I was poking around in the Grant County Library this week and came across George S. Turnbull’s “History of Oregon Newspapers,” so of course I had to check it out. It includes three pages on the history of Grant County journalism, including the county’s original paper (and the Blue Mountain Eagle’s direct ancestor), the City Journal, first published in Canyon City in October 1868 by one R.H.J. Comer (to judge from Turnbull’s book, all newspaper editors went by their initials in those days). The paper would change hands (and names) several times before becoming the Blue Mountain Eagle in 1905.

Comer promised to publish his little journal, which measured 7¾ by 10¼ inches, “semi-occasionally.” In the fourth edition, published on June 28, 1869, he announced his journalistic philosophy under the heading “Our Say.” Here’s a brief excerpt that gives a sense of the man’s puckish outlook:

“Local news being of such a nature that everybody, or any other man, knows every other person’s business, except their own, we shall publish only such as suits our purpose.

“Communications of the long-winded kind will, perhaps, appear in our columns.

“Hoping that all our friends will take a lively interest in their own affairs, we conclude our say.”

I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to decide how much has changed in the Eagle’s 154 years of publication.

In this week’s edition, you’ll find a story on Tyler Smith, a former Grant County sheriff’s deputy who was fired from his job and is facing charges of attempted rape and other crimes. Smith claims those allegations are false and were part of an attempt to get him fired, and his attorneys have filed a motion to have the criminal charges against him dismissed, in part by arguing that the prosecution is withholding evidence that might clear him. We had hoped to have the story in last week’s paper, but the motion hearing stretched out from one day to three, pushing it past our deadline.

We’ll also have stories on new plans for John Day’s greenhouses, which ran up a considerable deficit last year; the city’s search for a new city manager, which hit a snag when the first round of applicants were rejected; the entertainment lineup for the 2022 Grant County Fair; and the latest exploits of Grant Union’s softball team, which came into this week with an unblemished record.

In case you missed it, last week’s paper featured stories on some hefty grants for Eastern Oregon forest collaboratives, John Day’s $30 million budget and an Eagle-sponsored forum featuring the three candidates for Grant County commissioner, as well as a fascinating column from local resident Rick LaMountain on our county’s namesake, Ulysses S. Grant.

As always, I want to take this opportunity to thank our subscribers for their support. We can’t do this work without you!