J IIKITNF.R MIRK.) GAZETTE-TIMES. Thurdy. Spl. 21. I73
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Horse sense
F.HNFSTV. JOINER
Roadside litter is costing taxpayers $800,000 a year to
have the Oregon State Highway Commission pick it up. If
motorists would stop dumping on the highways, this money
would be freed for other highway programs-such as new
highway construction, parks, bicycle trails. The (800,000 a
year might buy two additional miles of highway per year.
Many publications, including the astute Wall Street
Journal, are capitalizing the first letter of words like
government, federal, state, county, legislature, city council,
congress, commission, board and agency. This tendency, I
submit, is akin to deification of some earthly institutions.
Capitalization of these words when they stand alone in a
sentence puts them on the same footing with Christian
divinities. God in Heaven remains proper, but should we also
write Pie in the Sky? This trend, I assume, is to inspire in the
reader a sense of reverence for, or awe and fear of, the
various branches of government and their satellite agencies
and commissions. But these bodies are the instruments of the
people, and in this age of the acceptance of the use of lower
case rather than capitalization, writers and editors should
consider the psychological impact upon readers of equating
government with God. Spelling government with a capital G
is like writing: "President Nixon seems determined to have
His Way." If other editors go along with this plan, I suggest
they also capitalize People, too. The People own and support
all the governing bodies. Don't they?
Bill Weatherford's letter to the Heppner Planning
Commission reprinted in the Mail Pouch, appears to be a
sound approach to a problem now before the city and county
planning commissions. On Sept. 17 a public hearing on
relocation of the road around the proposed Willow Creek
Dam was held with the Corps of Engineers. At that time,
engineers explained the most feasible route for the new road
would be down the left side of Willow Creek and enter the city
on South Court Street. There were two objections voiced
to the engineers' proposal, both coming from homeowner's
whose property would be affected.
0 On Sept. 19 the planning commission wrote the city
council that the planners did not endorse the Corps of
Engineers' plan. Instead, it recommended the road to start at
the dam, go behind the cemetery and exit at the Warren
property near the Van Winkle Motel on the Heppner-Spray
highway. The commission said it felt it would be better to
divert the heavy traffic to the highway, which would keep
traffic on Main Street. The planners were probably swayed
from the Corps' plan because of the objection of four or five
residents.
It would be wonderful if public works could be effected
without discomforting anyone. Unhappily, such is seldom the
case. Someone always must be disturbed, which is why the
government pays costs and damages to owners who are
inconvenienced.
What is happening here is that the entire Willow Creek
Dam may be in jeopardy," even though $400,000 in cash is
"lying on the table." What is also being endangered is the
city's opportunity to get its water reservoirs and mains
rebuilt and relocated at federal expense. This in itself is
about $400,000 which the city can ill afford to lose. The city
must either work with the federal authorities without undue
delays or lose the entire project. If the project is lost,
Heppner must still go ahead and at its own expense upgrade
its water system. That means a whopping bond issue and
more taxes to pay.
The overall community good, it appears to me, is to leave
the engineering to engineers, and get the dam started. The
Corps of Engineers is leaning backwards to get along with
the people of Heppner and Morrow County, but its patience is
wearing thin. We should not forget that it is not incumbent
upon the government to even consider the wishes of affected
property owners. The right of eminent domain gives the
government the right, even the duty, of condemning private
property for public use, provided proper compensation is
made.
The delay of giving the Corps a "go ahead" could be
interpreted by it to mean that Morrow County doesn't want
Willow Creek Dam. The project can be scrubbed. If it is, it
will probably never be revived. Those who have fought for
years for this flood control project may elect not to do so
again. Legislators who have carried the ball for the dam
would certainly be made to appear foolish in the eyes of their
colleagues if, after all this time, they find it isn't even
wanted. It might make it hard for Morrow County to ever be .
taken seriously again by them in matters of public works
involving federal funds.
I wouldn't want to miss the National Honor Society's
Chili Feed at the high school cafeteria Friday evening before
the Heppner-McEwen football game. Chili is one of my
favorite dishes. The love affair with the fiery concoction led
to my membership in the International Chili Appreciation
Society, with headquarters in Dallas, Tex. Each year chili
aficionados gather in Langtry, Tex., for the world's
championship chili cook-off to select a new champion. So, it
will be like the "good old days" to savor the types of chili
prepared by Heppner chili artists. I hope some of it is heavy
on the garlic and red chili pepper. A real "bowl of red"
should open up the sinuses!
