Page 2 WILLAMINA TIMES,
WILLAMINA, OREGON
W ednesday, August 8, 1973
Police urge
bicycle
safety help RT jj
1
f t'
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' ;« ! ' •
Known as “ Gordie the Raccoon tam er’’ to his family, Gordon Shoff,
seven, is pictured with Rory giving Leo Lion a big kiss. Gordon
inherited the baby coon July 4 after its mother was run over by a car.
At night Rory sleeps in his cage built around a dead tree in their
back yard, but during the day he is a constant companion of Gordon and
follows him everywhere. And how does one so young learn to train
“ wild animals? According to Mr. Shoff, poor Rory probably gave up
in self-defense after Gordie crawled in his cage and talked to him
for over two hours. Rory eats almost anything but his favorites are
cooked meat, dry kitty food, and fresh grapes. Gordon is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Buford Shoff, Grand Ronde.
Salem Scene:
by Jack Zimmerman"
Associated Oregon Industries
Gov. Tom McCall vetoed a record
number of bills passed by the 57th
regular session of the Oregon Leg
islature.
Taken together, the gubernatorial
objection to 16 new laws is consid
ered by most observers another
rebuke of activity during the six-
month-long meeting of the assembly
in Salem this year. And many of
the same observers figure the chief
executive could have vetoed ten
times the number he did without
inflicting serious damage to the
legislative process.
Consensus appeared to be the other
140-odd questionable measures just
weren’t that important.
And all this despite the fact Gov.
McCall earlier declared the session
was a good one and the people got
their money’s worth.
In three previous sessions the
governor had exercised his veto
power an even dozen times. Nor
mally, measures passed are signed
by House Speaker, Senate President
and the chief executive before be
coming law in the course of events.
About the only thing the governor
can’t veto are measures referred to
the voters for final approval.
The Willamina Police Department
urges parents of children who ride
bicycles to help the police depart
ment in training them in the proper
way to ride. The laws for bicycle
riding are the same as for motor
vehicles. Always ride on the right
side of the road,, give signals and
stop at all stop signs.
Recently there have been some
near accidents in which bicycles
have been involved and instruction
is needed.
In the summer months it is in
convenient to hold classes of in
struction due to vacations, etc., ,
but Chief Bill Hale states there are
plans for training within the school
program this fall and he will be
more than happy to answer any ques -
tion that may arise.
Chief Hale also states he will be
glad to talk with any young person
who has a problem.
review of vetoed bills
Sometimes a governor will express
displeasure with a piece of legisla
tion by simply refusing to sign it.
The Constitution provides, however,
that such measures become law
automatically after a specified time
period. McCall style has been to
either sign or veto.
The McCall veto was first exer
cised during the 57th session when
he turned thumbs down on SB 162,
requiring
independent political
candidates to be so registered six
months before an election. Since the
action was taken before the session’s
July 6 adjournment, 1 lawmakers
overrode the veto and the measure
became law anyway.
The other 15 vetoes followed ad
journment and quite likely all will be
considered for action during the
scheduled special session early next
year. But a few gubernatorial vetoes
might prompt sponsors to launch
initiative campaigns to place mea
sures before voters for approval.
Vetoes that will stick -- at least
until subsequent legislative action
or a decision by voters -- include:
SB 324 .-- to create a three-mem
ber public utility commission; The
governor likes the present single
commissioner system.
SB 491 -- to create an Energy
Conservation Board in the Com
merce Department.
McCall be
lieves this can be accomplished in
SB 73, enacting a statewide building
code.
SB 715 --. exempting political party
organizations from filing reports of
contributions and spending before
primary elections. He said it would
insulate candidates who received
party funds from disclosing ulti
mate sources.
SB 841 - - to reduce truck speeds
to 50 miles an hour on wet road
surfaces creating spray. The gov
ernor doubted enforceability and
effectiveness of the act.
SB 899 - - to transfer Occupational
Health Section from Health Division
to Workmen’s Compensation Board.
