A lot comes to my mind as we all struggle to come to terms with the current situation regarding COVID-19.
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A tip of the hat to all the people who continue to step up and help their community in this time of need. While much of the news we are reporting seems grim, we have also had a steady stream o…
When my wife, Edel, a teacher, developed a cough after working with a woman who came to the elementary school slightly sick, we assumed it was just that, a cough.
I just read an excellent article titled “Staying sane at home during COVID-19” in the East Oregonian and it got me thinking of all you kids out there that are bummed because school is canceled…
The list of grievances against the internet is a long and sometimes sordid one.
In the time of coronavirus, I headed to Southern Utah’s remote canyon country to do some extreme social distancing.
The news on Wednesday morning that the White House and Senate leaders reached a pact on a massive relief bill was good news and will hopefully set the stage for a brighter future for the entir…
It is urgent and imperative to provide for Oregon students’ educational needs while protecting their health and that of their teachers and communities. Let’s use a 21st century tool to avoid a…
Old habits die hard … or when faced with a global pandemic. In recent years, the idea that humans won’t change their behavior spurred a whole field of economics developed to “nudge” people to …
Now is not the time for red tape. It’s not the time for people to be worried if their health plan will pay for testing and treatment. So Gov. Kate Brown and legislators are discussing some goo…
How often to do you see a senior citizen wearing a Vietnam veteran hat at the bank, the grocery store or at a community gathering? It is common today, but there was a time our Vietnam veterans…
A little more than a year ago, winter returned to Pendleton with a vengeance late in the season. Snow piled up with surprising amounts of the white stuff. Some days it was light and dry, easy …
East Oregonians are typically an independent bunch who take great pride in overcoming challenges, from natural disasters to forest fires to economic downturns.
These are uncertain times and the ability to collect the right kind of information is crucial. That need will only grow as our great nation continues to battle the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
For the residents of Pendleton, I doubt one pays much attention to the salary ranges for our top city employees. There are basically three step pay raises: For the convention manager, $5,452 t…
From here to anywhere, I named this column. Because stories can do that — take us from wherever we are to anywhere else. Of course, we have to be careful, because the places they take us can b…
Sometimes, amid the confusion, moments of clarity arise. Regrettably, the coronavirus pandemic provides us with one such moment.
For a town this size there needs to be more than one taxi company, especially Elite. They tell you 20 minutes every time you call, no matter what, and it usually takes at least 45 minutes. The…
A tip of the hat this week to frontline workers who are putting themselves at risk by showing up to work every day to help the rest of us get food, medical care and other essentials.
One of my first jobs in public health was to manage 25 emergency treatment centers during a cholera epidemic in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).
On page A2 edition of the March 11, 2020, edition of the East Oregonian, we saw the headline "Eastern Oregon hospital leader peddles virus misinformation." The writer is Emily Cureton of Orego…
Running a small business can be a challenge in the most normal of times.
It’s time. No, it’s past time to end the Pendleton Development Commission program. The emphasis to restore a brick-and-mortar retail environment to Main Street in a rapidly expanding era of in…
Have you ever wondered what the large ”soccer ball on the hill” is on Interstate 84 near the airport in Pendleton?
In response to Bill Aney's recent column, Idaho bear and cat numbers are kept in balance by sportsmen. Goals are set by the Fish & Game department, maintaining balanced populations of both…
The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners’ decision Wednesday to declare a state of emergency in the county, coupled with the city of Pendleton’s decision on Tuesday to declare a state of eme…
My sister, who lives and works in Washington, told me that they (whoever the Sam Hill they are) are going teach sex education to kindergarten kids. To me that is just getting more perverted. I…
The threat of the coronavirus of 2020 and its protocols — school closures, event cancellations, “social distancing” — have unsettled many Pendleton residents. In times of uncertainty, it can b…
Regarding the refusals by Dominoes and Red Lion to deliver to Wildhorse — I thought businesses retained the right to refuse service to anyone.
The new coronavirus, responsible for COVID-19, has arrived in Eastern Oregon. It’s scary — there are many unknowns still and fear is prompting some of us to do things we might otherwise not.
At the recent Umatilla Tribal General Council meeting in January, Sandy Sampson, tribal treasurer, gave her quarterly treasurer's report. The report included the nonconfidential financial situ…
Even in its elevated status of being “the” economy, what is an “economy”? Looking it up, I find that it comes from the Greek words for “household” and “manage.” Economy is used in a material s…
The last few weeks will always standout as the most interesting, and challenging, of my journalism career.
If there was any doubt we are now living in a new, vastly changed world, those misgivings should have been appropriately vanquished during the weekend.
A kick in the pants to those fanning the flames of misinformation and alarm regarding the potential pandemic from COVID-19.
Reading Sen. Bill Hansell’s reasons for fleeing Salem with his fellow GOP members was interesting at best. I believe, however, that no amount of justification overrides the behavior of these l…
For those of you who missed the 1960s, the I-Ching, or Book of Changes, is an Asian set of guiding principles that one consults to get a better understanding of problems or circumstances and b…
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SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown’s warning Thursday that Oregon should be prepared for thousands of coronavirus cases put an exclamation point on the challenge facing the state’s health care system.
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SALEM — From playgrounds to prisons, Oregon is facing ever-expanding steps to get ahead of the novel coronavirus that state officials estimate could infect 75,000 people in a matter of weeks.
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SALEM — Turning to a “last resort” she hoped to avoid, Gov. Kate Brown Thursday night ordered all Oregon schools closed for at least two weeks to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus,…
Citizens of democracies can scarcely fathom the extreme, but effective, social controls China has imposed in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But now we are seeing variations on China’s l…
I was recently at a local coffee shop when a mother and her small child entered. Having worked in an early childhood program, I was looking forward to seeing them interact with each other.
For those of us keeping up with current events, there has been a whirlwind of dramatic developments over the last few days as governments at every level, national sports leagues, state and loc…