Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
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TWO • Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 7, 2001 Letter merits an explanation Letters to the Editor l ditor s note Letters to the tditor must be signed The Cazette-Times will not publish unsigned letters Please include your address and phone number on all letters for use by the C- Toffice The G-T reserves the right to edit. The C-T is not responsible for accuracy ol statements made in letters (Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds u n d e r"C ard o f Thanks’ at a cost o f $5.) Put differences aside, work together To the Editor: It is important that the Morrow County School Board focus their attention on the curriculum they are offering the students in all schools in the county. As the state and nation push for increased performance in schools, our students will face increasing difficulty keeping pace if a more comprehensive curriculum is not provided. Breaking up the county's high school system is counter-productive in this regard. The end result of the current Morrow County School system is as follows (provided by the Morrow County School office): Scholastic Aptitude Test (S A T ) School Vear ( 1999-2000) Senior Results I Su te /D n tn cl/Scho o l National Vcrfcal M ath M a le of Oregon • M o m m County School District Heppner H igh $05 $18 $06 482 $32 "$32 lone High S IS 463 Riverside H igh 472 450 $14 $17 Percent <& Number T aking ihe SAT -N A - IT m s s 42.6% (66 out o f IS S ) 78.8% (26 out of 33) 4 4 % ( I I out o f 25) 29.9% (29 out Total 1019 1035 988 i 1064 978 922 * M C S D average sc o rn art not true district averages. Since the schools receive the individual and school scores, the district com p u tn a school average to figure the district average. A true district average could only be computed by using individual sc o rn to compute an average. Traditionally, all Heppner and lone students have valued a solid academic achievement record. But if the school board fails to focus on the curriculum and workable scheduling offered, the students will suffer from increasing difficulty. rhe people o f south Morrow need to put differences aside and work together for the benefit of their children. (s) Meg Murray lone County museum survives transition To the Editor: The Morrow County Museum Board of Commissioners took on the task of planning the future of the Morrow County Museum in July o f2000. Budget cuts by the county no longer provided for the salaries o f a director and assistant. Most museums within Oregon's rural areas are operated by Museum boards or Historical societies and depend solely on volunteers. At the Feb. 20 meeting of the Morrow County Museum Board it was unanimously agreed upon that the board would merge with the FARM Foundation, a non-profit organization formed to secure expansion and development funding for the Morrow County Museum as a whole. A new board has been named to continue fund-raising and operations. The new president is Cliff Green, Heppner. Vice-president is Robert Harrison, Lexington; secretary/treasurer, Larry Mills, Heppner; board members, Barbara Bloodsworth, Betty Carlson, Ken Nelson, Howard Mullins, Butch Laughlin and Bob Jepsen. Robin Krebs will continue as director. She is volunteering 25 hours a week. The county will continue to provide for basic operations, building upkeep, janitorial and utilities. Robin Krebs is in charge of recruiting volunteers for maintenance and operation of the museum, and will oversee the volunteer staff. The board has provided funds to send Mrs. Krebs to museum operation seminars in Portland, and private funding was provided by Mullins Industries for her to attend the Northwest Museums Conference. Training and education will continue to be provided by the board. The museum closed for the winter in order to complete the transition period. Inventory was taken, and cleaning and painting were completed. The Museum Board members and other volunteers put many hours in at both museum sites. St. Patrick's Day will present the opportunity for the ag equipment to be displayed at the elevator from 10-5 on Saturday. The Morrow County Museum will host the spinners and their wool products as tradition holds. Museum hours continue to be Tuesday-Fnday 1-5 p.m., and Saturday 11 a m .-3 p.m.. On Saturday, St. Patrick's Day, special hours will be 10 a m.-5 p.m.. The genealogy department is free for public use. Museum admission is $3 for adults and $2 for senior citizens and students. Children under 12 are admitted free Museum Board meetings are the third Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m., at the museum. The board is pleased that the fixture of the museum is stable and secure and the crisis of July 2000 ( is over. Our sympathies are with our lost staff, but our focus is the continuation of museum operations. The next obstacle will be for the panic to subside in the community and to dispel the doom and gloom conversations thatprevail. The board encourages those with concern for the museum to volunteer their time and talents toward the preservation of Morrow County history. Rachel Harnett operated the museum for 28 years, learning as she went along and volunteering thousands of hours. The board agrees that we should do no less and strive to train volunteers for the preservation of our wonderful collection. This merely takes people willing to work and leam without expectation of financial