Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1963)
HEPPNER GAZETTE THE GAZETTE-TIMES MOBBOW COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER The Heppner Gazette, established March 30. 1883. The Heppnei Times established November 18, 1897. Consolidated February 15 1912. WESLEY A. SHERMAN HELEN E. SHERMAN Editor and Publisher Associate Publisher NIWSPAMt Subscription Rates: Morrow County, $4.00 Year; Elsewhere $4.50 Year. Single Copy 10 Cents. Published Every Thursday and Entered at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, as Second Class Matter. An Ill-Advised Tax Cut Cutting the budget of the county extension service by $3400 at the county budget hearing June 28 focuses attention on the extension program and subjects its value and merits to public scrutiny. This part of the matter is probably a good thing for the examination offers the opportunity of evaluation. In this sense, it is not unwelcome to the extension service for the staff has expressed the feeling that its program stands on its own merits. It is reasonable that if it or any portion of it is not of value equal to or exceeding the expenditures Involved, it can just ifiably be curtailed. Indications are that a meeting scheduled for Wednesday night (taking place after this is written but prior to the Thurs day publication) will explore the extension work in Morrow county rather thoroughly. To many, who apparently had little question In their minds that the extension service here is doing a good and important job, the cut came as a rather severe shock. But from the action at the hearing, some apparently have views to the contrary. The method of making the cut was Ill-advised and unfair. It came after the budget committee had reviewed and once approved the county extension service budget in the presence of County Agent Nels Anderson, and also came after the budget had been published In the paper for public scrutiny. When Anderson appeared before the committee at its meeting in May, a request for a $250 increase was denied, but the extension budget from the county was established at $11,650. The $3400 cut was made when five persons appeared at the hearing on June 28 and asked that it be done. Since that time one of the five has said that he went to the hearing under a misconception and regrets his part in it It was unfair because the extension service and the public at large had no indication and no notice that a cut was contem plated, had no reason to believe that such action would be taken, and consequently had no chance for rebuttal. Five persons do not have the right to speak for a majority of taxpayers In the county unless this right is delegated to them. They only have the right to speak for themselves or for any group which has named them as representatives. At the same time there is a lesson to be noted here: It is possible, under certain circumstances, for an active minority to assert its wishes and implement action even In a democracy where rule is traditionally by the majority. To those who are incensed about the budget cut, this serves as an admonition that results of lethargy can be painful. It Is often taken for granted that budget hearings are mere formalities and approval is virtually a foregone conclusion. This is especially true in instances where the budgets are within the 6 legal limitation and do not require a vote of the people to be approved. Those who demur to this recent action of the budget committee probably will not be so inclined to take a hearing lightly In the future. There has been some expression that the $3400 decrease, will not mean that one of the three agents must leave the county, because their salaries are paid from state and federal funds and are not dependent upon the county's share of the total extension budget. County Agent Anderson states, howeveT, that by taking out the $3400 a situation is set up that makes It virtually impossible for the three to work effectively and efficiently. The county's share of the cost goes primarily to three sources office expense, secretarial help and travel. A cut of $3400 is almost one-third of the county's share of the total budget and deprives the staff of its means to do its work. AtJ the same time, when the county falls to provide the support on overhead for the staff, it is interpreted by the state extension service that the county is in favor of a curtailed program, and Anderson states that almost surely under the cut one agent will be eliminated. Certain expenses are fixed. For instance, rental of the office Is established at $1620 per year. It costs this much regardless of how many occupy it. Travel is a big item, and the budget reduction will mean that one of three cars be taken out of service. This could be a real handicap, for if the agents are to do their best work they must be free to be in the field. At this writing, there are indications that strong reaction is developing to the action of the budget committee, which, by the way, was taken with the county judge and one member of