A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
OUR VIEW
Prompt, decisive
response kept
fi re in check
T
his year’s wet spring and slow-starting summer delayed
the inevitable, but we all knew that couldn’t last: Fire
season arrived in Oregon at the beginning of August.
Here in Grant County, the most signifi cant wildfi re we’ve
seen so far has been the Beech Creek Fire, which started Aug. 1
along both sides of Highway 395 North between Mt. Vernon and
Long Creek, burning in brush and timber. But thanks to quick,
decisive action by fi re management offi cials – along with some
timely assistance from local property owners and mostly moder-
ate weather conditions – the blaze has been held in check.
The initial response included a single-engine air tanker, two
additional heavy air tankers and a helitack crew that attacked the
fi re from the air, while two 20-person fi re crews with six engines
battled the fl ames on the ground. Additional ground crews with
bulldozers and other heavy equipment were quickly brought
into play. In all, more than 200 fi refi ghters from the U.S. For-
est Service, Oregon Department of Forestry and Grayback For-
estry have been on the job over the past eight days, putting con-
tainment lines in place and making sure the fi re doesn’t escape.
As of Monday, Aug. 8, the fi re was 69% contained and was con-
fi ned to 155 acres.
Local law enforcement also leaped into the fray. In the fi rst
hours after the fi re broke out, offi cers with the Grant County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce and Oregon State Police were helping with traf-
fi c control and contacting local residents in the fi re zone, off er-
ing assistance in getting people and livestock to safety. Emer-
gency dispatchers kept the lines of communication open and
coordinated eff orts between multiple agencies. Crews from Ore-
gon Trail Electric Co-op worked to restore power to the area,
and the Oregon Department of Transportation provided fl aggers
and a pilot car to ensure safe passage through the fi re zone for
motorists.
We thank all the fi refi ghters and other fi rst responders for
their tireless and selfl ess eff orts to keep us all safe.
Eagle reporter Steven Mitchell has been keeping a close eye
on the Beech Creek Fire, posting daily updates at www.blue-
mountaineagle.com as new information becomes available. As
with all of our Oregon wildfi re coverage, we have placed Ste-
ven’s updates outside our website’s paywall so all online visi-
tors, not just paid subscribers, can have access to this vital infor-
mation. We do the same thing with stories about the COVID-19
pandemic, elections and natural disasters that directly aff ect
Grant County residents.
That’s part of our commitment to our readers. The paywall —
which limits how many pageviews nonsubscribers can have on
our website each month — is there to encourage casual readers
to become paying customers because, frankly, we need the reve-
nue to continue bringing you the news. But in an emergency sit-
uation, when immediate access to accurate information is cru-
cial, we will always put our community fi rst.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Celebrating the county fair
T
he carpool group studied the
fair booklet.
“What to visit fi rst?” asked
a friend.
The group responds to various
sites off ered to celebrate the innumer-
able options.
The cause for celebration — the
Grant County Fair that runs Aug.
10-13.
Some said they planned to head
fi rst to the exhibits of food, arts, gar-
dening and crafts. Others opted for the
livestock barn. Entertainment at the
pavilion drew others.
“When we get there,” I said, “I’m
heading to doilies.”
“Doilies?” asked my friend. “You
plan to pass up monstrous vegeta-
bles, cinnamon rolls, and show-stop-
per heifers to see a crocheted doily
exhibit?”
As a kid, we were a doily family.
Mom placed doilies on end tables, the
arms and headrests of the couch and
cushioned chairs. She and her sisters
crocheted doilies, gave doilies as gifts
to each other.
“With Mom’s doilies on the couch
and chairs, and chicken and spuds in
the oven,” I replied, “all seemed right
in the world. It’s a nostalgia thing.”
“Did you ever crochet a doily?”
“Not really,” I said. “I tried once,
but the end results — a puckered
mess which looked stained from my
grubby, tree-climbing hands. I used
my only doily I crocheted as a stock-
ing cap for my doll.”
Doilies being a small bit of what
to experience at the fair, I planned to
WHERE TO WRITE
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
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,
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.
To the Editor:
The July 27 letter to the editor
from the mayor of John Day, Ron
Lundbom, is just more hollow pro-
paganda message. The simple fact is
we have been contacting the city of
John Day (CJD) since the inception
of their build back better plan.
He states that “over the last cou-
ple of years, you have heard and
seen a lot of misinformation on dis-
play.” To correct the mayor, he
should have said the last six years,
with the inception of the city man-
ager he had chosen. The manager
instilled the propaganda eff orts using
ideology to his picking as well as
picking likeminded people.
The mayor was gossiping to oth-
ers in the community about how
my facts were “just being thrown
out there.” Well, I invited the mayor
to set down at my house for me to
show him the documentation to the
facts, and he accepted. I showed
him, out of the city’s own papered
documentation. He had no clue that
they existed. Yes, Mr. Mayor, I did
reach out to you personally, and
received a blind ear to the problems
very early on in this narrative.
Another point to the citizens
mentioned in this letter he wrote,
“seek us out individually,” referring
to the city council. You will get the
“feel good” lecture using the same
deception that the CJD is using for
“leverage,” one of the terms intro-
duced by the then-manager, as well
as “creative fi nancing.”
I have documentation of their
“misinformation” that was used as
propaganda at one time or another
by the CJD. This misinformation is
“documented” by us who are follow-
ing the city’s tax and levy spending
plans. Do you ever hear the mayor
opine on how much it is costing all
the taxpayers of the county? What is
the CJD’s debt? Nothing about debt
is stated in this propaganda opinion
article published in the BME.
