Heppner gazette-times., June 12, 1975, Page Page 2, Image 2

Page THE GAZETTE-TIMES, Heppner, OR.. Thursday. June 12. 1975
Morse sense ?
F.KNKSTV.JOIVKH
Today is my second anniversary, two years ago today,
June 12, I migrated to Heppner, Oregon. There was
something fascinating about this small community in
Eastern Oregon, that urged me to return, after my first visit
the previous month. When I returned to California in May, I
found myself telling my friends of my plans to return to
Oregon. When they asked where I was going, I replied,
"Heppner." Looking rather puzzled they would ask the
geographical location of Heppner. Unfamiliar with the
surrounding areas and the small communities in the county,
I usually answered, "Heppner is not far from Pendleton."
My friends then asked, "Where is Pendleton?" The only
answer I could muster was, "Heppner and Pendleton are in
Eastern Oregon." Most of my friends wanted to know
something of this small community I had chosen for my
future home. I knew Heppner was a farming community and
from the Chamber of Commerce literature I had enough
information to tell my friend of the skiing, hunting and
fishing conditions in the area.
Upon my arrival I soon made inquiries about various
projects in the community, and was amazed at the manner in
which they were completed.
I soon learned that a man's word is his bond. When a man
says he is going to do something, he does it. One thing that
surprised me w as the lack of serious crime in the area. What
little crime did exist was punished with severe sentences.
Few attorneys appealed the judge's decisions. When the
judge asked if you were either guilty or innocent, he
expected an answer. If you answered guilty, you were either
sentenced to jail, fined or both, depending on the severity of
the crime. If you answered not guilty, a trial date was set by
the judge, usually for the proceeding week. If a jury trial was
ordered, seven to eight people appeared as jurors. After they
were seated the judge would disqualify either one or two
persons, leaving six persons on the jury.
I soon found myself getting more and more involved with
city politics, some of the issues I criticized, others I
disagreed with, but I soon learned the people of Heppner
have their ow n way of doing things. When the $450,000 water
bond issue came before the voters. I did not think it had a
chance of passing, but it did, by a five to one vote.
Today after two years in the community. I am constantly
asked one question. "Do you really like Heppner!" The
answer is. "Yes." The people are honest, hard working and
will go out of their way to help one another. Another question
continually asked is. "Do you miss California?" The only
things I miss in California are my two children and some
very close friends.
I have lived enough of my life in the big cities of California,
and lam now content w ith the simple way of life in Heppner.
I feel the same as Bill Weatherford. Who once told me.
"There are a lot of things I don't like about this town, but you
couldn't drive me out of here with a stick." So when I get
nasty l iters telling me to leave the community alone and go
back tn California. I have to chuckle because most of the
letter writers have lived in California. The only difference is
they have resided in Hepp;er for a longer period of time than
me.
Having lived here only two years I guess I am not expected
to form any opinions about either the city or the county
government, let alone express them in the newspaper. We
have been doing the same things for many years, so why
change? Perhaps an outsider notices things in a different
perspective than the person who has lived here most of his
life. If I believe changes are in order and will benefit the
majority. I will continue to express my beliefs through the
news media. The adage. "What was good enough for my
father or grandfather is good enough for me is nonsense." I
haven't seen a farmer plowing with mules for quite some
time.
When I ran for the position on the city council. I was asked
by a citizen. "I have lived here for the past 30 years and have
never served on the council, so w hy should you w ant to serve
on the city council?" I replied. "I couldn't live in a
community for 30 years and not be interested in city
government, besides the hours are short and the pay is
good "
Heppner is a fine community: however, most of the
residents don't appreciate w hat it has to offer. They take it
matter of factly. To an outsider, especially an ex-Californian.
I have enjoyed every minute of my past two years in this
community. Now if some of the irrate citizens w ill put out the
tire under the tar pot and stopdrying feathers. I would like to
be able to continue this peaceful life and perhaps celebrate
my third anniversary in Heppner.
Pctrncclli. star ol a television series has come to
Heppner. In the TV series. Petrocelli has an assortment of
sums he places on the windshield ol his car to avoid placing
money in parking meters. Recently a law officer was spied
parking his private car within the city limits. He carefully
removed a parking iolation from his car and placed it under
the wiper blade of his car. then proceeded to do some
shoppim: A merchant who receives more than his share of
lai km: violations saw the officers hanky-panky and decided
to add Millie humor to the situation. Awaiting his chance, the
mm hunt placed three of his ow n parking violations under
llico.liccrs u iper blades, then left. When the officer returned
he IoiiihI the four parking violations. He hurried to city hall
and reported the incident to the city police.
A cit policeman who knew the merchant's license number
returned the parking violations to their rightful owner.
Meanwhile, the law officer retrieved his own ticket and
re'urned it to his pru ale car for use at another time. All this
to in oid leeding the meters. . . Such chicanery!
mm
"I.
