TWO The Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, September 6, 1979
It g5. The Official Nwpaper of the
gss City of Heppner and the
i an.
County of Morrow
The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
Morrow Coantj's Awird-Wiuiig Weekly Newspaper
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Published every Thursday and entered as second-clasa matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, W7. Second-class postage
paid at Heppner. Oregon.
Office aad commercial printing plant at 147 West Willow Street. Telephone,
(503 ) 67I-D22.
Address communications to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337,
Heppner. Oregon, 9736.
SUBSCRIPTION RATE
18 V Morrow, Umatilla, Wheeler Gilliam counties; $10.00 elsewhere.
Senior Citizen Rate, tS.OO
Jerome F. She Won Pakltsher
Eileen Saling. Office Manager
Melissa Scott, Advertising, Composition
Justine Weatherford, Local Columnist
Ron Jordan. Printer
Jane H. SheMea. Ce-Pablbher
Jim Hacked, News Editor
Cindi Deherty, Office
Chloe Pearson, Composition
Three cheers for the
Red,White & Blue
What a good sight it was in Heppner on Labor Day
for the town to be dressed up with American flags
mounted on store fronts.
The brackets were installed and the flags placed as
a project of the American Legion. Bravo for them!
In recent years it has been the plaint of many
citizens that there has been a loss of patriotism in the
land that simple devotion to one's country that thrills
to the sight of the Star Spangled Banner waving in the
breeze. Perhaps the lessening of a patriotic fervor, if '
indeed there has been, was bred in the cynicism of the
1960's and early 70 's.
The nation then was engaged in an unpopular war,
there was unrest on the campuses and an abuse of
power in the highest places.
When the bicentennial year of 1976 came along,
there was a renewal of respect for the flag as a symbol.
It was popular to display Old Glory. May it ever be so !
Among Americans who have traveled abroad, who
hasn't felt a heart -tugging throb at seeing the Stars and
Stripes waving on a staff at an embassy or World Fair
exhibition, or aboard an American ship?
The sight of the flag at home should evoke the
same emotion.
So, congratulations to the Heppner American
Legion Post for dressing up the town for a national
holiday!
Editors
Notebook
Is there, perhaps, a joke
book from which federal
bureaucrats may borrow to
leaven their talks with hu
mor? The following was told
recently by Don Bliss of the
Environmental Protection
Administration at a public
participation workshop in Se
attlea familiar story with an
appropriate twist:
"I'm sure you're all fami
liar with the old story about
the three blind men who were
trying to describe an elephant.
One, seizing the animal by the
Ulltnan plans
hearings
on power
Oregon Congressman Al
Ullman has announced that a
House subcommittee will hold
hearings in Portland Sept. 8 on
the regional power planning
legislation recently approved
by the Senate.
The Interior Subcommittee
on Water and Power Resour
ces will conduct the hearing in
the Portland City Council
chambers at Portland City
Hall, 1220 S.W. 5th, starting at
9:30a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8.
Ullman, chief sponsor of the
legislation in the House, said
any person wishing to testify
must write to the Subcommit
tee on Water and Power
Resources, 1324 Longworth
House Office Building, Wash
ington, D C. 20515, by August
31. The written request must
include a complete return
address and phone number.
"It is generally better to
deal by speech than by
letter." Francis Bacon
tail, said 'Aha, an elephant is
like a snake.' Another, grasp
ing the beast by the leg, said:
'Oh no! An elephant is a kind
of tree.' And the third maybe
he was from the EPA felt the
'great tusk and proclaimed
that an elephant was a piece of
polyvinyle chloride pipe."
How is that for an attention
getter? Bliss had the task of
explaining the purpose ef
public participation in envi
ronmental protection pro
grams. He closed his remarks with
a couple of more stories.
"One of the greatest lies,
according to the story, is 'The
check is in the mail.' Another
is, 'This won't hurt a bit,' and
the third and perhaps the
greatest lie is 'I'm from the
government; I'm here to help
you.' "
Bliss said he likes that story
because it promotes skepti
cism. He said that was the
attitude Demosthenes was
talking about 2,200 years ago
when he wrote that : "There is
one safeguard known gen
erally to the wise, which is an
advantage and security to all,
but especially to democracies
as against despots. What is it?
Distrust."
Some readers of the Gazette-Times
will remember
Rick Steelhammer, who for
merly was news editor of this
paper. Recently he sent a copy
of the front page of a feature
section of the Washington
Post, on top of which was the
penciled notation: "Local boy
makes good. Regards. The
Kid."
From this note he drew an
arrow down the page to a story
with his by-line a piece about
a family named Lilly in
coal-rich West Virginia and a
recent Lilly family reunion in
the town of Beckley, W. Va.,
which drew members from all
over the country.
Legislative Report from the State Capital
EXCLUSIVE toOreqon's Weekly Newspa
pert from Associated Oregon Industries.
