Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1962)
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, Thursday, October 11. 1962 THE py -iw HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES MOHROW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER PHONE 676-9228 The Heppner Gazette, established March 30, 1883. The Heppner Times established November 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15, 1912. HELEN E. SHERMAN Associate Publisher NATIONAL IDITOHIAl WESLEY A. SHERMAN Editor and Publisher Chaff and Chatter Wes Sherman 0" NEWSPAPER jgSV ryiuiNits VrXiioaATtoN Subscription Rates: Morrow and Grant Counties, $4.00 Year; Else where $4.50 Year. Single Copy 10 Cents. Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Socond Class Matter. OFFICE HOURS: 8 a.m. t0 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m MIIIII.MllllllMlilMIMMm Unfair Law to Public Servants In the Oregon statutes is a law that may have served a needed purpose at one time, but now should be scrutinized for the injustice that it does to those who volunteer their services for duty on city councils, school boards and other small governmental agencies. It is the provision that declares that anyone who serves in such a capacity may not have any business interest in any transaction of the board or body. In our reporting in Heppner, we have noted that at various times several on the city council have had to disqualify their businesses from bidding on goods needed by the city because of their positions as councilmen. For instance, Councilman Earl Ay res has refrained from bidding on cars and pickups needed by the city because of his official connection with the city. In another instance, Standard Oil Company received the contract for supplying gasoline to the school district, but the company took the precaution of sending a letter to the district pointing out that Ed Dick, who has served as a director on the board for a number of years, would not receive a cent of commission nor compensation because of the state law. He is local distributor for Standard. There is considerable irony in this statute. It is ironic that the fellow is willing to devote his time to public service without compensation should be subject to the penalty of disqualification on competitive bidding. Adding more irony is the fact that this same businessman, because of his personal interest in the agency he is serving the thing that is shunned by so many, may try to get goods or services at lower figures in order to put the governmental body in a better position. Further irony in a small community comes with the fact that it is almost Impossible to get a full group of officials without Including some who have some mercenary interest in the body's business transactions. As a matter of fact, it is often virtually necessary in practice to violate the law because the agency has no other place to go to get some of its essential goods and services except from the men sitting on the board. Some have erroneously set standards that find no basis in the law. They say, for instance, that a councilman may not' supply anything over $500. However, we are quite sure that one who furnishes 10c worth of goods, under the terms of the statute, is just as much in violation as the one who furnishes $1000 worth. It isn't our premise to encourage any type of graft or cor ruption or even the hint of it. Perhaps 25 years ago there were not the safeguards in public office that there are today. Officials in many positions of trust now must be bonded, and annual audits scrutinize all the transactions of these public groups. At school board meetings here, all bills are compiled for full scrutiny by every member of the board, and at city council, all the counciimen not only examine the bills but they are read aloud both before and after payment. It is a difficult enough job to get willing and capable men to serve in these capacities without exacting penalties on them for doing so. This law should be studied carefully for this reason and also for the reason that it is ridiculous to have statutes that cannot be enforced. Modifications may be worked out to provide additional safe guards but would permit a man to do business with the public body on which he serves. Lest there be any misunderstanding, this editorial is written absolutely on the editor's own volition and not because of any complaint nor of any conversation with any local public official. It Is based purely on observations that we have noted, both here and elsewhere, that point up the fact that the law is unfair, unjust and works out to be both arbitrary and discrim inatory. Check Your Home for Fire Safety The Governor's Committee on Home Safety and the Oregon State Board of Health suggest that this may be a good time for everyone to check homes for fire hazards. Fire Prevention Week, October 713, Is a good week to make this inspection. This Is an Important phase of safety, especially when we consider hat every hour (iG homes in the U. S. are destroyed or damaged by lire and every hour and a quarter one person most trequentlv a child or an elderly person dies in a dwelling fire. Last year over one million fire occurred, claiming over 11,600 lives and an untold number of persons seriously injured, burned or disabled for life. The causes of most home fires are no mystery. A carelessly discarded cigarette Is left to smolder in an overstuffed chair' a portable oil heater is refilled while still lighted; electrical circuits are overloaded and overfused; uncleared rubbish be comes a bleeding place for fire. There is nothing mysterious either about the causes of most fire deaths in homes. They occur when the simple rules of safety from fire are violated from smoking in bed, leaving ch klien unsupervised in the house, allowing youngsters to play with matches. A critical failure is being unprepared for fire emergencies in the home no family planning or escape