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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1963)
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, IIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIII the mi GAZETTE-TIMES MOEBOW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER PHONE 676-9228 'I he Heppner Gazette, established March 30. 1883. The Heppner Times established November 18, 1912. WESLEY A. SHERMAN Editor and Publisher NEWSPAPIR IllltlltUIII ASSOCIATION Subscription Rates: Morrow and where $4.50 Year. Single Copy 10 and Entered at the Post Office Class Matter. OFFICE HOURS: 8 a.m. t0 6 Mllllllltllllllllllllllll)li(illllilll(IIIIMII(illllllllllllHIHIHMIIIIIIHtllltllllHMHIttllHIMIIIIIIII(IIHIHMHIIHW School Story Error Unfortunate A story headlined, "Finances Pose School Closures " in the Tuesday issue of our pood newspaper neighbor, The East Ore gonian, gave an erroneous slant to discussion that took place at the regular Monday meeting of the Morrow county school hoard. Superintendent Robert Van Houte was reported as having said that "lack of money" might result in further school closures in the county. He did not, however, make such a statement, and the story, apparently through no fault of the Heppner correspondent for the paper, gave the wrong slant on the pro ceedings. A staff member in Pendleton edited the story, misinterp reted it, and the printed version came out with the wrong implications. In an endeavor to correct it, another story was printed Wednesday, but it could scarcely be expected to undo the impact of Tuesday's front page story. This is not written to censure the East Oregonian, and it is not written as a defense of the school board, for the directors are accountable for their actions. What it did was done in open meeting with a sizeable audience attending. It is written merely to set the record straight so that those in the affected areas are not unduly incensed as a result of the misinformation. The discussion on the Lexington school and the situation with the elementary schools in northern Morrow county came up first at a budget meeting last week. Some of those present, Including citizen members from all parts of the county, sug gested that it might be well to consider the possibility of closing or curtailing the Lexington school in the interests of economy to the district. The matter of shifting the grade school students to Irrigon was also brought up. This probability was really not news since at the time the board reached its decision several weeks ago to relocate Riverside High in the "Boardman area," it indicated that it favored sending the elementary children to the A. C. Houghton school at Irrigon, where the new addition lias been completed. This discussion at the budget meeting was purely tentative, exploratory and preliminary. Following the budget meeting, these matters were placed on the agenda for the January board meeting under "Budget Problems," again as a matter to discuss and consider preliminary to preparation of the budget. Under this topic on the agenda was this statement: "Con- problem in the formation of the budget; between 45 and 48 students would be the first four grades next fall." Three possible alternatives were listed under the heading: First, Hie possibility of shifting part of the Lexington pupils to Heppner; second, to send all of the pupils to Heppner; and third, - to leave the school as it is. As to the Boardman-Irrigon situation, three possible pro posals were also listed: First, move 5th and 6th grades to Irrigon; second, send all elementary students to Irrigon; or third, make no changes. At no time in the discussion Monday, which the editor of this paper attended, was anything said of a serious financial hardship, as implied in the East Oregonian story, that would make it necessary to close the schools. It is easy to see that those In the Lexington area who would oppose the closing of t lie schools might consider this reported statement as a move to force closure on a pretext that of apparent at this same meeting when the board reaffirmed "serious financial hardship." That there is no current budgetary hardship, however, was a previous action In proposing that a $59,000 surplus be ear marked in the 19G3-61 budget to complete the job of constructing the Heppner Lexington high school building. This surplus, re ported earlier in a story in this paper, has accrued through some unexpected payments of delinquent taxes, through a residue in Hie emergency fund, and through unused portions budgeted for specific items. In reviewing the Lexington and Boardman-Irrigon sit uation, the directors, in this writer's opinion, are doing what they should do as stewards of public money. They were con sidering all angles so that the taxpayer might get the most for his money. When a class in school gets down to U) or 12 pupils per teacher, it should be subject to review in order that the, board may be in a position to justify the expense to the public which should