Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 1976)
Page J. THE GAZETTE-TIMES, Heppner. OR. Thursday. July . 1J7I ' klv err: ... - Ttro swimmers soak cement parched feet at Heppner Invitational Sunday. (G-T Photo) the im $mw BEFFMEU GAZETTE-TI MES I By Rep. Roger Martin t ' Taxpayers have heard many recent examples of how they are fleeced by self-serving and nest-feathering politicians. The juciest abuses concern members of . Congress who have only two things in mind: 1 There own well-being and their own j re-election. ' ; But Oregonians need look only to Salem to find abuse by the State Legislature, the leadership of which talks about holding down state spending while erecting a monument to themselves at our expense. The case in point is known as the capitol wings. The project is a four-story building being tacked onto the back of the State Capitol. The wings will be used by lawmakers five months of each two years. I The rest of the time it will resemble a giant fmarble tomb unless the presiding officers buy a bunch of worn out department store dummies to occupy chairs and stare back at . the tourists from Wichita. !. The shenanigans engaged in by the presiding officers on this issue would cost any t other state administrator his or her job right .on the spot. Heads would roll and deservedly so. , The bill creating the wings contained an expenditure of only one dollar. It was the intention of the presiding officers to provide the rest of the funding through another brainchild, the Oregon Building Authority. Editorial & Viewpoint Self-serving, nest-feathering politicians The OBA, which would be permitted to avoid the ban against deficit spending without a vote of the people, has been challenged in the Supreme Court. So the presiding officers switched course in mid-stream and decided to engage in deficit spending on their own. Under the flimsiest of authority, they have now borrowed up to $10 million in general funds held by the State Treasurer and they have squeezed another $1 million from the State Emergency Board. Instead of seeking a special session to deal with the financing question in an open and aboveboard fashion, the presiding officers have chosen to completely short-circuit the budgeting process which all other agencies must observe or suffer the results. The presiding officers, apparently, place themselves on lofty pedestals above other branches of government and above the people they were elected to serve. As it stands now, the presiding officers have gone their merry way and will ask the next legislature to rubber-stamp their shaky dealings. And the next legislature will have little choice in the matter. The idea of a palace for legislators has been with us since the early 60s. But no one bought this bill of goods until the current presiding officers took a strong personal interest. The measure was muscled through the Senate with only three "no" votes. It squeaked past the House by only one vote. To add to the smell of dead mackerel, it was hustled through in the final hectic days of the session with little explanation, discussion or debate. More feasible alternatives were not considered. It was literally jammed down the throats of legislators who believe in fiscal responsibili tyand who oppose waste of tax dollars. Senate President Jason Boe and House Speaker Phil Land would squeal like stuck pigs if any other state agency demonstrated such a gross lack of regard for fiscal responsibility and integrity. Correspondence & Comment Nuclear regulator EDITOR: We have noted in recent weeks that a minority of Oregon newspapers, television stations and radio stations still refer to Ballot Measure 9 as the "Nuclear Safeguards" initiative. Others refer to it by its legally correct and politically neutral name, the "Nuclear Regulatory" initiative. May we comment? When the sponsors of the measure drafted the initiative they sought to have it known as the "Nuclear Safeguards Act." Safety is an instinctively and immediately appealing idea. Everybody is for it. Certainly we are. The fact is, however, that the Oregon Attorney General, whose duty it is (o insure that ballot titles accurately reflect the body and intent of a measure, would not permit it to be called this. Neither would the Attorneys General of California and Washington with respect to similar measure. The ballot title which the Oregon Attorney General did assign to the measure is "Regulates Nuclear Power Plant Construction Approval." Thus, we suggest that the correct, neutral title, for the sake of brevity, is "Nuclear Regulatory" initiative. In further elaboration, the question of whether or not the measure would contribute anything whatsoever to nuclear safety regulation, or was even intended to, will be discussed by our committee very actively throughout (he campaign. In like fashion, we fully expect our opponents to contest our contention that it is a "ban" measure and was intended to be. Thus, the qumtKm of what the measure really Is, is central to the Issues Involved in the campaign. With factual information from the media, Oregon's volers will have the opportunity to go to the polls In November and make an informed decision. We would not expect you to favor us by referring to it as a "ban" measure. Neither, we hope, will you favor our opponents by referring to it as a "nuclear safeguards" mP,Ure HOWARD APPLING. JR. Measure 9 is ban You reported July I that Chris Thomas, spokesman for the Mxullfd nuclear safeguard' measure, said Measure The Heppner Gazette Times would not ban nuclear power, but rather would be a vote to "keep Trojan and assure that all nuclear plants in Oregon are built with the best possible safety standards." The measure is a ban and Thomas, a lawyer and lobbyist, knows it. Last fall he was asked if this were not the case. He said it was not an outright ban, "but if our facts are correct, there will not be any more nuclear plants." (Oregonian, 11-13 75). The wording of the initiative has not changed. If he was right then, he's got to be wrong now. More recently, another spokesman, Mike Cook, told the G res ham Outlook that "this is where we have to start. We don't have chance with any other energy source until we stop nuclear power first." Fellows, if you intend to "stop" it, why bother with "safety standards?" Measure 9 is a thinly-disguised attempt to take this option for producing needed electric energy away from