the citizens' committee absent. But it may be difficult td restore the funds even If the committee acceded to a widespread request to do so. The action, though ill-advised, was legal. Now that the budget has been adopted in final form, the $3400 cannot be restored to the extension budget this year. There is a legal question whether it can be taken from the emergency fund. While the work of the extension service Is essentially for farmers and their families, the benefits are Interwoven so that they affect almost every citizen. The businessman is de pendent upon the welfare of the farmer to a high degree, and so he should be concerned. When a county has agriculture as a primary Industry, the entire prosperity of the county is re flected by the prosperity of that industry. Many may not fully realize the widespread activities of the extension service. Besides the activities of direct benefit to the farmer weed control, application of research programs of all kinds, soil testing, disease conrol, livestock improvement, range and pasture improvement, pest eradication, fertilizer experimentation, advice on all phases of agriculture and farm management, to name a few there are many other facets. These include work of the home demonstration agent with home extension units, and the 411 agent with club work. Tied in to the programs of each agent are a myriad of assoc iated activities work with the soil conservation district, stock growers' association, wheat growers and other farm-related organizations and associations. There is the allied work with the county fair, with the 411 camps and summer school, and with other programs that touch the lives of youths and adults alike. It Isn't hard to check a few years back and note advances in agriculture here. They are a matter of record. Consider the higher yields in wheat production, for instance, as a result of better farming methods. Certainly the extension service had a hand in promulgating this. It would be hard to find any ad vance in which the extension service was not Involved." If this tax cut Is merely designed as an economy measure, it is a poor start because it is a tiny part of the tax levied to property owners, one that a taxpayer would scarcely notice on his tax statement. If the extension service is attaining its goals and ob jectives and is bringing benefit to the county above Its cost, it is a shame to curtail it. Again, this county must progress or retrogress: there Is no in between. Mrs. Bud McGirr and daughter, Long Creek, accompanied the Cretton Robinsons home Thurs day to visit her grandmother, Mrs. Lena Kelly, this week. - TIMES. Thursday, July 11. 1963 HEFFXVEK NATIONAL EDITORIAL lASKOCMTiaN XD J U Mr. and Mrs. Dave Eckman and family joined friends, Mr. and Mrs. Jim McClelland. Col fax. Wn on a week's vacation at Lake Fend Oreille, Idaho. TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: The Hennner Fire Department has a problem now that Is very soon to become a community problem. We don t have enough firemen on our rolls to meet emergencies. We need men between 21 and 45 or 50 who are physically fit- particularly no heart or lung troubles and are willing to de vote a small part of their time as a community service, to learn to operate firefighting equipment and how to fight fire in a reas onably safe manner. There is pay but it generally is not enough to pay more than the expense of damaged clothes. There is accident Insurance to cover injuries and loss of life. The department is now down to ten men who are dependable though only about six turn out regularly for drills and lnstruc tion. There are a few more who turn out for a fire if there is no inconvenience to themselves. Three businesses in town, that employ two or more able bodied men in the acceptable age bracket, have indicated they could not permit an employee to leave the job to answer an alarm. Their attitude toward this community service seriou s 1 y limits the available man power. All the firemen have to work for a living and those presently on the department are permitted to leave their jobs to answer alarms. We can't seem to avoid having fire during ordinary working hours. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS (con scientious ones that will turn out reasonably regularly for drills as well as fires) and we need them in the worst way BUT the department reserves the right to vote as a group on them before they are accepted. The group must be kept congenial. The department also reserves the right to keep every new volun teer on probation for six months during which time he would be restricted to working with and under direction of another fire man so that he can learn to fight fire without endangering the life of another person and learn to properly operate the equip ment. Anyone interested is asked to please contact the chief or a fire man and offer his valuable ser vices. C. A. Ruggles, chief Services July 10 For Vida Noble Funeral services for Vida No ble, 79, were held at Creswick Mortuary Wednesday afternoon, July 