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TWO The Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, April 13, 1978
LETTERS
City Council needs
to make a decision
Notably absent from Heppner's proposed budget is any
provision for water line improvements to the planned 24-unit
apartment complex on Elder Street. This, despite the fact
that the Gresham builder behind the project is banking on an
assurance given by Mayor Jerry Sweeney that adequate
water will be provided to the apartment site at city expense if
the project materializes.
Editorial
Ken Hardy of Cason and Hardy Construction Co., was
present at the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, during which
Sweeney told him, "If the city grants the building permit (for
the apartments) it's up to the city to make sure there is
sufficient water".
Although the statement was made by Sweeney without
the benefit of a council vote on the question, it was made
during the course of the meeting and in the presence of
Councilmen Hubert Wilson, Cliff Green, Jim Rogers and Bob
Jones none of whom asked the question be put to a vote and
only Green having expressed an opinion to contradict
Sweeney's assurance.
Sweeney went on to tell Hardy he expected the building
permit to be issued later in the month pending approval by
the city building inspector. Since that time Cason and Hardy
have run into a temporary roadblock becuase of difficulties
in securing financing. But Hardy has said he is pursuing
other financing options and hopes to soon proceed with the
project. ,
Hardy left the Feb. 7 council meeting believing he had a
consensus of the council behind him as well as the city's
official assurance that water would be provided to the
apartments at no additional expense to him; He told the
Gazette-Times this week he is still operating under that
assumption.
The cost of replacing the estimated 600 feet of water line to
provide adequate water service and fire protection for the
apartments will be substantial. It should have been
considered in the budgeting process. It wasn't.
Whether the situation that presently exists came about
through a lack of communication on the council or through a
lack of foresight, it should be clarified. And now is the time to
get it straight, before other contractors and developers bring
similar proposals before the council.
jms
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 0. 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, Pertland, 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, 1802 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, 530 Center St. N.E., Rm.
330, (P.O. Box 247) Salem, Ore., 97308, 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.
Picture Credit
The State of Oregon's Energy Facility
Siting Council met this week in Board
man . Allen Nistad, (center) General
manager of Kinzua Corporation in Hep
pner, is vice-chairman of the Council.
COMMENTS
EDITORIAL
i fA V - ;
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, ' 1 '
?t ! - , , .
Citizens can become involved
in conservation
Local citizens interested in
conservation will have new
opportunities for action under
a law signed in November by
President Carter. Although it
has not received a lot of
attention, the Soil and Water
Resources Conservation Act
of 1977 may well be one of the
most significant pieces of
legislation in the history of
the natural resource conser
vation movement in the Uni
ted States.
The new law calls for a
comprehensive look at our
basic natural resources and ,;
for better programs to protect ?
and improve them. An impor
tant part of the law is its
emphasis on citizen participa
taion in determining the
future direction of national
conservation programs which
affect local communities.
Under the law, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's
Soil Conservation Service
(SCS) will appraise the na
tion's natural resources, de
velop a five-year program to
guide conservation efforts and
evaluate the program's effec
tiveness each year.
The Morrow Soil and Water
Conservation District, in co
operation with SCS, will con
duct an open meeting and
workshop on the Resources
Conservation Act May 2 in
Boardman. Further informa
tion about the meeting will
appear in upcoming issues of
the Gazette-Times or can be
obtained by calling Dick '
McElligott of the Morrow Soil
and Water Conservation Dis
trict. In order to develop a truly
responsive conservation pro
gram, organizers of the meet
ing must have the participa
tion of concerned individuals,
as well as local governments,
farm and environmental or
ganizations and other inter
ested groups.
Soil and water conservation
programs in this country have
a long and successful history
of being locally initiated,
locally planned and locally
managed through conserva
tion districts. The Soil and
Water Resources Conserva
tion Act of 1977 broadens this
traditional approach to in
clude even wider public in
volvement which will not end
at the district level.
Although SCS must conduct
the appraisal and develop the
program under rigid time
constraints, the opportunity
for formal public participation
has been provided throughout
the process and ideas and
comments are welcomed at
any time.
...have something
to say?
