Letters

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Regarding the refusals by Dominoes and Red Lion to deliver to Wildhorse — I thought businesses retained the right to refuse service to anyone.

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…

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…

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.

Thank you, Bill Aney, for your enlightened column regarding the vital relationship between predators and prey. Your understanding and respect for wildlife is encouraging. This “balance of natu…

The column “Oregon should adopt a universal basic income,"
 written by Kevin Frazier, incorporates some great points, but lacks the proper
 details and limitations to make a proposal like this…

The people-powered candidate: The Oregon Secretary of State serves all of Oregon’s 36 counties as chief auditor, administrator, and elections officer. Jamie McLeod-Skinner is the only candidat…

The duly elected Republican state legislature's recent walkout, in both the Senate and House, in
 response to the cap-and-trade bill is flat-out wrong. They are clearly running away from the s…

Russia has once again amped up covert disinformation campaigns to undermine our 2020 election in an effort to divide Americans and sow chaos and distrust. The Senate Intelligence Committee has…

We rural Oregonians have a unique opportunity to send one of our own to represent the entire state. I’m talking about electing Jamie McLeod-Skinner as Secretary of State.

I would like to express my view on the Democrat/Republican, liberal/conservative divide. I have come to be what they call a single-issue voter for the following reason.

The subject has been before Pendleton’s city council many times in the last two decades, and now it’s reared its ugly head again. The mayor and council are once again pressing city staff, work…

Your “Our View” editorial of Feb. 27 offering thoughts about the recent cap-and-trade efforts of the Oregon Legislature missed a very important point. As more than a “democracy,” our democrati…

I have been reading about California’s problems in updating driver licenses to the “Real ID,” which will be required in October of this year to meet TSA’s requirements. At least they have been…

Yakima Bait Co. has been manufacturing fishing lures for nearly 90 years. We are the quintessential example of sportfishing’s reach into rural communities. Located in Granger, Washington, we e…

With cap and trade moving toward a vote, I hope our legislators reflect on why they asked constituents to provide them the opportunity to make a difference in the future of Oregon.

Cap-and-trade bill: Is it good or bad? I guess each of us need to reach in our guts and figure this one out for ourselves. What are each of us doing on a personal level to help with relation t…

Two bills are being considered in the current legislative session that are important to Oregon’s economy. These bills deserve our attention and support. First is the Opportunity Zone Bill (Hou…

In reference to the Hermiston City Hall discussion — go get the money from enterprise zone payments in lieu of taxes from companies like Amazon and other businesses to cover the cost, not the …

It is heartwarming to see the care that has followed the flooding in Umatilla County this past week. Deep thanks to neighbors, businesses, police, rescue personnel, Umatilla County emergency m…

What actions do Sen. Bill Hansell and Rep. Greg Barreto think should be taken, either in the state Legislature or by vote of Oregon electors, to slow the human contribution to rapid climate ch…

Only one question: Where is the governor?

Trucks full of rocks moving slowly up the hill out of Milton-Freewater, coming back within an hour or so, constantly working driving, one load, two loads, three, all day. Since 5:30 (Sunday mo…

Several years ago we had a so-called crisis, policy had to happen now, the science was said to be in; logging had to stop or the spotted owl would be gone forever.

Pendleton and Hermiston high schools had a long-standing rivalry in sports until Hermiston left the OSAA and joined Washington's MCC. There was one glaring difference between the two cities — …

I believe the Feb. 5 issue of the East Oregonian used poor judgment in placement of its news.

We’ve been bombarded by a constant litany about all the corruption in Ukraine by the oligarchy. I was curious about the definition of this type of government. The dictionary shows this to be a…

Pendleton and Eastern Oregon should be extremely proud of the outstanding quality of its daily newspaper — the East Oregonian. While other newspapers suffer from reduced editorial staff, the E…

State Senate Republican leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. said another walkout by Republicans, as they did last year, during this short legislative session is possible in order to deny Democrats …

Oregon’s proposed carbon tax (Legislative Concept 19) builds on an earlier version of the cap-and-trade legislation known as the Clean Energy Jobs bill that lawmakers considered but failed to …

This is a response to recent spate of articles in the East Oregonian attempting to show Oregon’s cap-and-trade bill in a bad light, which highlight consideration of major legislation in a shor…

I was glad to read in our last weekly paper that Timber Unity has planned a protest on Feb. 6. It will be at the state Capitol building. I noticed it was on a weekday. Whoa, how can the logger…

The oblivious hypocrisy of Trump supporters is staggering. They are rabid for Biden to be investigated, including their full support of pressuring and blackmailing another country to do it for…

After discussing the derelict Edwards building for who knows how many times, our city leaders have finally put their foot down and vowed to resolve the issue, sort of. Once again they've agree…

We were driving back from a ski trip to Park City, Utah, on Jan. 17, 2020. Heavy snow along the road most of the way, and more in Idaho and Utah than in Oregon. This trip made me sad about the…

I have thought long and hard about whether to support the new taxes to support our poor streets. I’m sure, like many of you, another tax is hard to accept. Before I can offer my support, I wil…

Isn’t it curious how fast the concern for the runaway deficit vanished once Trump took office? $2.6 trillion has been added since 2016, more than Obama’s entire second term. The tax cut that w…

In the Jan. 11, 2020, newspaper J.D. Smith wrote about calendars. He had stacks of them. One of the calendars was his and his friend's favorite. He described it in amazing detail. This brought…

Sen. Bill Hansel, I am an Oregon grandfather writing on behalf of my kids and grandchildren — and yours — and children and grandchildren everywhere. While, as an 80 year old, I will not live t…

I have managed properties for over 40 years. I am truly alarmed with the current homeless problem. I heard that San Francisco is paying $100,000 per homeless person per year, that their life e…

In small towns and rural areas, depending on your neighbors is a way of life. We pride ourselves in taking care of each other when needed, regardless of the things that separate us, like polit…

I want to add my name to the list of people who are mourning the untimely death of one
 great guy — Scott Fairley. Scott was not a close friend, but you didn’t have to be one to 
be treated li…

Once again, the East Oregonian is criticizing the Oregon Legislature’s attempts to deal with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Criticism can be useful, but when other optio…

It’s heartening to see growing support in the Senate for limiting Trump’s use of war powers. Last week, the House passed a resolution to limit his war powers against Iran. The measure, althoug…

A recent letter to the editor contained a number of misconceptions about the North Bank of the Umatilla Advisory Committee’s work. I urge everyone who is interested in this topic to attend the…

The last few years have brought increasing political partisanship. It’s worn down our energy and worn down our trust in each other and in our elected officials. I hope that in our upcoming sho…

Scott Fairley wanted to work with everyone on the council and had quite the sense of humor. I first met him up at KUMA while campaigning. The father of one of my friends scheduled me on a day …