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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2001)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, June 13, 2001 The Official Newspaper o f the City o f Heppner and the County o f Morrow Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES Letters to the Editor Editor's note Letters to the Editor must be signed The Gazette-Times will not publish unsigned letters Please include your address and phone number o n all letters lor use by the G-T office TheC-T reserves the right to edit The C -T is not responsible for accuracy o l statements made in letters (Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under “C a rd o f T h a n k s'a t a c o st o l $5.) U.S.P.S. 240-420 M o rro w County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper Published w e ekly and entered as periodical matter at the Post O ffice at Heppner, O rego n under the A c t o f M a rc h 3 ,1 8 7 9 Periodical postage paid at Heppner, O re go n O ffice at 147 W W illo w Street Telephone ( 5 4 1 >676-9228. Fax ( 5 4 1 >676-9211 E-m a il gt@ h ep p n er net or gt,u rapidserve net W e b s it e w w w heppner net Postm aster send address ch an ges to the Heppner Gazette-Tim es, P 0 B o x 337, H ep p ne t, O re g o n 9 7 8 3 6 Sub scrip tion s: $22 in M o rro w (,'ounty, $ 1 6 senior rate (in M o rr o w C o u n ty on ly , 62 years or older), $ 2 9 else where D a s id S y k e s ..........................................................................P ub lishe r A p ril H ilt o n -S y k e s ....................................................................................... Editor News deadline it Monday at S p m. For Advertising advertising deadline s Tuesday at noon Cost lor a display ad is $4 50 per column inch Cost lor classified ad is 40« per word Cost for Card ol Thanks s $5 up to 100 words Cost lor a classified display ad is $5 10 per column inch For Pubiic/legai Notices public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p m Dates lor publication must be specified Affidavits must be required at the time ol submission Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date ol publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required) On the HEPPNER WEBSITE: www.heppner.net • Start or Change a Subscription • Place a C lassified Ad • Submit a N ew s Story • V iew Real Estate for Sale • City Council & Planning Minutes • L o c a l B u s in e s s e s • County Park • Willow Creek Park Reservations • Free Digital Postcards • Senior Housing • and more! Engagement Zacharias-Bacon Assisted living board addresses location question To the Editor: We appreciate every opportunity to inform our com m unity o f our assisted living project, and the recent question o f the facility’s location is such an opportunity. "Willow Creek Terrace" will sit south o f the Heppner Cemetery, east o f the Van Liew home, west o f Willow Creek Lake. The facility will be adjacent to the Lakeview Heights subdivision, at the end o f Frank Gilliam Drive. The Port of Morrow donated the land on which the facility will be situated. This gifted land is valued at $50,000. $50,000 represents a substantial savings to our effort. The property is within the city limits and has im mediate access to all utilities, representing another important savings. Eight of the apartments at Willow Creek Terrace will have a view o f Willow Creek Lake. Eight o f the apartm ents are to have a view to the west, the familiar "hills of home" and the grazing Van Liew sheep and lamas. Should the view to the northeast create a problem, we are prepared to plant a wall o f arbor vitae to block that view. (We hear a surpnsing vanety o f thoughts on this neighboring expanse o f m anicured green grass. One suggestion is to seek permission to put a gate in the fence so that tenants and visitors can easily access the area for walks, and walks down "memory lane.") We welcome suggestions and questions from our community as work on our facility progresses. And we hope others share our excitement over knowing that as the projects takes shape, our goal becomes closer. We want to provide a safe, comfortable, attractive home-like environment where our seniors and disabled can live close to those they love. (s) Suzanne Jepsen Board o f Directors chairperson W illow Creek Valley Assisted Living Spending education dollars for nothing To the Editor: At Superintendent Anderson's direction, the M orrow County School Board has hired a retired judge from LaGrande to take o ff their hands a decision concerning the board's attempt to dismiss two duly elected members o f their own board. A decision by a retired judge would have no legal standing but would cost taxpayers $ 150 an hour plus expenses. The original board action for dism issal was irresponsibly instituted by the board as a result of an anonymous letter. The board's vote at the June 6 hearing is once again a glaring example o f spending education dollars for nothing. If teachers are now to be held accountable, so too should boards and superintendents. (s) M eg Murray lone Join voluntary blackout J en n ifer Z aeh arias and Jakfe B acon Jennifer Ann Zacharias and Jake Allen Bacon have announced their engagement to be married. Jake is the son o f Bill and Marcy Bacon. Prtneville. iorm erly ot Heppner and lone. He graduated from lone High School in 1994 and received a bachelor o f science degree from Eastern Oregon University in 1999. He is employed as a middle school PE and health teacher and coach for the Grant Union School District 3. The bride-elect is the daughter o f Judy Norberg, Boise, Idaho, and Paul Norberg. Joseph. She graduated from Joseph High School in 1993 and received a bachelor o f science degree from Eastern Oregon University in 1998. She is employed as an elementary school teacher for the Grant Union School District 3. The couple plans a July 4 3 p.m. wedding at the Oxbow Ranch Bed and Breakfast in Prairie City. A barbecue and reception will follow the ceremony. Friends and family are invited to attend. Gutierrez - Wilson To the Editor: Have you ever noticed that when the power goes out, everybody gets together to try and figure out what happened. People leave their homes and go out into their hallways and streets and meet and greet each other. There's something mysterious about it, yet community building. Well, if that's been your experience, or not, 1 have som ething to share with you ... Roll your own blackout/National Voluntary Blackout, the first day of summer. Thursday, June 21. from 7-10 p.m. worldwide, all time zones. There's a grassroots effort to have everyone in the country "roll their own blackout." I call it a National Voluntary Blackout. It's in part