HERALD
OPINION
and
reader’s
forum
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
A4
OUR VIEW
Elections
crucial to
democracy
O
regon voters may well secure one of those rare
election moments in November when they can
choose from three different candidates but the
key, as always, is that all residents take advantage of the
opportunity to vote.
That may prove to be quite a challenge, though we
hope not.
Now, three candidates — Betsy Johnson, Tina Kotek
and Christine Drazan — are vying for the state’s top po-
litical position.
Kotek is on the Democratic ticket while Drazan is the
GOP front-runner. Johnson, who is unaffiliated with any
party, recently turned in enough signatures to get a spot
on the Nov. 8 election ballot.
While there will be plenty of bombast and wide sweep-
ing proclamations by all the candidates between now and
November, what is really key about the election is that
enough Oregonians vote.
The right to vote is more than just a nice, quaint
concept about America. It is the key element to our
Democracy.
Multitudes of people have died on distant battlefields
for us to enjoy that right. Many brave souls during the
Civil Rights era marched and faced danger to ensure ev-
eryone held the ability to vote.
As voters we owe them all a great debt, but if we do not
use what is the key tool of our democracy then our very
future is at risk.
Sure, at least for now there isn’t a whole lot of variety
within the candidates. Kotek is as solidly Democrat as
Drazan is Republican. Johnson is trying to capitalize on
her role as a political outlier to get elected.
In other words, this election doesn’t appear to be one
that will be needlessly complicated. The battle lines are
drawn. The issue is familiar. Now all that needs to hap-
pen is that eligible voters actually vote.
Regardless of what one reads or hears, every vote
does count. We, as Americans, enjoy a specific ability to
peacefully complete a process that selects those who will
represent us during every election. Our privilege to vote
— and it is a privilege — is only as effective as those who
choose to use it.
We must guard against apathy and the dissonance cre-
ated by modern day pop culture, toxic social media and
political sound bites to focus on exercising our right to
vote.
The state faces many challenges, no doubt about it. Yet
we have the opportunity to do something about those
challenges by voting. Every election is crucial in a de-
mocracy. Let’s not allow our great privilege to be wasted.
CONTACT YOUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS
President Joe Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
whitehouse.gov/contact/
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz
1239 Longworth
House Office Building
Washington, DC, 20515
202-225-6730
Ontario office: (541) 709-2040
COLUMN
Every day is dog day in Malgesini pack
TAMMY
MALGESINI
INSIDE MY SHOES
I
would be in the doghouse if I didn’t
give a shout-out to our canine kids
leading up to National Dog Day.
While the special day is Friday, Aug. 26,
every day is dog day in the Malgesini pack
— well, at least that’s what the General, my
10-year-old German shepherd, and Biko, my
husband’s nearly 2-year-old Siberian husky/
German shepherd mix, would like us to think.
If truth be known, our canine kids really do
have us wrapped around their dewclaws.
For instance, this past Friday marked the
10-year anniversary of when the General
joined our pack. To celebrate the occasion,
John, even though he doesn’t eat it, made
steak for me and the boys.
The General was a chubby little ball of fur
when John and I picked him up from Geyer
German Shepherds out of Milton-Freewater.
Volume 115 • Number34
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 | Office Manager • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • community@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4532
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is only open a few inches, Biko somehow wig-
gles himself through, darts around the yard
and attempts to sneak back in without getting
caught.
A couple of weeks ago, I returned home
after a shopping excursion. The dogs were in
the backyard supervising John while he wa-
tered his garden spots. Biko heard a car door
shut and came tearing around the corner.
Barking and with his hackles raised, he was
hellbent on securing the perimeter. Taken
aback, I finally spoke — while Biko kept com-
ing at me, his demeanor changed and I was
met with wags and licks rather than snarling
and the gnashing of teeth.
A number of studies suggest that dog own-
ership is good for your health, both men-
tal and physical. And I couldn’t agree more.
There’s something about having a pair of
happy faces bounding to the door to greet me
after a long day at work — it almost makes me
wag my tail.
the self proclaimed environmental justice
warrior, as the person that opened the door
to the regulation of nitrates on our private
property.
I encourage everyone in farming and
ranching in Oregon to thank Commissioner
Doherty the next time you see him.