routes, no periodic family fire drill to make sure that both adults and children can act quickly and without panic. Fire Prevention Week Is a time to recognize this fact and to act to correct hazards, to exercise care, to be prepared. The Governor's Committee states that your actions and attitudes now may make you and your family safe from tragic conse quences of fue in the months ahead. TO THE EDITOR. , . To the Editor: We want you to know how much we enjoy the Heppner paper each week and it arrives promptly on Saturday. Scott has neen Hunting. lie got a nice deer and the limit fishing so he is quite tuisy now. Thank you, Scott and Ida Brown 4.il5 S. K. 39th Ave. Portland 2, Oregon To the Editor: 1 certainly want to express to you our appreciation for vour fine editorial, "Two Strikes Against the Hunter," which ap peared In the Heppner Gazette Times on September 27, In the interest of Keep Oregon Green. Sincerely, Albert Wiesendanger Executive Secretary Russia and Cuba instead of at each other, we may open our eyes. If the Democrats could cor rect all the Republican mis takes and the Rmmhl correct all of the Democratic mis takes, we would burv Russia and Cuba in a gopher hole and have dirt left over for anyone else who wants to start some thing. Yours sincerely, Andy Hayes Heppner, Oregon This Isn't only my opinion. Notice! WE WILL RE CLOSED Next Week OCT. 14 THRU OCT. 20 For Repairs 4 R's CAFE CELESTINE RANDALL IT WOULDN'T BE quite proper to say that wheat ranchers of the county rolled out the red carpet for visiting newspaper men from Portland and Oregon City this week. It would be more appropriate to say that they laid out the gold and brown carpet the gold for the wheat and the brown for the cultivated soil that the visitors viewed. The men came to Morrow un der the sponsorship of the Ore gon Wheat League to get a little better insight into matters of interest to wheat growers and to be able to tell the world about it. It was our privilege to be a guest at the luncheon held for them at Stefani's Monday but we couldn't make it back to the concluding luncheon Wednesday after the newsmen had spent the three days with their host families. Seems we have a little chore to do here each week that prevents us from doing anything else on Wednesdays. WITH THE group was the per sonable Marlowe Branagan, now with Goodrich and Snyder, public relations firm that works in this capacity for the Wheal League. Many will remember Marlowe as a colorful sports writer for the Oregon Journal. We always regretted when he left sports re porting because he was a master of picturesque "slanguage" and he turned out an interesting col umn, too. He dramatized the big sports events with his writing. Sports reporting allows more lib erties with the King's English and Branagan knew how to use them to fascinate the reader. Also on the tour was Jalmar Johnson, still with the Oregon ian, who was Sunday editor in the days when it carried the Sunday magazine. He did a fine job of editing this publication, and we think it was one of the city paper's darkest hours when it dropped the Sunday magazine year under Wheat League spon sorship. The last year's gang was Invited in mid-July, just in time for the harvest. It was hot! To give the visitors a firsthand conception of things, the ranch ers put them to work in the har vest. One of them worked on a combine until about 3 p.m., ac cording to Nels Anderson, and then he had to throw in the towel, saying he just couldn't hack it any more. Well, we can vouch for the fact that it would be quite a change to leave the typewriter and get out in the boiling sun to work on a com bine even though the old saying goes that one expends more en ergy typing than he does shovel ing coal. MAYBE THINGS even out pretty good. While Morrow was pre paring to play host to newsmen, Mrs. Sherman and I were in vited to Portland to gather Fri day p.m. with other publishers as guests of the Humble Oil Co. They brought a report on oil exploration in Oregon, an ac count of which is printed else where in this paper. But in doing so, they enter tained us royally, providing rooms overnight in the Benson hotel, a wonderful dinner and taking care of transportation. Newspaper people may be some what spoiled with favors, but this was unique. It just isn't very often that we get the op portunity to sign the tab when checking out of a fine hotel and have an oil company pick up the check! IT WAS pointed out during the meeting there that the Colum bia Basin and Central Oregon are considered the best possi bilities for oil strikes in the state, although none have been brought in after 146 attempts. Two or three have shown some evidence of oil, however. No test wells have been drilled in Morrow county but one was TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: The voters of Oregon will up hold the sound American prin ciples of Senator Charles L. Mc Nary principles, that brought honor and prosperity to our state if they cast their ballots next month for Sig Unander. As Senator McNary was an American and an Oregonian first, and a Republican second, so is Sig Unander. Democrats as well as Republicans will rally to his cause if they believe in the cherished principles of our Constitution, our free enterprise system, and the preservation of our individual liberties. Sig Unander is a fine and dedicated public servant. He will be an excellent Senator and a representative who will truly work for Oregon. If we want action for our state instead of words and more words, we and took on the "canned" drilled in Giillam county in 1957 suDDlements it now carries. This Sunday magazine, which went rotogravure for a while, was always filled with top stories of feature interest, and a good many free lance writers contributed to it as well as string correspondents and staf fers. It was kind of a hard job to get one's stories printed in it because it was scheduled so far in advance, but we made it a