JV'"' W H" i-sft'' V'11'5
TWO The Heppner Gazette-Times. Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, November 15, 1979
ONPA
Omgon N,papi
Publxhvit Alloc iaon
The Official Newspaper of the
City of Heppner and the
' County of Morrow
The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
Morrow County's Rome-Owned Weekly Newspaper
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Published every Thursday and entered as second-class matter at the Post office
al Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3. 1879 Second-class postiige paid at
Heppner, Oregon.
Office at 147 West Willow Street. Telephone, (503) K7-92L8.
Address communications to the Heppner Gazette Times. P.O. Box 3:17, Heppner,
Oregon. 97K.ili
SKiHt in w. I'matilla. Wheeler & Gilliam counties: $10.00 elsewhere.
Senior Citizen Rate. $5.00
Jerome K Sheldon. Publisher Jane H. Sheldon. Associate Publisher
Eileen Sahng. Office Manager Steve A Powell, News Editor
Cheryle Greenup, Advertising, Chloe Pearson, Composition
Composition Betty Green. Office. Composition
ANOTHER VIEWPOINT
Car crisis in Education
Laugh if you like, cry if you like, doubt if
you like; but it is an indisputable fact that
education would be far better off if the
automobile had never been invented.
There are approximately 110,000,000
automobiles in the United States (this does
not include trucks and buses); and surely
high school and junior college administrators
must feel, many times, that more than half of
them are in school parking lots.
Why are automobiles bad for education?
There isn't enough room in this editorial to
list all the reasons and the why's.
But as a starter: except, perhaps, for
television, probably nothing distracts and
diminishes learning more than student cars.
When they are not spending their time in
cars and this could be a whole book in itself,
they are expending time, energy and dollars
in the purchase of a car or the upkeep of a
car.
Millions of cars are used for business and
professional purposes or family errands of
one type or another (both necessary and
unnecessary); but kiddy cars are used
primarily for fun and frolic.
True , not many parents are going to go on
record against fun and frolic, but today that
fun and frolic (in cars) is (1) terribly
expensive in dollars; (2) terribly wasteful,
from the standpoint of energy consumption;
and (3) a costly distraction, if not an outright
deterrent to learning.
If, however, you are bored with learning,
and not too concerned with environmental
conditions that may distract students from
academic pursuits, you may be a little more
concerned about life and death.
Each year there are normally (or
abnornally, depending upon your point of
view)45 to 55,000 fatalities (about one-half
involving young people) due to motor vehicle
accidents. Since a sizable percentage of these
are teenagers, we might conclude that
automobiles are injurious to teenage health
if not to their learning.
If we set fatalitites aside and simply
examine motor vehicle accidents, in general,
there are 15,800,000 of these each year, in
which, again, teenagers play a vital role.
It is true that fun and frolic occurred in
the horse and buggy days, too; but "escape"
was somewhat more difficult then.
Whether you look upon the teenager and
the car as a tragedy or a comedy, it is a
severe headache to school administrators,
throughout the country and a seriously
disruptive force in education.
Reprinted from "Western Views"
Educational Research Associates
A nonprofit educational research corporation
Biggest Business
by Ed Curran
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agriculture today isn't simply big
business, it's Ar ?rica's biggest business.
Its assets exceed $800 billion. That's about 75
percent the assets of all manufacturing
corporations in the nation. It also employs
more workers than the nation's transporta
tion, auto and steel industries combined.
Last year, the cash receipts from farm
marketings the money farmers received for
the livestock and the crops sold from their
farms totaled a record $110 billion. That's
up from a previous high of $96 billion in 1977,
more than double the total of 1970.
Sif ting through the TIMES7
V
192)1
Fifty years ago Geo N. Peck
of Lexington explained to the
Lions Club in Heppngr that if
the freight rate of a bushel of
wheat was dropped by only
four cents, farmers in Morrow
County could pocket an addi
tional $60,000 annually. The
Eastern Oregon Wheat
League and other farm orga
nizations were fighting to
lower the freight rate.
