Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1978)
" -f " 1 ' " 4 4 LETTERS COMMENTS Sifting through EDITORIAL .i .1 ! 'Yes' vote is urged for roads Morrow County voters go to the polls next Tuesday to cast their ballots on a $195,000 three-year serial road levy. The first of several tax measures to be voted on this year, the road levy deserves the support of all voters. EDITORIAL The special levy provides the necessary operating and maintenance monies for the Morrow County Road Department and there is even some money there for improvement of roads. In addition, each city in the county shares in the $195,000 for improvement and maintenance of streets within the incorporated areas. It should be noted that voters have approved special levys for our roads since 1948 the amount at that time being $120,000. For 30 years then, the Road Department has maintained and improved over 1,000 miles of road without asking the voters for a substantial increase in funds. That is a credit to Doc Sherer and his crew and now, this year, with inflation eating away at the dollar, the Road Department needs voter approval of the $195,000 levy. Each and every person that uses the county road system which directly or indirectly includes everyone has a vested interest in seeing the levy pass. We urge a "yes" vote on the road levy next Tuesday, February 28. -f .imi ivy? . . v r V i V" f -DP' . u..n. w.,.,u,JCiJI i t ! . V j Six seniors were awarded Klks Scholarships after local competition held Feb. 15. Ileppner students at left are: (front row l-r) Bruce Young and Don McEwen (back row l-r) Kathy Wolff and Kristi Edmundson. lone winners above are !l-r Jan Peterson and Grace McElligott. Six seniors awarded Elks scholarship Heppner High School sen iors Kathy Wolff and Bruce Young were first place win ners in the local competition of the Elks Most Valuable Stu dent Contest held last week in Heppner. The two students were awarded $400 scholar ships to be used at the college of their choice and will now advance to the district contest to be held Sunday, Feb. 26, in Hood River. Second place scholarship awards of $200 were presented to Kristi Edmundson and Don McEwen, also from Heppner. Tying for the third place scholarship of $100 were Grace McElligott and Jan Peterson, both from lone High School. The Elks scholarships are presented annually to local high school seniors with the selection based on scholar ship, leadership and need. This year the program was handled bv an Elks committee consisting of Jerry Martin, Jim Swanson, Don Isom, Mike Sweeney and George Koffler. chairman The Elks extend special thanks to high school counse lors Vi Lanham and Gordon Meyers for their guidance work with the students. California isn't alone in quest for share of Columbia and Snake River waters NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles that the President of the United States and members of Congress be respectfully requested to have the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers develop programs for using water wasted from the Columbia River to help meet the water and food needs of A merica . By Terry M. Hager Managing Editor The passage quoted above was excerpted from a Dec. 13, 1977 resolution passed by the L.A. County Board of Supervi sors and submitted to Presi dent Carter and all members of the U.S. Congress. It was preceeded by a variety of WHEREAS's redolent of the fragrance typical of efforts to camouflage vested interest with the cloak of national necessity. The resolution urged review "...of several possible aque duct systems, including one to connect the Columbia River by aqueduct with California's water system, which begins at Shasta Lake..." and another connecting the Snake River at Thousand Springs in Southern Idaho with the Colorado River which then feeds into Califor nia's water system. Despite the resolution's ill founded assurance that "...these plans can be built (sic) without disrupting sal mon fishing, hydro-electrical generating or the ecology of the Columbia River...," the reaction from Columbia Basin states was predictably swift and negative. TEN-YEAR MORATORIUM The issue of diverting Co lumbia Basin water to the Southwest, and particularly California, has been kicking around for many years. It went into hibernation with passage of the 1968 Colorado River Basin Project Act, which among other things, provided "...That for a period of ten years from the date of this act (Sept. 30, 1968) the Secretary (of the Interior) shall not undertake reconnais sance studies of any plan for the importation of water into the Colorado River Basin from any other natural drainage basin lying outside. ..the na tural drainage basin of the Colorado River." MORATORIUM EXPIRES THIS YEAR The moratorium expires this year, on Sept. 30, 1978. It has become clear during the past decade that diversion of Columbia River water to the Southwest is not economically or environmentally feasible. In February 