Our May 25 edition carried a story about disciplinary action taken against five members of the Grant School Board for using an executive session last summer to talk about matters that should have been discussed in open session. While Oregon law allows public bodies like school boards to go into executive session — where the public is excluded and journalists are directed not to report on the proceedings — there are strict limits on when they can do so. The public has the strongest possible interest in having access to the deliberations of elected officials, and it is a fundamental part of our mission as a newspaper to notify our readers when we believe those officials are improperly operating out of public view. In this case, the Eagle took the unusual step of filing a complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission in order to get a definitive ruling on whether the board members violated the law. The commission ruled that they had done so and voted to send each member who took part in the session a letter of education.

We take satisfaction in knowing that the school board will be more careful in the future not to stray beyond the limits of Oregon’s open meetings law. But we also want to be clear that we don’t believe any of the school board members acted maliciously in this instance. Yes, as elected officials, they should be aware of the laws that govern executive sessions, but we also recognize that it can be easy for those discussions to veer off-track, especially when the public body doesn’t have an attorney in the room to remind them of exactly where the legal boundaries are. And we have nothing but respect for anyone who is willing to serve their community by sitting on the local school board — especially in such emotionally fraught and politically charged times as these.

Coming up in this week’s edition, look for stories on how local school and law enforcement officials are responding to the horrifying school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the reopening of a long-closed lumber mill, what’s on tap for this year’s ’62 Days celebration, and the postseason heroics of the Grant Union/Prairie City softball team.

In case you missed it, last week’s paper had stories about the demolition of Gleason Pool, Grant County Commissioner Sam Palmer’s run for a U.S. Senate seat, the appointment of Katrina Randleas to the John Day City Council and postseason honors for Prairie City basketball standout Betty Ann Wilson.

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