Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1976)
Page 2, THE GAZETTE-TIMES, Heppner, OR, Thursday, May 20, 1976 Salem Mayor of Hard man bv Jack Zimmerman 4 ' ' " ceUe ; DEAR MISTER EDITOR: ; There's been a heap of talk in recent weeks about leaks in the news buckets of GuvernmenL That feller from the TV ; network that got leaked to and then leaked to a newspaper 1 instead of leaking on the TV set off one round of talk, but that v case is just one of many that makes the news buckets look v. more like sieves. The $350,000 Congress said it would spend to " find out who leaked to the TV leaker jest makes that hole in . the bucket more expensive. This matter come up during the session at the country store Saturday night. It was Ed Doolittle that allowed straight hard news ain't never been easy to come by, and that everbody slants his news to suit hisself . Ever since Adam's . boy come home after killing his brother and answered his vPa's question with a question, Ed said, people and Guvernments have been trying to rig the news to put them in j" a good light. The feller that said a reporter is to a politician f what a barking dog is to a chicken thief was right, was Ed's " words, and he added that we got to run the leaking news , bucket business on that basis. Practical speaking, said Zeke Grubb, leaking is by no -means limited to Guvernment. If you want to see the practice of leaking dra wed down to a fine art, Zeke allowed, you ought to be on a church pulpit committee. That, Zeke said, is where the saying about running it up the flagpole and see who salutes it is carried to "throw him to the lions and see who j eats him." When you got to find a new pracher, you got to have some idee what kind of preacher the congregation I wants. What most of em want, Zeke said, is no preacher at ; all, but these ain't the ones that make the noise and pay the vbills. So you got to come up with a man fer all seasons, and jthis means you got to leak a little news here and there. - The art part starts, Zeke declared, when you relize that ever other member of the pulpit committee is doing his own leaking. He's picking out his members to leak to and you're doing the same thing. Pritty soon, everybody in church has been fed little bits and snatches of news about whoever is being considered fer the preaching job, and each one won't let on to the others that he knows anything. That's the way it goes, explained Zeke, until the Sunday the candidate gives his trial sermon. When the service is over, the folks huddle in bunches and add everthing they know to what the prospect said and what was said about him in the pulpit. He has been thorough reserched, was Zeke's words. Actual, Gem Webster said, news leaks is like rain. It's great stuff as long as you don't over do it. The fellers was general agreed that leaking has its place, and they sided with Gem's idee that the trick is control. A good leak is one you lead, a bad one is one somebody else leaks, Gem said, cause censorship at the source is the best kind. Yours truly, MAYOR ROY. The mail pouch ; CITIZENS OF HEPPNER: It was truly "good news" when we heard Jerry and Delores Reed purchased the Gazette-Times. We have known the Reeds for nearly three years and they have both the talent and experience to give Heppner the kind of quality newspaper it deserves. ; But they can't do it alone. They need you. They need your subscriptions and your advertising support. And it will be well worth it. You'll get the news and sell your products via the best advertising medium a weekly newspaper. What more can you ask for just a few dollars a year? ! Jerry said, "I have never found a good newspaper in a bad town nor a bad newspaper in a good town." Okay, citizens of Heppner, let's see you and Jerry prove it. Support YOUR newspaper. DAN ZIMMERMAN Publisher, Valley Herald Milton-FYeewater, OR EDITOR: Kinzua Corporation Heppner, Oregon Attn: Allen Nistad On behalf of the Heppner-Morrow County Chamber, the Float Committee, the High School Art department, and myself, I would like to thank you very much for the donation of the plywood for our float. As you know the Chamber has not had a float for the past few years, but during this bicentennial year I fell it is important that we have a float in the parade. The art department, under the direction of Tom Scheer have designed this years float, and are in the process of building it with your donated plywood. I am sure that we all will be proud of the float when it la completed. Thanks again for your donation, which is the major part of the float. JAMES H.WISHART ; Chairman, Float Comm. Heppner-Morrow County Chamber EDITOR: The class of 1977 would like to lake this opportunity to thank all those people who have. In some way helped us with the plans and preparations needed for our 1978 Prom and Junior-Senior Banquet. It was sincerely appreciated by all of """The following people we would particularly like to thank: Mr. and Mrs. Hon Haguewood The Rev. k Mrs. Mark Johnson Mr.Mrs.aydeAHstott Mr. Mrs. Bob Schiller Mr. t Mrs. Forrest Burkenbine Mrs. Colleen Ployhar Mrs.BctteSpaulding Mrs. Susie Cooper Mrs. Ginger Keithley Mrs. Mary Jean McCabe Mr. Bill Buckendorf Mr. Jim Rogers Mr. A Mrs. Wayne Harris Jan Sherman Jeff Edmundson AO those mothers who made Mrs. Pat Edmundson cookies and punch for the Prom. Also the Sophomores who