demand that its tax money be spent wisely. No action was taken on either of the two elementary sit uations in question at the board meeting except that it was agreed that nothing would be done at Lexington until a meeting had been arranged with Lexington parents and townspeople to hear their wishes. It Is easy to misinterpret, to get the wrong slant, to pick up rumors and thereby add more confusion to an already diffi cult situation. Newspapers attempt to be accurate, but sometimes a piece slips through that conveys the wrong impression. It is suggested that any school patrons who may have been disturbed by this story attend the next school board meet ing and listen to the proceedings, A Good Hearing From any point of view, the Corps of Army Engineers healing on the Willow Creek dam, conducted by Colonel J. H. ltcddow, district engineer, must be applauded. It was conducted fairly, the plan was presented concisely and factually, everyone was given ample opportunity to speak and the meeting was opened to questions. Those who support the project were delighted that there was such a preponderance of evidence in favor of it and par ticularly appreciated the response of outsiders from Hermiston, Pendleton, Portland, and other points who came to give testi mony or submitted written statements. Hermiston gave it especially strong support. The conviction of Steve Thompson in his opposition was evident and his views are respected. One can well appreciate how he, his son, anil their families may feel about it in view of the fact that it will take their headquarters ranch if it reaches culmination. It was obvious, too, that Dick Krebs is sincere in his feelings against the irrigation feature, although he presented little evidence in opposition. During the survey on the project, the Armv Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation have done good work. Wlllard Sivley, chief of the flood control section, was particularly Impressive as he presented facts at preliminary meetings. From the local end, Judge Oscar Peterson and Oliver Cres wiek h ave carried the burden of coordinating interests and their work was apparent at the hearing. Thus ends the first step. The interest is here. Rut there is n long road ahead before the dam is approved. Thursday, January 17, 1963 IIIIIIMirotllllllllMIMIIItlll HEPPNER 1897. Consolidated l-ebruary id, HELEN E. SHERMAN Associate Publisher NATIONAL EDITORIAL Grant Counties, $4.00 Year; Else Cents. Published Every Thursday at Heppner, Oregon, as Second p.m.: Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, Chaff and Chatter Wes Sherman IT IS likely that a new Morrow county legend will spring up from the banquet of the Live stock Growers annual meeting, held Saturday night. It will probably be debated for years whether the stunt pulled by Or ville Cutsforth and George Rugg was authentic or not. There are those who swear that it was on the up and up, and others are equally vehement in declaring that it was all a gag. (Some did, nil right). WHEN THE snowflakes started to drift down last week, we expected to see roman candles and skyrockets going up over near the center of Ken Peeks holdings. Morrow county's No. 1 ski enthusiast had been for lornly waiting for months for a trace of the white stuff. Even in early fall you could see him examine every white flower petal that happened to be waf ted about by a light breeze. But the snowfall still wasn't enough to do much good at Ar buckle, although it did bring hope to the winter sportsmen. Discouraging, though, must have been Wednesday's spring like day again on the heels of last week-end's bitter cold. WELL, WHAT do you know? We've stumped the post office department. Postma s t e r Jim was over the other day check ing our mailing list with us to see that we ' have the papers properly zoned for Uncle Sam uel's postal department. Jim knows the zones of most cities of any consequence without looking them up. When we came to some of the smaller ones, however, he had to consult his big fat book to find the code to designate the zone. Things went fine until we came to Supertino, Calif. Jim hesitated, then grabbed the book. Supertino just isn't any where to be found in the book that is supposed to include all the post offices in the country. But one can't dismiss it lightly by saying there is no such place, for the paper has been going to the address for some nine months. None have been return ed and no address corrections have come through. Do you suppose that some trusted on a mail car some where down the line has been enjoying reading the Gazette, then tossing it out to the ele ments along the tracks? We wouldn't suggest it! We 11 have to call on our readers to assist. Maybe the one in Supertino will read this and write and tell us where he is. In the meantime, we'll just ii-c v nuH umii trie swallows come back from Supertino. DURING THE bitter cold last week came reports of 21 below at the Bob Brindles, 16 below at Pendleton, and so on. This kind of perplexed us