Les Zaitz, publisher of the Malheur Enterprise, talks with reporter Pat Caldwell at the newspaper’s Vale office (East Oregonian/E.J. Harris/file) Sadly, another newspaper is about to close and a community loses a voice. The Independent Observer in Payette is scheduled to put out its last weekly edition this week, the[Read More…]

Protestors hold signs in protest of racism and police violence in Hermiston on Monday, June 1, 2020. (Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian) The strains on our nation, on we the people, mount by the day. We are being tested as we seldom have in recent decades and how we react now says[Read More…]

By some accounts, the economy is going to rebound slowly even if business and society start opening up as soon as next month. We hope to be around to help that recovery, and you have a lot to say about that. The Malheur Enterprise is a family owned business, like[Read More…]

The playground equipment at Wadleigh Park in Vale is taped off to stem the spread of contamination. (Yadira Lopez/The Enterprise) By some accounts, the economy is going to rebound slowly even if business and society start opening up as soon as next month. We hope to be around to help[Read More…]

For Malheur County businesses of all sizes, today should be a day of hope. Friday is the opening day of access to an extraordinary federal rescue program meant to keep small businesses alive through this global pandemic. Simply put, this is about the easiest access to business cash available. So,[Read More…]

Les Zaitz, editor and publisher, Malheur Enterprise. Greg Smith doesn’t believe that certain government records about Malheur County’s economic development operation are any use to the public. I’d like your opinion on that, but first here’s the situation. As we’ve reported, Malheur County wants to go into the industrial park[Read More…]

Les Zaitz, editor and publisher, Malheur Enterprise. Last week, I met people from across the country who could change the news you get from the Malheur Enterprise. There was Pam Dempsey of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting in Illinois, whose outfit reports deeply on agribusiness. There was Sara Lomax[Read More…]

Few topics engender such confused debate as the issue of homelessness, as we’ve seen across the nation and right here in Malheur County. The Enterprise hopes to do something about that with a Homeless Town Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Ontario. The event starts at 6 p.m. at Four[Read More…]

The staff of the Malheur Enterprise (from left); reporter Joe Siess, reporter Yadira Lopez, sales manager Rose Zueger, reporter Pat Caldwell, office manager Autumn Butler, delivery driver Sheila Schroder, business manager Howard Benson. (Photo by KnR Photography) VALE – Open and honest local government is clearly important to citizens in[Read More…]

This rendering shows Malheur County’s proposed industrial park next to the Treasure Valley Reload Center. The map was submitted to state officials in December. A new map now shows rail spurs cutting through the industrial lots. The county agency’s recent declaration seemed like good news. “We will continue to be[Read More…]