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September 4, 2008 Opinions |
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—Editorial—
Independently Owned And Proud Of It
We have heard a few comments lately that since The Record-Courier is now being printed at the La Grande Observer, which is owned by Western Communications, the same company that owns the Baker City Herald, that we are part of that chain as well. This is not the case.
The Record-Courier is still owned and operated by the Brinton family. We utilize the newspaper printing services offered by the Observer and pay for those services just like we pay our electricity and phone services. We have no obligations, partnerships, contracts or financial understandings with Western Communications or its publications other than to have the Observer print our newspaper, which they do for several other non-Western Communications publications as well.
We do however, really appreciate the help and support of the Observer staff, Frank, Dorothy and the rest of the press crew who make sure The Record-Courier is printed in time for us to deliver it to our readers. Their dedication, service and quality of work are outstanding.
The Record-Courier is one of the few remaining privately owned newspapers in Oregon, and we hope to keep it that way. Our staff and our owners live and work in the same communities that we serve. We don’t take our cues and follow protocol from corporation managers who live elsewhere. We take our cues from the people we serve and we try to follow the same protocol that was established by the Brinton family 107 years ago.
In a world where big corporations are increasingly swallowing up small enterprises, we are proud to be independently owned and operated.
Even though our newspaper is now printed off site, we still do the majority of our other print jobs in-house. We continue to offer business cards, invoices, letterheads, invitations, two and three part forms, envelopes, brochures, postcards, posters and just about any printing services you may need. We also offer in-house custom design work to set up your printing projects.
We recently purchased another off-set press to help us better serve the community’s needs and also have full color printing options available.
Even though times have changed and technology and has gone from setting type one letter at a time to computerized systems, we still offer the same services, and are still the friendly, reliable, community oriented, independently owned newspaper that was started by C.M. Brinton in 1901.
—Guest Opinions—
Vector Control District Manager Shares Community’s
Frustration With Mosquito Control
By James J. Lunders
“Jim just to give you a little positive input, your mosquito program or lack thereof has caused more thousands of blood meals and more eggs to be laid. You’ve perpetuated generations upon generations of more mosquitoes, your program absolutely is a dismal failure. You’ve had years to figure this out and you’re a dismal failure, you’re going to have to be removed, good luck in your endeavors.” — Caller Unknown
The above message was left on the Baker Valley Vector Control District answering machine Saturday, Aug. 23, at 7:28 pm. Although extreme in its nature this message does typify the frustration both the public and I feel about the continued overabundance of adult mosquitoes within the district. To quote another recent message, “there are too damn many mosquitoes and you haven’t done a damn thing about it”, with this caller I do in part agree, there are too many mosquitoes however I feel the district has done everything within its power to reduce mosquito numbers as much as possible.
At this point in the season the district has logged 302 phone calls. Of those calls 249 where adult mosquito reports, 16 event fogging requests, 12 dead bird reports, 4 larval inspection requests, 3 no spray list, 2 for advice on out of the district mosquito control, and 16 miscellaneous calls including thank yous. The district has made 381 larvacide treatments covering 9,985 acres as well as 55 adulticide treatments covering 63,939 acres. The district also maintains an active adult mosquito surveillance program collecting samples from 24 trap sites weekly; to not only monitor adult mosquito populations, but to collect mosquitoes for West Nile Virus (WNV) surveillance. To date we have processed 253 samples with 3 being confirmed positive for WNV.
The control of WNV and other mosquito borne diseases is the primary function of the District with the control of non disease carrying nuisance mosquitoes being a secondary objective. With the abundance of mosquito larval habitat this season, due to the extremely large snow pack, the district was forced due to budgetary constraints, to focus on our primary goal of controlling disease carrying mosquitoes and allowing nuisance populations to swell above normal treatment thresholds.
You might ask why with the option levy passing has the district been forced to make this decision. Simply put the cost per acre to control mosquitoes has gone up far faster than anyone could have foreseen. Granular aerial larvacide application costs rose from $2.97 an acre to $6.95 per acre that’s just for the aircraft not the product. Aerial adulticide applications also jumped from $0.29 to $0.92. To date the cost for chemical and aerial applications of larvacides has cost $140,396.74 adulticide applications have cost $79,943.32 for a total of $220,340.06. The district has not only used all of the resources budgeted for this seasons applications, but dipped well into the reserves we have built over the last 7 seasons I have managed the district.
As the mosquito season nears its end we will continue to use the limited resources we have left available to impact the mosquito population as much as possible. I would like to personally ask you all to take steps now and in the future to do everything possible to eliminate mosquito production on your property. Mosquito control is a community effort, from fields to buckets, bird baths to water troughs any standing water you eliminate helps the fight against mosquitoes and mosquito borne disease.
With my eighth season coming to a close I am reminded of how far the district has come over the years since I first arrived, I believe we have built a program based on sound science to protect public health and the quality of life of the citizens we serve using the products and resources we have available. Weather you agree or disagree is up to you, but remember this is YOUR district, your tax dollars fund it, if you have any feeling on the direction the district should go please let the district board of directors know. You may reach them by mail at PO Box 585, Baker City, OR 97814. You are also welcome at any of our board meetings. Thanks.
James J. Lunders is Manager and Biologist of the Baker Valley Vector Control District, Director Oregon Vector Control Association, North West Mosquito and Vector Control Association EPA-AMCA Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Representative, North Pacific Director American Mosquito Control Association
—Letters—
The Monighan Was Moved
To The Record-Courier:
On Aug. 28, 2008, the historic gold mining excavator was dragged from its resting place of 66 years, among the dredge tailings and pine trees, to its display location at the Cracker Creek Museum of Mining on Hwy. 7 in Sumpter, Ore. This challenging project was accomplished by the strength of the machines, the skill of the operators, the tireless effort of the ground crew, and the support of many CCMM members, volunteers, and families.
Thank you to each and everyone of you: Triple C Redi-Mix, Inc.- Casey and Cass Vanderwiele, Clarke Construction- Cary and Chase Clarke, Randy Lee, Leroy Thompson, Jim Allison, Northwest Trenching, Inc.-Dale Curtis Sherman Trucking-Scott Sherman, Farm and Industrial Service Co.-Don, Crystal, and Michaela Tholen, Sumpter Fire Dept. volunteers, Rowand Machinery, DET 1 Fox Co. 145th Maintenance, Oregon National Guard, Trevor, Jerry Ann, Sierra, Michael, and Andrew Dunn, John and Lila Young, Jerry and Viola Howard, Neal Bork, Wes, Cloie, Chanda, and Cheyenne Christensen, Roy, Jennifer, Alec, and Gus Slater Leonard and Alice Bacon, Dan Christensen, Lynn Christensen Henry Matison, Albertsons Safeway, Black Distributing, Inc. Special thank you to Nils Christensen, Project Coordinator.
Cracker Creek Museum
of Mining, Inc.
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