McCall believes this is at odds with
ah
already federally- approved
health and safety plan and would
lead to duplication.
HB 2242 -- to award runners-up
an elective office if the winner was
otherwise disqualified. The gov
ernor objected to seating candidates
not favored by most voters. The
law now creates a vacancy and
party organizations nominate some
one to fill the vacancy.
HB 2529 -- requiring financial
(continued on page 7)
O ur Readers W rite
To the Editor:
In reference to the letter written
last week by Concerned, I feel that
it isn’t any of their business who
spends their time in the tavern knee
slapping with their buddies or what
ever.
If they weren’t asleep at
midnight they might know what is
going on in this city and what a mess
it has turned into in the last two
years.
I have lived in this area all my
life with the exception of two years,
and the shape this town turned into
in that time was unbelievable. The
school system has gone downhill
and the police force . . . well,
leave that for your own judgment.
Karen Purdom
staff who have resigned were
coaches? Of the six that I know
of, five also coached. In 1971-72
the coaches received a 5 per cent
salary increase. Including the com
ing year, this is the only increase
in three years', an average of 1 2/3
per cent per year. This does not
even keep up with the cost of living
increase.
I received $603 last
year as Head Wrestling Coach and
I know that, in the same amount of
time I spent coaching I could have
worked for $1 an hour and made
more money. This is one aspect
of what I think is a de-emphasis
of athletics, one of the very im
portant ways of maintaining school
spirit.
Of course, the teaching salary is
also one of the lowest, if not the
lowest, in the state. I hear the old
To the Editor:
argument that teachers are sup
I taught at the high school for posed to be dedicated people who
three years before resigning in are in the profession because of
June.
the satisfaction derived. This is
The first year I taught at Wil a very real thing. There is a great
lamina I though things were real amount of satisfaction when things
ly going great. There was good are going good (also, though, it is
student spirit, teacher morale was very depressing when they are not!),
high, and I think the academic and but when I made more money work
athletic programs were upgraded. ing in the trucking industry while
Then along came budget voting time going to school for four years to
and it took three tries before it get a teaching certificate I won
finally passed.
der sometimes what the satisfac
This was very demoralizing to me tion has cost me. To get good
and I think that teacher morale has teachers they must be paid accord
been suffering since.
This has ingly and six teachers resigning out
resulted in lack of student spirit of 22 when the supply of teachers
and discipline in the school. It by far exceeds the demand these
is very difficult to keep up a good days should say something!
attitude in the school when the com
Salary is not the main reason I
munity does not back the school. resigned, however, and I do not think
Has anyone noticed how many of the it was the dominant factor for the
other resignations either.
I think the administration is in
a better position to know what kind
of atmosphere is the most bene
ficial to the students. It seems to
me that the school board is setting
policy when they should be allowing
the administration more freedom in
this respect. In the meetings that
I attended I got the impression that
the administration was ‘ ‘feeling out’ ’
the school board before expressing
their opinion. I think that a stron
ger stand by the administration on
policy, with only a questioning at
titude on the part of the school
board, would result in a more
stable atttiosphere and, hopefully,
better school spirit and more mean
ingful and uniform discipline.
I am happy to hear that the bud
get finally passed, but again, not
before it was cut to the bare min
imum. I hope that in the future
the community will lend stronger
support to their schools in term s of
having more confidence in their ad
ministration and teachers and pass
ing school budgets the first time
around. I suppose it would be too
much to hope for to have the bond
issue for construction and r e
modeling pass the next time it
is proposed!
I graduated from Willamina and I
suppose this, along with getting to
know these students the last three
years is a reason why I think they
are “ special.” I think they de
serve the best education possible
under the most enjoyable conditions.
Sincerely,
Darold D. Halstad
Traffic volume up
V ance W e lty
E d ito r and P u b lis h e r
The Willamina Times is published every W ednesday_
at
Willamina. Oregon, entered at the Post Office at Willamina
as second class matter.