AcX leV.O
40 ' I U.T1
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Can I help?"
The mail pouch
OPEN LETTER TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION:
The City of Heppner Planning Commission is responsible
for objective reasoning in matters of structural and physical
changes proposed within the city.
No personal feelings, no personalities, no excuses.
Objective reasoning only. A vote must be taken, recorded,
and submitted to the city council.
CONCERNING THE RELOCATION OF WILLOW CREEK
ROAD: '
1. The existing road is in a residential area; therefore,
there can be no objection, environmentally, to reloca
ting in a residental area.
2. The approximate 8 per cent grade and any conceivable
direction changes (curves) are well within safety stan
dards of any city in Oregon and of the State of Oregon.
3. Few people will be affected by dispossession or relo
cation. Compensation will be made in kind or equal
monetary value.
4. A separate consideration is the relocation of the reser
voir belonging to the city. Under one condition it is re
located by the Corps of Engineers, while under other
conditions it is not.
Conclusion: This commission can find no reason to
disapprove the relocation of the road.
This commission should approve the relocation of the road
so that work can be started. This commission should then ask
that a more compatible route be studied and perhaps be
. negotiated. , ,.....
W.W. WEATHERFORD,
Heppner.
EDITOR:
In reference to your last two "Horse Sense" columns: we
feel it's your right to use vulgarity, slang or whatever else
you like in your column. Each week, it's the source of much
amusement.
What we found so interesting is the fact that it took you the
entire column this week to defend what you did with the
vulgarity in last week 's column ! If you had really believed in
what you had done, this week's column would not have been
necessary.
'If we see this letter in print, our opinion of you will improve
slightly.
GREG DAVIDSON,
THOMAS WOLFF,
Heppner.
EDITOR:
If everyone practiced what he preaches this would be a
better and more peaceful world.
You warned your readers that you would run your paper
your way-to suit yourself, without their help. Yet in the same
issue you started yapping how the city makes you so
miserable because they had installed parking meters before
you got here. Now the upset stir you have caused, if they are
taken out, will probably cause a raise in our taxes to make up
for the revenue they produced to help pay the officials who
were on duty anyway. Then we can look forward to parking
spaces being a scarce item as they were before.
Morrow County people are a generous, peace-loving lot and
can be proud of the fact that they have always accepted
people for what they are and not by the color of their skin. A
great big salute to Carol K. Porter of Durham, N.H., for her
Christian letter of compassion for all fellow men. I think Mr.
Otto Jorgensen's reference to your Horse Sense column,
about reversing ends of the animal, sounds more
appropriate, except your last glamorized full column of it
would be a disgrace to that end of the horse family.
As for your revolting, snide, degrading remarks about the
ecology nuts, it's incredible that one person could harbor so
much poisonous, cancerous, hate and venom for so many
people in so many walks of life. Your need for such extensive
explanation to express your dislike for people is a massive
insult to the intelligence of your refined readers. Mrs.
Chariene Papineau's letter has rated the highest
commendation of the whole community for it's fine message.
She stands big, tall and proper by Morrow County's
measuring stick. We need more like her. Apathy is not her
cup of tea.
The fact that an up-and-coming historical town has become
nearly a ghost town is no disgrace. If you would take the time
to check on the origin of the people of Heppner you would find
about half of them came from Hardman. In some families as
many four generations now live in Heppner. To the fine
pioneer families living there now, and the former ones, It
consider your fun-poking mispelled, improper grammar
canned items from Mayor Roy a slanderous insult to all of the
people of Hardman and a disrespectful disgrace.
"We reap what we sow." I love you too.
LOIS WINCHESTER,
Heppner.
EDITOR:
Thank you for publishing Mrs. Papineau's letter. And
thank you for your lengthyreply, although I do not agree with
the essence of your comments.
I believe in accuracy. A man who is a despicable fellow
might be called a dog. Does this accurately prove that his
mother is a lewd woman?
Not many people are able to read music. To be
appreciated, it must be heard.
Spoken words are easier understood, than those written. A
piece of paper cannot smile or frown. It does not raise and
lower its tone. Nor have I heard one chuckle.
I am among those who share Mrs. Papineau's views.
MRS. ESTHER BARNETT,
lone.
Tourists doci'f move here,
fhey jus? spend money
"Wtiofto mess I con'r find my horse and git oufto this mud
cavse the tand is blowing o hord I con'r see
Oregonians who take a dim
view of visitors from other
states relocating in Oregon
will be cheered by the new
Bat telle Pacific Northwest
Laboratories report compiled
for the Oregon State Highway
Division.