because our thermometer outside the dining room window, seldom dipped below 10 above, so we felt snug and warm. When we figured what hap pened, though, we suddenly be came real chilly. One of the children had been playing with the thermometer during the summer and pushed the glass stem and bulb upward so that it registered at least 10 degrees above true temperature. Which isn't a bad idea. Now when summer comes, we'll just push it down as far as it will go and keep 10 or 15 degrees cooler than anyone else. IF WE HAD been on our toes, we would have dug out some Hawaiian records Tuesday, turned up the volume on the record player and ODened the door to serenade the Charlie Ruggles across the street. These fortunate people took off that day for Hawaii. We'll have to admit that we felt a little mournful at being left behind to write copy for this paper while they headed for palms, leis, sunshine and frolicking in the surf at Waikiki. But it was an event that The Jeannace Freeman There is a letter elsewhere in this paper from Jake Bennett, former Portland city commissioner and now state legislator, written on behalf of Jeannace Freeman, who is under sentence to death for her part in the killing of two children near Redmond. Bennett relates society's failure to provide for the girl dur ing an unfortunate and perhaps dismal childhood. He declares that the death penalty for her is unfair when the children's mother, also involved, received a life sentence which means, in Oregon, an average of but seven years in prison. The crime committed by the two women was an awful and gruesome one, that we know. We know nothing of the trial of the Freeman woman, nor of the mother, and therefore cannot say if they were fairly treated or not. The thing in Bennett's letter that gives us pause is the charge that society turned its back on a person in need of help. This is something which could well be pursued. It was just a couple of months ago that a state policeman was shot and killed near Arlington, allegedly by a mental case who should have been in an institution but was not because of a disagreement over which state or what agency was responsible for him. Years ago we covered a trial of a man charged with first degree murder. He was a hulking fellow of low mentality who had killed a young girl. As we sat through the trial, his conse quent sentencing and then re-sentencing twice more after the Oregon Supreme Court turned down his appeal and the U. S. Supreme Court refused lto review it, we could not suppress the thought that society, in its failure to provide for this man in mental distress, was as much guilty of the crime as the con demned man, who later died in the gas chamber. At a time when we are prone to emphasize scientific pro gress, we should not forget our obligations as a responsible society. Probably many a person destined for a sordid life could turn out to be a useful citizen if more of his fellows showed concern and offered real help when it is needed most. And in so doing, responsible citizens would be helping to protect themselves. Charlie and Helen had looked forward to for years, and we hope that they enjoy every minute of it. CLARENCE ROSE WALL has one idea how to lick rust on wheat. He has turned a few thousand head of sheep into his neias, croDs on which are ud a couple of inches. The sheep will eat ine rust, alter which be hopes the grain continues to grow without the nuisance. SENATOR LLOYD KEY brought laughter in an appearance at tne btock Growers meeting Fri day when he suggested that in stead of being a "lame duck' because he would soon be out of office, he was almost a "dead duck." The new legislators were sworn in Monday, so as of now, ben. Key is, Indeed, a gone gos ling. However, he was not de feated in his home Umatilla county but was "reapportioned out of office," one of very few legislators who can claim that dubious distinction. TO THE EDITOR. To The Editor: In 1956 the mother of Jean nace Freeman, on account of fin ancial trouble, asked the De schutes County Juvenile author ities to provide care for her daughter. She was sent to the Perry Center in Portland, with a report saying that "tnere was no evidence that Jeannace had been delinquent in any way," but was anxious to be away from home where she had never had a chance." She was enrolled as a student at Cleve land High school. This was a critical and decisive period m this young, mentally disturbed girl's life, as the following story conclusively Droves. By 1957 a vice principal re ported Jeannace was "greatly disturbed" and needed psychiat ric help, and that hers was an "emergency case." Jeannace al so appealed to her "counselors for help" on many occasions. The counselor reports "that she feels these problems came from the girl's childhood experiences which must have made her life a nightmare." The counselor further reports "that the girl had been raped when only four years old." The counselor con linues: "She kept asking for help for her .