10, at 2:00 p.m., with the Rev. Charles Knox officiating. Interment was in the Lexington IOOF cemetery. Mrs. Noble, who had made her home in North Powder fro sev eral years, died Saturday, July 6, at the Grande Ronde hospital in La Grande. She had bee in ill health for some time and was released from Heppner Pioneer Memorial hospital in April to return to her home. The daughter of John B. and Effie Sweetser Carmichael, she was born September 6, 1883, in the Lexington area where she grew to young womanhood on the farm of her parents. One son, Marvin Smith, pre ceded her in death in 1942. Surviving here are two sons, Rouell D. Smith of Ketchikan, Alaska, and Donald K. Smith of Walla Walla, Wn. Also two sis ters, Edna Turner of Heppner, and Merle Carmichael of Lex ington; one brother, C. C. Car michael of Heppner; four grand children and five great grand children. Serving as pallbearers were William C. Van Winkle, Oris Padberg, Cecil Jones, Elwynne Peck, Roy Campbell and Vernon Munkers. Money receipt books in dupli cate and triplicate are on sale at the Gazette-Times. Say, Mr. Rancher ! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN HAIL and FIRE INSURANCE ON YOUR CROP? This Is A Last Reminder Don't let Hail or Fire catch you unprepared. They could wipe out your crop. Let us protect you against such possible loss. COME IN Turner, Van Marter and Bryant 183 N. Main Heppner Chaff and Wes TIME NOT only stood still at the Bud Peck household during the storm Sunday; it went back wards. By some freak circum stance, when lightning struck somewhere nearby it caused one of their electric clocks to start running backward. It said that the time was 6:30 when it should have been 9:30 when the Pecks noticed the odditv. They pulled out the plug and stopped it, but it still ran backward when it was reactivated. The family let it set over night, but in the morning it was the same tnmg The storm turned this electric clock into a cuckoo clock. FRANK AYERS witnessed a strange electric dance during the storm. Lightning hit a wire fence and danced back and forth between the posts in a rather dazzling display, appar ently searching for a ground, Would have been appropriate on tne hourtn or July, woumn t ur THERE WAS some debate wheth er any hail fell in Heppner Sunday. We'll vouch for the fact that It foil rn U7illnur Stroot nil right. We watched it. Claude Cox said that the hailstones were halt as big as hen eggs near his pnhin In tho mountains. Thev beat twigs off the trees and the ground later was littered with the greenery and pine cones knnrkpfl frnm thp trpps. Some where else in the county some one picked up some oi ine Dig hailstones and put them in the frpp7or tn nrpeprup That will hold up as evidence, all right! m w ONE MIGHT paraphrase an old song and say, "Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking what a great world this would be . . . if all TV commercials were true." A person could take a puff of a cigarette and be in sheer ecstasy the commercials tell us so. He could take a drink of a certain brand of soda pop, and presto! his "Zing" would give him unparalleled pep. He could take a certain tablet available at all drug stores and his arth ritic pains would be gone. Or Governor Scores Death Toll Apathy Governor Mark Hatfield has lashed out at public apathy and indifference to the state's mount ing traffic death toll. The Governor announced he has written to courts hearing traffic cases urging them to re quire more drivers to appear personally to answer charges of moving traffic offenses. Ore gon law requires drivers to ap pear in court only for major traf fic offenses, but courts have the authority to require any driver to appear on any charge. Hatfield noted that the traffic death toll is 30.3 ahead of last year and said if the present trend continues more than 600 lives may be lost in traffic acci dents this year. "We cannot expect the im possible of enforcement agencies and courts," he said. "No en gineering feat will make high ways safe for those individuals who disregard the safety of others by their display of care lessness, impatience, discourtesy and indifference." The Governor said he hoped requiring more people to appear in court would help convince people that there is no such thing as a minor traffic vio lation. He urged public support for strict enforcement and added that "each time you, personally, take a chance in traffic, violate any traffic law, or allow your self to become inattentive, you are the reason for the traffic accident problem at that very moment." TODAY Ph. 676-9652 Chatter Sherman he could take another tvne of pill and the cross words that he said to another member of the family or a neighbor would be magically cured. He could dab a certain type of preparation on his nair, and all the gals would come running after him. He could buy a certain brand of car for a phenomenally low pay ment and he would never have any more mechanical troubles. The car would carry him over the roughest landscape and in to the most