In small towns like the ones that make up Grant County, it’s easy to overlook the homeless population. There aren’t that many of them, and they tend to be invisible, unlike the tent cities that have sprung up in big and midsized cities around Oregon and across the nation. 

Still, they are here, even in rural areas like this one. According to Amy Smetana, a self-sufficiency coordinator with Community Connection of Northeast Oregon, Grant County’s homeless population currently stands at 17. Three of those individuals are staying in motels but have no permanent residence. Fourteen of them are unsheltered. According to Smetana, an increasing number of these folks are local residents who have lost their housing, rather than transients passing through the area on their way to someplace else.

That information comes from this year’s Point-in-Time count, an annual effort that happens every January in communities large and small across the United States that aims to tally how many people are living in emergency shelters or on the streets. According to this year’s count, an estimated 16,242 people are currently homeless in Oregon.

In case you missed it, last week’s edition included a comprehensive report on what homelessness looks like right now in Northeast Oregon. The story was written by a team of EO Media Group reporters, including the Eagle’s own Justin Davis. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can find it by clicking here.

Last week’s paper also included Neil Nisperos’ story about the indictment of Ricky Snodgrass on a reckless burning charge. Snodgrass became the first U.S. Forest service firefighter ever arrested while performing his duties when he was taken into custody by Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley while supervising a prescribed burn in Bear valley on Oct. 19, 2022. You can find that story here.

Coming up in this week’s edition, look for an update on the burn boss story plus stories on volunteer firefighter training, a water crisis in Dayville, the closing of Grant County’s U.S. Bank branch, the upcoming High Desert league high school basketball tournament and more.

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— Bennett Hall, Editor