Salem
Scene
By Jock Zimmerman
State Treas. Clay Myers
doesn't charge a fee to make
public speeches.
Nonetheless, during a re
cent 20-minute address before
a Portland civic club, his
efforts were netting the state
something more than $30,000!
That doesn't mean the civic
organization paid anything to
hear Myers speak. The $30,000
is the amount of interest the
state was earning on invested
excess and trust funds while
the Treasurer was making his
talk.
In fact, he told his audience,
currentnetearningson invest
ments placed by his office
represent a profit of nearly
i$100,0OO anhour during evert
working day.
It is through messages such
as this that the state's 22nd
Treasurer hopes to both in
crease public knowledge
" about the State Treasury
Department and in the pro
cess provide him with another
Tour:year Term in office.
Up for re-election in 1980,
Myers hasn't officially de
clared his candidacy. But it's
likely the two-term former
Secretary of State will for
mally declare his desire to
once again succeed himself
with in the next 90 days.
The Portland-born descen
dant of Oregon pioneers has
been one of the state's three
top elected officeholders for 13
years and would obviously like
to extend that tenure to record
proportions. And the material
he'll be delivering to au
diences everywhere could well
convine voters he's the logical
person to retain as custodian
of Oregon's purse.
He describes his last three
years as Treasurer as the
most satisfying in public life
and a time during which he
believes he has made his
biggest contributi""'' the
state's taxpayer
Following gra& ation from
the University of Oregon,
Myers spent 16 years in
banking, property manage
ment, investments and insur
ance. Tom McCall brought the
energetic business executive
to Salem as Assistant Secre
tary of State in 1965. Two
years later he was appointed
to succeed his boss, who won
his first successful race for
Governor. Myers handily won
his constitutionally limited
two terms in that office as
Secretary of State and made
an unsuccessful bid for guber
natorial nomination in 1974.
Undaunted by his loss to
fellow Republican, now Gov.
Victor Atiyah, he entered and
won the Treasurer's race two
years later.
For someone in the lime
light as much as Clay Myers
during his terms as Secretary
of State, themove to relatively
low-profile Treasury ap
peared to many as something
of a come-down for the
ebullient politician?
Needless to say, the new
Treasurer didn't share that
opinion.
On the contrary, he was
suddenly and satisfyingly in
an element for which he was
both trained and experienced
before entering public life.
Historicallly, State Trea
surers haven't been counted
among Oregon's best known
officeholders. Half have been
re-elected to office. One, Bob
Straub, became Governor.
Another, Jim Redden, became
Attorney General. But for the
most part, the position is not
noted as a steppingstone to
higher office and most Trea
surers have simply performed
their requirements and faded
Irom prominence when the job
was done.
Clay Myers may not settle
for that kind of fate. And if the
first three years in his present
office are any indication, the
52-year-old is working as if he
would like to continue serving
Oregonians for many years to
come.
In addition to serving on
seven state boards or com
missions, Myers is responsible
for all money paid into the
treasury and is the state's
official investment officer. It
is this latter duty that offers a
Treasurer the greatest oppor
tunity for prominence and the
area in which Myers is
demonstrating notable exper
tise. Although quick to admit
much of Treasury's invest
ment success is due to rising
interest rates, Myers has
produced innovations that are
proving both sound and profi
table. Among these have been
making some $150,000 a year
more by storing securities in
the East where interest and
proceeds can be received on
the same day due, boosting
earning another $30,000 to
$50,000 a month by lending the
state's securities, intensifying
the selection and review
processes of selected outside
money managers, updating
automatic data processing
and extending new and better
cash management techniques
to major state agencies. t .
It is in the area of cash
management that Myers and
his staff of 41 are currently
most intently engaged. And
considering aggregate re
ceipts exceeded $4.7 billion
and disbursements $4.1 billion
in fiscal 1978, effective cash
management is an obvious
target for attention.
Altogether Treasury super
vises some $3.2 billion in total
investments $2.4 billion by
its own officers and $800
million by outside money
managers. In-house earnings
have increased from $132 '
million in 1976 to $196.4 million
in 1978.
Those figures slightly bog
gling to the average Oregon
ian mean total earnings have
increased nearly 50 per cent
during a two-year period and
rate of return stands at
something more than 8 per
cent.
For Clay Myers, the accom
plishment is its own reward.
In earlier clays when office
holders were less well paid
Treasurers were permitted to
pocket whatever earnings
their investments produced.
Myers won't spearhead any
attempt to restore that prac
tice. He'll settle now for another
term in which to further
improve the state's financial
status.
OREGON MISCELLANY
Author to hike emigrants' trail 3Jia 4
2 t a n e
S 1
I O T ft
Author Rick Steber of
Union, Ore., plans to walk the
Oregon Trail from the Snake
River near Vale to the
Dalles a distance of 450
miles this month. He plans to
retrace the exact route of the
pioneers who crossed the
Oregon Trail by covered
wagon. He will record what
remains of the West's greatest
thoroughfare and gain an
insight into the impressions of
the immigrants as they
neared their goal just ahead of
the winter snows.