Jerry Rietmann
Ione
warming, we’ll see and suffer more extreme
heat, droughts, floods, wildfires and hurri-
canes. But the fossil fuel industry continues
to ignore these alerts and undermine our
chances for a safer future, and carbon diox-
ide emissions keep rising. We all know this
is causing global heating and resulting in ex-
treme weather events, yet they keep digging,
burning and profiting, with zero account-
ability.
Climate impacts — like the recent heat
waves and wildfires — disproportionately
affect people and communities who are al-
ready marginalized and disadvantaged. Peo-
ple who did the least to cause the climate cri-
sis suffer the worst from its impacts — they
lose livelihoods, hope and worse: their lives
— while oil companies continue to hit re-
cord profits. This is wrong on so many levels.
Local, regional and national media have
an important role to play — and a moral ob-
ligation to tell the whole truth. It’s time to
make one thing about extreme weather very
clear: It’s not a “crisis” that just happens to
us — it’s a crime, and the fossil fuel industry
is to blame. And saying it once isn’t enough.
Media has an important job to do to turn
the tide of public opinion and help the world
avoid the worst of the climate impacts.
Please tell the real story about the
climate crisis.
Louise Squire
La Grande
█
Tammy Malgesini, the Hermiston Herald
community editor, enjoys spending time with
her husband and two canine kids, as well as
entertaining herself with random musings.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Commissioner Doherty is to thank
for nitrate regulation
Morrow County Commissioner Jim
Doherty in attempting to make political hay
over the nitrate issues related to the Port of
Morrow, and the declaration of a county
emergency over a more than 50-year nitrate
issue has awakened state regulators and
now the Environmental Protection Agency.
Today this may seem only about a specific
aquifer that everyone will attempt to regu-
late, but no doubt all Oregon aquifers will
need equal attention soon.
Keep in mind the Port of Morrow is not
that much of a contributor to the overall ni-
trate issue. No doubt the port will make the
investment to remove nitrates and move
on. That will leave agriculture holding the
bag. Most of the nitrates detected in the
aquifer come from actions taken more than
50 years ago. Farming practices that have
ended and would be unacceptable today by
those of us in agriculture.
What a gift Commissioner Doherty has
given the environmental groups and reg-
ulators. It must have been exciting for the
23 state of Oregon agencies that met with
Doherty to realize that a rural conservative
agricultural county was ready to have it pri-
vate landowners property regulated.
Those of us in agriculture will someday
be able to name Commissioner Doherty,
HERMISTON
HERALD
While he’s not too keen on other people —
and he was downright boorish when we first
brought Biko home — he absolutely adores
John and I.
If there is one thing I could change about
dogs, it would be to have them live longer.
John periodically reminds me that every 52
days or so is like another year in the Gener-
al’s life. Honestly, sometimes I feel like that
but I definitely see signs that my best buddy is
slowing down.
It’s harder for him to jump in the rig and
onto the daybed. In fact, he’s on the “senior
circuit” during his morning jaunts — rather
than hiking to the top of the Hermiston Butte,
he does more frolicking on the lawn at Good
Shepherd Medical Center.
Quite the contrast, Biko is living up to
what my physician said about his mix. Dr.
Earl likened him to a German shepherd with
ADHD. Biko has an incredible amount of en-
ergy and runs like a rocket throughout every
inch of our extra large lot.
Earlier this summer, John installed a mag-
netic screen door, which Biko quickly learned
how to negotiate. Even if the sliding glass door
The climate crisis is actually a crime
As someone who follows local and na-
tional news reports, I must tell you I am
worried about the recent extreme heat and
wildfires raging across the country. I feel for
people who lose their lives and livelihoods to
extreme weather, and I’m scared that it’s only
a matter of time until it directly hits me and
my community.
Seeing headlines in local news outlets cov-
ering these climate disasters made me realize
that most news stories show no connection
between them and their main cause: fossil
fuels. This is dangerous, because many peo-
ple will continue to refuse to see that longer,
hotter and deadlier summers are caused and
perpetuated by the disastrous coal, oil and
gas projects — and the fossil fuel industry.
The science is clear — the longer we allow
coal, oil and gas companies to dig and burn,
the worse the impacts of the climate crisis
will be. With every fraction of a degree of
Corrections
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