Heppner gazette-times., April 07, 1977, Page TWO, Image 2

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TWO The Gazette-Times, Ileppner, Ore., Thursday, April 7. 1977
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TO
, lONE I
I EX1NCTON0 l
HKPPVH1
TOO TOMORROW
' By Tom
Above
Above my desk is a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, the editor's only
earthly friend.
At one time, I drank it by the bottle without benefit of spoon
or clergy. Since arriving in Morrow County, I have had about
two ounces of a four ounce bottle in connection with
abdominal pains. These I associate with milky water that
comes from the tap with the power of a package of Pop
Rocks.
The water in Heppner and Boardman checks out at the
source, and I can't say that it tastes bad but I am tired of
listening to it.
Anyway, back to the bottle. All day I stare at this bottle. My
Scotch blood and Protestant upbringing tell me to finish it
because there is another poor editor somewhere else in the
world who doesn't have any.
It all started because I once wrote articles (we never call
y what we do stories) that brought irate people into the office
almost daily. They hit the ceiling. I hit the bottle after they
left.
Now, I eye the bottle as I attempt to sift what is almost
irrelevant from what is totally irrelevant. I no longer write
hard-hitting articles and have become known in political
circles as a responsible journalist. This is tantamount to
being unknown.
Those who write hard-hitting stories, articles, are known as
yellow, sometimes dead and almost always underpaid. I
digress again.
These people who came foaming into the office showed no
concern about my stomach problems and I shared no concern
with their apoplexy.
If a public official was using public equipment for personal
work, I wrote about it. If I were to hear such a story today, I
would be pleased to know that public equipment and public
employees are at work somewhere.
I recall a city manager in a certain western town who was
making use of city equipment on his farm. Someone else, who
wanted to use the city equipment on his place, told me about
it. I asked the manager and he told me he was making use of
several city items.
Considering the equipment in use, and the equipment of his
own which he used in city work, (and the source), I let it pass.
Next, I found that he was taking prisoners out of jail to work
on his farm. THEN 1 wrote about the situation. ( I didn't need
any equipment, but can always use an extra hand, you
know.)
Now that I look back, that city manager stands tall in my
memory. Not in comparison with what does go on, but with
what doesn't go on.
One good example of what doesn't go on is highway
improvement in the hinter lands of Eastern Oregon.
Here is how I picture it.
The state has solved the road problem in Eastern Oregon.
Somewhere in the dim past, a portion of highway funds were
used to quietly purchase a warehouse full of triangular signs
which read "Rough Road."
Since that year, whenever a local representative beats his
fist on the state till, these signs are taken from the secret
warehouse and dispatched to Eastern Oregon.
Out here, skeleton crews are charged with putting the signs
out and checking them day and night.
Thought for this week: The simple fact is that there are
more things going on in this world than there are people to do
them. It follows that something else must be afoot.
Twenty-six persons
enter hospital
. Nine persons were admitted
and 17 persons dismissed at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
during the week ended Tues-
. day, April 5.
Family gives
invitation to
April wedding
Mr. and Mrs. Harlan Mc
Curdy, Jr., Pomeroy, Wash.,
cordially invite their friends
and relatives to the wedding of
their daughter, Janet, to Mr.
John Currin, son of Mr. Robert
Currin, Pendleton.
The ceremony will take
place Saturday, April 16, at
two o'clock at Hope Lutheran
Church. A reception will
follow at the Heppner Elks
Club.
THE HFPPNET?
GAZETTE-TIMES
Published every Thursday and entered as a
second-class matter at the post office at Heppner,
Oregon, under the act of March 3, 1879. Second-class
postage paid at Heppner, Oregon.
Wil C. Phinney,
Advertising Manager The
Tom Franks,
Editor
illOHROW
,
I,
Franks
the desk
The hospital reported the
following admissions: Harlan
McCurdy, Heppner; John But
ler, Spray; Lester Perry,
Condon; Stacey Geer and
Tracy Geer, both of Fossil,
Duane Grissom, Heppner;
Louis Halvorsen, lone; Rich
ard Peck, Lexington; and
Joseph Hoffman, Lexington.
