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“Like I told ya, what I said. Steal your face right off your head.” — Robert Hunter Few things horrify me. I’m not afraid of snakes or spiders. Not bats, rats, or feral cats. But increasingly, technology is giving me the fear. Last week, a friend sent me an OPB article about the Ashland Daily Tidings and how an artificial intelligence (AI) ghost hacker company had coopted the defunct publication. It was enough to make the skin crawl. The small newspaper out of Ashland...
President-elect Trump has tapped the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and another billionaire entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy, to target waste and spending in the U.S. Government. The U.S. spent a sprawling $6.75 trillion in the 2024 fiscal year and the national debt has climbed successively with each administration since 2000. Now, with Republicans in control of all three branches of government, conservatives are looking to make cuts and reshape government. Elon Musk’s mot...
Thanksgiving has come and gone. America’s uniquely stand-alone holiday is meant to bring us together, so we’ve been told. A time to let bygones be bygones. To mend fences. Sounds nice. But it can be a hard one. The first Thanksgiving as a national holiday was established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 in the midst of the Civil War. The country was on the brink, and Lincoln thought it was a good time to officially recognize the holiday – which was first floated by Presi...
We were saddened to hear about Jon Bowerman's death on October 19th at his ranch near Antelope. He was 86 years old. Saddened might not be the right word - surprised is probably the emotion I'm looking for. I just saw Jon at a volleyball game in Fossil a couple of weeks ago. Of course, he was sitting courtside in his cowboy hat, conversing with a couple of locals. Jon was one of a kind. His advocacy for youth rodeo and sports in the area will be remembered fondly. Jon was an e...
During the last county court meeting on June 26, a discussion about the county’s investments in childcare and early childhood education took place. Some members of the community questioned how the previous court could have spent $1.7 million on childcare in Condon. The court began to deliberate grant applications from the Condon ELC and the Arlington Daycare Center. A member of the grants committee said that there was concern about the amount of money being requested by the C...
The news of EO Media Group’s plan to sell the company, or to potentially restructure as a non-profit certainly got our attention. To be honest, it was a scary week. The Times-Journal has been printed weekly by the EO Media Group for decades. We communicate with their staff weekly and depend on them for printing The Times-Journal. We have also looked to the EO Media Group and its many publications as a guide. We have admired their work in sustaining legacy newspapers in E...
We’ve been chipping away at our restoration and renovation project at The Times-Journal building. It’s been a lot of work and there is a long way to go but the end is in sight. Built in 1903 as The Bank Saloon by Fred Wilson, the building is a real gem. The story goes that Wilson hoped to build a bank on the property, but he was beaten to it and opted to instead open a saloon. Known as “A Gentlemen’s Resort,” the Bank Saloon was no doubt a beauty in its day. With tin-press...
Last week we wrote about the upcoming recall election and listed the reasons for why we are voting “No.” In doing so, we said that the group that is pushing the recall has been disingenuous. But we also said that the spouses and friends of current candidates are involved in the recall, to which Cris Patnode, who is running for Gilliam Co. Judge, pushed back and said that her husband Joe Patnode has taken all efforts to avoid the recall effort. I apologized to Joe and Cris for...
Gilliam County voters will receive ballots for the special recall election of Judge Elizabeth Farrar Campbell and Commissioner Pat Shannon on April 10. We will be voting “No” on both. There is no doubt that the Gilliam County Court unleashed discord when it passed resolution 2023-01 in December. That order stripped the county court of its judicial functions. The court then held listening sessions and discussed the potential of changing the county’s governing structure to a...
It has been a rocky 90 days in Gilliam County. The Gilliam County Court's decision to transfer juvenile and probate court on December 6th, its discussions of changing to a board of commissioners, and efforts to get a legislative fix on the probate issue in Salem created division and anger in the county. There was a resounding demand to bring such issues to the voters. There were accusations that the methods employed were underhanded. Much of this anger revolved around timing....
Last week, two more resignations were submitted from staff of Gilliam County, adding to a growing number of people who have left their jobs in the past few years. Rachel Boyer, who was hired a year ago to be the first Finance Director at Gilliam County, resigned from her position last week. Boyer, who attended middle school in Condon, had long hoped to return to Condon, the hometown of six generations before her. A certified management accountant (CMA), Boyer moved from...
The current political changes unfolding in the United States are monumental. In many ways, the two parties are swapping long-standing platforms and altering their historic identities. Both parties are also embracing candidates and agendas that they once disdained or mocked in the run-up to the 2024 Presidential Election. Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party is nearly complete. Although Trump was once a Democrat, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is highly l...
The Kinzua Hills Golf Club is a little slice of heaven. My dad was raised in Kinzua and I learned how to golf on the course. I remember attending reunions in the early to mid-80s and watching Ronnie Bowman, Mark Jellick, Jim Hulett, John Wall and other good Kinzua golfers crush drives off of the elevated first tee. It was a rowdy bunch who would gather at the Kinzua course and it was fun to see people who had grown up in Kinzua getting together. Even though the town was gone,...
It’s time to hit the pause button on restructuring the Gilliam County Court. This statement applies to all of us, not just the county judge, commissioners, and candidates in this year’s election. Yes, the Gilliam County Court has been moving quickly in recent months. Yes, they voted to transfer juvenile and probate court in rapid order and with little input. And yes, they voiced their approval for restructuring the county court into a board of commissioners. But these cha...