The report says only 0.4
percent of tourists visiting
Oregon later move here to
become permanent residents.
However, visitors from
other states have "cheered"
the Oregon economy by
spending more than $558
million here in 1972, the report
finds.
Tourism expenditures in
Gilliam, Morrow and Umatilla
Counties by out-of-state visi
tors amounted to $175 per
resident in 1972. Of the 16
regions covered in the Battelle
Report, Lincoln County
showed the highest revenue
per resident, $1,467. In Clatsop
and Tillamook Counties the
average was $1,137.
According to the Battelle
Report, the total 1972 travel
revenue from out-of-state vis
itors in Gilliam, Morrow and
Umatilla Counties amounted
to $10,721,000 with approxi
mately $5,024,000 of that spent
during the summer quarter.
The 1972 tourist revenue for
the three county area repre
sented 1.92 per cent of
Oregon's total revenue from
out-of-state visitors.
Visitors to Oregon spent an
estimated $588 million in 1972
for a total impact of $1,418,
000,000 on Oregon's economy.
The latter figure takes into
account the "dollar spinoff"
or additional spending gener
ated by visitors' original
expenditures. In a prelimi
nary report issued several
months ago by the Richland,
Wn., independent research
firm, revenue from out-of-state
visitors was estimated to
be $459 million for 1972.
The Battelle study was
commissioned in 1972 by the
State Highway Division in an
attempt to isolate some fac
tual answers to questions
being asked about tourism.
The final report bears out that
tourism is an important in
dustry in Oregon and has
continued to grow, benefiting
every sector of Oregon's
economy. Visitor's primary
expenditures were concentra
ted in the hotel-motel and
restaurant facilities, substan
tial sums were spent on
groceries; gas, oil and other
car expenses; apparel; rec
reation; other modes of trans
portation; and general mer
chandise.
Because of the indirect and
induced effects resulting from
serving visitors, the Battelle
report shows that numerous
other industries ultimately
benefit. These include: busi
ness services, finance and real
estate; agriculture; utilities;
transportation and warehous
ing; construction; paper and
wood products ; chemicals,
plastics and drugs; fabricated
metal products; industrial
machinery; and wholesale
trade.
Visitors purchased $127.6
million worth of food and
service in Oregon restaurants,
or almost 23 cents of every
tourist dollar spent. Expendi
tures for lodging amounted to
$111.4 million, or approxi
mately 20 per cent of every
dollar spent. Approximately
$64.7 million worth of gro
ceries was purchased during
1972 by visitors, primarily by
those staying with friends and
by camping parties.
Total employment gener
ated by Oregon traveler
activity represented 61,850
jobs, according to the report.
This is slightly lower than the
estimate of 64,000 direct,
indirect and induced employ
ment opportunities in the
preliminary report.
On the -basis of Battelle's
estimates and data supplied
by the Highway Division, the
annual number of visitors
traveling to Oregon by car for
pleasure is expected to rise
from 9,330,000 in 1972 to
13,120,000 in 1980.
THE
GAZETTE-TIMES
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Mayor of Hardman
DEAR MISTER EDITOR:
Pa alius said that two lawyers could make a good living In
town where one would starve to death.
All a feller has to do to come around to thinking that a heap
of our confusion Is caused by lawyers is to git called to jury
duty. Three fourths of our congressmen and state legislators
is lawyers, so they git to make the laws and then Interpret
em, and that leaves the average citizen scratching his head
. on both counts.
I was reading recent where a Jury In Boston heard lawyers
fer both sides argue a case fer four hours. After mulling over
what they was told fer six hours, the jury sent out to ask the
judge who the defendant was In the case.
I onct heard a feller say that law Is the oldest perfesslon,
cause It says In the Bible that "in the beginning there was
chaos."
Actual, Mister Editor, I reckon it's another case or the
chicken or the egg. Folks git themselves into some strange
fixes, and they depend of the lawyers to get em out. Fer
instant, I saw by the papers where this movie actress
couldn't git a divorse cause she couldn't prove she was
married, and the same week a woman was suing a actor fer
alimony, but she never was married to him.
In most states It's agin the law fer a feller to feed his own
slop to his own hogs, and I read where the Massachusetts
Barber Licensing Board says it's $100 fine or 90 days in Jail
fer a feller to cut his own youngun's hair in his own home.
This matter come up at the country store Saturday night,
and the fellers was general agreed that they ain't no way we
can live these days without running afoul of rules we don't
understand.