few times. Bob Holley, now with the Port land Reporter, might be called the "lively one" on the tour, effervescent and always coming up with .something. He's another byline that has long been around in the Portland papers. Don Sterling, here represent ing the Oregon Journal, has a heritage in the newspaper busi ness, for his father was prom inent on the paper before him. Only man from out of the metropolis on the tour was Jack Fenton with the Oregon City Enterprise-Courier. Ex-Governor Charles Sprague, publisher of the Oregon States man of Salem, was planning to make the trip to visit Morrow ranches but he fell and hurt his leg, we understand, and couldn't come. It was good to see these men in Morrow county and we hope thev carrv back a good know ledge of our ranches to impart to city folks tnrougn meir col THE VISITORS had one advan tage over a similar group that visited Sherman county last COMMUNITY BILLBOARD Coming Events LEGION MOVIES Saturday Night, 8:00 p.m. Legion Hall This week "Return of Rusty, Plus cartoon. FOOTBALL GAME Heppner High versus Giant Union High. Friday night, 8:00 p.m. John Day Football Field FULL LENGTH FILM "Shallow of the Boomerang' Filmed in Australia Grade School Multipurpose room Monday, October 15 8:00 p.m. Free Will Offering LEXINGTON' GRANGE Saturday. October 13 Pot luck Dinner, 6:1X1 p.m. Program Pictures of Africa by Al Lamb This SDace will be used each week tn announee mm. ing events of a public service nature ai no cnarge. SPONSORED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE BY C. A. RUGGLES Insurance Agency Heppner However, one of Humble's men said that he personally was in Heppner some time ago signing up leases for oil exploration. We talked with another of ficial from Tulsa, Oklahoma. and asked him if it wasn't dis couraging to keep hunting for oil after so many failures. Some $12 million have been spent for oil exploration in Oregon by all the companies, after all. He smiled, and said, "No. There's always the hope that the next one may bring results, and it may come sometime." Reminds one of the mountain climber. He climbs the moun tain, he says, because it's there. RUHL REPORT: Morrow coun ty's Oregon Stater, Dick Ruhl, had a good part in OSU's sur prising victory over Stanford Saturday, and the interesting part is that he is playing con siderably more on offense, show ing that he is really making good with the Beavers. The later telecast of the game showed that Ruhl gained about four yards on each of two suc cessive carries, and on another occasion broke through to give the team a crucial first down. One couldn't tell by looking at the telecast how much our boy played on defense, but it was sure that he was in there his share of the time. The Beav ers' defense looks much better, by the way. Probably a lot of folks will be going to Portland this week end to see the Bevos meet the Huskies of Washington. Shed a tear for any old newspapermen that get left behind! THE WAY the government spends money these days, we can't think in such small terms as millions any more. The East Oregonian the other day showed a picture of a bridge in the State of Washington, and the caption declared that the cost was "$5 billion." Whew! Diamond studded, no doubt. should look to Sig Unander. As concerned citizens and custod ians of the future of Oregon, I believe we can do no better. Sincerely yours, Mrs. Charles L. McNary 901 S. W. King Ave. Portland, Oregon 4 R's Cafe Closed Mrs. Celestine Randall an nounced Wednesday that the 4 R's Cafe which she and her daughters operate will be closed to business through next week, October 15-20. They will be closed while re pairs are being made to the building and while they take care of some business matters in Portland. There are always two chances to win an argument with an umpire slim and none. Drawing, Awards Set For Buckburger Feed At the last meeting of the Wrangler's club, plans were made for the annual Buckburger feed. The date of Saturday, Oc tober 20, was set, with the feed beginning at 6:30 at the fair pavilion. Many trophies, prizes and cash awards will be given members for points earned dur ing the year in horse show and Play Day events. A highlight of the evening will be the drawing for the registered quarter horse colt, according to the club president, Rod Murray. Membes are urged to come and bring guests. Horse show pictures will be on display and orders can be taken that night. fv I - , C. A. Ruggles Heppner INSURANCE AGENCY Ph. 676-9625 i 4l FALC0N CLUB WAGON SQUIRE 1. FORD SALAXIC COUNTRY SQUIRE Now Ford wagons come in 4 beautiful sizes! With 15 models, Ford offers America's longest and liveliest wagon line-up! Ford America's wagon specialist makes it easier than ever to own a wagon that fits your family and your budgetl New compact facons ... stunning new middleweight Ford Fairlanes . . . mighty and magnificent ford Caax'e wagons. All cut your costs and cares with Ford's amazing service-saving features that reduce routine service stops to a mere twice a year or once every 6,000 milesl 'lict Faloon Station But and Clue Wagon America's liveliest, most care-free wagons WfTtr. products of FORD REGISTER NOW AT YOUR FORD DEALERS FOR OCTOBER 1-31 L Big Ford Galax! Size! Biggest, liveliest, most luxurious Ford wagons of all! Four of theml Six and nine passenger . . . huge load space . . . smooth new ride. 2. Middleweight Ford Fairlane Size I Brand new idea for '63. Big family-sized inside, yet shorter outside. Three 4-door models. Choice of two V-8's . . . standard Sixl 3. Compact Falcon Size ! Five to choose f roml All have Falcon's famous gas economy... and this year, Ford's Twice-a-Year Maintenance. 4. Versatile Club Wagon Size I More floor space, door space, twice the cargo room of full-size wagons ...an carry eight. PUNT, PASS AND KICK HEPPNER AUTO SALES, Inc. HEPPNER, OREGON To the Editor: If the big wigs In our U.S. would throw more mud at P. a Box 611 PH. 676-9625
