TWO The Hepper Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, December 13, 1979
K g The Official Newspaper of the
City of Heppner and the
' County of Morrow
J ONFA
Oregon Niapi
The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
Morrow Couty's Boae-Owatd Wttklj HewsMPtr
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Published every Thunday and entered as second-class mailer al the Post Office
at Heppner. Oregon under the Act of March 3. 1879. Second-class postage paid at
Heppner. Oregon.
Office at 147 West Willow Street Telephone. 1503) 076-9221
Address communications fo the Heppner Gazette-Times. P 0. Box 337. Heppner,
Oregon. 978:lli
Sum in Murrou. Umatilla. Wheeler & Gilliam counties: 110 00 elsewhere.
Senior Citizen Rate. $5 on
Jerome F. Sheldon, Publisher
Steven A. Powell, News Editor
The Political Map
Next April the census takers will be
making their decennial head count of the
people in the United States.
The new population figures will provide
the basis for reapportionment, not only for
the U.S. Congress but for various state
legislatures. In a recent talk in Bend, State
Treasurer Clay Myers reported that for the
first time in a century, eastern Oregon will
not lose representation. He was directing his
remarks to an audience in Deschutes County,
which he described as being proportionally
the fastest growing in Oregon. He said the
county would have its representation
increased from eight-ninths of one represen
tative to 1.3 representatives.
In contrast, Multonomah County, which
includes the Portland area, will lose three
representatives and IV2 senators after the
1980 census, Myers declared.
The City of Portland will lose most of the
representation while Gresham, also in
Multnomah County, will gain, Myers said.
Forty years ago, Multnomah County
contained 34 percent of Oregon's population
but by 1980 it will contain only 21 to 22
percent.
Myers said the greatest population
growth in 40 years, besides Deschutes, has
been in Washington, Josephine and Morrow
counties.
Last week, Morrow's legislator, Rep.'
Billy Bellamy of Culver, was in Heppner for
the livestock growers' convention. In a brief
interview, he had some remarks to add to the
question of reapportionment. Now, his
constituency known as District 55 stretches
from the Willamette Valley to eastern
Oregon. He represents not only Morrow
County but Gilliam, Jefferson, Sherman and
portions of Clackamas, Linn, Marion and
Wasco counties. It's a diverse territory.
The one thing that all of these counties
have in common is that there are no large
population centers only small towns, Bel
lamy said.
After the 1980 census, he said, there are
certain to be changes in the district
boundaries. There is "talk" (he didn't specify
by whom) that Umatilla and Morrow counties
might be combined as one legislative district.
Or, perhaps, Morrow County might be split in
its representation, the northern part of the
county being attached to Umatilla, following
the present lines of economic interest; and
the southern part of the county continuing its
link to Gilliam and Sherman counties.
However the legislative map may be
redrawn, Bellamy said, it would be to
Morrow County's advantage. Its representa
tion would be stronger. If the county were
divided between two districts, it would have
double the present voting and vocal power
in the House of Representatives at Salem.
There was no discussion in the interview
with Bellamy asto how the State Senate
would be reapportioned. Sen. Ken Jernstedt
of Hood River speaks for a district as diverse
as that of Bellamy's House district.
The new census figures will become
known in the latter part of 1980. Then, it will
be up to the Legislature to redesign the
district boundaries.
Practically speaking, Bellamy said, the
Legislature probably couldn't agree on a new
map. Or, the governor might veto any
reapportionment plan. Any citizen may
petitionJhePreg for a
review of reapportionment plans. At the
earliest, the new district lines would be
applicable in 1981.
Judging from these reports, eastern
Oregon may anticipate added power in the
statehouse in the coming decade.
"Be silent always when you doubt your sense."
Alexander Pope
Sifting through the TIM
lco;
1929
Fifty years ago a Morrow
County grand jury returned
three secret indictments to the
court but the investigation
could not be completed until
some missing witnesses were
able to come to court. The
grand jury inspected the
county jail and recommended
that the jail be cleaned up and
kept in more sanitary condi
tions. Slight remodeling of the
jail was advised.