Lubiinhbt'ii uui nig uie week
were Sherry Rogers, Hep
pner; Delta Huber, Heppner;
DonniePine, Heppner; Ralph
Fitzpatrick, Condon; Tanya
Jones, Heppner; Edward
Lipscomb, Pendleton; Charles
Carlson, lone ; Shirley George,
Heppner; Linda Connor, Hep
pner; Stewart Maley, Condon;
Myrna Collins, Kinzua; Nancy ,
Paine, Heppner; David Gray,
Heppner; Paul Hisler, Hep
pner; David Perrin, Heppner;
Alice Majeske, Lexington;
Jerry Rollins, lone.
officiai newspaper 0, tne CUy
of Heppner and the County of
Morrow.
Jernstedt views session
and workmen's comp bill
Three months have now
gone by since the beginning of
this session. The "batting
average" for action on bills
in my committees is as
follows: Local Government
and Elections, 26 per cent;
Environment and Energy, 27
per cent; State and Federal
Affairs-Rules, 13 per cent;
Labor, Consumer and Busi
ness Affairs, 14 per cent.
Hopefully, many bills will die
in these and other commit
tees. Not every bill proposed
should become law. As far as I
am concerned, we have too
many on the books already
the best government is the
least government. Rousseau
stated it another way: "Good
laws lead to the making of
better ones; bad ones bring
about worse."
Unless a large percentage of
bills die in committee, the
situation bodes ill for the
future: either a flood of
legislation to be hurriedly
debated and voted on in the
next couple of months, or a
session extending into late
June or early July.
Workmen's Comp
As a result of cooperation
between representatives of
farm organizations, labor, and
industry, our Labor, Consum
er and Business Affairs Com
mittee, of which I am Vice
chairman, will be hearing
three new bills (SB KMX, SB
KM!), and SB 1050) regarding
the thorny problem of Work
men's Compensation. These
measures, hopefully, will be
palatable to everyone con
cerned. They are designed to make
current law less onerous to
employers, while giving equit
able protection to employees.
The first two bills affect
disability status, benefits and
New luncheon
date slated
A recognition luncheon in
honor of Retired Senior Volun
teer Program (R.S.V.P.)
workers will be held at noon on
Thursday, April 14, at the
Neighborhood Center in Hep
pner. The luncheon had been
announced for Wednesday,
but will be held on Thursday.
Pat Brindle of the Neigh
borhood Center said
"R.S.V.P. is supervised in
Umatilla and Morrow Coun
ties by Mrs. June Wagner of
Pendleton. This group pub
lished the successful book of
collected writing, "Golden
Yesteryears," which sold out
its first printing."
"A second and larger print
ing of the book will be ready
for sale at the Neighborhood
Center, beginning April 14, the
day of the honor luncheon,"
she said.
Honor roll
includes
Heppner duo
Michael A. Mills and Robert
F. Worder., both of Heppner,
are among 2,031 Oregon State
University students listed on
the winter term scholastic
honor roll.
Students on the honor roll
must have earned a 3.5 or
better on at least 12 graded
hours of course work.
Mills is a sophomore, major
ing in business and Worden a
senior, majoring in agricul
ture. G.M. Reed, Publisher
Dolores Reed, Co-publisher
claims. The third one creates
a Workmen's Compensation
Department, transfers to its
director the administration of
Workmen's Compensation
Law and Oregon Safe Em
ployment Act, and outlines
functions and responsibilities
of other organizational chang
es covered in the bill.
Hearings will be held in the
next few weeks on these
measures. I would be glad to
provide copies of the bills and
information about hearing
dates to anyone who is inter
ested. My office phone number is
378-8850. Or you may write me
at Room S317, State Capitol
Building, Salem, Ore. 97310.
A bill of major significance
that passed the Senate this
week is SB 92, the Columbia
River Compact measure.
Heretofore only Oregon and
Washington have made de
cisions concerning spring
chinook, and summer chinook
and steelhead runs. Now
Idaho will be consulted re
garding the management of
this important resource. This
is particularly justified since
these are all runs of fish that
use Idaho streams for spawn
ing and are being rapidly
depleted. This measure is of
particular interest to me
because of the work that three
of us did during the last
interim in a Natural Resour
Frost cost $60, 000
on co-op system
Columbia Basin Electric
Co-op reported that direct
costs from the severe "frost
storm", in late January and
early, , February resulted in
direct costs of approximately
$iiii.(t(Ki. Most of this was in
labor and equipment costs.
However, there were such
items as $800,00 in rope pur
chased during that time, used
in cleaning the lines.
