The Blue Mountain Eagle lost a dear friend last month with the passing of Margot Grace Chinnock Heiniger, who died June 9 at the age of 85. In the few short months of our acquaintance, I also knew her as Margot Heiniger White and Margot Chinnock. It was a little confusing, but that was our Margot — she always seemed to be reinventing herself, either for her benefit or yours. 

She would pop into the newspaper office every few weeks, and you always knew when she was here because she always raised a rumpus. She was a shameless flirt. She habitually addressed me as “sweet man” and would always ask the ladies in the office, “Why are you so pretty?” When I introduced her to our new reporter she immediately asked him, “Are you married?” When he said he was, her response was: “That’s OK. I don’t mind!”

She liked to dress in bold prints and bright colors, and she told the most amazing stories. The last time I saw her, she was wearing a brightly hued outfit and had dyed a shock of her white hair purple. I had gone to her beautiful home to interview her about the Clean Plate Club, a World War II effort to curb food waste that was organized by her father and of which she and her brother were charter members. I’ll be writing that story in a couple of months for our special section on local history. I’m looking forward to it, because it will give me another chance to remember a good friend of the Blue Mountain Eagle. God rest you, Margot. We miss you around here.

In this week’s edition, you’ll find stories about the newly reopened Prairie Wood Products sawmill, plans for a new CyberMill in Prairie City, an abortion rights demonstration in John Day and a public archaeological dig at the site of the old Gleason Pool. 

In case you missed it, last week’s paper carried an in-depth report on public meetings law violations by the Blue Mountain Hospital District board in the hiring of a new CEO. We also had stories on Valerie Maynard’s eventful career as head of the Grant County 911 dispatch center, a revived subdivision that could bring more than 40 new homes to Canyon City, plans to put the pool bond back on the ballot and a missing woman and her teenaged daughter found dead on a remote forest road.

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