TWO The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday February 1, 1979
The Heppner '
GAZETTE-TIMES
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Proposed Umatilla-Morrow
court of no benefit here
Related story page 14
The idea of establishing a joint district court for western
Umatilla and Morrow counties is a bad one as proposed in a
bill that will come before the Oregon Legislature this session.
The County Court and local attornies went on record this
week opposing the bill and will lobby against it in the
Legislature. Their reasons for opposing the bill, which is
sponsored by Umatilla County legislators, include the fact
that it would abolish justice of the peace courts in Morrow
County; the bill is not specific as to distribution of revenues;
it doesn't state how many days a week the district court
judge would sit in Heppner; and the fact that no one bothered
to determine what kind of a case load the proposed district
court would have.
One Heppner attorney hit the nail on the head when he
said the bill "coat-tails Morrow County officials to Umatilla
County for justification of their expanded services.,,
We hope local officials are successful in lobbying against
the bill ; western Umatilla County officials have convinced
the Oregon Supreme Court is recommending the new position
and has earmarked funds for it in its next biennial budget.
The combined court won't do anything for Morrow
County.
Picture credit
A lonely tumbleweed odds to the starkness of a
snow-covered field outside of Heppner.
f - -..
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Lift EUS FROM READERS
Bellamy praises colleague Judy Paine follows up on teen problem letter
Editor:
House Minority Leader, Rep. Gary Wilhelms deserves
the thanks of all Oregonians for his statemanship in helping
bring order to the Oregon House of Representatives.
At a time when it would have been easy for the Minority
Leader to take cheap pot shots at the floundering Democrats,
Rep. Wilhelms said 'W because such action would not have
solved the problem, rather it would have rubbed salt in
widening wounds.
When asked to help mediate an end to the dispute, Rep.
Wilhelms received complete backing from the Republican
Caucus. His integrity and leadership are above reproach. He
instilled a new confidence in the members of the Republican
Caucus that our strength is in our unity. And unified we are.
His role in helping get the House organized will probably
remain untold to most Oregonians. But we sincerely believe
that because of his honesty and integrity the House was
organized much faster than it would have been.
We thank Gary for his leadership and statesmanship.
Bill Bellamy
State Representative
District 55
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The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
676-9228
Editor: ,
Thank you for allowing me to say what I thought via your
paper. My letter wasn't very happy, nor were the things that
I had to say very pretty. I also want to thank all of you
concerned and supportive people who called and thanked me
for my letter. It shows me there are people who do care about
the kids and what's becoming to some of them.
Editor, you chose not to print a post script that was on my
letter. It said I know that all of Heppner's kids are not a batch
of little rotters, just a few kids ruined it all for everybody
else. It also said that "You kids know who you are!" You
ruined it for a lot of innocent kids and for Mr. Ackley and Mr.
Brisso and me and you really did a number on the
Legionnaires. They did bend over backwards to give us a
place to have a good time in. They tried and we three people
tried. It's a shame.
Thank you Shane and the rest of the student council. I
loved your letter best of all. It makes me want to try again.
I'm not a person who gives up very easily, especially when it
comes to kids. I love you. So-o-o-o, whenever Jim and Audie
decide they want to do Disco again, I'm willing to stick my
head out again and I hope that if we are lucky enough to get a
"next time,'' we can all work together... parents, kids, Jim
and The Entertainment Company. There's no reason why
Heppner's kids can't have a decent place to come to and
boogie on the weekends if everyone cares, but Jim sure said a'
mouthful when he said that you parents need to do your jobs
and raise your kids with a little character and responsibility
and you young people, he was right when he said that you
need to be the best you can be in whatever you choose to do.
It's a challenge to all of us to have to grow up. Some do
sooner than others and some never do make it, but you and I,
all of us, do live in America and Heppner is a rich
community. I love Heppner and Heppner's people and I think
that we've got a lot that is worth saving. It's up to us and
nobody else and we've all got to pull together for good things
to happen.