The Gazette-Times welcomes
letters from readers on any subject
of general interest.Jetters should
be not more than 250 words
Letters From Readers
Stranger a frightening experience
Editor,
It was starting to snow at our ranch on the night of April
5. I was preparting to retire at 11 p.m. when I heard a
commotion in the yard. There was a light on in the kitchen
and I looked out the window and saw a man coming up the
walk. I went to the bedroom for a robe and awoke my
husband. By the time I got back to the door, the man was
roaming around in the large porch muttering and talking
loudly. I was not too alarmed yet, thinking it was someone I
might recognize. I opened the kitchen door and asked who
was there. At the time the man came into view. I was startled
by his appearance long stringy black hair, a hooded coat
and a wild look in his eyes. I didn't see the ax he was carrying
yet. He wanted to come in for hot coffee and something to eat.
He couldn't tell me where he came from or where he was
except he was broke, HO job, bt;eil Walking in the bilow
in the mountains, with no fuel, etc. That wasn't enough for
me to let him into the house. I offered a sandwhich and didn't
think my husband would ever come. He said he'd sleep in the
barn , I again asked where he was headed he said San Diego. I
wanted to get to the phone. Paul appeared and ordered him to
the road to wait and said that we would call the police. He
reached down and picked up the ax lying on the porch where
he had placed it. I shut the door and locked it and called our
THEn
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
Ron Jordan, Printer
son to call the police. Our car was sitting in the barnyard and
there was a pickup with two guns. We had a gun on the porch
that Paul immediately got out and we waited. I locked the
two screen doors and I could still hear him hollering. In a
short time we saw him coming back with the ax over his
shoulder. When he reached the yard gate, my husgand told
him to come no farther, that he would shoot. The stranger
said, "If I had a gun I'd blow your head off". We again told
him to get to the road gate and wait, the police were on the
way. He cursed and shouted all the way to the road gate. I
again called the police and was told they were on the way.
Our son took his wife and baby to Eddie Brosnan's and
alerted the neighbors. They all arrived with the police Vic
Groshens, Sheriff Fetsch and Simon Winters' rescue squad.
Thank God for our alert officers in Morrow County. Do we
appreciate them ! The anniversary of the terrible tragedy in
lone, last year, was fresh on my mind. Many have come to
our door stranded, but this was different. We always were
able to let them in to use the telephone and call friends. How
times have changed when we can't trust our fellow man any
more. I had a terrible feeling of guilt along with fear for
having to turn a hungry man away from my door.
In conclusion, I will help on the petition drive in my
, community, Butter Creek, so the Oregon voters can
determine if they want a capital punishment law enacted. I
believe it is a fair law to protect the innocent and punish the
murderer.
Kathleen Hisler
Sifting through
tine TTMEi "
Heppner was getting set for a festive Saturday night this rs
week in 1968, as plans for the annual band carnival were ,m
announced in the Gazette-Times. The event, sponsored by the s
PTA to raise money for special scholarships, was slated to'
include a barbeque beef dinner; a dart toss, bookstore, fish 0J
pond, fortune telling, country store, and other booths; manyx
ize drawings; and a dance following the carnival.. i0
, - Slated to compete in the king and queen contest were .93
Christy Bradley and John Meyers, sixth grade; Barbara
Sherman and David Eckman, seventh grade; and Debby)fn
McLeod and Bruce Bergstrom, eighth grade; and Susan
Melby and Jim Sherman, high school. gs
Tum-A-Lum Lumber Company in Heppner announced
. plans, to close its doors this week ten years ago. The building
and supply business had been operating in the same site on5i.
Main Street for 48 years, and was the smallest Tum-A-Lum
yard still in business. Local manager Tim Moore planned to
take over operation of the company yard in Pendleton after u,
the Heppner closure.
John Rawlins, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Rawlins, was
named Heppner High School valedictorian of his graduating l1(
class ten years ago, while Merri Lee Jacobs, daughter of Mr. , ,
; and Mrs. Walter Jacobs, was selected salutatorian.
It was decided this week in 1958 that the question of v
whether or not Lexington High School should be discontinued
should be placed before the voters. The decision was made at
a meeting of the Education Betterment Committee where a )rj,
panel consisting of Mrs. Max Barclay, Kenneth Peck, Eldon ( 1
Padberg, Alonzo Henderson and moderator Harold Beach, ii;
discussed various aspects, pf whether or not the high school ,,;
should, be closed and students transported to other schools , .
before an anticipated union high school was constructed. ,k!
Though the ultimate goal of the education committee was (jr;
a consolidated school panelists admitted the realization of
, that goal was a long time off, and the decision was made to (
t place the issue before the voters, .
