A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022
A4
OUR VIEW
Herald archives to be saved before more issues are lost
S
oon, the University of Ore-
gon Libraries’ Oregon Digi-
tal Newspaper Program will
begin digitizing past issues of the
Hermiston Herald. This project will
preserve the bulk of our archives,
which have not already been put into
digital format, and will make them
more accessible to the public.
For years, the Hermiston Her-
ald has saved its newspapers and has
bound them in tomes that have been
stored in our building. The oldest of
these thick, heavy books dates back
to 1917, more than 10 years after our
fi rst issue on Sept. 29, 1906.
The Jan. 6, 1917, issue tells a variety
of stories. We learn of issues related to
business, agriculture and more. Each of
these stories involves the newsmakers
of the time, from high-profi le govern-
mental leaders to average people.
Our bound collections end in
2014. Around a century after the fi rst
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
A bound collection of 2014 Hermiston Herald
newspaper sits on a table Thursday, March
24, 2022. It is saved with other newspapers,
dating back more than a century. A new
project will digitize as many of the papers as
can be found.
collection, the 2014 papers continue
the tradition of covering many diff er-
ent types of subjects, involving local
people. The diff erence, of course, the
faces and names in these more recent
papers are more familiar to us.
The smiling face of Ed Brookshier,
Hermiston city manager, appears in
the July 2, 2014, issue. Also, there
are photos of grandmothers, Girl
Scouts, fi reworks, sports and an acci-
dent in which a vehicle ran into a
building. Accompanying stories tell
us what happened in each photo.
Herald stories, whether they
occurred more than a hundred years
ago or today, document the history
of our region. We cover the people
of Hermiston, Umatilla, Boardman,
Stanfi eld, Irrigon and Echo not just
for readers today; we are writing for
people in the future.
Every week, McKenzie Rose
writes Hermiston History, a section
of the paper that summarizes our
papers from the past. Her work has
been entertaining and educational.
Learning our past, as we read Herm-
iston History, gives us context for
things happening now. Reading about
the creations of McNary Dam and
Two Rivers Correctional Institution,
for example, helps us better under-
stand them today.
Unfortunately, we have lost many
of our papers. Readers of Hermis-
ton History may have noticed that we
switched from reporting on events
from 100 years ago to now retelling
the stories from 90 years ago. This
is because we are missing newspa-
pers from 1922. As mentioned, we
also are lacking papers from our fi rst
decade. There are others that are not
in our archives, too.
We hope to track down those lost
papers, but it is possible that they
simply do not exist anymore — in
which case, part of our history has
vanished forever.
The creation of a digitized archive
will help prevent further losses. It
also should bring the paper and your
history to you. This cannot hap-
pen soon enough, and we are grate-
ful to Mark Rose, library director,
and everyone else who will make this
digitization happen.
We will help in any way we can.
COLUMN
Technology is great, when it works
TAMMY
MALGESINI
INSIDE MY SHOES
echnology baffl es me.
It’s not that I really even
want to understand it. I just
want it to work right.
In the late fall of 2021, my
work computer began having prob-
lems. I started receiving warnings
that random websites that I often
visit for work were unsafe. Initially
thinking the problem was the web-
site, I contacted several local agen-
cies to let them know they might
T
want to investigate.
Hopefully, they didn’t waste too
much time trying to fi gure out what
the problem was. Because as time
went on, I came to realize it was my
computer and not their website.
I grew up in an analog world —
during a time before everyone had
cell phones. I learned to type on a
manual typewriter. Yeah, yeah, I’m
old. My point is, sure technology
makes things easier but back in the
day when my typewriter didn’t work,
I merely had to change the ribbon.
However, in this day and age,
I have to suffi ciently explain what
I’m experiencing, so the tech guy
can fi gure out what the problem is
(and hopefully fi x it) — just saying
my computer isn’t working right
isn’t enough. I learned that taking/
sending screenshots that show the
problem can be helpful.
