TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 20, 2000
The Official Newspaper
, of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Letters to the Editor
Evaluate books before
allowing children to read
t
Heppner
G A ZETTE-TIM ES
U S P S 240-420
Fantasy, magic and faith go together
Morrow County's Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
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the Heppner Gazette-Times, P O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $22 in ;
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where
David Sykes
April Hillon-Sykes
........................................................................................... Publisher
.......................................... .......................................................... Editor
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Court discusses traffic at
processing facility
By Doris Brosnan
At the December 13 meeting of
the Morrow County Court,
County Planning Director Tamra
Mabbott reported that a question
has arisen over the traffic impact
of the processing facility
Columbia River Processing.
After.the addition of two more
buildings
and
subsequent
consultation with an engineer,
Mabbott's present calculations
suggest a higher use than the
originally reported "less-than-
400" daily trips. She will draft a
letter to Tillamook requesting
that they demonstrate that usage
will be under the 400 trips.
Mabbott reported having
received an award from the
Department
of
Land
Conservation and Development.
The purpose of the grant is the
hiring of a consultant to get all
plan amendments since 1985
codified into the comprehensive
plan. The court approved
acceptance of the grant. Though
this project will not be affected
by Measure 7, a brief discussion
did focus on how the Measure 7
change from RR1 to RR2 zones
might affect the county. County
Counsel Bill Hanlon reported
that a "wait and see" posture is
required until the question of the
constitutionality of Measure 7 is
resolved.
Hanlon also reported, in
response to a past question from
Judge Terry Tallman, his
interpretation of the Oregon
statutes that prohibit reduction of
a judge's salary during his/her
term in office. In another matter,
Hanlon noted that he would have
to study a map of existing
easements before advising the
court on a request from a
property owner for a revocable
easement to a property off
Columbia Avenue.
Public Works Director Burke
O'Brien discussed with the court
difficulty in getting a property
owner to comply with the
conditions of a land use permit
that requires, for development of
the property, a road brought up to
acceptable standards. O'Brien
suggested some changes in the
permitting
process:
permit
language,
inspections
and
documentation for the planning
department.
O'Brien and the commissioners
discussed a request for the
snowplowing of the USFS
parking lot, used by some county
employees instead of the county
lot, and decided against the
plowing.
O'Bnen also reported recurring
problems with the museum
furnace. If installation of a used
unit from the courthouse
basement does not work, a new
pump and burner unit will be
needed.
O'Brien
reported
on
a
discussion at a Morrow County
School District Board meeting
about the county’s position on
snowplowing. He said he assured
the board that the county crew
will be out with snowplows for
serious snow events and he
recommended that the board
adopt snow routes.
O'Bnen shared his concern
over a section of Columbia
Avenue that was paved with cold
mix and is starting to show
stress. He is considering the
options, which will involve
removing a section and paving
back with hot mix.
The commissioners discussed
the need for a single policy on
the after-hours use of county
buildings by non-county entities.
Issues discussed and to be further
considered
include
the
differences among the buildings
and matters of security.
Other activities of the court
included the following:
-acceptance of the Noland
Door bid for the Wilkinson
Arena doors;
-approval of a quitclaim deed
for the disposal of some
property;
-approval of a stipulated
judgment in the department of
revenue vs. county clerks case;
-reappointment of Shirley
Adams and Jim Swanson to the
Morrow County Fair Board for
four year terms.
Ü éé PÜ ss
M erry C hristm as
and
we w ish you a
Blessed N ew Year
j
We will be closed at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 24th,
closed Monday, Dec. 25th & Tuesday, Dec. 26th
Beecher’s Restaurant
350 Highway 74 • lone, OR 97843 • (541) 422-7038
•
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To the Editor:
As an ordained Christian
minister and a teacher of
literature, I cannot resist joining
the debate over Harry Potter
begun in these pages by Ten
Lynch and Jannie Allen.
I agree with Lynch that evil
exists and needs to be fought by
all who believe in a God of love
and light. I disagree, however,
with her contention
that
imagination and magic are in
themselves evil. On the contrary,
1 know that creativity and
communion with the world
beyond this one are gifts from
God. Wnters of fantasy and
science fiction often employ
magic to portray the ultimate
victory of good over evil in ways
that cannot be explained by
materialist science. I believe that
every such witness of the power
of good is Godly, whether
explicitly so or not.
