that summer
afternoon. Not a bad haul for a day’s
bicycle jaunt.
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. For now, she’s sticking
to a county culinary jaunt in a car.
OUR VIEW
Is there a thumb on the scale?
ysco, a Texas-based company that distrib-
utes food to restaurants, hotels and other
facilities, has ﬁ led a federal lawsuit alleg-
ing violations of antitrust laws by Cargill, JBS,
Tyson and National Beef.
If the suit moves forward, this seems like
another good opportunity to either prove or put
to rest allegations that have roiled the livestock
and processing industries for years.
At issue is whether four large companies are
collectively using their place between producers
and consumers and their market domination to
manipulate supply and prices to their advantage
both up and downstream.
According to the lawsuit, a former qual-
ity assurance oﬃ cer at a JBS facility “has con-
ﬁ rmed the existence of a conspiracy” among the
beef packers, which is corroborated by statistics
that show “industry-wide slaughter and capacity
reductions.”
The four meat packers collectively generate
about 80% of the U.S. beef supply and control
an even higher proportion of the domestic cat-
tle market, as well as the associated “supply and
distribution chain,” the complaint said.
By exploiting their market power, the com-
panies have “created surpluses in the cattle mar-
ket and shortages in the wholesale beef market,”
artiﬁ cially raising their proﬁ t margins higher
S
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@cityoﬂ ongcreek.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.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
Phone and fax: 541-542-2161. Email:
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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,
oregonlegislature.gov.
• Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale — 900 Court St.
NE, S-301, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1730. Website: oregonlegislature.gov/ﬁ ndley.
Email: sen.lynnﬁ ndley@oregonlegislature.
gov.
• Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane — 900 Court St.
NE, H-475, Salem 97301. Phone: 503-986-1460.
District address: 258 S. Oregon St., Ontario OR
97914. District phone: 541-889-8866. Website:
oregonlegislature.gov/ﬁ ndley. Email: rep.
markowens@oregonlegislature.gov.
L
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than they can achieve under competitive condi-
tions, the complaint said.
“United by their conspiracy, Operating Defen-
dants were conﬁ dent that none of them would
break ranks and disproportionately expand their
beef production to satisfy unmet demand,” the
plaintiﬀ claims. “Armed with this assurance,
Operating Defendants improved their meat mar-
gins by achieving and sustaining an unprece-
dented gap between cattle and beef prices.”
The defendants have not yet commented.
Another lawsuit — ﬁ led in 2020 by a group
representing ranchers, food processors and con-
sumers — alleges much the same thing, and is
moving through a federal court in Minnesota.
At the behest of then-President Donald
Trump, in 2020 the U.S. Department of Justice
began an investigation of the industry. Leader-
ship of the department has since changed to the
Biden administration. The investigation is ongo-
ing, and no update has been oﬀ ered.
Whenever a large part of the market is con-
trolled by a handful of companies, it raises
suspicions.
We believe that, to have a free market, all
sides must operate on a level playing ﬁ eld and
with full price transparency. It would serve the
public good to know whether or not there’s a
thumb on the scale.
Phone: 541-575-0710
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