I think that you kids who wrecked it all for everybody
else are to be pittied and if there's anyone who wants to help
pay for the damage, well I don t imagine the Legionnaires or
Jim Ackley would turn you down. Jim shouldn't have to
reupholster seats for free. Have a heart! He's a very tired
band man ! I think that maybe a car wash or a bake sale or
whatever, use your imaginations! There are lots of ways to
work and earn money and I think that something like that
would be a step in the right direction. That is with the money
going for restoration of the damage that was done at the
Legion Hall and maybe we can boogie again.
First we need a place and right now we don't have one
even if everybody did promise on a stack of Bibles that they
were going to be good kids. It'd be nice if by spring we can
have a place. I sure hope so. I miss all of you kids something
awful and phasing out is just the bitter dregs. It's up to you
now. I think that we have done more than our share. Now it's
your turn.
Judy Paine
Heppner
NASA teacher praises
'ladies and gentlemen9
Editor:
Before arrivinng in Heppner I had some anxieties about
speaking at the junior and senior high schools. I had read
Letters to the Editor in the Gazette-Times relating incidents
of student behavior unlike that evidenced by the more
serious-minded youth I am privileged to address in
secondary schools throughout the western United States.
My concern was alleviated on Monday, January 29, when
I spoke to Heppner students at their assemblies. Junior High
classes attended a one hour morning session at which
aeronautics and space were discussed. Senior High ladies
and gentlemen spent the afternoon obtaining new knowledge
provided by the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration. I use the term "ladies and gentlemen"
designedly because that is how these young people conducted
themselves.
The subject matter was not simple; the content was
substantive, yet the student response was active, intelligent,
courteous. There may be Heppner teenagers who are
destructive, rude, ungrateful. I did not meet them. Worthy,
positive citizens were present at this program. They deserve
commendation as do their parents, teachers and
administrators who have motivated and encouraged this
positive attitude.
Clarice Lolich
Aerospace Education Specialist
Jury duty is considered to be a pain in the neck at best to
most modern day Morrow Countians. That's why the story of
a Hardman area juror 50 years ago this week seems all the
more remarkable.
Civic-minded W.T. Reynolds of Hardman did not let a
massive snowfall serve as an excuse for ducking jury duty.
According to a Gazette-Times account, the Hardman man
"came in on horseback, and reports of increasing snow in his
- vicinity led him to believe it may be necessary to walk and
break a track for the horse in order to get it home. Reynolds
said his horse is adept at following his tracks through the
drifts."
The snowfall was so severe during this week in 1929 the
week that Reynolds made his trek-that the Hardman stage,
carrying the U.S. mail, was forced to turn back after
reaching Heppner Hill.
Also serving on Morrow County Circuit Court jury duty,
during that snowy week a half-century ago were lone
hotelkeeper George Ritchie and lone grain buyer Louis
Balsinger, who reported to the Gazette-Times that they found
making the trip to the Heppner Courthouse "not a little
inconvenient."
Jurors who braved the snow found Charles Bookman and
John Gilman guilty of operating a distillery for the purpose of
manufacturing intoxicating liquor. Both were fined $50 and
sentenced to time in the state penitentiary.
Five other civil cases were defaulted, based on the
failure of the defendants to appear in court, possibly due to
the severe weather.
Kinzua's town team basketball team took a beating in
more ways than one 30 years ago this week.
After losing to Condon during a Wednesday night road
trip, the returning players' car went over . a 15-foot
embankment and landed on its roof near Dyer Park. None of
the players suffered serious injury.
During the same week in 1949, the Gazette-Times carried
a story datelined from Hong Kong. According to the story,
the Eugene Millrace well known by local U. of 0.
grads was also namesake for a 15-year-old Hong Kong
youth, Eugene Millrace Chau. It seems that the youth's
father, King Y. Chau, a 1938 graduate of the University of
Oregon, was so taken by the Millrace, that he nostalgically
christened his son in its honor. Luckily, the "Fishbowl" at the
student union of the Eugene campus had not yet been built, or
there might have been a Eugene Fishbowl Chau.
Tragedy struck Morrow County 25 years ago this week,
when Lexington crop duster J.W. "Kit" Carson was killed
when his Stearman biplane smashed into Reservoir Hill just
south of Heppner in heavy fog.