As for witches, as Glinda asks
Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz,
"Are you a good witch or a bad
witch?" Evil in so-called witches
isn't caused by magic per se, but
by the same sins that inspire evil,
in humans: greed, hate and
ignorance. Those are the things
we need to be fighting against.
And as for Harry, I've read the
first book and found its story
entertaining and its hero very
likeable; I'd say he's a good
wizard. In this genre, however, I
prefer C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of
Narnia or Madeleine L'Engle's A
Wrinkle in Time series - classics
that prove fantasy, magic and
faith can go together brilliantly.
(s) Lea Mathieu
lone
Florida has ban on leghold traps
To the Editor:
use of steel leghold traps is
Greetings from Florida. We banned in the State of Florida by
might not push our chads through the Florida Game and Fresh
the ballot properly, but we Water Fish Commission. The
Floridians have sense enough to only exception is that farmers are
restrict the use of torturous permitted to set out five traps,
leghold traps in our state.
under permit, for the purpose of
I was disappointed to leam that protecting domestic animals on
Oregon's Measure 97, the their premises. No legislation is
"Trapping Ban," failed at the necessary to put this ban into
polls. Maybe it's not too late to effect."
right this wrong. Oregon Fish
This ban hasn't harmed us in
and Wildlife could make a ruling the 24 years it's been in effect.
similar to Florida's, which reads:
(s) Joan Jenrich
"Effective January 1, 1973, the
St. Petersburg, FL
Traps, poisons equally
indiscriminant, dangerous
To the Editor:
If the Heppner Chamber of
Commerce joined their president
Sharon Harrison's "humaneness
theory" that "the most humane
traps are currently used in
Oregon," people would question,
what has become of their apathy?
The steel-jawed leg hold traps
were declared "inhumane" by the
American Veterinary Medical
Association and the World
Veterinary Association. They
have been banned in 89
countries. Studies demonstrate
that for every target animal
caught in a trap, there are one-to-
10 non-target animals that fall
victim to these devices. Poisons
are equally indiscriminate and
highly dangerous.
(s) Glo Wright
Heppner
Margaret Rogers named PMNH
resident of month
Margaret Rogers
Margaret Rogers has been
selected as the Pioneer Memorial
Nursing Home Resident of the
Month.
Margaret Rogers was bom Oct.
5, 1912, to Lilly Mae and Walter
Livermore in Williamsport, PA.,
the oldest of three children.
Peggs, as she prefers to be
called, was raised and went to
school in Erie, PA. At 19 she
married Ralph Rogers in Ripley,
NY. on Nov. 1, 1931.
Ralph was an industrial
engineer and Peggs was a
homemaker, raising a daughter
and a son.
They lived in Erie until Ralph
retired in 1978. They then moved
to Port Richie, FL. Ralph passed
away in 1979. Peggs continued to
live in Port Richie until 1996
when she moved to Heppner to
be closer to her granddaughter
Delia Robinson.
She lived in the St. Patrick's
Apartments until she moved to
Pioneer Memorial Nursing Home
in 2000, due to health problems.
Peggs
enjoys
gardening,
knitting, sewing and all crafts.
She also enjoys TV, reading and
visiting.
"We are truly blessed to have
Peggy as part of our family," said
Pennie Miller at Pioneer
Memorial Nursing Home.
To the Editor:
. It is amazing to me how easily
people can be deceived. Some of
us believe that something is
either good or bad based on
limited information that may not
be reliable. This tendency is
flabbergasting.
Science teaches us to be
objective and base conclusions
on facts gained through research.
Through seeking the facts, we
gam a more accurate perspective.
Evaluating the quality, ethics,
moral rightness and benefits of
literature falls under this
dynamic.
We all have heard things about
the Harry Potter books, some
good and some controversial and
disturbing. To those of you who
hold that these books are bad,
have you done your research or
dug into the background of the
author and read at least one book
in the series? I have. Does this
mean that I am trying to tell you
what to believe or do? No. It
does mean that my opinion is not
reactionary and has credence.