The local subscription rate is
¡152.00 per year. All correspondence should be addressed to
Willamina Times P.O. Box 127, Willamina, Oregon 97396.
SSL
Traffic volume on most of Oregon’s
highways showed an increase in
vehicular traffic in April, 1973 com
pared to April of 1972, according
to the monthly report compiled by
the Oregon State Highway Division.
A summary of traffic recorder
data for rural and urban state high
ways showed an increase of 11.2
per cent in vehicular traffic in
April, 1973 compared to April, 1972.
The first four months of 1973
showed an increase of 10.5 per cent
in vehicular traffic compared to the
first four months of 1972.
behind "The Times
by Vance Welty
■
Events of the past few weeks, both
national and local, have led me to
the rather cynical conclusion that
there are basically two types of
people: those who lead, and those
io gripe about them.
>w, before anybody thinks that I
casting stones, let me make it
sar that I am no more innocent
this shortcoming than anybody
ise. We all tend to make judge-
ients on the basis of emotion
(“gut reactions” ) rather than
reason, and I have caught myself
at it several times lately - - expec-
ially as regards the Watergate scan
dal.
While I outwardly try to put up
a front of “ objectivity” -- whatever
that means - - deep down inside lurks
a very different attitude. I have
never exactly harbored any great
love of Mr. Nixon, either before
or after he became president. As
each new scandal breaks, as each
witness delivers some damning evi
dence or evades questions, as each
new challenge to the president’s
authority arises, my gut-level r e
action is “ Good! I hope they im
peach the so-and-so!”
But turning briefly to reason; for
alt I know, Mr. Nixon might be a
very dedicated public servant whose
motives are above reproach and who
is entirely innocent of any wrong
doing. After all, he has not yet
been found guilty of any wrongdo
ing in office.
That is the argument that reason
dictates, but being human, I dislike
the MAN and therefore reduce the
level of Watergate from issues to
personalities.
It is easy to form opinions on some
thing like Watergate because it is
at the national level. I have never
personally met Mr. Nixon nor have
I any experience at reporting at
the national level.
But I have to report each week
at the local level. Forming opin
ions, let alone putting them into
print, is a much more difficult
job when I am familiar with the
people involved in any given con
troversy and when the outcome of
•issues is likely to affect me and
people I know directly.
A few examples . . .
We all know by now about the
charges against one of our more
prominent citizens (and his friends)
brought about by an incident at one
of our local taverns.
A trial almost seems an after
thought. Everybody with whom I
have spoken on this matter is either
convinced that this person is some
sort of power-mad monster who is
above the law, or that the police
(as personified by their chief) are
brutal sadists ready to club any
body at the drop of an unkind word.
So the issue has descended to one
of personalities -- not facts.
Personally, I find it difficult to
believe all the rumors that I hear
about this man who is about to
stand trial for escaping arrest and,
possibly, other charges. I will
not pass on any of the rumors here,
but let it suffice to say that if
true, I would have to nearly believe
that this man eats babies for break
fast.
But looking over past records,
I find that this person and his fam
ily have made many selfless con
tributions to the community.
On the other side of the coin, I
find many people who do not like
our police chief at all. I have heard
him accused of everything from
petty avarice to incompetence to
outright
brutality.
Especially
following the recent drug arrests,
I have heard the charge of “ police
brutality” leveled at him from sev
eral persons. In one of our recent
letters to the editor, a reader ex
pressed the not-uncommon opinion
that this person is O. K. unless
one gets on his “ Wrong side.”
However,
experience dictates
otherwise. I know our police chief
and cannot really believe that he is
capable of the base motives many
would ascribe to him. I find him
a very humane persons who is try
ing his best to be of service to
Willamina. I didn’t know the p re
vious police chief, so cannot com
pare the two; but from experience
with other police chiefs I have known,
I would have to conclude that Wil
lamina is fortunate to have the one
we do.
