In his recent My Voice (“Science: Reducing fuel load in forests has little effect on wildfires,” The Observer, Oct. 7), George Wuerthner cited weather as a reason not to manage forests to reduce wildfire risks. His opinion piece misses a key point. Fire needs fuel to burn. We can’t control w…
The Oregon Legislature created the office of Public Records Advocate and the Public Records Advisory Council in 2017. Now, in the wake of the resignation of the first advocate, Ginger McCall, …
Hartstirn: Disappointed by location of ADA parking spaces
Two efforts to recall Gov. Kate Brown stalled Monday, sending the clear message that while many voters are dissatisfied with her performance she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
What are the best steps to help hungry children in Union County?
What are the best steps to help hungry children in Union County?
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If Gov. Kate Brown is truly committed to government transparency, why is her government so brazenly designed for delay?
Reading through the state Department of Human Services’ public reports on the deaths of children in DHS-involved families is not for the faint of heart. In the past few years, at least a coupl…
The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is proposing to log the Lostine Wild and Scenic River corridor. The basic justification is to reduce the potential for large wildfires.
First of all, I would like to thank Mary McCracken, in her rebuttal letter from September, for not reducing herself to the ad hominem attacks typically employed by progressives when they find …
Farm groups are lauding a new agricultural trade deal the administration has reached with Japan.
Sometimes, it appears that the environmental community can be its own worst enemy. Instead of building bridges with farmers and ranchers, some environmental groups do the opposite. Anywhere th…
The editorial “Why is only some Oregon agriculture ‘good’?” (The Observer, Sept. 18) stated: “Every one of Oregon’s more than 38,000 farms and ranches is evidence of all that is good about agr…
Hopkins: Still time to see high-energy ‘Newsies’
Oregonians in the marijuana business know all too well the problems that arise when the nation’s banking system is unavailable to an industry. So, too, does Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Portland, and …
To the Editor:
What should be done about plastic pollution?
Last week Oregon Director of Agriculture Alexis Taylor delivered a sobering report to members of the state Legislature.
In just over a year — Oct. 1, 2020 — Oregonians will have to have beefed up identification to board a commercial airplane, enter most federal buildings or visit a nuclear power plant. An excep…
Sher: The shift from fossil fuels can and must be done
Change is in the air. It’s not just the falling temperatures or the return of the school year. Within the walls of The Observer and Baker City Herald, the way we do business is being completel…
A key part of any governmental oversight committee or agency is independence. The freedom to investigate, before legislating, is crucial in the American democratic process and without it the g…
Oregon agriculture is a big tent.
Health care has been a significant issue in political campaigns for the past 20 years. The Affordable Care Act was enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President …
Oregon law requires most government bodies — everything from counties to cemetery districts — to file audit reports each year with the Secretary of State’s Office. Cities and counties that fai…
How will Oregon’s new gross receipts tax impact small businesses and rural Oregon?
How will Oregon’s new gross receipts tax impact small businesses and rural Oregon?
Gov. Kate Brown’s decision to hire Oregon’s first public records advocate in January 2018 was a promising step toward addressing deficiencies with how agencies, at both the state and local lev…
A new statewide poll demonstrates a majority of Oregon voters would consider paying a new health care tax more than twice as large as their income tax to replace health care premiums and other…
The efforts to put a recall of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on the ballot is a visible sign of the rural-urban divide.
Friday, Sept. 20, is POW/MIA Recognition Day. This special day and the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag are symbolic of our nation’s resolve to never leave our warriors behind. Our armed…
Gov. Kate Brown says she’s ready to call for a special legislative session to make sure that a new law limiting the use of the death penalty won’t apply to old cases.
Stiff opposition led by the STOP B2H Coalition has directly challenged Idaho Power’s quest to build the Boardman to Hemingway transmission line and condemn Eastern Oregon lands. The Oregon Dep…
“Newspaper editors are men who separate the wheat from the chaff and then print the chaff.”
You probably caught the headline from Oregon’s state economists, who reported Wednesday that taxpayers are in line to collect nearly $1.6 billion in tax rebates next year, thanks to the state’…
Chris Woodworth’s On the Fence (The Observer, Aug. 23) addressing “What does a ‘fair and just’ society look like” is grounded on the belief that all Americans are born with “equal opportunity.…
Shick: Abundance of local talent evident in Elgin
We got used to his serial gaffes long ago.
There’s nothing Donald Trump won’t do to attack immigrants. Recently finalized immigration regulations threaten not thousands of families, but millions, and not only at the border, but here in…
State Democratic leaders last week backed off their plans to fine Republican senators who twice boycotted the Capitol this past legislative session. The reasoning by Democrats, and this probab…
Wolfe: Joseph Branch Trail is a land use issue
It looks as if Gov. Kate Brown has been preparing for more than a year for the chance that a cap-and-trade bill to lower greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon would not win approval from the 2019…
What does a ‘fair and just’ society look like?
What does a ‘fair and just’ society look like?
Chadwick: Grateful for Bond’s boldness