The Pomona Grange, meeting in a special session in ,. ,
Irrigon this week 20years ago, passed a resolution asking the
. County Court to appoint a committee to circulate petitions to
include the question of whether or not to form a Morrow
County Port Commission on the November ballot in 1958.
A 13-year-old lone girl was selected as queen of the Fossil
Junior Rodeo 20 years' ago this week.
Sandra Eubanks, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John
Eubanks, was chosen to lead the court over 11 contestants
vying for the honor because of her display of excellent riding
ability, according to a Gazette-Times report. '
The Heppner Soroptomists were fittingly launched on
April 10, 1948, with a ceremony conducted by members of the
sponsoring Baker group. Included in the evening event was a
dinner for 50, prepared by Mrs. Clive Huston and Mrs. Grace
Hughes, a speech by Mayor Conley Lanham in which he
proclaimed the club's organization 'the biggest thing that has
happened in Heppner since he first knew the town', and
installation of officers.
The first officers of the still active Soroptomists were
Mrs. O.G. Crawford, president; Mrs. Fay Bucknum,
: vice-president; Mrs. Frances Mitchell, treasurer; Mrs.
Jesse Payne, corresponding secretary; Mrs. Edmund Gonty,
recording secretary; and Miss Leta Humphreys, Mrs. Joe
Hughes and Mrs. Grace Nickerson, executive board.
Both sheep-shearers and growers alike agreed in
1938 that there was no need locally to take heed of the shear
ers walkout declared by the union leaders of the CIO for Ore
gon, California, Washington, and Idaho; "Local leaders see
no reason for demanding that the CIO label be sewed on
sacks containing wool of local growers. There is no contro
versy over price or any other differences which should call
for any threat of national boycott... because of non-appearance
of the union label. ..the shearers believe. Some of the
shearers are quoted as saying that all they can see in the
threat is an attempt to make all shearers pay tribute to a
union from which they have asked nothing.'.'
Lexington residents passed a proposed $7,000 bond issue ,
to purchase the town's privately-owned water system by a
54-4 vote this week 40 years ago. Ownership of the system
passed into municipal hands from Mrs. Elsie M. Beach and
Mrs. Laura Scott.
The Gazette-Times reprinted part of an editorial entitled t
"Too much Censorship" this week in 1918: "Ever since a
bureau of public information was founded at Washington and ,
a strict (wartime) censorship passed on all matter of news,
there has been objections presented on the part of this liberty
loving people. As the Pendleton Tribune says, 'the was ;
department seems to be utterly lost in its policy or lack of
policy in the matter of news censorship. It promises to keep
the public informed on war conditions and then fails to do so.
"...as long as nothing can daunt our resolutions, not
even the painful, gloom of wounded and dying, then why
should the facts.. .not be given to the people. The subject of
press censorhip introduces the not time-worn phrase that
'the administration is above criticism", yet loyal and
constructive criticism may yet prove to have been the
salvation of democracy and the very thing that sped up the
winning of the war so far as the United States is concerned.
What mistake can the Government make taking a free.
intelligent thinking people into its confidence?"
Weather
Community
BILLBOARD !
Call
676-9228
Thursday AP' 13
Soroptomists, Wagon Wheel,
noon
Style show and card party,
Nomad Restaurant, Board-
man, 7:30 p.m.
Friday April u
Focus pn Women confab,
BMCC, Pendleton, 7 p.m.
.f Saturday April 15
I Women confab, BMCC, 9
a.m.
I Lumberjack Show, fair
grounds, 1 p.m.
i Fiddlers' concert, 7 p.m.;
I dance, 9 p.m., fair pavilion
I Willows Grange,, potluck,
I grange hall, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday April 16
m
I Wranglers potluck and play
day, W. grounds, noon '
I Monday April 17
I Morrow County School
I Board, A.C. Houghton, 8 p.m.
1 Tuesday April is
1 Lions, West of Willow,
I Heppner, noon
Wednesday April 19
I lone Garden Club, plant sale,
I lone Legion Hall, 10 a.m. -4
p.m.
HI Low Pre!
Wed., Apr. 5 56 35
Thurs.,Apr.6 44 34 .15 1
Fri., Apr. 7 53 39 T . 1
Sat., Apr. 8 58 35
Sun., Apr. 9 65 34
Mon.,Apr. 10 71 40 j
Tues.,Apr. 11 63 36 j
HI
Sponsored
: By
RAY
BOYCE
INSURANCE
228 N. Main St. Heppner 676-9625
4 i
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