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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 1979)
TWO The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, June 28, 1979 Sifting through the jfk The Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES Editorials o Columns iss tsi n UD&UJLFOC"J"T Letters From Readers EDITORIAL COMMENT Your representative speaks his piece District 55's freshman legis lator, Rep. Billy Bellamy, R-Culver, accomplished last week what no other legislator of either party has done this session. He single-handedly led the charge to send one of the largest budgets in sta4e government back to the most powerful legislative committee against the objections of the members of that committee. Rep. Bellamy moved to have the budget for the State Department of Education sent back to the Ways & Means Committee because the vocational education program had been devastated by the budget writing committee. Nine of 41 positions were scheduled for elimi nation from the vo-ed programs while only three of 234 positions were cut in the rest of the agency. "The budget for vocational education had been whacked apart... more than 20 percent of the staff had been eliminated. It was a travesty and a majority of the House agreed," said Bellamy. The District 55 Representative himself a vocational ed teacher in the Culver school system has worked hard this session for improvements in state funding of the program. Rightfully so, he feels students in rural committees have and will continue to benefit greatly by vocational education programs. As a freshman member of the minority party, Bellamy stood on the House floor and persuaded nearly two-thirds of its members to send one of the biggest budgets back to committee. That caused quite a few heads to turn because senior legislators of the majority party are seldom successful in sending a budget bill back to Ways & Means. Assistant House Minority Leader Paul Hanneman, ranking Republi can member of Ways & Means and most senior member of the House spoke to Bellamy's move: "I have seen some phenomenal accom plishments in my 15 years at the Legislature, but what Rep. Bellamy may have accomplished in behalf of vocational education is simply outstanding." It is pretty tough for a first-term legislator to make great inroads and be effective in a group that relies heavily on seniority, but Rep. Bellamy has demonstrated leader ship and common sense throughout this session and his most recent example of forcefulness for a program affecting his constituency indicates that voters made a wise choice last November. IIIIIIIIIIU1HWIMIWMIIMIWI .1.1.11 I. 11111 TOimWM 'J J ' : ' J I 1. . 7,. . y I i 4 ' v y.vz; . fA: . j I hi - ,tz Yv Af ' t- ' "' ''' . " ' ' ' !'" ' 1 'ft H v-r J ' - J jj. i&v ..... . trm' ... . Now hear this... How will folks back home judge 479 Oregon legislature? JcL As the 60lh Legislative Assembly nears adjournment in Salem, there is a tendency to speculate on results of some 25 weeks of deliberation. That speculation involves many subjects as far as this regular biennial session is concerned. And conclusions drawn now are certain to be tempered in months to come. Nonetheless, this session has encoun tered situations that tend to distinguish it from previous meetings in the Capital City. As is usually the case, major issues confronting lawmakers when they con vened January 8 were clearly defined. Generally speaking, the session pro duced few surprises. Tax relief, energy problems and escalating costs of Workers' Compensation insurance ap peared prime targets for legislative action and these subjects appeared to receive the lion's share of attention. A massive tax relief package overshadowed nearly every other activ ity as far as new coverage of the session was concerned. The energy situation tended to produce the emotionalism attendant at every session. And while Workers' Compensation problems were not eliminated, progress was made and the way paved for perhaps fullscale reform next session. In this light, a weary lawmaker may go home at session's end accompanied by a sense of genuine accomplishment. But what about the folks back home? How will they judge efforts of their law makersindividually and collectively? Opinion polls repeatedly disclose the public has little esteem for lawmakers as a group but relatively high regard for individual members. So while the folks back home may extend a warm welcome to returning Legislators when this session ends, that warmth may not extend to endorsement of the whole Assembly's accomplishments. Indeed, some lawmakers may won der if the homefolks were even aware they had been laboring in their behalf for half a year in Salem. There's a saying in the Capital City that the people discovered the Legisla ture at the beginning of this decade. And the flood of constituent legislation that has deluged each session since 1971 tends to bolster the conclusion. An increase in the number of special interest groups descending on lawmakers was a hall mark of the Seventies. Increased coverage of legislative events in news papers, magazines, television and radio reflected and extended apparent public interest. But public clamor failed to reach usual proportions this year. Officially, there were more visitors at the Capitol. Some 40,081 individuals signed guest books kept by Capitol Guides by June 1 this year. That compares with 36,214 in 1977 and 33,080 in 1975. But more