Yes, $30 million can be bought,
but at what price? The ones paying
the bills are tired of this façade, and
most of us opposing the CJD plan
are reporting “documented” facts,
with no spin.
Bob Pereira
John Day
PUC to ease rules
on land takings
To the Editor:
Electric utilities are about to get
a free pass to take your land or
your neighbors’ land in condemna-
tion proceedings! The Oregon Pub-
lic Utility Commission is going
to allow utilities to take your land
before the utility has all the permits
required to do so. The main rea-
son: it takes too long. I am the only
“public” at the table and have been
up against Pacifi Corp, Portland
General Electric, Idaho Power, and
the consumer-owned utilities. Will
you help?
The case docket, AR 626 — cer-
tifi cate of public convenience and
necessity, a.k.a. “condemnation”
— is in its fi nal phases. It started
in September 2019 with informal
rulemaking and staff recommending
that condemnation be the fi nal pro-
cess after all other permits and reg-
ulatory reviews are completed. The
utilities wanted a waiver in special
Grant County’s Weekly Newspaper
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Phone: 541-575-0710
circumstances that mostly involve
the Oregon Land Use Board of
Appeals and the counties. Staff
stuck to their position.
Once we went into for-
mal rulemaking, the commis-
sioners became involved, every-
thing changed and the pro-utility/
pro-transmission mentality of the
commissioners came to full light
as they rewrote most of the rules.
In order to accommodate the util-
ities’ desire for a waiver and side-
step LUBA’s slowness, the PUC
would have to use its superpow-
ers and cited ORS 197.180, state
agency planning responsibilities. If
that didn’t work, the commission-
ers cited OAR 660-030-0065(3) to
condemn your land. This looks and
smells like an end-run around other
state agencies and counties to serve
the utilities.
I have also been pushing them to
develop environmental justice fi l-
ters. These include cumulative eco-
nomic, health and environmental
impacts and a look at demograph-
ics to ensure utilities are not putting
a transmission line in economically
challenged communities or commu-
nities of color.
This Thursday, Aug. 11, at 4 p.m.
is the last time to submit comments
before the PUC sides with the utili-
ties and gives them what they want.
I apologize for not ringing the alarm
bell sooner, but I believed in the
process. I do not now. Send com-
ments to the PUC at puc.fi lingcen-
ter@puc.oregon.gov and use AR
626 — Certifi cate of Public Conve-
nience and Necessity in the subject
header.
Jim Kreider
Co-Chair, STOP B2H Coalition
La Grande
Periodicals Postage Paid
at John Day and additional
mailing offi ces.
POSTMASTER
send address changes to:
Blue Mountain Eagle
195 N. Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845-1187
USPS 226-340
Offi ce Assistant .....................................Alixandra Hand, offi ce@bmeagle.com
MEMBER OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
together, so I wasn’t doing ceramics
“all wrong.”
Viewing all the fair exhib-
its options gave me ideas to try. I
learned tips to improve what I’m
working on. They help keep family
traditions alive and motivate visitors
to start new ones.
At the fair, there are moments of
“WOW! Look at that!” which could
be a painting, photograph, unique
bread, bottled peaches, a home-sewn
dress, a colorful hen, a groomed hog,
etc.
The livestock barn seemed to me
one area that epitomizes the spirit
of a fair. To raise an animal or bird
isn’t accomplished in a week or two
— I think of winter with snow and
below-freezing temperatures and
summer with three-digit temps —
where exhibiters persevere in provid-
ing care to their animals.
I don’t want to miss 4-H/FFA
exhibits and events. My county fair
booklet lists pages of projects —
many with challenges and service
opportunities. Presentations include
Impromptu Speaking, a section on
Livestock Judging and Creative Writ-
ing. And there it is, in the crochet-
ing section, items included clothing,
accessories, toys — and even doilies!
On that good note, I’m off to fi nd
some tasty fair food.
Jean Ann Moultrie is a Grant
County writer. In some circles she is
known as a Doily-and-Lace Whis-
perer for her practice of collecting old
and unwanted doilies, assuring they
won’t become extinct.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
‘Misinformation’ is
coming from city side
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.
pace myself. The
fair booklet listed
plenty to see.
Ceram-
ics brought back
memories.
“Is there some-
thing fun you’d like
Jean Ann
to do together before
Moultrie
you leave for col-
lege?” I asked a daughter. I silently
hoped she didn’t choose a craft activ-
ity. I lack craft skills.
“I choose we take a ceramics class
together,” she said.
I’d promised. We located a ceram-
ics class near where we lived. (At the
time, not in Grant County.) My daugh-
ter chose a couple of advanced proj-
ects to work on. I picked out a plain
vase with a couple of small, swirly
handles. Knowing I wasn’t skilled to
paint intricate designs on the vase, I
chose one color for the whole piece
— a container of pearlized white. I
chose a brush and sloshed paint up
and down on the vase. The two of us
laughed and chatted as we worked.
The instructor stopped by.
“What are you doing?” she hol-
lered as she pointed to my pearlized
vase. “You are using the wrong paint,
the wrong brush, and the wrong brush
strokes. You are doing ceramics all
wrong!”
My daughter gave me a slight
smile — she knew any “craft”
I worked on probably has some
part that was wrong. This time the
instructor wasn’t correct. My daugh-
ter and I were enjoying a fun time
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