Voice of the Community

A YEAR SINCE THE OREGON DEATH OF LAVOY FINICUM

Editor:

Tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 26, marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of LaVoy Finicum. He was ambushed by Oregon state police and FBI agents on a dark, lonely road as he and friends were driving to John Day, Ore., for a town hall meeting to explain why they were occupying the Malheur wildlife refuge.

I’m sure you’ve heard the story.

On Saturday his widow, Jeanette, is scheduled to be in John Day to join other speakers who want to inform people on the deplorable activities of agencies of the Interior Dept. that prompted the late Mr. Finicum and others to hold their protest at Malheur.

The event was arranged by Tad Haupt, a local resident who had arranged for the LaVoy meeting a year ago. He has reserved a pavilion that will accommodate 500 people at the Grant County fairgrounds. It’s a long drive to John Day, but I would like to be among those who attend.

The widow Finicum has said she continues to suffer vindictive actions by federal agents as she and her children try to keep their ranch in northern Arizona alive.

They are not alone, not by far. The Hammond father and son ranchers of Harney County, OR sit in jail now, as do Cliven Bundy and four of his sons in southern Nevada. The Hage family has still not gotten the settlement they were awarded in the decades-long case they won against federal agencies.

Donald J. Trump, our new president, has promised to drain the swamp that is our government in Washington, D.C. It would be an honorable and long-needed endeavor.

One, though, has to question his seriousness when one has heard his nominee to head the Interior Department say he will not work to transfer control of public land to the western states.

Jim Falk

Churchill County

Open letter to Congress about the members’ behavior

Editor:

As a citizen of this wonderful United States of America, I am appalled at the behavior of members of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.

Those of you who did not attend the inauguration of our newly elected President Trump remind me of children in a sandbox. If you don’t get your way you go “crying home to mommy” or you “pick up sticks and stones” to toss at your opponent. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I know I am ashamed of all of you.

If you were in my state and district, I would work hard to see that you were never elected to another term.

You are not representing your constituents. You are only thinking of yourself and what you can do to create chaos that does nothing for the good of this great country. You are an embarrassment to yourself, constituents, state, and the United States of America.

Your behavior is creating a divide within this country that will take years to heal. How do you hope to provide guidance for this great country so that it stays a leader in this world when you create such chaos and danger? The age-old saying is one that needs remembering: “United we stand. Divided we fall.” Right now all I see is that our government is dividing this great nation.

Grow up, get out of the sandbox, and quit “crying.” Use your God-given talents to work together to earn the respect of our citizenry and the world by keeping America united and strong.

Anne C. Keast

Carson City