The Heppner grammar
school put on a musical play
about a story that is not often
thought of as a musical. The
students sang the story of Rip
Van Winkle.
Heppner High School de
feated Hermiston 21-6 in the
Armistice Day game.
David G. Glass spoke at the
Armistice Day program in
Heppner in front of a very
large crowd. He made a
strong plea for universal
peace. He was the substitute
speaker for Dr. D.V. Ploing,
who was injured in an
automobile accident and could
not make it.
A rodent control meeting
was held in Heppner. County
agent C.W. Smith was in
charge with the help of Ira N.
Gabrielson, state rodent con
trol leader from Oregon State
College. Smith said the county
is becoming infested with rats
and the meetings showed
interested persons what to do
to control the rats and olher
rodents.
The boys' and girls' glee
clubs al Heppner High School
gave free performances to the
public. For many years,
spectators were asked to pay
to go to school performances
but Jas. M. Burgess, school
superintendant, said that was
not fair.
A big carnival and dance
was planned to be held Nov. 22
at Lexington High School. The
Heppner Black Cats, the band
that plays the peppiest and
best music in the country and
makes the old young again,
was scheduled to perform at
the big carnival.
The state game commission
said it had arrested 69 more
persons the past year than the
year before which will add
$4,000 more money to the fund
than the previous year.
1!I5I
Twenty-five years ago the
residents of lone were hit with
the TV bug as A.E. Stefani and
Noel Dobyns set up a test set
on a hill just east of the town.
A tent was set up with a TV
receiver inside and every
night 50 to 75 persons crowded
into the tent to watch TV. The
reception was reported as
being good.
Parents of band members
sold $110 worth of food on
election day and they planned
a candy sale for the middle of
December and a carnival for
Jan. 15 to make money for the
band.
. Sarah McNamera donated
$1,000 to Heppner High School
to set up a student loan fund to
aid junior and senior college
students who have graduated
from the school. A stipulation
for the donation was that the
PTA match the donation.
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
had an addition to the build
ing. A new wing was built at
the north end to match the one
on the south. New bedrooms, a
health center and an office for
the county health nurse were
planned to be put in the new
wing.
1974
Five years ago the commit
tee that was looking for a
doctor to come to Heppner hit
a snag when all seven doctors
who showed an interest still
had anywhere from one to
three years left in training
before they could begin practice.
Some of the families at the
Episcopal Church decided to
cook their Turkey Day birds at
the parish hall and they
invited all lonely persons in
the community to come to
dinner. "Don't Eat Alone,"
come join us the church
members said.
The Kinzua Corp. re-opened
after being shut down for a
month because of boiler prob
lems. James Ronald Stipe was
fined and put in jail for
shooting a cow owned by
Terry Thompson. He was
fined $605, spent five days in
jail, had his hunting rights
suspended for three years and
agreed to pay the owner of the
cow $200.
Ken Belcher, manager of
the First National Bank in
Heppner, was named chair
man of the Morrow County
Rodeo Board.
Bruce Young was the Gazette-Times
mystery person
and 200 persons identified h'im
correctly. Mrs. Lewis Halvor
sen won the prize when her
name was drawn from the 200
entries.
Van Rietmann of lone was
elected board president of the
Columbia Basin Electrical
Cooperative .
Legislative Report from the State Capital
EXCLUSIVE to Oregon's Weekly Newspa
pers from Associated Oregon Industries.
Salem Scene
Workers comp in the news again
By Jack Zimmerman
Workers' Compensation In
surance is making news in
Salem again.
The system by which Ore
gon administers care and
compensation for injured
workers is a major source of
news emanating from the
Capitol during regular bien
nial sessions of the State
Legislature. And now it ap
pears Workers' Comp will be
just as important from a news
standpoint during the non-legislative
year to come.
The reason is basically the
same that brings the issue to
prominence during each legis
lative session staggering in
creases in program cost.
Premiums for Workers'
Compensation Insurance cost
Oregon employers $74 million
in 1968. Total cost of those
premiums doubled in 1972,
doubled again by 1976 and
exceeded an overwhelming
half-billion dollars in 1978.