compensation. To quote Walter D. Wintle: "If you think you are beaten, you are; If you think you dare not you don't. If you'd like to win but think you can't its almost a cinch you won't. If you think you'll lose; you're lost, for out in the world we find: success begins with a fellow's will: Its all in the state of mind." So when you hear negative talk about your museum, just smile and suggest they do something positive and become a museum volunteer. A healthy community needs people working together. Then we not only survive, we grow, and continue to do the best we can. Criticism is an acti\ ty for people who dread getting involved. Our greatest assets are positive people taking positive actions, and attaining impossible goals. We appreciate to all who have taken positive action. (s) Sharon Harrison Heppner SCRATCH PADS - $1 lb. Gazette-Times ■ 676-9228 To the Editor: The letter last week from Bonnie and Jack Engler merits an explanation to them or others who may have similar reactions to my earlier letters. First and most important: you misunderstand my purpose. It is to look to what might be in our future that could destroy our democracy. It is not to continue the election campaign with that endless, hackneyed repetition of allegations, etc. That is history. It is not to defend Democrats. Both parties are equally guilty of accepting the three billion dollars of special interest funding to buy the power to govern. My growing concern is based on (1) Pres. Eisenhower’s prediction, (2) the definition of fascism (see dictionary) and Senators McCain and Feingold's work to stop corporate and other special interests from buying the government. They include unions as special interests in their bill. (Their interests are special since they do the work in factones, mills, fields, transportation and work that makes the country produce.) My stance comes from my past, of course. I love my country, having always thought that the promises inscribed on the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor that my country is the only one on Earth that offers home to the oppressed. To me, it is like Jesus' words: "Come to me, all you are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I believe passionately in democracy where every single person has a vote to determine what happens to the whole. In World War II, I was in college. We had to fight the fascist dictatorships because democracy can have no power in fascism. Some o f my classmates, students and friends, some them very close, died in that war. They had to do it .1 still think of them. Do you? That said, returning to Pres. Eisenhower: having served as the great general in the great war and with two terms as president, could anyone in the 20th century be better qualified to make a prediction about the future of our country? His further comments on the military will be in tiie next letter. The military has always played prominently in fascist dictatorships. Let's be clear. I did not say that the R party is fascist or that Bush II is a dictator. Only what may be symptoms have been pointed out. The quotes from him on the trillion dollar tax cuts or others by Cheney, Tom DeLay or Ashcroft which swear to do only exactly what the president wants cannot be denied. They are documented. Regarding your denial that anyone was denied the nght to vote, consider this: if 40,000 votes were cast but not counted, isn't the result the same as if they had never been allowed to vote? Florida law clearly provided for the hand count as the way to handle ballots that the machines were unable to count.... as do other states, including Texas. The D's are really at fault there. Under Childs they had known about the voting mess for years In 1988, Buddy McKay lost a U.S Senate race to Connie Mack by a razor-thin margin after a recount. Same counties... Broward, Dade and Palm Beach ....were involved then... same problem with the punch card ballots and nothing done about it in all these years... Now they plan to change it. Something good happened. Apologies to Bonnie and Jack. Ihe mention of the Beer I lall Putsch expected readers to make the metaphorical comparisons. A putsch occurs when on a specific scene, a group who feel they have the power move in quickly and take over. In Flonda, the storm troopers were the R's with the governor, secretary of state, legislature and other election players. Those who resisted at the Beer Hall were the Flonda Supreme court judges, and the shot by Hitler was the U.S. Supreme Court Judge (one of the five) who stopped the counting. It was a putsch.... a naked, unconstitutional, illegal, undemocratic power grab. Hitler didn't succeed but he had a foot in the door. Bush II was successful; he became president. Those who love democracy should never let it happen again. Bonnie and Jack, you mention Clinton. Whatever one thinks of him, all have to admit that he was a very popular president, retaining that popularity through two terms (and impeachment, Monica etc.), emerging in January 2000 with a 67 percent majority, greater even than Reagan's. Still young, he represents a power—majorities have power in a democracy. What is happening now reminds me o f a tour of Auschwitz a few years ago where I learned that a good percentage of those imprisoned, shot or incinerated there were not Jews, but anyone offering resistance to the Nazis, not only the individual but everyone in his family. Now two R Reps. Burton and Barr who have built their political