Senator R.J. Carsner said
that range conditions were
good in the Spray area in a
speech in Portland.
"Adam and Eva" was the
play being performed at
Heppner High School. It was a
three-act comedy play and
admission was 50 cents.
Oregon State College was
offering three specialized
agricultural courses. The
courses were in buttermaking
for work in creameries, bank
ing w6rk for the livestock
market and canning.
The Black Cat orchestra
was performing at the Elks
Club and it was the first dance
3
for weeks in Heppner and a
large crowd was expected.
The Eastern Oregon Wheat
League held a meeting in
Arlington and an executive
session meeting backed the
North Pacific Plan of grain
selling.
Yuletide mailing hits were
given by the Post Office. The
first hint was to mail as soon
as possible. The second, wrap
all packaged good and tight.
The Lions Club continued to
stress for the improvement of
roads in Morrow County. They
passed three resolutions in
favor to continue work on the
Heppner to Spray Road, oiling
the Heppner to Pilot Rock
road and the betterment of the
Wallulla cutoff.
Two hunters were employed
in predatory animal control
work in Morrow County. They
both bagged 30 coyotes and
one bobcat during the month.
1954
Twenty five years ago at
least 500 children were expec
ted in Heppner to come see
Santa Claus. There was a free
theatre show afterwards and
the Heppner Elks were pas
sing out free candy.
Dean Graves of Heppner
and Mrs. Edna Grimm of
Irrigon were awarded with
10-year 4-H pins by Jack
Bedford, manager of the First
National Bank of Portland. At
the same banquet, Mrs. L.A.
McCabe of lone was honored
as a 10-year 4-H leader, the
first person ever to receive the
honor in Morrow County.
Burglars entered the home
of L.L. Robbins and stole the
contents of a large piggy bank,
a $300 accordian and a 410
gauge shotgun. Robbins was
an agricultural teacher at
Heppner High School.
Seven county farmers
signed contracts to grow
safflower on 86 acres with a
company from California. It
was the first time safflower
had been grown here in any
quantity to see if it could be
grown here for profit.
The Lions Club was sponsor
ing a Christmas lighting
contest and three prizes were
going to be given out.
, The building occupied by
Gilliam and Bisbee Hardware
was sold to Virden and Rosa
Heliums of Pendleton. The
26,500 square foot building,
one of the largest in Heppner,
was purchased for investment
purposes. Gilliam and Bisbee
were one of the oldest firms in
Heppner having started the
business in 1877.
1974
Five years ago approxi
mately 200 younsters attended
the first coming of Santa.
Because of the lack of snow,
Santa came on a fire truck
instead of in his sleigh.
Henry R. Krebs of lone was
elected president of the Ore
gon Sheep Growers at its
annual convention in Eugene.
Shirley Rugg, of Heppner was
elected 2nd vice-president and
Mrs. Dorothy Krebs of lone
was elected president of the
Oregon Sheep Growers Auxi
liary. An Unidentified Flying Ob
ject was sighted in Heppner by
Ernie Ertz, Bob Lowe and
Mrs. Etta Parker. Lowe said
he knows people must be
saying that they all had been
drinking out of the same bottle
but he said they were not.
Heppner had not had a UFO
reported since the 1940's.
Legislative Report from the State Capital
EXCLUSIVE to Oregon's Weekly Newspa
pers from Associated Oregon Industries.
Salem Scene
Forest industry brings tax relief
Most Oregonians under
stand the economic signifi
cance of the state's forest
products industry.
They comprehend jobs, pay
roll and the products used to
construct the homes in which
they live.
But something relatively
few residents of this state
consider is the property tax
relief provided homeowners
by virtue of Oregon's produc
tive forests.
On an annual basis, the
manufacture of forest pro
ducts means employment for
some 90.000 workers in this
state collecting a payroll in
excess of $1.2 billion. And on
the same yearly standard,
productive forests provide
another quarter of a billion
dollars in property tax relief
for homeowners throughout
Oregon.