1977, Washing ton Senator Henry Jackson introduced legislation which would extend for ten years the moratorium on studying di version of Columbia Basin waters. Cosponsors were Sen ators Magnuson (Wash.), Mel cher and Metcalf (Mont.), Hatfield and Packwood (Oreg.), Church and McClure (Idaho). Action on this bill is expected this year, however, a companion bill has not yet been introduced on the House side. BACK ON THE RANGE Meanwhile, back in the Columbia Basin states, those traditionally unable or unwil ling to adopt a rational. basinwide water management plan are unanimously opposed to any outside plan that would reduce the amount of water available to disagree over. There is a feeling among many that main-stem Colum bia and Snake River flows are not sufficient to serve all simultaneous demands from the Pacific Northwest states. The threat from California, however far-fetched, is expec ted to accelerate state com mitments of Columbia and Snake River water for con sumptive use which have already reached gold rush proportions in some areas of the basin. Oregonians, and especially those in Eastern Oregon where Columbia River waters could put many acres of land under irrigation, should be aware of this water allotment. Only a certain amount of water will be allocated to the states of Washington and Oregon for irrigation purposes and interests in both states are battling hard lor the lion's share EDITOR'S NOTE: Our thanks to the Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead Report for much of the information used in this article. The Report is published by the nonprofit Northwest Resource Informa tion Center. Inc., Eagle, Idaho 83616. ""GAZETTE - TIME The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow Published every Thursday and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second-class postage paid at Heppner, Oregon. G.M. Reed, Publisher Dolores Reed, Co-publisher Terry M. Hager, Managing Editor Jim Summers, News Editor Eileen Saling, Officer Manager Elane Blanchet, Reporter Gayle Rush, Composing Chloe Pearson, Composing Justine Weatherford , Local Columnist Letters to the Editor Letter appreciated Editor, A great big tip of the hat to Carl Marquardt for his truthful and informative letter about our canal and to The Heppner Gazette-Times for printing it. I think it is hard for people in the U.S. to realize our desperate present problems. , Or perhaps they just don't care ! Doesn't it seem strange that all of a sudden so many grain elevators have blown up? Why weren't the causes of the blasts off of the Eastern coast accounted for by our government? In any one would be interested enough to want to know these answers and many more of the conditions surrounding us; I would suggest that they write to, Dr. Peter David Beter Audio Books Inc, P.O. Box 16428, Fort Worth, Texas 76133. Most Concerned, Lois Winchester Where to write Federal Following is a list of Oregon and Eastern Oregon public officials for the information of readers who want to communicate with them: . U.S. Sen. Mark O. Hatfield, Russell Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510. Member of Appropriations Committee, Interior Committee, Rules Committee and Indian Policy Review Commission. Portland office , Pioneer Courthouse, Rm. 107, 520 SW Morrison, Portland, Ore. 97204, phone 221-3386. U.S. Sen Bob Packwood, Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C, 20510. Member of Finance Committee and Commerce Committee. Portland office, 1002 NE Halladay, Rm. 700, (P.O. Bos 3621), Portland, Ore. 97208, phone 233-4471.- U.S. Rep. Al Ullman, of the Second District, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. Member of Ways and Means Committee. Salem office, 150 N. Church, Rm. 219 (P.O. Box 247), Salem, Ore. 97310, phone 399-5724. State Gov. Robert Straub, State Capitol, Salem, Ore. 97310, phone 378-3100. State Sen. Ken Jernstedt (Morrow, Gilliam and other counties), 311 Pine St., Hood River, 386-1393. State Rep. Jack Sumner (Morrow, Gilliam and other counties). Route 1, Heppner, 676-5364. the TIMES!! as Both the lone Cardinals and the Heppner Mustangs were in a good position to win a state basketball tournament berth in their respective divisions this week ten years ago, the Gazette-Times reported in two front page stories. Heppner was tied for first place in the western division of the A-2 Greater Oregon League with one game'left to play and assured of no worse than a second place tie. The Cardinals, with two games to play in their regular season, were tied for second place in the Morrow-Umatilla B League and headed into the 7-B district tourney held in Pendleton Cal's Arco, owned by Cal and Beverly Sherman of Heppner, opened for business ten years ago this week as Cal's Richfield, formerly Wes's Richfield. The established service station opened its doors under Cal's management for the first time Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1968. Kathy