us. We have the strongest state safety laws in the nation now (ORS 469), and the promoters of this deceptive measure know that, too. They are giving us a bunch of double talk. WILLIAM DAWKINS Portland Anonymous donor EDITOR: As you know it takes considerable monies lo finance our local swim team. We have several money raising projects each year in order to pay the coach's salary, entry fees, etc. We appreciate the support given us. However, we wish (o publicly and singly express our gratitude to the anonymous donor who recently supported us with a very generous donation. To that Individual the members and parents of the Heppner Swim Tram say "thank you for your Interest and generous support of the team. Wt appreciate it very much. Forest fire controlled A forest fire, east of Wineland Lake raged out of control but was expected to be thwarted by late Tuesday afternoon. The fire, covering 236 acres in the Heppner Ranger District started Monday about 3:15 p.m. It was called Yellowjacket. According to Forest Service spokesmen, the fire started when a tree fell over high electric wires. Six to eight crews from Region 6 were battling the blaze Monday and ' Tuesday. The Forest Service estimated that 400 men were in the woods trying to stop the fire. ' Control was expected by 4 p.m. Tuesday, 4' Twelve teachers hired, six spots still vacant Twelve new teachers have been hired in the Morrow County School district but six positions are still empty as of this week. Three new teachers have been hired to fill vacancies In Heppner, three in lone, four in Riverside, and three in Irri gon. One teacher, Rick Bateman, will serve as band and music .instructor at both Riverside High School in Boardman and at A.C. Houghton Elementary School in Irrigon. Chris Borgen has been hired to serve as Language Arts teacher and basketball coach at Heppner High School. Join ing Borgen in Heppner will be Linda Orwick Murray, langu age arts; and Rebecca Ran dall, girl's physical education at the high school and junior high. In lone, fifth grade teacher, Jeri Snow McElllgotf was hired, along with band and music instructor George E. Russell and Charles Starr, principal at lone. Starr was a math teacher and head foot ball coach at Heppner before taking the principal post. Along with Bateman in Riverside, Nancy Myklebust was hired to teach girls P.E. at the junior high and high school; Charles William (Bill) Bernard, social studies at high school was hired; and Sharon Barrick was tabled for lan guage arts duties. . Douglas Howell, a fifth grade teacher, was hired to fill that void at Irrigon at A.C. Houghton. Joining Howell in the new ranks will be Bate man ar.d Diana Conley, a fourth grade teacher. Six positions have yet to be filled. At Riverside High School, language arts and vocational agriculture-shop teachers need to be hired. At lone, a language arts teacher is still unfound. And in Heppner, a vocal music and special education teacher, plus a combination math teacher-football coach, left open by Starr, needs to be filled. Court orders grain inspectors to work Harvest goes on snd the market goes down. That's routine. And finally, after eight days of insecurity, area farmers can semi-relax again knowing grain inspectors are back to work in Oregon and ship ments of wheat can be ship ped. According to Riley Mun kers, Morrow County grain Growers buyer and seller, the strike didn't "hive any ap preciable effect." Munkers was concerned in a Monday telephone interview that area ranchers would soon run out of ports. "We just can't send our grain," Mun kers said. But grain inspectors were ordered back to work Tues day, ending the eight day strike which blocked ship ments through Oregon ports. Judge Val Sloper of Marion County Circuit Court in Salem said the strike had damaged the public welfare because of its economic effect, the As sociated Press reported. His action means 68 state inspectors, weighers and samplers will have to return to work at the ports of Astoria and Portland and the flour mill in Pendleton. Sloper issued a temporary injunction, and gave inspec tors' union 10 days to show why the order shouldn't be permanent. After that, the issue automatically goes to binding arbitration. The inspectors struck last Tuesday because of an im passe in wage negotiations, which have been bogged down since May of 1975. In southern Morrow Coun ty, farmers are reporting 25 bushels to the acre, which is below average due to drought and frost at higher elevations. Some wheat is being piled on the ground. Morrow County has 100.000 bushels on the ground snd expect it to reach 200.000 by the end of harvest According to Munkers, pro duction in Lexington is im proved. Munkers said some harvesting is taking place in the upper part of the county, around Ruggs and Heppner. Planning commission approves spud sheds The Morrow County Plan ning Commission approved two applications Monday ni ght to allow building of potato sheds. Sabre Farms, Boardman was granted a zone change from qualified farm to farm to allow five acre lot sizes and the building of a potato ware house. The commission also appro ved a variance for setback re quirements in an Industrial tone owned by Tom Jayo. The applicant plans lo build two concrete potato warehouses on Port of Morrow land. In other business, the com mission : tabled an application by Shormakt at the request of the applicant. approved a mndiilonal use permit to Union Collier for Monte Crum for a fertilizer distributing plant. Located on Highway 207 near Baseline Road, the plant will build no permanent structures but will have tanks and trucks for dis tributing fertilizer to the area. approved a plat plan from Dewey West Jr. on about 75 acres of land he plans to sub divide in Boardman. accepted the final plat plan for Rivervlew subdivi sion. 15 acres In Irrigon. E M L. Contractors will divide the land Into one-acre tracts for residential buyers. decided to continue a tone change application for Earl D. Trudeau on acres In Board man till they receive recom mendation from the Board man city planning commission. DAN JAMES, President I Irppner Swim Team IIEPFNElf GAZETTE-TIMES Tlit ffkial aewipaper f the C'lly ef Heppner and the Cetmty f Morrew. G.M.Reed.rablUker Ouloret Reed. ( VblUner HilC. rklHsey.l dllar Pdbllthee every Tkr.ay n4 entered as ec4rla mailer al the pt tftir, al Utppttr, f March 1. I;. HerMrfflsM poMa- paid at Hrppner, Oregon.