The trek is to publicize a
new book, "Traces," that is to
be issued early in 1980. The
book is a joint enterprise of
Steber, artist Don Gray and
photographer Jerry Gilde
meister, all of Union County,
who have to their credit a
previous book, 'Rendezvous'
which captured the spirit of
old Oregon in stories and
illustrations. Two years ago
Steber publicized "Rendez
vous" by riding horseback 500
miles around the Willamette
Valley.
This time, the hike will take
Steber across deserts and over
the mountains of eastern
Oregon. The Oregon Trail is
quickly vanishing from ero
sion and the advance of man
but wagon wheel ruts over the
Blue Mountains and across the
high plateau leading to the
Columbia River make the trail
visible in places; on steep
ground, rope-burn scars re
main on old trees. A detailed
set of maps will provide
direction where no trace
remains.
The handful of surviving
Oregon pioneers who followed
the trail by covered wagon is
the subject of "Traces."
"The pioneers who recalled
the crossing told me of the
ordeal andof the well-marked
road they followed," Steber
said. "Now the trail is nearly
obliterated and most of the
t 4
111 '' 4 , O s
i i m m m.m - i i v a : . w k
. .'it.-
4 hlS nil
.V V o, ,
will '. I
Rick Steber begins trek
emigrants have died. That's
why I felt it was so necessary
to record their stories In
'Traces' and to experjertce at
Erst hand the' route they
traveled as they crossed
Oregon."
The book "Traces" will be
issued by Bear Wallow Pub
lishing Company of Union,
Ore.
Ernest who? one might ask
about the presidential candi
dacy of Ernest Green, whose
ad appears in a recent issue of
the Pendleton Record.
Ernest Green announces his
entry into the race for
President of the United States
as an independent in 1980, in
an ad paid for by Ernest
Green .
The ad pictures a man one
might guess to be 45, wearing
a western-style Stetson.
Would he be bidding to be
Letters From Readers
Editor:
Senator Ken Jernstedt of
your district was recently
criticized by the Portland
Oregonian for what the paper
calls his refusal to become
deeply involved in "Contro
versial issues."
During my nearly 20 years
as a member of the Legisla
ture, I've identified two types
of legislators: The work
horses and the show horses.
The show horses are the
loudmouth prima donnas
whose efforts are designed
only to obtain free prime time
publicity. They contribute lit
tle to the legislative process.
The work horses are those
legislators without whom the
business of the Senate and the
Legislature could not be
conducted.
Ken Jernstedt of Hood River
has always been one of the
work horses, demonstrated
recently by the fact he has
been assigned greater interim
responsibilities than any other
member of the Senate.
This follows on the heels of a
session in which Jernstedt was
highly successful in obtaining
passage of legislation impor
tant to people in his district.
Even in unfairly criticizing
Jernstedt, the Oregonian cor
rectly noted that "he effec
tively represents his consti
tuents and over the years has
wielded influence with his
colleagues."
The Portland newspaper
should have told all the truth
by reporting that Ken Jern
stedt is one of the most
respected members of the
Senate, and his colleagues are
looking forward to working
with him again in 1981 and
beyond.
Sen. Bob Smith,
Minority Leader,
Oregon State Senate,
Salem
! V - fta
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HEPPNER
Oregon's "favorite son" in the
November election in 1980?
The Times-Journal of Con
don recently pictured a store
window sign that added a bit
of levity to the serious
problem that the grasshopper
infestation has imposed on
central Oregon ranchers this
year. The sign said:
"Famous Gilliam County
GRASSHOPPERS. U-Pick-50
cents lb."
RUBBER STAMPS
Made To Order
The Heppner Gazette-Times
Phone 676-9228
Sifting
trough
the
TIMES
1929
Fifty years ago, after several
weeks of earnest investiga
tion, the city council decided
that the best plan of securing
an ample pure water supply
for the city of Heppner was by
theinking of wells. AJW.
Edwards, a well driller in
company with Mayor Mc
Carty and others had gone
over the ground at the forks of
Willow Creek and said an
abundant water supply could
be had at a depth of more than
500 feet.
He was sure that an artesian
flow existed.
The Council was also inter
ested in investigating land at
Skinner Creek.
Two major changes in
money were made for the
Heppner Rodeo, September.
27-28 with the splitting of the
bucking contest prize money
four ways instead of three and
increasing entrance fees in the
calf roping from $1.50 to $5.
Good news came with the
announcement of the recovery
of Bluebird, star bucker out of
the show last year because of
a wire cut. The string of
bucking horses came from
Albert Peterson's ranch at
Ukiah.
1974
Robert Jones was named as
conservation winner for Mor
row County by the Oregon
Wheat Growers League-
J
Donna's
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Friday
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