There were many extra cost
items, such as: broken ex
tendo sticks; loss of a ladder
truck for a period of time; and
many, many extra meal costs.
In addition to the direct
storm costs, Columbia Basin
completely field checked
every pole and line in the
Senate bill
dangerous
Slate Senator Ken Jern
stedt, R-Dist. 28, told the
Gazette-Times this week that
he considers Senate Bill 461 "a
very dangerous piece of legis
lation." The bill would both
reinforce and extend the
Occupational Safety and
Health Act (OSHA) powers.
"Recently a hearing was
held on SB 461. It would allow
a judge to issue an adminis
trative inspection warrant to a
public officer for investigation
and inspection if there was
probable cause to believe that
a state or local law was being
broken," Jernstedt said,
spections within my district.
This bill would not only re
inforce OSHA's powers, but
would extend them to other
agencies.
"Opponents believe it is a
Action adds
$32 million
for timber
A Senate-House conference
committee agreed Monday to
additional funding to increase
timber sales in National for
ests. An added $32 million for
timber sales and roads was
included in the final version of
the 1977 supplemental appro
priations bill, according to a
joint statement of Sen. Mark
Hatfield and Congressman
Bob Duncan.
The appropriations bill in
cludes $3 million to begin
timber salvage in Eastern
Oregon.
ces subcommittee to generate
pressure for this type of legis
lation. Land Commission
Environment and Energy
has now held extensive hear
ings but as yet has taken no
action on a number of bills
concerning that very contro
versial agency, (LCDA)
(Land Conservation and De
velopment Commission). The
governor and legislative lead
ers promised an overhaul of
this agency and its power
when they campaigned to
keep Ballot Measure 10 (abol
ishing LCDC) from passing
last Fall. I continue to believe
that there should be the
highest possible degree of
local control and the least
possible amount of state-level
decisions in this area.
We have at least eight
separate proposals, totaling
over 120 pages. Included in
them is one that would elimi
nate the threat to local gov
ernments that the LCDC will
take over local planning when
state standards are not met. I
hope that we will now start
work sessions on this import
ant subject. I know that the
Chairman of Ways and Means
wants changes to be made. He
is also on the Environment
and Energy Committee and I
have the distinct feeling that
this session will not end until
changes are made.
"problem" frost areas. This
was done to make certain that
all necessary line mainten
ance would be taken care of
promptly by Co-op crews. (In
the recent severe windstorm
two weeks ago, there were no
outages in the problem frost
areas.) Without the proper
maintenance replacement of
crossarms, repair of stranded
wires, retying of conductor
and resagging, there would
have been many outages.
A complete line inventory of
the "problem" frost areas is
currently underway. The
Co-op is developing a 5 year
plan of spending $250,000 to
improve facilities in those
"problem" areas.
labled
in scope
fishing license and unconsti
tutional as proposed. It ap
pears to me to be a way to
circumvent by legislative ac
tion recent judicial decisions
regarding OSHA inspections. I
am very much in opposition.
Rhea's take
Salem tour
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Rhea of
Lexington and Mr. and Mrs.
Jerry Myers of Heppner were
among 49 persons partici
pating in the Home Extension
sponsored tour to the State
Legislature March 30, Molly
Saul, Extension Home Econ
omist for Morrow and Uma
tilla Counties reports.
It was the third such Ex
tension sponsored educational
tour. The participants ob
served both the Senate and the
House of Representatives and
visited legislative committee
meetings.
Luncheon date
slated
Annual Cowbelle Spring
Luncheon is set for April 13 at
the Episcopal Parish Hall in
Heppner. The noon luncheon,
to be served by the parish
women, features a salad
buffet. Any interested person
can attend the noon luncheon.
Hospital programs move
Word has been received
from Washington that Con
gressman Al Ullman and
other Oregon representatives
have given their support to a
proposed $200,000 proposal for
expansion of out-patient facili
ties at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in Heppner. '
The report was made at a
Friday night, April 1, meeting
of the hospital board.
The board met to set forth a
job description prior to seek
ing a new hospital adminis
trator. The board agreed to
advertise the position at
$20,000, depending on quali
fications, with a deadline of
May 20 for accepting appli
cations. The board earlier moved to
seek state approval for a
$1,122,735 hospital expansion
program.