Hinton, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Cleve Hintofl of Boardman, was chosen third princess on the 1968 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo, representing the Boardman Tillicum Club. For her summer appearances with the court, Kathy planned to ride a favorite family quarter horse, "Babydoll", owned by her grandfather, George Hinton. The Times reported 600 persons attended the 61st birthday celebration of Heppner Elks Lodge 358 this week in 1958. Presented with $25 savings bonds were Phyllis Quackenbush and Eddie Goshens, winners of the annual leadership award for outstanding high school students. Interest is beginning to pick up in the upcoming gubernatorial election this year, and so it was this week 20 years ago with three candidates already running in each party. In the Democratic corner, it was incumbent Robert D. Holmes, Lew Wallace and Wiley Smith. The Republicans offered Sig Unander, Warren Gill and Mark Hatfield, throwing his hat in the gubernatorial ring for the first time. A pearl of wisdom was printed in the Times this week in 1948 : "Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts." In sifting through old volumes of the Gazette-Times, it is very difficult to overlook the prices advertised for food, clothes and such. For example, 30 years ago, T-bone steaks were advertised for 59 cents a pound ; sliced bacon, 65 cents a pound; fancy beef roast, 49 cents a pound; sugar, 5 lbs. for 47 cents; Wesson oil, 85 cents per quart; lamps, $l-$5; tables, $l-$4; spring name brand pumps and sandals, $5.90; and on and on. Forty years back the prices were even more enticing: bacon, lb. 29 cents; 4 lb. tin Edwards coffee, 89 cents: shortening, 8 lbs., 98 cents; eggs, large farm fresh, 2 doz.. 35 cents. This week in 1938, the Times published an editorial which gave hint of a possible future world-wide conflict: "Next November, 20 years will have elapsed since the echo of the last gun fired in the great World War found rest in Flanders field. Germany, nude from the strip poker game at Versailles which followed the conflict, since that time has become fully clothed with a new generation of soldiers, armaments and control of the Rhine; has indeed obtained all former attire except her colonies. "Now Hitler has demanded restoration of these, the lion's share of which accompanied John Bull when he walked away from Versailles. The ultimatum has rung out loud and clear. And John Bull has equivocated. "...Sir Neville Chamberlain, prime minister... hopes to avoid armed conflict. ..He is attempting a middle-of-the-road course in the hope of peaceful settlement of the present crisis. He will probably find Uncle Samuel generally sympathetic with his desire, but not at all certain that such a course is possible. Dictators are in the habit of having their will oberyed or else. Or else? a simple purge of blood." In 1938, when Heppner's FFA chapter was only a year old, the Times reported on one of the club's activities: "The Heppner FFA boxing team kept up its record of not having lost an encounter this year when they took a win from the Condon boxers last Friday..." Local boys fighting in the match were Dick Wilkinson, Floyd Williams, Don Bennett, Rufus Hill, Joe Aikens, Jack Merrill, Clayton Wright, Arthur Vance, Lawrence Wehmeyer, Johnny Hays, and Howard Patton. Dr. Tibbies refereed, while local coaches Bill Bennett and Robert Knox looked on. Sixty years ago, the mayor of Astoria, F.C. Harley, obviously an Oregon patriot and a man who believed in calling 'a spade a spade', submitted a guest editorial from Washington D.C. which the Times published, as notable for its style at its content: "Your Uncle Samuel, sitting at the head of the Nation's table, around which are gathered his big family of states, has with generous hand been carving and passing choice morsels to his favorite sons. But how has Oregon fared at this festive table? "Well, 'old Man Oregon', as we affectionately call him at home, has been getting the crumbs, the leavings. The prime cuts went to those states who made their wants known in unmistakeable terms. Oregon, forlorn and neglected, sat off at a far corner, too bashful, too modest to make a noise like a regular boarder, and naturally was overlooked..." Letters Policy ALL LETTERS of general interest are welcomed, providing they are in good taste and not libelous. 250 WORDS IS about the maximum length we can ' accept, however, if you need more space, please use it. ALL LETTERS MUST be signed to be considered. If you wish to have your name withheld for good cause we will do so after contacting you for an explanation. TELEPHONE NUMBERS should be included. The number will only be used by the Gazette-Times to confirm it was you who wrote the letter. THE GAZETTE-TIMES reserves the right to refuse any letter it deems unfit for publication. LETTERS SHOULD BE addressed to Editor, Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Ore., 97836. t I , - m, m- 4 - 4.
