Today is Sept. 11. It’s been 22 years now since that terrible day when our country came under murderous attack by terrorists. All of us who are old enough remember where we were that day, the awful grief, the fear, the rising anger. We all remember, as well, the way we came together as Americans in a single shared purpose and resolve to defend our homeland. That feeling of unity seems so far away now. We need to find a way to get it back. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another national tragedy to do it.

Last week in this space I said if you were looking for me on Labor Day, you could probably find me on a trail in the Strawberries. Well, I went, and had a wonderful rainy visit to Slide Lake. But the trail was in rough shape, with a one-mile section riddled with washouts, a couple of them bad enough to be truly dangerous. If you’re going that way, do yourself a favor and take the Horse Trail cutoff around the washed-out section of the Slide Lake Trail. You’ll have to make up some lost elevation, but it’s not that bad — and you’ll get to the lake safe. I reported the problem to the Malheur National Forest and was encouraged by the prompt response I got from Forest Supervisor Ann Niesen. She said she’d send someone to check on it and seemed optimistic that repairs could be made. Let’s hope there’s money in the budget for that.

Fall sports are underway once again. In this week’s edition of the Blue Mountain Eagle, look for stories on local prep football action and Grant Union’s brand-new girls soccer team. We’ll also have stories on a dispute over high public records costs, an expansion at a John Day thrift store, Blue Mountain Hospital’s new electronic health records system and a Grant County man who practices Chinese medicine and produces stunning nature photography (already live on our website).

In case you missed last week’s paper, we had stories on a local company that makes high-tech outdoor clothing, a challenging trek on the Blue Mountains Trail, the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases and an early-season volleyball tournament at Prairie City High School.

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As always, if you have comments or questions about the Eagle, or want to pass along a story idea, send me an email at this address: editor@bmeagle.com.

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— Bennett Hall, Editor