That's the subject of a
recent study by Jim Carbone.
forest taxation director for
Associated Oregon Industries
in Salem.
Carbone's study was promp
ted by a newspaper editorial
calling attention to the fact
homeowners in Lane County's
Marcola area received "whop
ping" tax bill reductions this
year, mainly because of
exceptionally large timber
severance tax collections off
setting property taxes. The
reductions, according to the
editorial, were even greater
than those provided by the
state's new property tax relief
program.
The AIO timber tax special
ist believes this substantial
side benefit derived from
productive, working forests is
commonly overlooked "vhen
people analyse the importance
of Oregon forests.
"One can easily see the
prosperity and employment
created by a healthy forest
economy." he said. "But
hidden to many is the fact our
commercial forests are a
ma jor source of property tax
relief for Oregon homeown
ers." Carbone went on to explain
the state's 25 million acres of
commercial forest lands gen
erate nearly $250 million of tax
offset annually. This money
from timber and land taxes
and state and federal-shared
forest revenues is used as a
direct offset to the costs of
running state and community
services costs which other
wise would be -paid by
homeowners and other pro
pery taxpayers.
The majority of private
forest landowners are taxed
bolh on the land and on their
crop. Carbone explained. This
differs from agricultural land
which only pays land tax.
Under the Western Oregon
severance tax law. woodland
' owners pay an annual tax
based on the value of the land.
In addition, they pay a tax at
time of harvest amountingto
6'- percent of harvestValue.
These revenues areaistribu
ted back to tlKyVarious taxing
districts on the basis of
assessed forest land value and
annual harvest in each area.
x Eastern Oregon's forest tax
system is similar and small
woodland owners in western
Oregon have the option of
paying a larger annual tax,
based on land productivity,
instead of paying the final
harvest tax.
State and federal forest
lands produce revenues for
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Cardinals of early days pictured
.- I '
iT - j:Vv "V V.-
( ml I - , O : i If )
lone High School football team in a photo taken many years ago.
Editor:
Even though the football
season has ended, I thought
the enclosed picture was
interesting and might be of
interest to your readers. I
found it among my deceased
mother's papers.
After conferring with some
old timers around town, most
of them agree on the following
identifications:
Back row, left to right. 1.
Bob Sperry, 2. unknown, 3.
Leo Gist. 4. Harold Mason. 5.
Mr. Kauffman, coach. 6.
Frank Hopkins.
Front row, left to right, 1.
Merle Blake, 2. Walt Cochran,
3. Roy Blake, 4. Walter
Dobyns, 5. Lester Blake, 6.
Jesse Jordan. 7. Roy Akers.
These may not all be
correct. Perhaps readers can
help out.
Sincerely,
KatherineLindstrom
lone
P.S. I cannot mail this with
adding that I thought the
article on "Lama.e" which
took up at least a quarter oi
last week's Gazette-Times
front page (Nov. 29 issue) was
in very poor taste. I have not
heard one person speak in
anything but disgust about it.
Granted, Lamaze instruction
is excellent but we don't need
a detailed account on the front
page of our county newspaper
(dilated to five centimeters,
yet!). Surely if a reporter
looked hard enough, he might
be able to find a subject on
which he could "wax elo
quent" that would be of
interest to a broader range of
his readers.
K.L.
Oregonians based on harvest
level.
Revenue from harvests in
state forests are paid to
counties or the Common
School Fund. The two most
significant federally con
trolled revenue producers in
volve harvests on National
Forest and Oregon & Califor
nia (O&C) lands. National
Forests are administered by
the U.S. Forest Service and
include about 11.5 million
acres of commercial forest
land. Thirty-one counties in
whicn these forests are loca
ted receive 25 percent of
harvest revenues. The Bureau
of Land Management man
ages O&C lands in 18 counties
and distributes 50 percent of
those timber revenues back to
the counties involved.