Zeke Grubb said if a feller stayed in bed all day they
probable would come out with a tax on all sleep over six
hours a night.
Practical speaking, Mister Editor, lawyers Is like they say
about wimmen, we can't live with em and we can't live
without em. Fer instant, I'd like to see a Jaw that says all
eating places has got to furnish a good supply of wood
toothpicks, and I'd have to find me a real sharp lawyer to git
the idee going. Another law I'd favor is one agin all neckties,
or at least a amendment that would allow a feller to wear two
ties in the winter and not have to wear one in hot weather.
Clem Webster come down strong on my side on both
counts. And a law that Clem would add to the list is one that
would make barbershops stock a few up to date magazines.
He said he was waiting fer a trim the other day and read this
piece where drycleaners say 55 per cent of necktie stains is
caused by gravy. Clem said they ain't thut many folks that
can afford enuff meat to make that much gravy these days.
Personal, Mister Editor, the only time I wear a necktie is
to church, and I can't ever figger if it's cutting off my wind or
the preacher is hitting to close fer comfort.
Yours truly,
MAYOR SOY.
Sen.
Hatfield's v
big joke
By
LESTER KINSOLVING
An anti-abortion amendment to the U. S. Constitution has
been introduced by the unlikely twosome of Senators James
Buckley (Conservative-N.Y.) and Mark O. Hatfield,
Oregon's usually liberal Republican Senior Senator.
This proposed amendment (co-sponsored by Senators
Hughes of Iowa, Bennett of Utah, Curtis of Nebraska and
Bartlett of Oklahoma) was promptly denounced by Notre
Dame law professor and anti-abortion leader Charles Rice,
as being:
"Fatally ambiguous, because it avoids the clear cut term
'moment of conception' . . . Instead, it opens the door to the
morning-after pill. . ."
The proposed Buckley-Hatfield Amendment specifies that
"Unborn offspring at every stage of their development" are
"human beings" as well as "persons," as the term person is
mentioned in the 5th and 14th Amendments.
Even more astounding than this proposal to bestow U. S.
citizenship upon all American embryos is the amendment's
provision whereby this very same citizenship-in-utero may
be arbitrarily (and even temporarily) canceled:
"This Article shall not apply in an emergency (undefined)
when a reasonable medical certainty (How can a certainty
be unreasonable?) exists that continuation of the pregnancy
will cause the death (instantaneous? eventual? probable
suicide?) of the mother."
That this proposed amendment is not only ambiguous but a
pinnacle of absurdity as well was clearly demonstrated at the
Southern Baptist Convention in Portland, by Senator
Hatfield, in person.
The attractive and generally intelligent senator was asked
during a press conference about the attempt of one young
Pennsylvanian to run for the state legislature - byt
petitioning a court to declare him eligible under the age
requirement - on grounds that he had been conceived in
time. (Hatfield: "I never thought about that.")
Would the senator be willing to introduce legislation
providing tax exemption for all "unborn children" - and
requiring their mothers to procure extra passports while
pregnant and abroad? (Hatfield: "No.")
Senator Hatfield, a devout Baptist, has become a'regular
speaker - sometimes preacher - at church conventions, and
even at Mayor Richard Daley's Prayer Breakfast in Chicago.
He was, therefore, asked just how one of these embryonic
citizens can be baptized if it is too tiny to determine its sex -or
even to be seen with the naked eye?
Hatfield: "I'm from a tradition that doesn't practice infant
baptism."
(This thigh-slapper - from a senator who, presumably,
expects to be taken seriously on the very serious issue of
abortion - got a lot of laughs.)
From a more serious vantage point than Oregon's funny .
senior senator, the Jesuit magazine America, as well as the
Catholic-edited magazine Commonweal, have both taken a
very dim view of supporting either this Buckley-Hatfield
amendment, or total prohibition amendments offered by
Maryland Congressmen Lawrence Hogan and North ;
Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. Notes Commonweal:
"The 'official' church response to the Supreme Court
decision (on abortion) has been an embarrassment;
episcopal fulminations and full-page dead-fetus pictures in
the diocesan press."
"But now the judges and the legislators know that the
bishops, with a few exceptions, are no longer strong moral or
political leaders. They lost theit credibility by their, dogmatic
opposition to birth control."
"What should the church do now? ... Support responsible
birth control so people will learn to decide about a child
before it is conceived."
w - r
It b best to read the weather forecasts before we pray
for rain. (Mark Twain)