Well, after my computer limped
along for a couple of months, I
fi nally got a new one. Audra Work-
man, our offi ce manager, took the
time to work with our tech guy to
set things up for me.
And it was working great — the
key is “was.” I think the computer
lulled me into a false sense of secu-
rity and then decided to attack —
time to mess with Tammy.
Audra seems to know when I’m
having computer problems. I guess
it’s not that hard to fi gure out. She
says I have a certain “ringtone.”
“%@#$!* I don’t know what to
do #$@%5E& I don’t even know
why I try %$#@&.”
And then magically, Audra is
there with a calm voice of reason
asking what’s going on. I think she
fi gures that I’m one computer glitch
away from going off the deep end.
And either she’s there to rescue me
or take what she wants from my
desk area.
Rather than the computer “mess-
ing with me” Audra believes the
problems started when my second
monitor was attached. Well, that
fi nally got fi xed with a new cord.
All was going well with my
work computer. Next, my personal
laptop decided to develop a glitch.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CONTACT YOUR REPS
Why we left Idaho for Oregon
There are several reasons we left Idaho.
Both my husband and I grew up in north
Idaho and as children, it was idyllic.
Once we became adults and parents, we
realized that Idaho was not for us. With a sales
tax on everything and an income tax, we were
left with budget issues. The schools were sub-
standard and the roads were impossible once
you were off the interstate. Part of Highway
200 in Bonner County actually has cliff s that
ice over and the ice hangs over the westbound
lane. Once it starts to melt, there are huge ice
chunks to dodge and several people have died
by going into the Clark Fork River.
The rallying cry during our lives in Idaho
was, “let’s break away from Idaho and form a
new state with eastern Washington and western
Montana.” It was apparent the Legislature in
Boise often forgot there was a northern Idaho,
or central-western Idaho or eastern Idaho as
the new laws pertained to the Boise-metro area
and other southern Idaho counties.
If anyone wishes to become Idaho citizens
by seceding from Oregon, we suggest they
talk to rural Idahoans and listen to their con-
cerns about being in Idaho. I doubt if anything
would be diff erent from what is here except
you would have to pay a sales tax on all you
purchase and your roads would disintegrate
even further.
As for the schools, well, we pulled our chil-
dren out and moved to Montana before fi nding
our way to Oregon.
Ed and Melissa Dunn
Irrigon
Get to know Oregon’s Republican
candidates
Not all rural Oregonians want to be
Idahoans
Attention Oregon citizens it’s time to get
involved with Oregon’s Gubernatorial election
May 17, 2022.
The Republican candidates running for Ore-
gon governor are the following declared candi-
dates, and I would encourage you to meet these
candidates when they visit your county or town.
You can get their information online and send
them an email with your questions or concerns.
Bridget Barton, political consultant for Third
Century Solutions; Raymond Baldwin; Court
Boice; Tim McCloud; Bob Tiernan; David
Burch; Reed Christensen, former electrical
engineer; Christine Drazan, former minority
leader of the Oregon House of Representatives
(2019-21) and state representative from the 39th
District (2019-22); John L. Fosdick III, cus-
tomer service representative, Army veteran; Jes-
sica Gomez, member of the Business Oregon
Commission and Oregon Institute of Technol-
ogy Board of Trustees; Nick Hess, chief execu-
tive offi cer and entrepreneur; Kerry McQuisten,
mayor of Baker City; Brandon Merritt, busi-
ness development manager; Bud Pierce, oncol-
ogist and nominee for governor in 2016; John
Presco, president of Royal Rosamond Press;
Stan Pulliam, mayor of Sandy; Amber Richard-
son, chiropractor; Bill Sizemore, general con-
tractor, tax-reduction advocate and nominee for
governor in 1998; Stefan Galen Strek (Stregoi),
painter and graphic design artist; Marc Thiel-
man, Alsea School District superintendent.
