The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
Sifting through
the TIMES
V7DU
Sumner rerun is ludicrous
Any move by former Rep. Jack Sumner to have the
May 1978 primary election in which he lost his House
seat to Chuck Bennett invalidated on the basis of his
circuit court victory over Bennett last week is
ludicrous.
The Marion County jury did not rule on whether the
election should be overturned as Sumner sought
but, instead awarded him $147 in general damages for
Bennett's false campaign statements made early in the
primary election campaign. Bennett admitted his
statements were incorrect before the election and the
jury's award of $147 rather than the $35,000 in general
and punitive damages Sumner asked is representa
tive of the impact Bennett's statements had on Sumner
losing the election.
When the people of District 55 went to the polls in
November and soundly elected Bill Bellamy their
representative over Chuck Bennett, they voiced a
choice for a politician certainly different from Jack
Sumner. The electorate wanted a conservative
representative who would also maintain a grass-roots
contact with his constituency, throughout District 55.
Bellamy called it last week when he told us that if
he had to run against Sumner again that he was sure he
would win, "but, it would be a pain in the neck, that's
for sure."
tmh
Just call us mudd
In all our excitement over Ione's stunning win over
MacLaren to capture the State Class B football crown,
the Gazette-Times staff failed to detect the clandestine
entrance of a gremlin into our office as we put together
last week's issue of the newspaper.
Anyway, that's as good an excuse as we can come
up with for the misspelling of Glen Krebs' name every
time it appeared in print. The Cardinal center had an
outstanding day during the championship contest,
consistently blocking out an opposing lineman who was
70 pounds larger. lone sportswriter Janet McElligott
clearly spelled Krebs' name correctly in the story she
submitted, as did columnist Robb Rush.
We certainly hope that Krebs doesn't take our
inadvertant (though consistent) misuse of his name
personally. After seeing his performance against
MacLaren, he's the last guy we'd want as an enemy.
We'd hate to live in fear of being low-tackled some
evening enroute to the G-T parking lot.
After reviewing last week's issue, it also appears
that we still have a problem in identifying birds. In one
headline, we referred to the MacLaren Hawks as the
MacLaren Eagles. The two species of fowl are
somewhat similar, but not that close. At least we didn't
call them the MacLaren Sandhill Cranes.
Although we attempted and in most cases,
succeeded in giving the lone Cardinals the champion
ship coverage they deserved, in the instances of Krebs
and the Hawks, our name is mud. With two d's.
LEinrEci!
Hazen rumors unfounded
Editor:
All rumors to the effect that my family and I are leaving
Heppner are totally and completely groundless.
As regards Milton-Freewater Yes, I am working in a
practice there two days per week.
We are taking appointments Monday through Friday
morning in the Heppner office.
Sincerely,
O.Lee Hazen, D.M.D.
iForest
Service
News
PUBLICACION DE IMEDIATA
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Poriin5,oV.;on.7208
(503) 221-2971
Hews Contacts:
Kurt Austermann
Evelyn Brown
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Distribuc
Maybe the Forest Service got our address
transposed with that of the Guadalajara Gazette
Times. At any rate, this news release arrived in just
this form with no accompanying note of explanation
last week. We're glad that the Forest Service has
personnel with t bilingual capabilities on its public
relations staff, and that it is apparently making its jobs
more accessible to persons of Hispanic descent. But
we'll wait until a similar release arrives in English
before carrying a news story. Unless, of course, the
Forest Service in the meantime hires public relation
specialists versed in Serbo-Croation or Swahili.
Confusion reigns at outset of new Oregon
Legislature session
A certain amount of confu
sion is normal when law
makers prepare for a regular
biennial session of the Oregon
Legislature.
But in some circles, the
current frustration quotient
appears to be nearing record
proportions as Salem antici
pates the 60th Assembly's
meeting due to convene on
Monday, Jan. 8.
And there are those who
fear the situation will leave an
indelible stamp on delibera
tions to come.
Amply housed in an expand
ed building and abetted by
experienced staff, one might
expect this Legislature to
have little problem cranking
up for the work ahead. The
interim period since last
session has seen at least a
score of task forces studying
problems and issues to be
addressed. The bill-drafting
arm of the Legislature has
received a record number of
requests for measures well in
advance of the upcoming
session.
The staffs of both Gov. Bob
Straub and Gov. -elect Victor
Atiyeh are cooperating com
mendably in the process of
existence. In the process of
electing their individual law
makers, they unwittingly
created a collective conglom
eration of partisan and philo
sophical entities that may not
Salem Scene
An exclusive to Oregon's weekly newspapers
By Jack Zimmerman
effecting a smooth transition
from one administration to the
next.
Even voters appeared to
cooperate during last month's
General Election by turning
out only an average number of
experienced incumbents and
seating untried freshmen in
their places.
What then, is causing the
abnormal confusion and who's
to blame?
Most of the confusion is in
the House of Representatives.
And voters must accept much
of the responsibility for its
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The Heppner
EWE-TIME
Morrow County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper
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.AA. Reed, Publisher
Rick Steelhammer, News Editor
Gayle Rush, Composition
Dolores Reed, Co-publisher
Eileen Saling, Office Manager
Melissa Scott, Composition
Ron Jordan, Printer
Terry M. Hager, Managing Editor
Justine Weatherford, Local Columnist
Cindi Doherty, AdvertisingOffice
be able to settle their differ
ences. Most visible, of course, is
the difficulty majority Demo
crats have been experiencing
in the process of electing a
Speaker of the House. Major
ity Democrats in the Senate
quickly re-elected Jason Boe
to an unprecendented fourth
term as President and return
ed each of their other leaders
to office. In legislative par
lance, the Senate is organized.