careers on bnnging Clinton down are heading a campaign to destroy his popularity in retirement. Look at the D's who arejoining the mob, seeking to destroy his wife, his brother, her brothers, their friends. Is this the same process used by one-party governments? Is it because they fear his potential political power? It is true that President Carter derided his pardons, but Carter also said,"Gore got a bad deal in Florida," and answered "No" when asked if his well-known election-monitoring team would have gone into the Flonda situation. In summary, I asl^ only that Americans for democracy take time to listen to our prophets and assess if and where we are on a "slippery slope." Someone with more power than our politicians said, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own town.” (s) Jane Rawlins Heppner MCEA endorses Renfro for school board The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County o f Morrow Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES U.S P S 240-420 Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper Published weekly and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879 Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon Office at 147 W Willow Street Telephone (541 )676-9228 Fax (541 >676-9211 E-mail gt@heppner net or gt(u rapidserve.net Web site www heppner.net Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P O Box 337, Heppner. Oregon 97836 Subscriptions S22 in Morrow County; $16 senior rate (in Morrow County only. 62 years or older); $29 else where David Sykes ......................Publisher April Hilton-Sykes .................... Editor N e w s d ea d line Is M o n d a y at S p.m. For Advertising advertising deadline is Tuesday at noon C ost for a display ad is $4 50 per column inch Cost for classified ad is 400 per word Cost for Card of Thanks is $5 up to 100 words Cost for a classified display ad is $5 10 per column inch. For Public/Legal Notices public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publication must be specified Affidavits must be required at the time of submission Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required) On the HEPPNER WEBSITE: www.heppner.net • Start or C hange a Subscription • Place a C lassified Ad • Subm it a News Story • View Real Estate for Sale • City Council & Planning Minutes • Local Businesses • County Park • Willow Creek Park Reservations • Free Digital Postcards • Senior Housing • and more! Species Act seriously flawed To the Editor: The Endangered Species Act is seriously flawed. The threat o f a lawsuit to stop or delay irrigation development in Morrow County was serious enough that an environmental group. The Nature Conservancy, acting in concert with a number of other environmental groups, was able to extort 20,000 acres for its own purposes, purchased for a token amount of money. These 20,000 acres will never again be able to positively impact the economy of Morrow County. Why? To preserve a few colonies of squirrels in second rate habitat. If the Washington Ground Squirrel is indeed endangered, they should be taken care o f in Washington and not Oregon. These squirrels, which are thriving in Oregon, may be similar to their cousins in Washington but they have been separated from them for many thousand generations. The same agency that contends that salmon can develop genetic variations in one or two generations through a hatchery tells us that these two populations, which have been separated for many thousand generations, are identical. The other flaw with the act is that the protection is not limited to national parks and federal wilderness areas (which seem to be growing constantly) but it extends to private lands dedicated to other purposes. For instance, a livestock grower must care for his livestock which includes protecting them. Therefore, the producer has a strong moral imperative to eliminate any predator that menaces his herd. This includes bears, cougars, wolves, coyotes and stray dogs. Producers are being forced to shoot, shovel and shut up. This makes criminals out of honest livestock growers and this has already happened in Montana, Idaho and Oregon. Talk of aversion therapy on the predatory species is as naive and as likely to succeed as aversion therapy is on the human species. (s) CR McEUigott lone 0 i& eO'M'I'NQ! H ave You ... CLEANED THOSE FLOWER BEDS? To the Editor, On Feb. 28,2001, the executive board of the Morrow County Education Association held a school board candidate interview. The interview team was impressed with the sincere interest and positive responses of the candidates. After much deliberation, the Morrow County Education Association voted to recommend John Renfro for the Zone 2 position. We hope you will take this into consideration when you cast your vote. (s) Sally Walker, for Morrow County Education Association Heppner PRUNED THE TREES? THATCHED THE LAWN? TfeJp T& 'fiMl <Around Hie Cartier HEPPNER HARDWARE JhujiJ/a£m . 106 May Street • Heppner, OR 97836 Phone: (541) 676-9961 • Fax: (541) 676-5496 YANKEE CANDLES THE GIFT OF HOME FRAGRANCING“ Fam ous fo r Fragrance ™ 10% OFF Yankee Candle SPECIAL OF THE MONTH hot isrt tym n et HYDRANGEA Come visit us for tlie only candles that are Fam ous for Fragrance. ^ Muiftoy'i D muj / 217 North Main • Heppner • 676-9158 Just wait ’til you see what's coming to Bank of Eastern Oregon... Be watching! Bank of Eastern Oregon Arlington • Boardman • Condon • Heppner • lone • Irrigon Member FDIC
