The place where we hunt elk lacks certain amenities, including, rather unfortunately, elk.

I don’t really mind, though.

A rifle is no great burden, slung over a shoulder, and I enjoy getting out in the clean air and having a look around the country on the cusp of winter.

Besides which, elk could enter the picture at any time. In theory, if not always in reality. Every hunter will tell you the elk are out there; it’s just that “there” is never where I happen to be. At least not when I have a hunting tag in my wallet.

And even if, say, a six-point bull does wander into view, it’s apt to vacate the premises before I can bring my scope to bear. Which is just as well, since I’m a lousy shot.

I don’t care what the wildlife biologists say — elk can disappear. And I mean literally disappear, not merely step behind the camouflage of a Douglas-fir. I’m talking about different dimensions, or astral planes, or whatever.

Baker City’s attempt to decide which residents ought to meet the four candidates for city manager leaves us with an unpleasant taste in our mouths.

The bitter flavor of elitism.

We don’t object to city officials, including city councilors, inviting people to introduce themselves to, and chat with, the four finalists.

But by designating the series of gatherings earlier this week as by invitation only, the city strongly implied that everyone else was, if not specifically excluded, then certainly was not equally welcome.

That latter group, by the way, includes more than 99 percent of the city’s residents.

No flags flying on Veterans Day?

To the editor:

Today I write with sadness to express my sincere disappointment as I drove down Main Street, returning to my home from a Mount Hope Cemetery visit to pay respect, gratitude and honor to my father-in-law, Richard H. Gushman (Dick Gushman to many longtime residents) on this national day of remembrance of our past and present veterans.

It was with heartfelt sadness I realized that I did not see one American flag displayed outside any local business, whether large or small. I acknowledge the gratitude advertisements by the businesses earlier in the week due to the current schedule of newspaper circulations, but still to see rural downtown America, especially in Baker County, devoid of any American flag on Nov. 11, Veterans Day 2009, was sadly shocking to me!

The results of a scientific study released a couple weeks ago suggest that on the ornithological intelligence scale, sage grouse are closer to the dodo bird than to the parrot.

The sage grouse in Western Wyoming are, anyway.

We feel no sympathy for poachers.

But if anything were capable of eliciting from us even a smidgen of pity for these scofflaws, it would be Robo-Elk.

This decoy, deployed for the first time this fall by the Oregon State Police, is the most irresistible lure yet set to catch wildlife thieves.

There is something uniquely sad about the sight of a certain sort of barnyard on the gray morning after a hard autumn rain.

This affliction does not affect outfits which have enjoyed a long and consistent run of bountiful harvests. The prosperity of such enterprises is easy to gauge from the well-tended lawn and the freshly painted buildings and the general absence of disorder and neglect.

Even these farms are not immune to grime — it’s awfully hard to grow anything edible without the occasional appearance of mud — but the mess is in the main confined to the fields. The public face of the place, what passers-by see from the road, must at all times and in all weathers present a picture of constant care.

The Oregon Lottery Commission was wise to resist the public school lobby’s latest demand for more money.

By rejecting a proposal for the state to keep a larger percentage of video poker and electronic slot machine revenue, the Commission might have helped rather than hurt schools.

Now, the 2,600 or so bars and taverns that have video gambling keep an average of 24 percent of the money. The state gets the rest, and two-thirds of that money — $680 million last year — goes to K-12 education.

The education lobby urged the Commission to trim retailers’ cut to 16 percent.

How about a  Halloween parade?

To the editor:

I should be the last person on earth to write about Halloween. There is a connection between All Hallow’s Eve and All Saints and All Souls, which the Catholic church celebrates on Nov. 1 and 2, respectively. But I also know what a big day it is for children. I am grateful that the town of Baker City creates such a safe environment for our little ones, when in other places such a day may give rise to mischief and pranks and uncalled-for trouble.

I have a simple idea that can enhance the celebration on that busy and crowded afternoon when children invade Main Street dressed up in anything that is scary, spooky, cute and perplexing at times.

It turns out that a warmer climate might not be a universal disaster.

Turning up nature’s thermostat could help trees in some Northwest forests grow faster, according to researchers from Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service.