served at the Banquet. Last, but not least we would like to thank our advisors, Mr. Chuck Lutsch and Mr. Hal Whitaker. The Gassof 1977 Heppner High School x "i v 4 v t if - . . , V 1 1 ' .' ' r j- f . ? . L i ; f 4 h, j i e ; - -mmrmggt "mir&-r-v"m . r I ' ' " - i ? a ' " , i.v,".a .v f r , - Guest Editorial iveryoEies IProbloEii Damage to school property is a steadily increasing problem for school districts all over the country these days. It seems that any property which is not directly supervised is going to suffer a certain amount of damage from vandals no . matter what is said or written condemning this kind of action. Deliberate vandalism is not the only source of destruction to public property, however. A fair share of damage to property is going to occur where young children congregate to play which is not willful destruction. Instead it is generally just a time passing action without much intent to destroy property. The old practice of enlarging a scratch in a desk top with a pencil untl the scratch forms an initial or a design is typical of this practice. Buildings too suffer in much the same way. Soft putty in a window is dug out and mortar between bricks is scratched away by the curious small fry. Some pictures of damage caused over the years to the school district office building in Lexington are found in this issue of the Gazette-Times. Damage such as this can be found at all the districts schools where children gather to play in the evenings or on weekends without supervision. Hopefully the pictures included in this issue will draw attention to this serious problem. Parents can help prevent this from occuring by spending a little time with children who play around the school buildings on weekends and evenings, explaining to them the importance of respecting the property they are privileged to use. MATTDOHERTY, District Superintendent, Morrow County Schools VIEWPOINT Most of you have read about the pair of goats that were abandoned on an island. They reproduced prolifically and soon had eaten or spoiled every edible thing. As you know, they starved, sickened and died. Might man's relationship to planet earth be similar? Is man unwittingly waiting for nature to correct the error of his ways? Some of us believe that man squanders precious natural resources; others believe that man progresses towards great achievement. The real dangers are not whether man waits In Indecision for Nature's remedy or how man solves his problems. The real danger is that man could panic, yield his independence and accept a captive existence. It is to this man I speak. We agree that man continuously seeks to enhance his earthly habitat. In so doing is man approaching an unsustainable life style? If so the end Is predictable. Already experienced by other species, the end is called: 'Over specialization. A well publicized example of this dilemma Is our dependence on energy for the production and distribution of food. The impending exhaustion of fossil fuel threatens continuation of our life style. Wt face a choke. Either other sources of energy must be adapted lo our desires or man must return from sophisticated extravagance to close compatibility with the natural processes. Man's willing return to a balance with nalure is being orchestrated. At issue Is whether the 'return shall controlled by a politically powerful few or whether a majority of the people shall make the choice. The fashionable attempt to control the people of Oregon is disguised undT the pleasing title: Comprehensive Land Use Planning. Believing that such pleasant title assures pleasant results, the public assumes that land use planning relates physical conditions with real needs. The public Is deceived. Land planning as practiced Is fantasy promoted to perpetuate another sclferving bureaucracy. What should land use planning be? It should be a method for connecting current conditions with future needs. The conditions can be precisely stated; the needs can b closely estimated. Given these, th people who are moat affected should vote to choose whatever appears lo Ihem to be the best av to art to whrre thev shall be. In a drmocrscy, the Tie aflected should make' this choice. However, according to Oregon Law (Senate Bill 100; ORS 197) seven political appointees and only these seven art entitled to vote In matters pertaining to land use. To qualify as one of the Oregon Seven, each must please the Governor. At Issue bort it not planning; the Issue is control -and by whom? Some other states have alreadv faced this Issue; Vermont and Utah repealed laws similar to ours. W need to remember that the principal purpose of governmenl is to prolect that most precious aspect of our llveability-whlch Is srlf -determination. The opening lines of this land control Uw cmtradicl this purpose by Implying that liveablllty must be Uken from the pwple In order to preservt it for the people. Agreeing with my remarks or not, i hope you agree that an iMue of this magnitude should be decided by majority vote. I urge your help In getting Ihis measure on the November ballot. By OH Kwett. Tr fnl, OH. WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION COST STAGGERS OREGON EMPLOYERS Already oppressive costs borne by Oregon employers to fund Ve sTate's program f"1!! occupational disabilities may rise more than 40 per cent by "tSSSSi $250 million