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