"Say, Charlle...ln The New Brochure...
If ll Too Late To Change 'Forefather!'
To 'Foreperson 7"
Slow Leak In The Big Balloon...
The mail pouch
EDITOR :
Mr. EC. who now seems to be attempting to fill the shoes
of Mr. E.J.. has apparently undertaken a personal crusade to
identify all of the weaknesses of education in general, and
BMCCand the Morrow County Schools in particular. The last
few "Horse Sense" columns have contained a lot of drivel on
this subject and while the author repeatedly makes
statements which he says are based on facts, the facts are
that most of his statements are his own opinion and have
little, if any. factual supporting data.
I certainly do not mean to imply that E C. is not entitled to
express his opinions I do feel, however, that responsible
journalism requires that personal opinions be stated as such
and not referred to as fads
The statements contained in the "Horse Sense" column of
the May 19 issue were quite obviously written from a
defensive standpoint and seemed to indicate that several
people had expressed opinions that were not in agreement "
with those expressed by E C. I also realize that several
people do agree with at least part of the criticisms contained
in the article.
Repeated twice in the article was the statement. " I am not
interested ". In both instances the meaning seemed to
lc thai "I have my mind made up. don't confuse nie with
lads." Since fads do not seem to interest you. and my
opinion would obviously be biased, there is no point in my
rebutting any of your statements Lei me rather direct my
attention to Mime of the statistics you so freely quoted
without really understanding what it was you were saying
I have no argument with the percentage of taxes collected
for schools in Morrow County, and I have no argument with
the costs per student which you listed for Morrow County
Schools.
However, you then made reference to an article thai
apK ared in the Heppner Gazelle Times the week preceding
The article to which you referred contained statistics
compiled by the Social and Economic Statistics Administra
tion. The article slated lhal in Morrow County 54 per cent ol
the ccndilui'cs made by local government agencies wenl
lor education. The article also said thai the average for the
stale of Oregon was .Hi per cent.
You then chose to apply the EC. interpretation and
indicated thai the figure in Morrow County was 7:1 2:1 per
cent. I assume this was an honest error on your part due lo
lack of knowledge and was not an intentional eflurt lo
mislead I lie ieople into believing lhal education in Morrow
County was roughly 2n r cent higher than the stale
average.
Whal you tailed to consider was lhal total budget
eH'ndilures and taxes collected are not the same.
In 1970 I did a study in Morrow County on all local
government budgets. The study showed lhal while schools
collected 74 5 per cent of the total tax dollar, the total budget
lor education accounted for only 54 8 per cent of the total
local gin eminent budgets. A copy of the study has been
enclosed for your information.
The difference between Ihe two percentages is thai other
governmental agencies receive a higher portion of Iheir
income from sources other than the local properly tax
However, slate funds, federal funds, and user's fees are still
tax dollars or equivalent lo taxes.
If you care to check, you will find that most counties have
local property lax levies which provide between 70 and Bo
per cent lo education. I do not have the 1974 figures, but in
197:1 the percentages of taxes levied for school purposes in
Morrow County was 72 II percent and in Umatilla County it
was 74 39 per cent.
It would, therefore, seem that based on statistics correctly
interpreted. Morrow County schools compare rather
favorably with olher Oregon counties.
The column also contained the statement, "One fact is
certain, we have the most expensively educated students in
the Slate of Oregon." To this factual statement I can only say
"poppycock." It is a matter of State Department of
Education record that many districts have higher per
siudenl cosli than does Morrow County some in Umatilla
County, as a matter of fact. I do not deny that costs in
Morrow County are high. Education in sparsely populated
areas with small schools are always high.
I. personally, would not resent your criticizing education in
general, but your attacks on the Morrow County School
System does a tremendous disservice to those teachers,
administrators, and board members who have labored many
years to Improve the schools. My children attend school in
Morrow County, and I am very pleased with the education
(hey are receiving.
I suggested in jest a few years ago that the "Horse Sense"
column should display the olher end of the horse. I now make
that same suggestion In a serious vein.
Ron Daniels
fioardimin
EDITOR:
To all who have inquired about our phone:
This is a conl inuat ion of the problems we have had with our
mobile phone service. Some seem to think the situation is
funny, others tragic. It all depends on your own past
experience with phone service. Also whether you are
involved with trying to communicate with us for any reason.
Well here goes
I left off last lime w ith May 9. so we will pick it up w ith Mav
llih.
May II a m. tried to call lone couldn't get out. later the
phone worked fine. 9 p m. phone rang answered It go! a
liccping sound.