Premiums this year are
expected to approach the $600
million mark!
The increases have earned
Oregon the distinction of being
the highest Workers' Comp
cost state in the nation. And
considering premiums are
wholly paid by employers and
thus become a cost of doing
business, one begins to under
stand why the issue is attract
ing constant attention.
Costs Rising
Successive sessions of the
legislature have tackled the
problem with less than effec
tive success. Costs continue to
escalate.
Repeated studies indicate
those costs are largely the
result of liberal judicial inter
pretations of existing state
law and the expense of
medical treatment. For the
most part, legislative action
appears the only solution.
Lawmakers in 1977 for
instance, succeeded in
streamlining the appeal pro
cure for Workers' Comp
cases by eliminating appellate
action in circuit courts. But
any savings gained by elimi
nating that costly court proce
dure were lost to inflation and
constantly rising costs of
medical care.
Lawmakers in 1977 also
made major changes in the
system designed to separate
administrative and appellate
responsibilities. A Workers'
Compensation Department
was created to administer the
program and the Workers'
Comp Board was to function
as an appeals body.
The legislature earlier this
year enacted another statute
aimed ostensibly at providing
uniformity in the appeals
process for disability cases.
And rules arising from that
law are causing the current
controversy.
Claims Procedure
Under the present system
involving disability cases, an
injured worker's disabling
claim is established first by
his doctor and referred to the
Workers' Compensation De
partment's Evaluation Divi
sion. If the worker is not
satisfied with the Evaluation
Division's decision, he can
appeal to the Workers' Comp
Board's Hearings Division. A
hearing referee examines the
claim and may affirm Evalua
tion's decision, reduce it or
raise it.
If the worker still is not
satisfied, he may appeal to the
WC Board itself and again if
not satisfied the Oregon
Court of Appeals and some
times to the Supreme Court.
A study of disposition of
disability cases last year
revealed that some 48 percent
of Evaluation's decisions were
being appealed and that the
Hearings Division was in
creasing the amount of award
in 72.9 percent of cases
appealed.
Consequently, Director Roy
Green of the Workers' Com
pensation Department act
ing in accordance with author
ity he believes was established
by the 1979 law has proposed
new rules to provide unifor
mity at all steps of the appeals
process.
Setting Guidelines
They are aimed at providing
the same guidelines for esta
blishing disability of unsche
duled injuries mainly hurts
of head, neck, back and
trunk for use by the Evalua
tions and Hearing Division,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Hoo-ray for Meg Murray,
she's right on education
Editor:
Hoo-ray for Meg Murray. I
agree, our children should be
given the opportunity to
choose the best education
offered.
If lone is giving less to their
students, it turns into an
unfair situation for them.
We live on the very end of.
Morrow County. My children
could go to Echo or Heppner
for their education. They are
attending the Heppner schools
because they knew Heppner
offered a better education.
I think this is the same
situation that the school sys
tems are having in all small,
isolated counties.
All students should be able
to attend the school that gives
them the best education.
Hermiston now has a pri
vate school for those who felt
' their children were not re
ceiving a fair "education"
in Echo. The waiting list is
getting longer every month.
Can this happen in Morrow
County?
Dorothy Hawkins,
Star Route
Echo, Ore. 97826
Tax Measure six alive, well, going
to voters in November 1980
Editor:
Attention all dissatisfied tax
payers. The successor to
Measure 6 is alive and well
and on it's way to submission
to the voters in November
1980. Now that the tax
statements are out, it should
be obvious that the legislature
never seriously intended an
overall reduction of property
taxes.
The only answer is to place a
one percent limit on property
taxes in the constitution where
the legislature can't tinker
with it.
Want to help?? Can you
carry a petition?? Your sup
port is needed to make the 1
percent limit the law. Your
support, moral, physical and
financial is necessary to
bypass a legislature that no
longer listens.
Write Oregonians for Tax
Relief., P.O. Box 24, North
Bend. OR 97459, Orvin C.
Stanwood. Chairman.