than half the total recorded were students and not an aroused public bent on influencing people making decisions. The Legislature's telephone infor mation service persuaded the biggest hint that public interest may be on the wane. Inaugurated in 1975, the service attracted 30,000 calls that first year and soared to a total of 41,407 by June 10 during the '77 session. Operators were hard-pressed to handle an average of more than 500 calls a day from people checking on the status of legislative proposals. On June 15, the session calls were averaging about 250 a day and the total had dropped to only 27,591. More revealing perhaps, was the virtual absence of inquiries regarding what lawmakers considered major issues. Calls checking on progress of several bills expanding the Veterans' Home Loan program were far and away the most frequent leading the top 10 subject areas of inquiries consistently from March forward. During peak periods operators logged more calls on that subject than all others combined. And the subject of tax relief made the top 10 only once and then far down on the list. Although already the third-longest ses sion on record, this Assembly will have Legislative Report from the State Capital EXCLUSIVE to Oregon's Weekly Newspa pers trom Associated Oregon Industries. introduced fewer legislative proposals than any since 1971. The record longest session in 1973 considered 2,481 and this year's total stood at 2,424 as the 24th week ended. And that total is down significantly from the 2,812 introduced in 1977. At the same time, it appears considerably fewer measures will win approval in both houses. The total hovered near 500 at the end of last week and stood small chance of reaching the 800-plus predicted early in the session. What happens to measures that fail to achieve legislative sanction? Many simply die in the pipeline when budget-making Ways & Means Commit tee completes its task of apportioning funding equal to projected revenue. Many more are tabled for a variety of reasons and others simply never make it out of committees to which they are assigned. A total of 791 remained in committee last week a considerably smaller num ber than the 1,338 similarly languishing on the sesion's final day in 1977. One might jump on these figures as proof this session has been busier or is tidier than the Assembly two years ago. But automatic tabling rules in both chambers this session tends to distort such a comparison. OIIPA The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow Oregon Newipapar Publilhvrs Aisocio'ion The Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES Morrow County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper U.S.P.S. 240-420 Published every Thursday and entered as second-class matter at the Pott Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Art of March3, 1879. Second-class pottage paid at Heppner, Oregon SUBSCRIPTION RATE $8.00 In Morrow, Unatilla, Wheeler & Gilliam County; $10.00 elsewhere GM Reed, Publisher Dolores Reed, Co-publisher Terry M. Hager, General Manager Jim Hackett, News Editor Eileen Soling, Office Manager Gayle Rush, AdvertisingComposition Mel.ssa Scott, Composite 0ndj Dohef)y Justine Weotherford, Local Columnist Public Officials U.S. Sen. Mark O. Hatfield Husscll Senate- Office Hklg . Washington. DC id.'iln Mcmhcr l Appropriiilions Omimiltec Interior Committee, liules Com mittee, and Indian Policy Hcvieu Commis sion. Portland oltice. Pioneer Courthouse. Km. 107. .".I'll S W Morrison. Portland. Ore. 97204, phone s :i:ttu; U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood Dirksen Si'iiate Ollice Hldg . Washington. D C. Jor l I Member of Finance Committee and Commerce Committee Portland office. UKI2 K. Hnlladay. Km 70(1 i P O. Box :ili2l i. Portland. Ore tl7.'im. phone 2:i:)-4471. U.S. Rep. Al Ullman, Of The Second District House Office Bldfi.. Washington. D C. 2t)")l,'i Member of Ways and Means Commit tee. Salem ottice. 5:i Center St.. Km 'P O Box 247i. Salem. Ore. 97:508. phone 399-5724. Gov. Vic Atiyeh Slate Capitol. Salem. Ore. 97:110. phone :i7H-:tllHl. State Sen. Ken Jernstedt 'Morrow, Gilliam and other counties). Slate Capitol. Km. S.I17. Salem. Ore. 97310. phone 37H-KH.VI. State Sen. Robert Smith 'Wheeler. Grant and other counties) Stale Capitol. Km. S323. Salem. Ore. 97310 phone 37H-817H. State Rep. Bill Bellamy (Morrow. Gilliam and other counties). Slate Capitol. Km. H364. Salem. Ore 97310 phone :!7K-KH53. State Rep. Max Simpson i Wheeler. Grant and other counties). Stale Capitol. Km. H4K1. Salem. Ore. 97310, phone 378-8789. Persons wanting information on bills, hearings, and other doings of the Oregon Legislature may call, toll-free, 1-800-452-0290 Salem Scene By Jack Zimmerman Agonizing over results of this session at this time is probably an exercise in futility. A few days of deliberation still remain. Gov. Victor Atiyeh has another 20 after adjournment to use his power of veto. The people can stall the effective date of some new laws with a successful referendum campaign. But the real test of this session's results will probably occur next May. Next spring's primary election will give voters their biennial opportunity to express opinions on most Legislators. And that election is scheduled also to permit the people to determine the long-term fate of this Legislature's tax relief program a plan clearly consider ed by lawmakers as their greatest single achievement. 