annual burden i" another $100 million July 1 if propose d new rates . e accepted by Insurance Commlss.oner Lester Rawls In S AC415 per cent average rate increase for Workmen's CompnsaUon insurance premiums has been the National Council on Compensation nsurance approved by the state's Classification and Rat.ng Committee and submitted to Rawls. . . ,. The Insurance Commissioner has announced hearings on the record rate increase will begin 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 1, in Room 20 of the Capitol Building. . Utile more than a year ago Rawls bowed hia back and refused to accept NCCI's initial 1975-76 rote Increase of R4 per cent. His unprecedented action a" "f'"1 attention and that boost ultimately was whittled to an ' average of 9.9 per cent. This year's premium rate proposal is getting all kinds of attention. One reason is the size of the boost-far exceeding the highest previous raise of 27.1 per cent in 1971. Another fact is Workmen's Compensation In Oregon has become the most expensive nationwide for employers and there are fears such a significant addition to the cost of doing business will have serious implications in a still shaky general economy. ... . An example is the small Salem Manufacturing plan employing 41 workers. One of eight subsidiaries of a national firm, the Oregon operation employs only 8 per cent or the parent company's total U.S. workforce. But it pays Workmen's Compensation premiums amounting to 29 per cent of the company's national total. ' Across the board, Oregon employers now pay nearly 3 per cent of national Workmen's Compensation costs to Insure something less than 1 per cent of the country's total covered employes. A program that costs $35 million 10 years ago, could cost $350 million in the year ahead. Reaction to the latest rate hike proposal has been swift and succinct. Gov. Bob Straub said the rates are a severe blow to Oregon industry. Rep. Ed Lindquist (D Jennings Lodge), who heads a legislative interim subcommittee studying Workmen's Comp, described the increase as a disaster. Business spokesmen call the proposals overwhelming. They forecast corresponding increase's In consumer prices for goods and services and a further weakening of the competitive position for Oregon manufacturers producing goods marketed nationally and worldwide. Organized labor, on the other hand, greeted the new rates with vows to maintain present benefits awarded injured workers and to press for greater compensation. Insurance carriers and rate makers explain higher rates are required mainly to fund soaring costs of benefits for workers permanently totally disabled and those termed permanently partially disabled -coupled with upward-spi-raling costs of medical care. Critics claim the system's major flaws consist largely of existing statutes permitting easy access to permanent total and permanent partial disability status and liberal interpre tations of those statutes by administrators and courts involved in a lengthy appeals process. They agree the only satisfactory recourse is a comprehensive overhaul of existing laws governing the system and anticipate a fullscale revision as a major subject facing the 1977 State Legislature. Employers pay premiums based on so many dollars per $100 of payroll. The premium rates range from as low as 36 cents per $100 for clerical workers to nearly $100 per $100 for housewreckers. They buy the insurance from the State Accident Insurance Fund, private Insurance companies or they self insure in the case of a few large employers. Comprehensive studies of the Oregon system have absolved accident frequency and working conditions from blame for escalating rates. The same studies saddle excalating numbers of permanent total and permanent partial disabilities with rising costs. A permanent total disability can produce maximum benefits amounting to as much as $205.17 weekly for life. And such benefits do not mean the recipient has been maimed or will remain bedfast forever. More than 80 per cent of permanent total benefits now go to workers 50 years old and older. Benefits are tax free and are not diminished upon receipt of Social Security payments. Graphic illustrations of the rising permanent total Incidence are provided by Workmen's Compensation Board statistics showing WCB awards rising from 73 in 1968 to more than 300 in 1975 with the total exceeding 250 cases every year since 1972. Reluctance to press for revisions and ferret out abusers appears likely to evaporate In light of the latest rate recommendations. Consider the case of the garbage collecting firm employing 40garbagemen, which pays $13 17 per $100 of payroll plus a IS per cent penalty every month because one former worker is permanently and totally disabled with a bad back. That company pays a monthly Workmen's Compensation Insurance premium of $5,000. The employer might claim that's a k)t of garbage. The system's critics agree, at the same time attaching a much broader definition to the term for household waste. THE r .mT ay ffizH GAZETTE-TIMES THE OAZEETTE-TIMES The tflclal newspaper ef tfce City ! Heppner aa ta Cevnly ti Merrew. O.M. Reed. Psblltker Delores Re4. Ce-pnblliker Eraie Ceresa, EdW Psb!Uk4 every Tkartday aai ntre4 as a 4-clat matter at the pt fftce ! Ilevpaer, Oregon, aaoer the act at Martk 1, 117$. Sca4-laM stags aM at lleppaer. Ortg'M.
