I’d like to say thank you to all the people who stopped by the Eagle for our open house last Wednesday. Because of the heat, we decided to forgo grilling hot dogs and hamburgers in the parking lot and moved everything indoors, where we nibbled on finger foods and basked in the AC.

It was so much fun to be able to take a couple of hours off from the daily grind of making the newspaper and just visit with people. We got to know some of our friends, neighbors and sources better, strengthened some relationships and picked up some quality story ideas.

And what a treat to get all of our contributors together in one place! It was the first time that’s happened since I became editor of the Eagle in the midst of the COVID pandemic nearly two years ago. Somebody had the bright idea of taking a group photo, which you can see above.

In the front row, left to right, are senior columnists Rose Coombs, Soo Yukawa and Elsie Huskey, flanked by Jean Moultrie, who used to write the “Off the Beaten Path” column for us (I’m trying to get her back in the fold, but we’ll have to see how that goes). The back row, from left, consists of Rick LaMountain, our semi-regular freelancer, and the dynamic duo of Dale Valade and Rod Carpenter, who tag-team the “Shooting the Breeze” column. Not pictured is “Farmer’s Fate” columnist Brianna Walker, who arrived just a few minutes too late to be part of this shot. With the exception of Rick, every one of these folks has been with the paper longer than I have. Thanks to all of you for your contributions to the Blue Mountain Eagle! 

In case you missed it, last week’s edition included stories on a John Day startup company looking to turn wood waste into marketable products, the future of a fire-gutted building in the heart of the city’s downtown, the tragic death of a Long Creek teen, an Old West-themed lodging in Dayville and a call for volunteers to officiate high school sports competitions. 

Coming up this week, look for our annual Journey travel section. This year’s edition takes readers on a trip to the country stores of Grant County (plus one each in Wheeler and Baker). You’ll also read about Gov. Tina Kotek’s visits to John Day and Prairie City (now live on our website), Grant County’s housing shortage, John Day’s city manager woes and Raney Anderson’s plans for continuing her stellar softball career post-high school.

If you’d like to help support our independent local journalism, please consider subscribing to the newspaper. And if you’re already a subscriber, please accept our heartfelt thanks — we can’t do this work without you!

— Bennett Hall, Editor