May 12-called Hermiston-call went thru then was cut off in
ihe middle of conversation, tried lo call back, couldn't get
mil . I w enl to Hermislon in the pickup, Jerald called the shop
in Hermislon to give me a list of parts he needed. He was cut
off I tried lo call him from Hermislon 5 times. Some of them
didnt rirtg in. others would ring in but when he would answer
the call wouldn't go thru. W Karnopp called from the
Uoardinan office. Ihe call went thru and the phone worked
fine My brother tried lo call 5 times, he NEVER did get thru.
Sometimes il was ringing in but when Jerald would answer
Ihe phone would keep on ringing Some limes call didn't even
ring
May I I Jerald ' brother called-cut off he called back and
the plume worked fine
May 14 a m. Dialed Hermislon number 3 limes. Twice he
received a Boardman recording saying the number was out
of sen ice. lo call operator. Once nothing happened. 5th time
H rang right thru to extension office. Come to find out they
had been trying for 3 days to call us. I Called Ford dealerlst
lime got a recording -said il was a bad number. Second time
Ihe call wenl right thru Called extension office backall
wi nl thru with no problems. 10:30 a m. I took Ihe car to
Boardman lo have phone worked on. At 3 30 phone Co.
brought car home I then took phone man back lo tow n. While
he was si ill at the ranch Jerald tried lo call out he got a
recording -the phone man said that problem was in the office.
Then he tried and had Ihe same problem. 3rd lime Ihe call
went thru 4 :to we tried lo call Pendleton, phone wouldn't
wot k. sw ik tied to Pilot Rock channel and placed the call. We
llien 1 1 ied to make a local Boardman call-still not working
local led lone on Boardman channel and the phone worked
line.
May l.i-B a m. phone rang answered it and got Ihe dial
tone hung up phone rang again-lhis lime we got morse code
li to p in. phone rang again morse code.
May loth 11:30a m phone rang morse code. I called P R
lie tried to call me on both channels. Ihe phone rang but when
I answered it. it kept right on ringing I called him back, he
said to call Boardman for repair I tried only to find out I
couldn't gel nut on Ihe local channel. I called him back and
asked him lo report il. I was working out in the fields that day
mid couldn't gel aw ay lo take the car to tow n. The phone man
came In Ihe house and worked on the phone.
May 1710 :ioa in I placed a local call, it worked fine-about
in nun later I started the car and the transmitter light came
on and stayed on until I turned the car off.
May 18 ll a m. Mother called I could hear her fine-she
couldn't hear me at all. She hung up and I called her. The
phone worked fine, only problem we both had to pay for a
lung distance call.
May 20 I was home all day-our neighbor tried to call
several times, none of the calls rang In.
May 21- Home all day-again the neighbor tried several
limes to call and none of Ihe calls came through.
May 19 24 No calls had come Ihru we could call out fine.
May 24- 8 p m. A call came from Boardman came
through.
May 26 Hay buyer tried to call no results.
May 27- Same as 2filh. We could still call out fine but we
weren't receiving any calls.
May 28 p m. we found the horn wasn't working.
May 29- a m. I look the car in lo have the phone checked.
Was told lo take the car to a garage to have the horn system
checked No one in Boardman had the time lo check il out. I
then took II to Hermislon. One of the garages In town worked
on it for about one hour but couldn't locate the problems. He
suggested I take it lo another garage In town. I checked with
them but they couldn't look at it until Monday morning.
During this time we had the beeper In the car on so if
someone tried to call while I was In the car at least then the
call would go through.
May 31 10 p m. Beeper sounded, when we answered we
got the morse code. 10 minutes later It rang again with the
same results.
I do have a plea, if anyone has any Ideas on how to solve our
problem with our phone, we are open to any and all
suggestions.
Mayor of Hard man
MISTER EDITOR:
The fellers al the country store Saturday night was
concerned about Ihe state of the slates and cities, namely
Texas and New York City. Bug Hookum had been reading up
on this plan to nuike five stales out of the Lone Star State, and
Ed Doolillle brung In a clipping about New York City going
broke. After studying these situations up one side and down
Ihe others, the fellers was general agreed they're the same.
Bug said he knowed talk of split t ing up Texas come up even
afore she was a slate, and the idee has been around since.
Most or the push comes from the kind of folks that don't like
anything Ihe way ll is. Bug allowed, but there has been some
serious delude oil the matter. Right now. he said, "splithood"
is ulxuit as strong as it ever has been, cause Ihe reasons are
clearer than ever.
Some feller In the stale legislature said if Texas was split
into five states they could outvote the whole of New England
in Ihe U.S. Senate, and Bug allowed that he Is afraid that
what the feller was meaning is that Texas can divide and
conquer all them federal agencies. Five states could git five
limes the grants lhal one slate can. he liggers.
Actual. Bug said, he is strong agin Ihe Idee. He said we are
suposed to be Ihe stales united, but this don't mean we got lo
w nter down all the pow er of our stales and bow and scrape lo
Washington fer everlhing from school lunches lo highways.