0-Ll,i7lts7EHCi3 LtH mJ mm LH mm mm Emm FROM OUR READERS Writer tabs gas shortage a rip-off Editor: I wonder how long it will take before the American people will stand up and tell the gdvernment, this is enough. I am referring to the big rip-off of the big oil companies. This will go down in history as the biggest rip-off in American history. The sad part is the government is going along with it. Have you ever wondered why? The oil companies will make billions of dollars in profits, so the government will tax them for billions. This is how the President will help balance the budget and we the people will pay for it. If you wonder what vou can do about it, let me tell you. Send in letters and cards to your Congressman telling him if they do not bring down gas prices and stop this inflation, next election time we will vote them out from the President right on down to the governor. It is time to strike now while the iron is hot. Let us all get behind the truckers and put an end to this rip-off. Oral C. Wright Lexington TIMES Fifty years ago, the old Slocum mill was set to be reopened by the Heppner Pine Lumber Company with operations to start within the next ten days, according to A.G. Reschke, president and owner of the new company. The output will be trucked to Heppner for shipment over the Union Pacific Rail road, largely to eastern points. C.J. Harrison will be in charge of local operations, coming to the county from Portland. The old Slocum mill, in active operation for many years, is one of the most widely known mills locally, being situated in one of the finest stands of pine timber in the county. The American Legion Pool is set for opening on July 3. The opening was delayed by repair work and a shortage of water. This was welcome news to those planning to watch the Heppner and lone ball teams clash in a two day baseball , game with dances also scheduled at the open air pavilion. The Cole Madsen dance band of Portland will perform. Admission prices are 10 cents for children under 12, 15 cents for youth 12-15, and 25 cents for adults $1 for 12 swims. 'No person suffering from a fever, cold, cough or inflamed eyes shall be allowed use of the plunge. These disorders may be transmitted to others.' While it was quite hot in Heppner on Monday and the same condition prevail ed over the entire county, no damage to grain is reported. The thermometer here registered about 98 but on Tuesday cooler weather came with a stiff breeze and moderate conditions prevail. The wheat fields are maturing in fine shape. Bill Shaw, a young man in the employ of J.B. Huddleston as a sheephearder was bitten in the hand by a dog near Lone Rock. Treatment for hydrophobia was administered because of the infection. It was hoped he might escape any serious consequences. The Gazette-Times editorialized be fore July 4 that "July 4, 1929 is the nation's 153rd birthday and is there any red-blooded American who does not know and honor the day? In celebrating the fourth this year, many will stop and consider what the day means to the nation. They will not jeopardize life or property by reckless driving on their way to and from celebrations or by the thoughtless setting off of fireworks." Twenty-five years ago, an architect's drawing headlined the front page, outlining the planned new Heppner Elementary School to face Main Street and located on land now occupied by the Tum-A-Lum Lumber Company. The channel of Willow Creek will be moved more than 200 feet east of its present location to give a wide play area to the rear. Architect's plans call for raising the floor level of the plant four feet above street level to prevent any possibility of flood damage or water danger to the students. Tax millage in Morrow County is expected to show a considerable reduc tion for next year, the County Assessor, Mrs. Joe Hughes announced. All personal property has been charged at 55 percent and next year the assessment ratio reduced to 30 percent. The total assessed valuation next year will be $9,076,250. Carl P. Linn of lone has been awarded the contract to haul mail between Heppner and Arlington, an nounced this week by Heppner Post master Carl Driscoll. Local flying saucer story received nationwide publicity, according to a front-page headline. The story was picked up by Frank Edwards of the Mutual Broadcasting Company. Three local men, Al Lovgren, Robert Minck and Elmer Palmer watched nine of the objects cross the sky south of Heppner. Five years ago, the Morrow County Board of Equalization employed an independent appraiser to check wheat yields and market prices for the year, Jan. 1 to December 31, 1973. The board took the action as a result of 58 farm appeals received for the 1973 crop year. Sherry Kemp was crowned as the 1974 Morrow County Fair and Rodeo Queen by outgoing queen, Michelle Miller Burns. Citizens were organizing to find a physician, Mrs. Ilene Wyman, hospital , administrator planned to prepare a slide show for presentating to doctors inter ested in coming to the area. Members of the committee include Mrs. Wyman, Judge Jones, Dr. Wolff, Jim Bier, Don Cole, Hazel Mahoney, Adda Shiffer and Liz Curtis. A Navy jet dropped a bomb short of its target at the Boardman Bombing Range Monday, starting & fire that burned 2,500 acres of sagebrush before being brought under control. The Navy lost control of the blaze and summoned fire departments from Hermiston, Boardman and Irrigon as well as the Umatilla Army Depot.