According to a Gazette-Times account of the crash,
"many persons in Heppner heard the plane hit the ground, as
it had only a few seconds before come in over the business
district at a very low level, attracting much attention..."
Carson had filed a flight plan at Pendleton indicating that
he had intended to fly to Klamath Falls, where his wife
lived, but due to the bad weather landed at Lexington. From
the Lexington airport, he called the Kilkenny Ranch on
Hinton Creek, where he kept his spray equipment, and was
told that at the moment, the ranch was free of the fog that
blanketed the Heppner area. He apparently lost his way in
the fog, and came in over Heppner at less than 100 feet in
altitude before pulling up quickly, causing a "roar that was
heard all over town." The crash followed within a few
seconds, as he was apparently unable to climb over the hills
south of town.
During the previous year, Carson had married Ruth
McPherson, who had been widowed two years prior to that
when her first husband the owner of the flying service for
whom Carson worked was killed in a plane crash.
Ten years ago this week, Harold Kerr was named
Morrow County Extension Agent, replacing Gene Winters ,
who left to serve an assignment to Jordan. Kerr, a native of
the Lakeview area, had been serving as a Crook County
extension agent.
During the same week in 1969, eight inches of new snow
did not prevent Lexington paperboy Jack Yocom from
delivering copies of the Oregonian and Oregon Journal.
Yocom kept the good graces of his customers by saddling up
his horse, Cindy, and delivering the papers on horseback.
Five years ago this week, Curtis Culp, a former state
policeman assigned to Heppner, returned to Morrow County
to fill in for a city patrolman attending a course in Salem.
Culp had resigned his state police post and left the
Morrow County seat two years previously, after finding the
pace of life in Heppner "too hectic." To get away from the
hustle and bustle of metropolitan Heppner, the Culps moved
to Dunster, British Columbia, where they built a log cabin
and took up subsistence farming along the banks of the
Frasier River. Culps' brief return to Heppner provided him
with "seed money" for the coming year.
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$8.00 In Morrow, Umatilla, Wheeler & Gilliam County; $10.00 elsewhere
The Heppner
GAZETTE-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.M. Reed, Publisher
Rick Steelhammer, News Editor
Gayle Rush, Composition
Dolores Reed, Co-publisher
Eileen Soling, Office Manager
Melissa Scott, Composition
Ron Jordan, Printer
Terry M. Hager, Managing Editor
Justine Weatherford, Local Columnist
Cindi Doherty, AdvertisingOffice
'Supportive environment' needed to
prevent drug abuse
Last week I wrote about how
families can help prevent drug
abuse. But family members
are not the only people to
provide help. Different people
do different things to help
prevent drug abuse.
According to the National
Institute of Drug Abuse,
prevention means being there
when a friend needs help.
Problems that seem too big
for one person alone can
usually be solved if others
help. Growing up is never easy
and sometimes drugs seem
like the best way to get away
from problems. People might
feel better about themselves
when they're high, but it's
always a round trip. Not only
ai the old problems still
wnitinc. but often new ones
are caused by drugs.
The important thing about
prevention for the younger
off their frustrations. The
ways to help depend on the
people.
By Larry Gordon
Morrow County
Mental Health Clinic
people is in helping each other
over the rough spots and
problems that sometimes lead
to drugs. Sometimes people
can talk their problems over
with parents, or a counselor or
teacher. Sometimes friends
can listen and help solve
personal problems. Some
people just like to sit alone and
think, or listen to music and
sort out what's on their minds.
Some people get involved in a
really active game and work
Remember, young people
are subjected to group pres
sure from their friends. This
pressure can either encourage
or discourage drug use and
abuse. Young people, so
influenced by the opinions of
their friends, have the ability
to control the atmosphere in
which they live their daily
lives.
They could make everyday
life more pleasant for them
selves by being friendly and
doing nice things for each
other by taking respon
sibility themselves for each
other's happiness.
So next time: Say hello,
smile and see what happens.
Be an advocate for yourself
and others.
Build a supportive enviro
ment for yourselves. (Don't
depend on adults to do it for
you!)
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