Hug said he was yet lo see anything done in Washington that
come back to the stales that couldn't of been done better by
the states in the first place.
Fer instant. Bug said, the Federal Guvernment ain't
satisfied to spent MO billion more year than it lakes in, it
keeps making up rules fer Ihe states to live by that can't be
lived with. The Medicare system has got so fouled up. Bug
said, lil North Carolina had lo hire a private computer outfit
lo keep her Medicare records. It looks like the states will
hav e lo spend billions of Iheir money to git back millions Ihey
send lo Washington, and Bug said it don't take a private
computer lo figger the odds on a deal like that. Counties are
saving thev can come out cheaper paying the post office to
sell Iheir federal food stamps than lo handle the paperwork
tlieirselves. Hug reported.
Ed said he weren't no wonder to him that New York Cily
needs a billion dollars to pay her bills this month. The cities
has been caught in the same trap w ith the slates, and New
York must be spending ever cent she can git to qualify fer all
them federal urban renewal and clean water grants, Ed
n I lowed.
Whal New York Cily ought to do. went on Ed, is raise the
slate debt limit and print her own money to cover the
difference. There's no end to good idees coming out of
Washington, Ed said.
Yours Irulv.
MAYOR ROY.
Religious sex.
f Pom's new frontier
I KISOI. lG
I am not trying to fill EJ's shoes. No one can
JERALD A LEANN REA
Lexington
Are we on Ihe threshold of another Great Religious
Revival?
Well, one of Hollywood's most outstanding religious group
leaders. Miss Jane Russell, who electrified the post-World
War II religious boom by announcing that "God is a living
dull." - has once more spoken out.
Miss Ittisscll, Howard Hughes' great box office mammal,
has now staled, according to Esquire magazine, thai she
would like In sil in Jesus' lap and tweak his nose.
Not in Im- outdone. Danish film producer Jens Joergen
Thin sen has disclosed lhal his forthcoming epic, "The Loves
nl Jesus Christ." will feature a great deal more public
miunacy than mere lap silling nose tweakers.
Tasie has not altogether perished, however. For the
Gov eminent of France has refused to allow this atrocity lo be
lilmcd on French soil And a national poll of Denmark (whose
ciiiens are no more blue nosed in reputation than Ihe
French' reveals that two thirds of Thorsen's fellow citizens
disapprove ol this obscene blasphemy,
Alleging lhal Jesus had secret love life is rather old stuff,
however outrageous il is lo Ihe sensibilities of millions of his
devout followers
1) H Lawrence plumbed Ihe depths of this divine lust motif
with his detailed lit illation in a myth about Jesus' seduction
by a temple prostitute. Nikos Kaantzakis also found this
Ihenie profitable in his priapislic "Last Temptation of
Christ." ik scribed by University of Southern California
philosophy prolessor Geddes MacGregor as:
"Seeing Jesus constantly on the edge of fornication, but
heroically resisting it."
The Hev . Dr. MacGregor, who is also Canon Theologian of
St. Paul i Cathedral in Los Angeles, notes:
"ll modern New Testament scholarship has shown us
anything al all. il is surely lhal we know much less than our
lorefalhers thought Ihey knew about the details even of Our
hud's public life."
MacGregor zeroes in on the latest In a long and tiresome
series of hoi pseudo-scholarly books such as "Passover Plot"
or John Allegro's ludicrous contention that Jesus w as really a
great mushroom.
"William Phipps knows Ihe most Intimate details of the
pi iv ate lifeof Our Lord." notes MacGregor in a living church
magazine review of Phipp's new book. "The Sexuality of
Jesus.
And added. "Out of his unlimited store of dogmas, Phipps
claims that Jesus was. of course, married."
idf course "Was Jesus Married?" was Phipp's last book I
"Jesus. Phipps thinks, was for sex . . , " comments
MacGregor. "the champion of all who want to rid themselves
of Ihe disease of asceticism and virus of self sacrifice. After ,
while one almost wonders, Indeed, whether there were not
originally a ninth beatitude . . . makarlol hoi pornol ('Blessed
arc Ihe fornicators'!." J
Then, fully regretting that Phipps Is chairman of the'
Department of Religion at a college related to the
Presbyterian Church i Davis and Elklns, in West Virginia!,;
MacGregor com ludes with Ihe humorous disdain that such"
books deserve:
"Goodbye, Mr. Phipps."
THE GAZETTE-TIMES
M(ltltilV(tlNTYS.KWSPAPER
Box IV. Heppner. Ore. r8M
Subscript Ion rale: $6 per year In
Oregon, $7 elsewhere
F.rnesl V. Joiner. Publisher
Published every Thursday and entered as
WTond class matter ,he offjc)
Heppner. Oregon, under the art of March 3 1879
Second class postage paid at HcDDner. Or'-.,'