Me and the kokanee are swimming a little easier now that the EPA has decreed the Lake free of the herbicide Agent Orange. But I did — mid-backstroke — overhear Mama Merganser remark to her handsome drake: “Now if we could just get rid of those loud, leaky, loathsome power boats and jet skis …
Most Popular
Articles
- Campaign for the East Moraine moves forward.
- Fly-in Preview
- OK Theatre to celebrate 100th Anniversary in style
- Copper compound shows potential to slow ALS
- OBITUARY: Jim Chapman
- First planes arrive for Joseph fly-in
- Death Notice: Keith Wortman
- Junior softball all-stars don state crown
- For the Record
- Death Notice: Margaret Botts
Images
Videos
Sometimes you have a column due and absolutely no ideas to write about. That’s when a lot of random thoughts with no continuity might have to do. It’s good to have a passion for something, eve…
It was heartening to see the bright green sign inviting hikers and passers-by to contribute to the Campaign for the East Moraine. It’s about time that the people who live here, who know what t…
There is probably not a single sentient being in all of Oregon who has not followed the drama of HB2020’s demise. Some bemoan its loss. Others celebrate its doom. It was a cumbersome chunk of …
No test of Attainer shall be required
Show your Support for our Great Local Theatre
The unveiling and consecration of Doug Hyde’s emotive sculpture ‘etweyé·wise, “I return from a difficult journey” at the Josephy Center this week marks a turning point in the presence of the w…
To the Editor:
Last August, I wrote a column that focused on two of golf's best players, Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka, who finished second and first in the 2018 PGA Championship. The main point of my articl…
As usual, Amaroq Weiss has blown out of proportion a part of the Revised Wolf Plan that allows for specific lethal removal of a wolf or wolves who have been deemed chronic depredators. The rew…
Think before you vote!
EPA crew examines barrel pulled from Wallowa Lake.
This past week has seen Wallowa County endure what might have been a major crisis, if not disaster: the detection, characterization and recovery of one barrel which once contained herbicide, a…
I just returned from my 60th class reunion. My wife has begged me not to tell anyone it was the 60th. I tried comforting her by telling her I graduated at age 9. While I was at the reunion I d…
Common sense.
I am against the improvements to Wallowa Mt. Road that started this week. The speed limit is 35mph. Most vehicles are going around 55. The deer are getting killed and there is no law enforceme…
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
The Oregon Mountain Cruise last weekend presented an inspiring collection of automotive art. From painstaking restoration of fragile antiques to wildly creative manifestations of raw power, th…
To the Editor:
It’s hard to work up much sympathy for the hollowed-out husk of a human being that is Mitch McConnell, or Lindsey Graham for that matter. This country is a harder, colder, more mean-spirited p…
El Niño rains and early snowmelt that flood our fields and orchards. Droughts, floods and stronger storms. Farmworkers toiling in unsafe working conditions through smoke and extreme heat, whi…
In recent months, the news has began covering small outbreaks of a disease that has mostly become unfamiliar to our society—measles. This virus causes cold-like symptoms—fevers, cough, sore th…
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
Chris Mertz, director of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service field office in Olympia, Wash., says that while the number of small farms continues to grow, larger farms continue to…
It’s seriously spring in Wallowa County. The balsamroot is blooming on the moraine. Thunder is rolling through the mountains. And lots of us have finally gotten up the nerve to plant our garden.
Congratulations to all the high school students who are about to graduate, especially those of you who have worked hard to excel and score high on your SAT test. Getting a high score on this t…
They still haven’t invented a good dog that lives as long as the humans who get attached to them. And that’s a shame. I’d like to see more effort from the science people on that front. Recentl…
When I was growing up in the 60’s and70’s, when we recieved a gift we were expected to send a thank you note or give a personal thank you; as in a hug to grandma. Now it seems as though thank …
Sometimes it’s helpful to take a few steps back in order to get a better perspective on what is happening around you right now.
Writing about home
One rule that must apply to salmon, regardless of the area and river system, is that the adults must return from the ocean for the run to be successful.
To the Editor:
I want to thank Belinda Buswell and Marty Hamilton for their efforts at the most recent Joseph City Council meeting to find documentation and build community. They are so appreciated.
Dear James,
Your May 8 column sparked in me a desire to comment on divisiveness and its precedence rearing its ugly head in our section of paradise.
Oregon’s housing problems are statewide. They’re being felt in relatively small upper Willamette Valley communities and in Malheur County in far Eastern Oregon. Two bills in the Legislature ta…
Amidst the talk of immigration and border walls, we sometimes forget that our oldest immigration story—the coming of the Europeans to a continent inhabited by millions of people living in thou…
When a gunman opened fire in a synagogue in California, 60-year-old Lori Gilbert Kaye jumped between the shooter and the rabbi. She was killed, but the rabbi credits her with saving his life.
Editor’s note: We’ve written often with affection towards past Wallowa County Chieftain editor, Gwen Coffin. We thought that it would be a treat, but also valuable to run one of his past edito…
Salmon have filled the rivers of the Pacific Northwest for millenia.
The Oregon Senate passed a bill that would see the state join the National Popular Vote Compact, delegating its electoral votes in the presidential election to the winner of the popular vote r…
editor's pick
It’s time for Wallowa County residents to pull up their sleeves and pledge support as the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness and Winding Waters Clinic develop an integrative healthcare service…
Oregon's broken foster care system continues to make headlines, the most recent story details a heated legislative hearing in which a key senator said she has lost confidence in the state Depa…
At its best, America is a nation where every individual has opportunities to get an education, to find work, to support oneself and their family, and be a contributing member of this great dem…
We all agree that children in Oregon deserve the opportunity to succeed regardless of their neighborhood and their parent’s economic status.
editor's pick
Gov. Kate Brown’s nomination of Enterprise rancher and big game hunter James Nash to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission shouldn’t be controversial.
Often our state of mind dictates how our days, weeks and months play out. A prolonged negative state of mind could even alter our sense of self from day to day. Sometimes our attitudes sour, a…
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, recently considered a potential candidate for President of the United States, came to Wallowa County on April 25, fulfilling his longstanding tradition of visiting each…
The Wallowa County Local Community Advisory Council advocates for the health and wellness of our county. We consist of citizens from all walks of life, community partner organizations and Oreg…
I recently heard about the proposed Joseph Branch Trail, and would like to share some of the experiences we had in Klamath Falls when we established our OC&E Trail, which is a trail built …
Everybody I see on the streets of Wallowa County is full of hallelujahs about spring getting here and no more snow. Not me. Not this guy. These last couple years I dread the days warming up. A…