Then, of course, we have the prob
lem with our schools. I am not
about to deny that there IS a prob
lem -- there is, indeed, a very
outstanding problem. Let’s face it,
large numbers of teachers do not
resign at the same time from a
school system that is functioning
properly. - And with two children
myself, who will soon be entering
the Willamina schools, I have a
more than passing interest in the
kind of education they will receive.
I have been spending a lot of time,
and will spend a lot more, trying
to pinpoint exactly what is wrong
with our schools and what can be
done to correct the problems. The
difficulty lies in pinpointing actual
i
causes and issues, for this contro
versy, as others, has descended to
the level of personalities. '
We have many concerned parents
in the community -- and that’s a
good sign. A parent who is not
concerned about his child’s edu
cation is not fulfilling his duties
as a parent. The problem here
lies in how to direct that concern
to positive action.
Now, this is one area where I am
relatively in the dark. I don’t p re
tend to know all (or even any) of
the answers, and appreciate any sug
gestions as to how the newspaper
can be of service in improving our
schools.
The most common “ solution” I
have heard so far is that we should
get rid of our superintendent. But
I know our superintendent and can’t
help but believe that he is as con
cerned about the welfare of our
young people as the rest of us. How
ever, I could be quite mistaken
about this.
What the whole situation seems to
boil down to at this point is a
clash of personalities again. School
board members, principals, p ar
ents, superintendent -- everybody,
in fact, but the students themselves
who stand to be helped or hurt the
most by our actions.
Perhaps if we forget about person
alities and keep the students’ wel
fare as priority number one, we
can get somewhere. While this
newspaper is in no position to tell
the school district how to run it
self, we are open to suggestion for
any positive courses of action that
would benefit our young peoples’
chances of getting abetter education
and will be more than happy to
pass
those suggestions along
to where they might do the most good.
And, of course, the city council
comes in for its share of criticism.
The whole point of democracy is,
of course, the right to criticize
those in charge. But I can think
of no more thankless job than coun
cilman or mayor. As far as is
sues are concerned, I have heard
legitimate complaints which this
paper will try to deal with. But
the majority of complaints have dealt
with low opinions of individual coun
cil members. These solve nothing,
and airing them publically would
hurt, not help, the community.
No doubt there will be those who,
after reading this article, will con
sider me “ chicken” for not blasting
Roy Zimbrick or Bill Hale or Donn
Mitchell or Eugene Mack or c e r
tain members of the school board
or city council. My only (rather
weak) reply is “ What good would
it accomplish?”
A person in my position, editing
a newspaper, often finds himself in
a bit of a quandary. From where
I sit, I hear both (or sometimes
three or four) sides of every ques
tion. When one knows the arguments
for all sides in an issue, it is soon
obvious that very seldom is any
situation all black or all white.
Usually it is several shades of
gray, making it difficult to take
a firm stand on anything and still
be fair.
It is often impossible
to do both.
Most readers are not aware that
I have written many editorials which,'
at my own decision, never were
printed. After “ cooling off” and
re-reading the editorial, I would of
ten decide that while it sounded
good, it was based on emotion,
not reality.
Fairness, in short, is a madden
ingly difficult goal.
in e a rlie r days
b y Lee P e rk in s
EARLIER DAYS
August 4, 1938
Announcement is being made this
week of the transfer of ownership
of the Willamina Service Station
which has been operated the past
two years by J. A. (Bud) Jensen,
Jr. The station which was built
in 1927 was formerly operated by
G. W. Gapen and was purchased by
Mr. Jensen about two years ago.
The new owner is Austin Brazeau
who has been employed at the Wil
lamina garage the past eight years.
Mr. Jensen has not as yet made
definite plans for the future but says
he will take a much deserved vaca
tion for a few weeks. He will r e
main at the service station about
a week helping Mr. Brazear. Mr.
and Mrs. Brazeau will move into
the house just south of the station
soon.