difficult places in luxuriant comfort. And you can think of other commercials that you see which would add to this great Utopia. What a dream world we live in! BY THE WAY, did you ever stop to think what it would be like if newspapers did as television does? You would be reading a news story, and in the middle of it would be written, "Buy Zlngies at your Drug Store for new pep, for only Zingies have hydrocloractothelene, etc." And, if we didn't have room to get all the ad In without cutting out some of the news story, we'd lop off a sentence right in the mid dle, like the TV stations do their programs. Then, when summer comes, the editors would take vacations af ter digging up last winter's best stories and re-run them in the paper while we took off some where. FRANK TURNER stood in the doorway of Turner, Van Marter and Bryant the other evening and told us about his grand daughter who has joined the ser vice. Among things that she is required to do as a part of her training is to stand at attention for two hours. This, said Frank, is real good training, then added, "Wonder if I could do that? Bet I could." If he really wants to try it we'll assist in rounding up a gang to time him in 10 min ute shifts! ARTHUR ALLEN of Boardman must have a wide acquain Has foe new ZIP CODE Outmoded Your Business Stationery? Now Is A A WITH THE Let Us Help You Bring Your Stationery Up To Date We Can Design Letterheads That Put 'Your Best Foot Forward' In A Good Choice of Paper Stock And Can Furnish Envelopes In All Styles and Sizes. If You Have A Large Supply Of Stationery On Hand, We Can Overprint Zip Code Numbers Or Supply You With A 'Do-lt-YourselF Rubber Stamp WE INVITE YOU TO CALL ON US FOR ALL PRINTING NEEDS GAZETT Heppner tanceship around the state. Re cently at the press conference we were seated with Lawrence Spraker of Stayton and Harry Ringhand of Milton-Freewater. Spraker asked if we knew Allen. After the affirmative reply, he pointed out that the Sprakers were once neighbors of the Al iens at Condon. Hearing this, Ringhand, on the other side, said, "You know him? We're good friends of the Aliens." The Ring hands and the Aliens belonged to the same square dance club somewhere else. Small world! SON JIM'S young friend, Bobby Thompson, also 12, came for a week's visit from Stayton last week. We took him to Bull Prairie reservoir and he taught us something that we hadn't learned in our two-score-plus years. Fill a waxed paper cup with water, place it over an open fire, and it won't burn until the water is boiled away. We spent an hour or so testing his theory and it works. Suppose everyone else knew that all the time, but we didn't. The wax will melt off the outside of the cup, but it won't burn. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL place Bull Prairie is turning out to be! It is about as nice a spot as you can find anywhere. On the even ing we were there. It was cairn and tranquil and warm enough to be enjoyable, coats witnout motors moved silently around the lake as the occupants fished. Campers, house trailers and tents were established arouna the area with a number of fam ilies eniovine a vacation time. To top it all off, the big old moon came up over the tree tops, and the whole scene was iikc a vivid painting. With construction of the high way underway in the area of the Kinzua road crossing it was a little rough getting there, but it was worth it. When company comes from somewhere else and you want to do something, take them to Bun mine. The recreation area is being devoleped more and more all the time, and it has untold possibil ities to accommodate Dig crowas. It is mighty enjoyable, though, as a sanctuary to the harassed and weary just as it is. MORROW COUNTY'S school board Monday night picked an appropriate man as an Eng lish teacher in Heppner High Good Time To Order New Supply OF LETTERHEADS AND ENVELOPES NEW POSTAL ZIP CODE NUMBER school Rex English, of Leaven worth, Washington. They offered him a contract. However, Mr. English may not teach English here. He spent two days looking for a house to live in this week without success. This points up a tough housing shortage that does have a bearing on obtain ing good teachers. COMMUNITY I ) BILLBOARD V Coming Events LEGION MOVIES Fridav. Julv 12. 8 p.m. "Shotgun," western, in color, starring bterlmg Heyden and Yvonne De Carlo. Plus cartoon. KICK-OFF RODEO DANCE Saturday, July 13 Fair Pavilion building Come and welcome the new queen and her court. Dancing from 10 to 2:00. Lunch served. RHEA CREEK H.E.C. Thursday, July 18, 1:30 p.m. Home of Mrs. Harold Wright, Ruggs. SWIMMING POOL OPEN Open daily, except Monday. Afternoons l to p.m. Evenings 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday afternoon, 1 to 5 p.m. Season tickets on sale, Hep pner city hall or at pool. Check now for swimming lessons. SPONSORED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE BY C. A. RUGGLES Insurance Agency P. O. Box 247 PH. 676-9623 Heppner EVERY BUSINESS NEED Ph. 676-9228 EWEMllES for jf, TIMES