Orvin C. Stanwood
264 Pierce Point Road
North Bend, Ore. 97459
the Workers' Compensation
Board and courts. In essence
they would prevent increases
in disabling claims unless
there is a demonstrable
change in the worker's condi
tion or an error committed at
the evaluations level.
Green believes such rules
would provide greater equity
for workers and employers
likely raise the initial benefit
for all claimants, reduce the
situation that now sees about
half the disabling claims
appealed and three-fourths of
those granted higher awards
and elimination of as much as
$4 million dollars annually in
non-productive legal costs.
The controversy arising in
response to his proposal
involves whether the rules
follow legislative intent. The
law granting his rule-making
authority refers to providing
general guidelines for evalua
tion of permanent disabilities
in accordance with existing
law. Green's guidelines in
elude charts and graphs.
Circumventing Intent
Opponents point out law
makers struck reference to
charts and graphs during
passage of the law substitut
ing "in accordance with
existing law." At the same
time the new law contains no
prohibition of the use of charts
and graphs.
Nonetheless, opponents
largely members of the legal
profession involved in the
appeals process of the system
claim Green is circumven
ting legislative intent.
A hearing has been conduc
ted on the rules and written
testimony still is being accep
ted. Legislative Council Com
mittee plans to review the
rules next month as part of its
Administrative Rules Review
function. It is empowered only
to make a recommendation to
Green and the WC Director is
not required to accept that
recommendation.
Regardless, it appears
likely that if the rules are put
into use, the issue will be
taken to the Court of Appeals.
And that will take time. It also
likely will provide still another
Workers' Compensation issue
for further resolution during
the 1981 session of the Legisla
ture. All of which tends to reveal
little more than the fact this
increasingly costly care and
compensation system has be
come so huge and unwieldly
that modification to reduce
mounting expense appears
almost hopeless.
Fish and Wildlife Comm. meeting
The Fish and Wildlife Com- Wildlife Department head
mission wil conduct a general quarters, 506 S.W. Mill Street
business meeting beginning at in Portland.
9 a.m. Nov. 16, at Fish and
C
Heppner Auto Parts
. ..it . ... r s r- "
234 N.Main Heppner 676-9123
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g Tuesday, Wednesday,
I Friday
I Call For Appointment
Donna's
360 e. Aiken 676-5393 676-9909
M&R FLOOR COVERINI
The
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FoamerS ririwt Linoleum. 422 Linden Woy
Ceramic Tile, Kitchen oo-v.o
Cabinets, Rapco Insulation HePPner
CASE FURNITURE
Heppner
Carpet, Linoleum, Counter Tops Installed
Beauty Rest mattresses, Fabrics and Accessories,
Sherwin Williams Paint
TIIRNFR oi aCC youx Jmuxanae. nctAs.
VAN MARTER
B & BRYANT
0m
'Dittpfion. 676-9113
LtVtRNB VuMAKTCB.
INSURANCE HOWARD brtant
187NOKTM turn TT Mm. omao n
f Home Remodeling
I Specializing In Aluminum Siding and repair of old siding
Storm Window! and Doort Prime Windows Small Remodeling Jobs
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MEDICAL CENTER PHARMACY
Free MaiUof Service On Pnacriptnu Hospital Suppbn
Mon.-Fri. 94 pjn. Sa. 9-1p.m. Located m the Mediod Center
1100 Southgite Pendleton 276-1531
SWEENEY MORTUARY
Cemetery, Grave Markers 676-9600
Granite, Marble, Bronze or 676-9226
Serving lone, Lexington & Heppner p.o. Box 97
(JAYNESl
BUSINESS
MAC HIKES
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Service calls every Wednesday
in Heppner, lone and Lexington
332 S. Main St., Pendleton Telephone 276-6441
811 N. Pint, Hermiwon Telephone 567-2731
Chevron GLENN DEVIN
It53 Chevron USA, Inc.
Commission Agent
676-9633
flit- UiKwMWi
Heppner
Boaidman
Morrow County
Abstract & Trtia Company
Tttie Insurance Escrow Service
676-99! 2 431-9261