That organization was fairly
simple. The 23 Senate Demo
crats acted unanimously and
the remaining seven Republi
cans in that 30-member cham
ber had no chance to threaten
their superiority.
House organization this ses
sion is something else. Of its 60
members, 26 are GOPs and 34
are Demos. But eight of the
apparent majority Democrats
have formed ranks of their
own and split away from their
peers. The move is a continua
tion of frustration by that
particular group that led to
the overthrow of former
Speaker Phil Lang during the
59th session two years ago.
Consequently, that left
majority Democrats and
minority Republicans with 26
members each something of
a standoff when you consider
it takes 31 votes to elect a
presiding officer.
Failure of the House to
organize so far has delayed a
number of preparatory activi
tiessome minor, others of
significant magnitude. Unless
watered down by new rules,
the Speaker has considerable
powers and authority. The
presiding officer traditionally
selects chairmen of the var
ious committees that conduct
the bulk of legislative busi
ness. His is the last word when
it comes to assigning mem
bers to those committees. He
also assigns bills to commit
tees and through this process
alone can shape the ultimate
legislative product.
And then there are other
details over which he pre
sides; such as the assignment
of seats on the House floor,
office space and even the
spaces in the Capitol base
ment where lawmakers park
their cars. He plays a big role
in hiring temporary staff and
influences employment of per
manent employes also.
When it comes time to
convene, the Speaker opens
the joint session of both House
and Senate and is required to
canvass the gubernatorial
vote. Although he then lu-ns
the gavel over to the Senate
President for the balance of
the inaugural, he serves as
host in his own chamber for
the swearing of the state's new
chief executive.
While waiting for the House
to organize, legislative staff
has been doing all in its power
to prepare for the coming
session. But that power has
limits and much is yet undone.
Failure to elect a permanent
Speaker prior to Jan. 8 won't
delay the session's official
opening nor the inaugural of
Victor Atiyeh. A temporary
Speaker could emerge to take
care of certain preliminaries.
A temporary Speaker also
could be named to preside
during the session's first day.
Then again, the, dissident
eight House Democrats might
Although 1918-vintage cars may not have ha3 the
horsepower of today's vehicles, it was still possible to get
arrested for speeding in Heppner, as several local motorists
discovered 60 years ago this week.
According to the Gazette-Times, "Sgt. Stockwell of the
Oregon Military Police arrived in Heppner without previous
announcement Thursday last, and his stay here has been
fruitful in that a number of speeders have been brought
before the city recorder to make a proper accounting for
deeds performed. Of this number, Fred Lucas and Joe Kenny
were the first to be hailed before the court, the former paying
$15 and the latter $20.
"George Thomson was taken in also, and contributed his
mite, and John Kiehn of lone was the latest victim. Of course,
none of the parties had exceeded the speed limit, but they
failed to convince the officers of that fact..."
During the same week in 1918, County lawmen had their
hands full handling an investigation into the shooting death of
Strawberry Flats farmer Alfred Schaefer.
Shaefer had been fatally shot while operating his horse
drawn plow in his grain fields. His body was discovered by
his housekeeper, a Mrs. Bowers, who went to investigate his
whereabouts when his team of horses appeared back at the
farmhouse without him.
The mystery surrounding his death ended not long after
the discovery, when Charles Morey, a neighbor of Shaefer's,
turned himself in to W.G. Scott in Lexington, confessed to the
killing, and was placed in Heppner jail. According to the
Gazette-Times account of the shooting, "the tragedy has cast
a gloom over the neighborhood, as the dead man was
well-liked, and Mr. Morey has always stood well among those
who know him."
Thirty years ago this week, Heppner City Council
granted Jim Lyons of John Day permission to operate a taxi
service in Heppner. During the same week in 1948, a team of
two veterinarians arrived in Morrow County to begin testing
for Bangs Disease in cattle, in order to create a disease-free
district in the county.
Meanwhile, the Morrow County Grain Growers
announced plans to build a new grain elevator at Heppner, to
handle a capacity of 23,000 bushels of Morrow County grain.
Dr. L.D. Tibbies was appointed mayor of Heppner 25
years ago this week, following the resignation of J.O. Turner.
Tibbies had been appointed to the city council during the
previous year. Upon his appointment as mayor, the Heppner
physician indicated that one of his first steps would be to
appoint Turner to fill his (Tibbies' ) post on city council. Thus,
in effect, Turner and Tibbies planned to swap jobs.
During that same week in 1953, winds gusted at up to 60
miles an hour in Morrow County, causing power outages and
minor property damage. During one electrical outage, Leta
Humphreys of Humphreys' Drug Co. slipped and fell inside
her darkened drug store, receiving a dislocated shoulder.
The wind blew down the Lexington fire bell, but
surprisingly, did not damage Heppner's recently installed
Christmas street decorations.
While the high winds blew, Norman Ruhl, 23, of
Lexington was on his way to Portland Induction Center, after
being drafted into a two-year hitch with the Army.
Ten years ago this week, lone area ranchers Bob and
Herb Peterson were named Oregon's Conservation Men of
the Year during the Oregon Wheat League's annual
convention in Portland.
The Petersons were cited for their development of 17
miles of diversions, their work on stubble mulch bed
preparation, contour strip cropping, seeding waterways and
controlling weeds.
fracture sufficiently to join
with others to make all this
conjecture an exercise in
futility. But most of those
closest to the scene doubt such
an harmonious conclusion.
They believe the differences
will remain no matter who
ultimately presides over the
House. Furthermore, those
differences just might dog the
60th Assembly and much of
the legislation it considers.
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 Blclg.,
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, 530 Center St. N.E., Rm.
330, (P.O. Box 247) Salem, Ore., 97308, phone 399-5724.
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