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LETTERS
COMMENTS
Sifting through
EDITORIAL
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'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.
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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.
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