*****
In view of recent world events, the
people of this vicinity will particu
larly welcome the opportunity to
hear an address on things we can be
doing to make war less likely to
happen. J. J. Handsaker will lec
ture in Willamina on Sunday even
ing, August 7 at 8 o’clock in the
M.E. church.
Mr. Handsaker has a wide and
intimate knowledge of international
affairs, having conferred with peace
leaders in Europe and attended ses
sions of the League of Nations. He
has been connected with peace
groups for a number of years and
is now associate secretary of the
National Council for the Prevention
of War.
3*c
sfe 3fc
“ Relief Bums”
A news item tells of a Negro
taxi driver who was unable to work
for a time because of illness. . He
obtained $50 from the government
relief agency to tide him over. Now
he is back at work and is trying
to return the money. When it was
pointed out to him that he was not
legally obligated to do this, he ob
served that, “ That was the way I
was raised and that is the way I’m
raising my child.”
A great many other Americans
can learn a lesson from this Negro
taxi driver. One of the most omi
nous portents of the horizon is the
fact that thousands of people have
apparently come to look on relief
as a profession. They plan to make
it their life work. Productive jobs
in private industry hold no attrac
tion for them when they can take it
easy at the taxpayers’ expense. They
figure someone owes them a living.
This isn’t a criticism of those peo
ple who have turned to relief only
as a last resort and are eager to
get off the rolls as soon as oppor
tunity for a real job comes along.
Nor is it a criticism of relief
per se. The hungry must be fed,
the homeless sheltered, the cloth
less clothed. Honest beneficiaries
of relief aggressively seek real
employment. Professional “ relief
bums” are a menace to the demo
cratic government. The Negro’s
statement was news because his
attitude was so unusual today. It
should be printed on every relief
check and public grant.
*****
Local News
The Millers had the misfortune of
losing several cows last week. He
had been pasturing stubble and they
became poisoned on vetch.
A 9 1/2 lb. baby daughter named
Caryl Ann was born to Mr. and
Mrs. F. L. Zetterburg June 26.
The Orlando Myers family, to
gether with her father, Jesse F arn
ham moved into the Farnham place
Sunday.
*****
Mr. M. Petersen of Old Grand
Rqnde writes:
The women of today don’t know how
good they got it. When I look back
70 years in my mother’s kitchen
and spinning room, so many bal
oneys were hanging in the chimney
beside bacon finely smoked.
I
helped my mother card the wool and
she would spin and knit socks and
stockings. She had a good garden.
We never used any medicine. We
had vegetable soup every day for
dinner, using curly kale, parsley,
root celery, carrots seasoned with
ginger and nutmeg.
Whole rye
flour bread was our every day bread.
Only Sunday morning we had wheat
flour bread buns. Our school hours
were from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. She
even made socks from the wool of
our poodle dog. Once a year my
father clipped the wool. Our streets
were so clean. They were swept
twice a week by each home owner.
Horse manure was gathered at once
for the fertilizer bin. Once a year
I took the hogs to the beaches and
scrubbed them in ocean water. Our
hogs were two years old before
butchering. The hogs had a bedroom
and a feeding room kept very clean
in the spring. I gathered nettles
in the field, chopping them very
fine and mixed them with swill
made with ground rye. The net
tles are what kept the hogs in good
shape.
M. Petersen has fruit jars and
bottles for rootbear with caps.
He also has some more of that
four dollars per acre land that
includes sunshine, rain in season,
running water, fuel and highway,
milk route, bus route, high school
bus, prospects for crude oil and
coal considered fine. Do you want
to be a millionaire? Bore a hole
deep enough and you will become one.
*****
From around the house:
If a slice of breaci is put in the
kettle whem making pea soup the
peas will not sink to the bottom
and burn.
To remove clinging fish odors
from your hands, wash them in
water to which salt has been added.
*****
To avoid being talked about after
you leave, talk about yourself all
the time you are there.