I could feel it coming. The air began to change and the clouds seemed to take a shape of their own. My bones started to ache. A storm had been lingering on the horizon, and there was no longer a way to avoid it.
What inflames you? While inflammatory speech and inflammatory thoughts can distress us psychologically and are definitely factors which affect our overall well-being, I have chosen in this col…
One of the great things about living in the U.S. is that our city and county governments are required to keep their citizens informed about their actions. One of the ways they do this is throu…
Years ago, in search of my first career job as a biologist, I interviewed with a private firm in Portland. The interviewer me asked a hypothetical question about how I would help to manage a p…
March is the worst month of the year, and it’s not really that close. It’s too long, too cold, and full of false promises.
Like a gale that rips off the roofs in a small town, the lingering trauma of Jan. 6 has exposed basic truths about American life. Some of these are intellectual, as they pertain to the U.S. Co…
What is the biggest temperature variation you have heard of in one town?
In 1962, when Wallace McCrae was selected as the first president of Blue Mountain Community College, John F. Kennedy was president of the United States. Fertility rates were high and baby boom…
Oregon is special for many reasons. But two attributes are near and dear to my heart: our state’s unmatched natural treasures and our firm commitment to democracy that I call the “Oregon Way.”
It would be an understatement to say this pandemic year has been trying for many people. The most difficult thing for the Malgesini Pack would be the loss of my husband’s 11-year-old German sh…
When I visited my friend Marie’s farm last month, the alpaca, cattle, sheep and horses were in their usual routines, in the field or barn. But the work of tending to the flock (chickens too) r…
These lands where we live help define us as individuals and communities. With warming temperatures there are changes happening, however, to these lands we love.
One of the best parts of law school is reading opinions, dissents and concurrences penned by the Supreme Court. They concisely and, oftentimes, creatively express some of the biggest questions…
Writing is a lifelong skill. Children are able to start developing skills used in writing as early as kindergarten and even preschool. Developing the skill of writing starts with language deve…
Sometimes reading a book can feel like having a reunion with old friends. Maybe that’s why I settled into Katherine Schlick Noe’s middle grades novel “Something to Hold” even as graphic videos…
It’s hard to believe it’s already been over a year since the tragic floods that impacted Northeast Oregon and Southeast Washington. Heavy snow followed by heavy rain led to rapid rises on the …
This week, in an attempt to contextualize my own experience in home education, I turned to an unlikely source — my Instagram followers — to collect some anecdotal data.
I worked as a hay waddy at the age of 14. It would take way more words than my monthly allotment here to discuss all the work I’ve done since. As my railroading dad used to put it, I bounced a…
As climate change increases Oregon’s temperature, low-income Black, Indigenous and people of color communities will be disproportionately burdened by the dangerous impacts of heat waves, droug…
The Biden administration supports protecting 30% of U.S. lands by 2030, or what is termed the “30-by-30 proposal.” One of the best ways to meet those 30-by-30 goals would be to put all nationa…
The heart is conventionally described as an efficient pump, but recent discoveries show it’s oh, so much more than that.
The year 2020 proved to be a contentious year on many fronts — political, social, medical — but nothing surprised me more than the nationwide controversies over statues and monuments associate…
Since the start of the pandemic, official reports to child protection agencies have declined across the United States by 20%–70%, and the 22 member organizations of the Oregon CASA (court appo…
A year ago, this week, the newsroom — and the community — faced one of its most difficult challenges in years when the Umatilla River spilled over its banks and forced evacuations and caused m…
On Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, the Umatilla River in Pendleton was trying to handle a record-breaking 28,900 cubic feet per second of water through our city. Compare this to the previous highest f…
This coming weekend, on Feb. 6, is the one-year anniversary of Umatilla County’s worst flood in living memory.
Umatilla County has certainly had its share of floods over the years, but nothing quite like what we’ve experienced in recent years. We don’t know exactly what a 100-year flood genuinely looks…
I love the smell of a wet dog.
The past few months have highlighted the strange relationship between Umatilla County and the Oregon Department of Corrections.
Oregonians living through September’s fires know the threat global warming poses; we are on the frontlines. We know temperature is rising and rainfall is declining during summer, while snowpac…
To those it concerns, and to those who should be concerned,
I generally read your Editorial Opinion piece and find you to be fairly on target. However, I think your conclusion in your editorial in the Jan. 15 issue missed the mark when you closed with …
A nation bitterly divided stood by on Jan. 20 as Joe Biden was sworn in as the next president of the United States. And while the pageantry was typical of the aura of what is usually a day of …
Back in the day, comedian Arsenio Hall had a regular part on his late-night talk show that centered around things that were puzzling or defied logic — “Things that make you go hmmmm.”
At long last, the lamb order made it into our freezer, the result of a personal connection. Whenever we’ve had food provided by someone we know, or just a local provider, I’ve always felt that…
With the United States bringing in a new administration, one of a different political party, some changes in trade policy and strategy could be expected. As the Biden administration takes shap…
What if there was a simple and powerful solution to climate change that would benefit the economy, avoid government growth, and preserve personal freedom? What if that solution would also gran…
With the development of vaccines for the coronavirus and distribution underway, there may be an end to distance learning just around the corner. This said, there are still many children strugg…
Have you seen the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy”? If not, please do.
Whenever the National Weather Service issues a winter weather advisory or a winter storm warning due to snow, we get mixed reactions from the public. Some love snow, some hate it.
This column is brought to you by the Latin phrase: Tu Quoque.
Normally, we would give a grace period to a freshly sworn-in politician. But the actions and words of Rep. Cliff Bentz warrant not patience, but condemnation.
Barry Lopez once asked tribal elders in the far north Indigenous cultures who had taught him so much, “What do you mean by a storyteller?”
It is no secret that Google has secured a near monopoly in the search and local advertising world. However, the impact on newspapers hasn’t been quite as obvious.
For this first column of 2021, I intended to address the controversy generated by the Pendleton street markers named for famous Confederates. But the Jan. 6 attack on Congress got me thinking …
Once upon a time, way too long ago, we Clifton/Smiths and a dog with no surname loaded into a Subaru with a hillock of sleeping bags, pads, books, salami, generic kibble, two huckleberry pies,…
Recently, eight prominent scientists sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) declaring that the agency’s proposed Tri-State Fuel Break (TSFB) for Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho is flaw…
As our climate continues to change, we are all feeling the impacts ranging from longer, drier summers to public health issues. These impacts will affect us all no matter our political persuasi…
The new year is a good time to reevaluate our values and consider our priorities to improve our health and well-being. It is said you are doing well if indeed, you actually make one or two sig…
Imagine it’s early September and you hold a coveted Mount Emily archery elk tag. After a restless night, you rise three hours before dawn and drive 45 minutes to a trailhead where you are happ…
Rather than starting by looking directly at 2020, let’s go back two decades. It may help put things in perspective.
I’m incredibly honored to work as a hydropower advocate. My organization champions clean energy, works to fight climate change and campaigns for fair and equitable electricity access for commu…
When I worked for the BLM, us “ologists” (hydrologist, ecologists, biologists, archaeologists, geologists and botanists) used to refer to range conservationists as range “cons” because they co…
One of my favorite movies is “Catch Me If You Can.” At one point, Tom Hanks, who plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, encounters the target of his investigation, Frank Abagnale, portrayed by Leonard…
Light and warmth filtered through the trees as the road wound its way through the winter wonderland. Occasional patches of ice had turned into groomed snow as my sister and I headed west, seek…