Kathy Wilson
Pendleton
I’d like to tell everyone to go outside and
sing a song. I recommend “What a Wonder-
ful World.” Oregon has a thriving economy.
The only ones who experience real hard-
ship here are the poorest. Some have been
victims of neglect all their lives. Polluted
water, air and soil are harmful to devel-
opment. Financial struggles are accompa-
nied by lower school attendance. Behav-
ior problems often become aggravated and
cumulative.
Investing in healthy families isn’t just
a softhearted liberal policy. Even the most
conservative capitalists must be waking up
and saying to themselves: Oh my, I guess
we should have put money into a clean
environment, good schools and economic
support for struggling parents. Then their
kids could have grown up to be smart, trust-
worthy workers capable of learning new
technologies. (And getting along well with
others.)
Oregon is not perfect but is certainly capa-
ble of turning these concepts into reality.
Those who are unhappy with our state
should go live in Idaho for a few months.
Just try it out before you push your separat-
ist ideology.
The media is in grave danger of present-
ing a distorted picture of rural Oregonians.
They are failing to cover anyone here who
believes in keeping Oregon whole.
Mary Cooke
Cove
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 13
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@hermistonherald.com • 541-278-2673
Erick Peterson | Editor • epeterson@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4536
Angel Aguilar | Multi-Media consultant • aaguilar@hermiston herald.com 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Offi ce Manager • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • community@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4532
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news,
advertising or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• email info@hermistonherald.com
• stop by our offi ces at 333 E. Main St.
• visit us online at: hermistonherald.com
The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN
8750-4782) is published weekly at Hermiston
Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838,
541-567-6457.
My solution was to rip the battery
out of it (Audra wasn’t at my house
to save the day) and then reboot.
Luckily, that worked. And then, a
couple of hours later, my cellphone
wouldn’t let me respond to a text
message. Again, I did a reboot and
that solved the problem.
I wish all of life’s problems were
that simple — merely go to sleep
and when you wake up, everything
is fi ne.
———
Tammy Malgesini, the
Hermiston Herald community
writer, enjoys spending time with
her husband and two German
shepherds, as well as entertaining
herself with random musings.
Periodical postage paid at Hermiston, OR.
Postmaster, send address changes to
Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main St.,
Hermiston, OR 97838.
Member of EO Media Group Copyright ©2022
CORRECTIONS
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as soon as
they are discovered. Incorrect information will be corrected on Page
A2. Errors committed on the Opinion page will be corrected on that
page. Corrections also are noted in the online versions of our stories.
Please contact the editor at editor@hermistonherald.com or call
541-278-2673 with issues about this policy or to report errors.
SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters Policy: Letters to the Editor is a forum for the Hermiston
Herald readers to express themselves on local, state, national or
world issues. Brevity is good, but longer letters should be kept to
250 words. No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the
person. The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
GREG WALDEN
185 Rayburn House Offi ce
Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
La Grande offi ce: 541-624-2400
———
STATE REP. GREG SMITH,
DISTRICT 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Email: Rep.GregSmith@state.
or.us
———
STATE SEN. BILL HANSELL,
DISTRICT 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Email: Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
———
MAYOR DAVID
DROTZMANN
180 NE Second St.
Hermiston, OR 97838
ddrotzmann@hermiston.or.us
length and for content. Letters must be original and signed by the
writer or writers. Anonymous letters will not be printed. Writers
should include a telephone number so they can be reached for
questions. Only the letter writer’s name and city of residence will be
published.
OBITUARY POLICY
The Hermiston Herald publishes paid obituaries; death notices
and information about services are published at no charge.
Obituaries can include small photos and, for veterans, a fl ag
symbol at no charge. Obituaries and notices may be submitted
online at hermistonherald.com/obituaryform, by email to obits@
hermistonherald.com, placed via the funeral home or in person
at the Hermiston Herald or East Oregonian offi ces. For more
information, call 541-966-0818 or 800-522-0255, x2211.