Water bank gets
Senate approval
The Senate Monday passed
legislation authorizing a
"water bank." The proposal,
shaped by Sen. Mark Hatfield,
is a voluntary program where
the government buys water
from willing sellers and re
sells it to willing buyers. The
House passed the legislation
early Monday.
Of $100 million in Hatfield's
amendment, $65 million would
fund the water bank, $20
million would provide money
for Bureau of Reclamation
Emergency drought assist
ance,, arid $15 million would
help fulfill Indian water treaty
obligations. The bill also con
tains $30 million for Bureau of
Reclamation drought-relief
programs.
The entire package is ex
pected to be complete with
enabling legislation by the end
of this week. Hatfield said he
has not heard any talk from
the White House indicating a
possible veto.
"While I recognize that this
program will not help every
one in Oregon facing problems
caused by the drought, it will
provide needed assistance,"
the Senator said.
Easter Sunday
Open for Breakfast 8-1 1
(Fruit Breakfast Bar)
Sunday .Afternoon Buffet Dinner
Apricot glazed ham
Ham stuffed with
fruit & nuts,
Sauerbraten roast,
Deep fried chicken,
Split pea soup,
Salad bar with 1 2
different fruits &
vegetables
Reservations Accepted
Adults $5.00
Children $2.50
Under 6 $1.50
Orders to go
Sandwiches 676-5149
Pizza 676-5551
Main St.
The plan prepared with the
assistance of the Tri-County
Health Service has been sub
mitted to the State Health
Birth announcements
Born to Mr. and Mrs.
Timothy Dale Cameron, Hep
pner, a son, Jason Henry.
Meeting
A meeting of all persons
interested in Heppner Com
munity Theatre has been
scheduled for the West of
Willow Restaurant. The dutch
treat session will begin at 6:30
p.m., Monday, April 11, Mar
sha Matthewson said.
Purpose of the session is to
establish by-laws, propose a
slate of directors and establish
a program for productions
during the 1977-78 season.
The planned April produc
tion of "You Can't Take It
With You" has been cancelled
due to problems in scheduling
practice for the 17 member
cast.
Letters to the Editor
Opposition made known
Editor
Gazette-Times
In recent weeks, there have been several news articles and
Letters to the Editor in various Oregon newspapers
concerning the recent pay raise for Members of Congress.
Because some confusion seems to exist regarding my stand
on the matter, I would like to make my position clear to your
readers.
I opposed the proposed salary increases because, as did the
majority of Oregon residents, I felt such raises were
inappropriate in both timing and amount. I am on record as
having opposed every pay increase that has been proposed
since I entered the Senate in 1967, and I voted to block these
pay increases, as well, when the matter was brought to a vote
on February 2.
More recently, on March 11, I voted to bar Members of
Congress from receiving any cost-of-living increases that
may be granted to federal employees in October. This
legislation, S.964, is now before the House of Representatives
for their consideration. I have indicated my support for
salary increases for Federal judges should they be
considered separately.
Thank you for this opportunity to explain my position on
these issues.
Sincerely,
Mark O. Hatfield
United States Senator
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12-4
Mashed potatoes
Scalloped potatoes,
Potato pancakes,
Candied sweet.
potatoes,
Asparagus in
cheese sauce,
Herbed cauliflower,
Corn on the cob,
Heppner
J Z
Planning Office to meet an
action deadline of April 15,
according to Bob Ewell of the
Tri-County office.
Born April 1 at Pioneer
Memorial Hospital, he joins a
sister Michelle at home.
Grandparents are Mr. and
Mrs. Ed Pfennig, Wallace,
Ida.; and Mr. Bob Cameron,
Pascall, Ida. Also, Mrs. Bar
bara Hustoft, Coeur d'Alene,
Ida. Great-grandparents are
Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Fannon,
Sand Point, Ida., and Pauline
Pfennig, Westminster, Colo.
Born to Mr. and Mrs.
Clifford Lee Lankford, a son,
Tyson James, March 29, at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital...
Grandparents are Mr. and
Mrs. Jim' Lankford, Heppner.
Great-grandparents are Mr.
and Mrs. Dutch Lankford,
Pilot Rock, Mrs. ' Eleanor
Debok, Pilot Rock, and Mrs.
Agnes Haugen, Echo.
p f
Apple pie,
Lemon pie,
Boston creme
pie
Rolls,
Coffee, tea,
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