Harry Potter books are fantasy,
just like the Tolkien series or the
C. S. Lewis series. Fantasy books
are not the issue I wish to bring
up today. I believe that to judge
the Harry Potter books because
they are fantasy is wrong. Many
great books and movies would be
in the "bad" category. If Harry
Potter is a "bad" series it must be
based on something other than a
fantasy issue. Let's explore this
idea.
The following are facts about
Harry Potter books that I have
uncovered: 1) The author has
been quoted by the London
Times saying that her books
expose the truth about Christ.
Her "truth" is that Christ is a fake
and that Satan is the real "savior"
of the world. Does this mean that
her books are bad? Not
necessarily.
2) The leader of the Satanist
church of America reported an
extreme rise in his "church"
enrollment from 200,000 young
children and young adults to 15
million in the last five years. He
attributes this rise in part to the
Harry Potter books. Even though
this may be an indirect
connection, it is something to
consider.
3) It is reported that the more
advanced Harry Potter books
give references to other "spell"
books that a reader can go to and
leam real spells. You may not
believe that such a thing exists,
but there groups of people that
believe spells "cast" on people
can bring about physical harm or
effect.
4) What about the books
themselves? They revolve around
the main character, Harry Potter.
Harry is a boy whose parents
died when he was young. A
"muggle" family that never gave
him the time of day raises him.
Muggle means they are outsiders
to the magic community.
Muggles are ignorant, stupid and
most of them are mean. Harry's
family treats him very poorly. In
return, Harry torments his
"brother" with "pretend” spells as
a way to get back at him. Harry
enjoys seeing his little brother
frightened. To Harry's brother the
spells are real. Harry is vengeful.
It may be great that our kids are
reading, but what message are
they getting? It is part of our
nature as humans to be selfish
and vengeful, but do want our
kids to leam that these attributes
are acceptable?
5) Children's comments about
these books range from, "It's
cool, you leam how to cast
spells," to "I now know the truth
that Jesus deserved to die
because he was weak," to "I want
to leam the spell so I can get
back at my science teacher for
giving me a 'D'." Lo and behold
we now can see the true danger
behind these books. Children are
being influenced in ways that, I
am sure, most parents don't want.
When a book or any other form
of communication adversely
affects our children, the time to
speak out is apparent. I'm not
saying that all children will come
away from reading these books
with the above ideas. They may
even benefit from the act of
reading, but the danger behind
these books is too much to take a
chance.
As a parent I vehemently
oppose my children reading these
books. It is a choice that I make
as the spiritual leader of my
family. My children can leam to
read and enjoy reading from
other sources; we don't need to
sacrifice our moral values to get
children to read. If a child
wanted to read a Playboy article
instead of going out to recess,
would that be acceptable because
it encourages them to read? We
see the bad in Playboy, why can
we not see the bad in a book
series that advocates revenge and
the use of spells to settle
differences between people?
Teachers,
librarians
and
parents all have"a responsibility
to protect children. If we
knowingly expose them to
anything that may adversely
affect them, even if we believe it
has some benefit, we are
deceiving ourselves.
Whether you think Harry Potter
is good or bad is not the issue.
What is at stake here is our
children's perspective on what is
right. God says to love each other
as you love yourself. Is that a
message from Harry? No. He
teaches to extract revenge on
others by the use of spells. This
is not godly or morally
acceptable. I implore any teacher
or parent to fully reevaluate this
series of books before allowing
your children or students to read
them.
(s) Jason Just
Heppner
From Gayle, Judy, Jerri,
Ellen, Marlene and Randall
We w ill b e o p e n Sunday,
Dec. 2 4 tb f r o m 1 2 -4 p .m .
J o in u s f o r p u n ch , c o ffe e
a n d c o o k ie s
Join the JamiCy o f
D O R R IS G R A V E S
fo r a ceCehration o f her
9 0 th B irth d a y
OPEN HOUSE
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D avid. A p ril. Bonnie, tan a. D an w fc. W hitney. Stephanie
Saturday, December 30th
Hermiston Eagles Lodge
160 NW 2nd St., Hermiston
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The party will begin with a light lunch buffet
Cards - Pictures - Stories are welcome!
(No gifts, please)
EVERYONE IS INVITED TO ATTEND!
Peterson's p f e
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lew el en
f j j l 7 M 7 (ie
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