(.mental) condition. "Rut uio had no monev" for that purpose but we did allow her to spend half of the school day in class and half with the coun selor" (She was about 16 years old tneni. bhe was "really an able girl." The Perry Center had no tacilities lor caring for a "badly disturbed child" it is re ported. The counselor further reports mat "Uur psychiatrist who ex amined her at that time felt that "there was much good in her if she could be reached." But again society failed her. The counselor further reports "that in her opinion if Jeannace had been really helped with her prob lem (mental) at that time she would have grown up to be a good citizen." But again we fail ed to help. Counselor further re ports that "Jeannace was just beginning to be different" and was making a real effort to adjust to a normal life," when school authorities asked "Mult nomah County Welfare Bureau to help in getting Jeannace the help she needed and wanted, they refused because she was a ward of Deschutes County." Again we had failed our duty as a society. She was then com mitted to Hillcrest School for Girls at Salem. In discussing this case with the personnel in charge of the Hillcrest School January 2, 1963, they volunteered the following statements and op inions: "The Freeman girl was in very bad condition when we received Case T - Nth I JJfrlih MR. AND MRS. CARL BERGSTROM, lone, were honored by friends and relatives Sunday, December 30, on the occasion of their 45th Wedding Anniversary. A at the Valby Lutheran church, snare the occasion with them. her" "she appeared to us to have been a victim of circum stances, perhaps stretching back to her younger years of life" a tragic childhood "should have been hospitalized at the Mate Mental Hospital for treat ment before we received her" "she was of a kindly nature, es pecially to children" "neither vile or vicious "no sign of cruelty" "Oregon should have a hospital for the care of teen agers afflicted as Jeannace was when she came to us. We would and did help her some" "We cannot imagine that she would commit a crime such as this "We believe she should have a chance to be cured." And so it has been school teacher, counselor, school prin cipal, school psychiatrist, Hill crest Assistant Superintendent in charge, House Mother, and State Doctor, all point the finger ot shame at Oreeons neglect in this case. They all cannot be wrong. In addition to the above I have read the Court records at Mad ras and all the news reports puonsned there ot the arrest trial, and conviction of these two persons and could find no uncut eviuence oiner man uie testimony of the mother of the children that the Freeman girl toon part in tne killings. The facts are that newspaper records, which I read, show that the mother when first arrested confessed as follows: "I planned tnis tor three clays because I loved them so much and could no longer support them. I said a little prayer over them. Tliev are in Heaven now." Records show that the mother in open court said "I admit in partici pating in my daughter's death." When asked if she did it purp osely sne answered "Yes" (This court record I have read) Later she plead not guilty on account of insanity. For some reason not known to me they did not try the one who had confessed which was the mother first. WHY? She had been indicted for first degree murder as had the Freeman girl. They put the ireeman girt on trial firs. WHY? on the charge of first degree murder, before what was no doubt an angry jury and used the testimony of the mother who had already admitted her guilt to help convict Jeannace freeman. The lurv uroceeded to find her guilty without mercy which automatically means death in Oregon unless set aside by the Governor. After the Free man girl was convicted and sen tenced to death they then brought the mother to trial, not before an angry jury but before the judge, only. WHY? Not on a charge of first degree murder for which she had been indicted but on the charge of only second degree murder. WHY? and she was sentenced to life in the penitentiary by the judge which in Oregon averages about 7 years. I have had some experience in law making and if what was done in this case is just and legal under the law, we had best start to change some of our laws. Under such a practice any one could be convicted, even if innocent. Almost any witness would be willing to lie to help convict someone else, if thev could save their own life by so doing. And another thing, the Freeman jury did not know when they sentenced the Free man girl to death that the mother comparatively speaking would be set free. Had thev known, my guess is that the Freeman verdict would probably have been the same as that re ceived by the mother. But at any rate, a death sen tence for one who pleads inno cent and 7 years in the peni tentiary for one who admits their guilt, just does not make sense, nor does it measure up to equal justice. I am not sug gesting death for the mother. A cardinal principal ot law is (as understand it that a com plainant should