Carbone's report indicates
that although all Oregonians
derive some economic benefit
from the working forests, the
degree of tax relief varies
widely among counties and
taxing district depending on
the amount of forest land, type
of ownership and level of
harvest in each.
One method of looking at the
tax relief is to determine the
reduction in tax rate produced
by timber offsets.
Statewide, that reduction
averages approximately $5.34
per thousand dollars of asses
sed value. In other words,
according to Carbone, the
average owner of a $50,000
home in Oregon is paying
about $267 less property tax
each year thanks to the
working forests.
In some highly timbered
areas the largest part of a
district's budget is paid for by
timber offsets. Tax rates in
Sweet Home School Dist. 55
would be more than $11 per.
thousand higher without re
ceipts from the forest pro
ducts industry.
Redmond Dist. 2,1 has an
offest of only two cents per
thousand from private lands.
Rut Deschutes County is 70
percent federal land and
another 75 cents per thousand
accrues from federal reve
nues. In Polk County's Dallas
Dist. 2 the offset is 92 cents per
thousand from private lands.
And Marcola's Dist. 79.1 had a
total timber tax offset equal to
one third of its entire tax levy
in 1978!
As Carhone concluded in his
study, it is obvious that a
healthy forest economy is a
ma jor factor in the ability of
homeowners and Oregonians
generally to afford the public
services they desire.
"Good forest management
in Oregon enables us to eat our
cake and have it. too." he said.
"We get lower property tax
rates and more services for
fewer tax dollars all at the
same time."
Weight-mile taxes paid
by trucks, buses set record
Oregon weight-mile rax re
ceipts reached a record level
for a single month in October,
according to Don Haakenson,
Motor Program administrator
for the Public Utility Commis
soner. Receipts for the month were
$5.7 million. The previous
record was $5.3 million in
October of 1978. Collections for
the year now stand at $48.3
million, a record for the first
ten months.
Weight-mile taxes collected
from truck and bus operators
using Oregon highways are
based on the declared weight
of the vehicle and the amount
of miles traveled.
m)
Heppner Auto Parts
234 N.Main Heppner 676-9.123
i ; ; -
lie i
"i Mia J
M&R FLOOR COVERING
The
Rapco
FoamerS Carpet, Linoleum, .422 Linden Way
Ceramic Tile, Kitchen 6e-v4io
Cabinets, Rapco Insulation HePPner
CASE FURNITURE Heppner
Carpet, Linoleum, Counter Tops Installed
Beauty Rest mattresses, Fabrics and Accessories,
Sherwin Williams Paint
TURNER T Houx niuxanct- needi
VAN MARTER
3 & BRYANT
43
1B7MOKTH MAM 1TMIT . OatOON 7M
umtn VuMlRTBl tm
INSURANCE HOWARD HTANT
- - - n m--iBi -
Home Remodeling
Jpecijizing In Aluminum Siding and repair of old siding
Storm Window! and Doon Prime Windows Small Remodeling Job
676-5051
Ken Rfwld
In Buvne
C
, MEDICAL CENTER PHARMACY
'd Fnc Miana Serviz On Pnacripiooi Hopital Sopptier
Z-A . Moc-Fri. 9 p-m. Sm 9-1p.m. Looted in the Medial Center
1100 Southgate Pendleton 276-1531
SWEENEY MORTUARY
Cemetery, Grave Markers 676-9600
Granite, Marble, Bronze or 676-9226
Serving lone, Lexington & Heppner p.o. Box 97
JNES
BUSINESS
11 AC HIKES
Service calls every Wednesday ,
in Heppner, lone and Lexington
332 S. Main St., Pendleton Telephone 276-6441
811 N. Firat, HermMon Telephone 367-2731
r - - .
Chevron GLENN DEVIN "
Chevron USA, Inc.
w"n Commission Agent
, 676-9633 A
Heppner
Boordmon
Morrow County
Abstract & Trtfa Corsipeny
fifte Insurance t Escrow Service ',
676-9912 431-9261
1