come into court with clean hands. Can we hon estly claim that we are without fault? We may. if we wish, col- ect our pound of flesh in this ase. To do so. will assure us front page publicity in everv newspaper in America. And per- sr ft I reception was held in their honor with about 90 guests present to Mrs. Abrams To Lead 4-H Cooking Club Six girls organized a new 4-H cooking club on Thursday. The club was named "Kettles and Spoons." Officers elected were Debbie Young, president; Fran ces Abrams, vice president; Amanda Smith, secretary-treas urer; Marcia Lovgren, song leader; Susan Melby, reporter Our president appointed Lin da Cooper as game organizer Esther Kirmis explained what our beginner's cooking club would teach us; what officers of the club would have to do, We were welcomed by our leader, Mrs. Robert Abrams, and the meeting was held at her house. She said the club would meet on Wednesdays after school. She served popcorn and hot chocolate. Three of the charter members were unable to be present. They are busan htarK, Kathy Mat (hews, and Lynn Key. Susan Melby, reporter Hoof end Horn Club Meets at Greenups The 4-II Hoof and Horn club met at the Don Greenup home Friday evening, January 11, for our regular meeting. Although it was very cold, there were 13 members present. Dee Ann Pettyjohn led the American flag salute and Teressa Harshman (our new member) led the 4-H flag salute. Then we had our business meet ing. Some planning was made for our field trips and each was given a demonstration to do at our meetings. We would like to improve our demonstration work. Refreshments were served by Mrs. Greenup. Judy Jones, reporter Gayle Randall, Umatilla, vis ited here last week with her mother, Mrs. Celestino Randall. and her sister, Arletha. haps in most of the world. Rut such publicity will not produce uic- Kino oi dividends. And lest we forget, both of these persons will be judged and perhaps ounished. as will up nil who deserve to be, by one who makes no mistakes. We can safely trust Him, at least I pre fer to do so. I believe leeal. fair, ennnl and civilized justice will be hpsr served by setting this death pen alty aside. J. E. "Jake" Bennett 703 N. E. Tillamook St. Portland, Oregon EXECUTIVE SUITES ALL KING - LENGTH BEAUTYREST BEDS COMPLETELY AIR CONDITIONED DIRECT DIAL PHONES ALL CHANEL T. V. . FAMILY UNITS INDIVIDUAL ELECTRIC HEAT PRIVATE LANAIS & POOL . MOUNTAIN VIEW EXCELLENT RESTAURANT . ROOM SERVICE CLOSE TO CITY CENTER BANQUET FACILITIES MEETING & DISPLAY ROOMS 2401 S. W. 4th AVE. PORTLAND 1, OREGON PHONE CA 6-1 121 Glennie to Chairman Campaign Drives Pete Glennie, high school teacher, has been appointed special events chairman of the annual March of Dimes cam paign, according to Mrs. Jack Loyd, countv chairman. He will head special projects through coming weeks to aid raising funds for the county campaign. Postmasters in each town serve as city chairmen. Funds may be turned into Jim Driscoll, Heppner; Mrs. Flossie Coats, Boardman; Mrs. Lavelle Partlow, Irrigon, Mrs. Ruby Roberts, lone; Elwynne Peck, Lexington, or Mrs. F. M. McClintock, Cecil. County treasurer is Mrs. LenRay Schwarz. Ruggles Among Tour Members in Islands Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ruggles and Mrs. Ola Ruggles were among tour members who left Portland Tuesday night for a two-weeks trip to the Hawaiian Islands. The tour is sponsored by the Grange organization, with headquarters in one of the leading hotels at Waikiki. They except to return to Portland Sat urday, January 26, and motor home on Sunday. Also making the trip with them are Mr. and Mrs. Robert Belshe, long-time friends of Moro. Larry Tibbies Makes U of O Honor Roll Larry Tibbies, son of Dr. and Mrs. L. D. Tibbies of Heppner, is on the honor roll for the Uni versity of Oregons fall term, ac cording to announcement from the university. A total of 360 undergraduate students made the grade point averages of 3.50 or higher, it was reported. Forty-four stude n t s made perfect grade scores of all A's. Guests at the Lee Palmer home Monday evening were Mr. and Mrs. Linclon Nash and Mrs. Nash's mother, Mrs. Mary Nog awski, Lidgerwood, N. D., who joined the group in Hood River Sunday for the Nash wedding anniversary. She was here un til Tuesday afternoon. COMMUNITY BILLBOARD Coming Events LEGION MOVIES Friday night, 8:00 p.m. Legion Hall This week "The Light in the Forest," Walt Disney pic ture, in color. Plus one-half hour cartoons. HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL At John Day, Friday evening. At Burns, Saturday evening. GRADE SCHOOL BASKETBALL At Condon, Sat., 1:30 p.m. 7th and 8th Grades. Legion Auxiliary Benefit Public Card Party Monday, February 11, Legion Hall. Dessert at 8:00 followed by bridge and pinochle. Help send a girl to State! Don't Delay! Send in TB Seal Sale Returns Now. (if not al ready in.) SPONSORED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE BY C. A. RUGGLES Insurance Agency Heppner P. O. Box 247 PH. 676-9625 PORTLAND OREGON