a response to the following item from The Times o f London which appeared in The Vancouver Sun on Monday, May 14, p.l 1. "[George W.] Bush, a Texas oilman, was asked last week if Americans, the world's biggest energy consumers, should change their lifestyles to counter shortages. An Fleischer, his spokesman, said; "That's a big 'no.' The president believes it's an Am erican way o f life, and that it should be the goal o f policy-m akers to protect the American way of life. The American way o f life is a blessed one; and we have a bounty o f resources m this country." Whether you agree with Mr. Bush or not, we do live a "charmed" and comfoitable life here in this country, and I urge all Americans to seriously consider turning off as many of your electronic appliances as possible on Thursday, the first day o f summer. If everyone participates (or a good portion o f everyone), the energy-saving voluntary blackout will roll across the whole hemisphere. So, turn o ff your lights, TVs, and computers from 7-10 p.m. on June 21. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your house. Light a candle, take a stroll in the dark, watch the stars. Do anything that's not electronic. If everyone participates, we can make a difference and send the message that we're willing to be part o f the solution. (s) M onika Hunter Heppner Elks Father's Day picnic scheduled This Sunday, June 17, the Heppner Elks Lodge will again host the annual Father's Day Picnic at Cutsforth Park for all current Elk m em bers and their families. The festivities will begin at 11 a m. with hot dogs and beverages provided by the Elks. Salads and desserts are potluck. Games and fun for all ages will be held: coins in the straw, egg toss, football accuracy competition, softball and the annual horseshoe pitching match are all on the schedule. "Pack up the kids and head to the mountains... enjoy a day with the family and have some outdoor fun," said an Elks spokesperson. Secret agents To the Editor: Life is sacred. The feeling o f your muscles growing weak and then collapsing on your airway. Your respiration becoming shallow and labored; you struggle to breath Death from certain nerve gases can either be rapid if the gas is absorbed quickly or slow and prolonged from smaller does o f the chemical agent. In reality you probably would not come in contact with enough chemicals to have the effects m entioned above occur. But you could already be absorbing enough chemical agent to cause you or your children to have an increased risk o f cancer. Either way, dying from being in contact with chemical agents is not a painless or good way to die. The Umatilla Chemical Depot (UM CD) is in the Um atilla and Morrow counties o f Oregon and three miles south o f the Columbia River. The Depot stockpiles around 12 percent of our nation's chemical weapons, including some o f the nerve gases that could have effects on surrounding residence as stated above, if there were to be the smallest amount o f a leak in just one o f the bunkers. Weapons stockpiled at the Umatilla Depot consist o f rockets, land mines and spray tanks, along with nerve agents from World War II. The Army needs to do more testing to make sure that there is no chance the families living around the Depot get in contact with these harmful chemicals and the army should inform those families o f the dangers and ways to prevent contam ination if a leak occurs. There are current signs o f possible present leaks. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) press release on the US Army Umatilla Chemical Depot, "In September 1999 approximately 34 constructions workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility were affected by an unknown substance and required m edical treatment."(EPA 1) The workers alleged that they were in contact with chemical agent and requested the EPA's help in investigating the matter further. The EPA agreed with the ’Army's assessm ent that -» it - t was "unlikely"(EPA 1) that the chemical agents had anything to do with the workers' injuries. It makes the credibility o f the Army and the EPA (both government-run agencies) come tnto question when so many workers were in contact with the unknown substance and that most o f them believe it was chemical agent that they came in contact with. The EPA did however give recommendations o f how the Army should follow up on the investigation. The EPA also found Army data from air m onitoring stations that showed the presence o f very low levels of chemicals agent. However, at these levels there is an uncertainty as to what is being measured (EPA 1). The possibility is still there that the readings where caused by warfare chemical agent and not by some agricultural chemical blowing past the depot. Even if present leaks are too small to hurt a human being, why should we wait until there is a large leak or break out to do anything more and protect our families? The levels might have been very low, but neither the Army nor the EPA explained what would happen to the residence living around the depot if small prolonged contact with the chemical agent was occurring. The U.S. Army is in construction o f a warfare weapons disposal unit. The disposal unit is going to be constructed on the depot to break A m anda G u tierrez and J e ff W ilson Kevin Gutierrez o f Prineville and Barbara Zeller o f lone announce the engagement ot their daughter. Amanda Christine Gutierrez o f Pendleton, to Jeff D. Wilson. Pendleton. Ihe bride-elect graduated from Heppner High School in 1997. She is employed by OSU Extension Service in Pendleton and will graduate this fall from Eastern Oregon University with a bachelor o f science degree in psychology. She will then enter graduate school at Washington State University, majoring in psychology and social services. Wilson is the son o f Carmen Wilson and Dan Looslie o f Lexington and Danny Wilson, Heppner. He graduated from Heppner High School m 199” and is now self-employed as a contractor and owner of Jeff Wilson Construction. Gutierrez is the granddaughter o f Lee and Mary Ann Palmer, lone, Geneva Palmer. lone, George Gutierrez, Heppner, and the late Helen Drake W'dson is the grandson o f Ray and Gay Papineau, Lexington, and Bud and Delores Wilson. Hermiston. The couple will be mamed August 25. 2001, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Heppner. with a reception to immediately follow at the Heppner Elks Club. DO W E HAVE YOUR MONEY? The O w se n ot State Lands is publishing notice that the Division is id d m g unclaimed funds, stocks, and safe deposit box contents for over 3 0 0 .0 0 0 people or heirs, b u sin e sse s and other entities w hose last known address is in Oregon • To determine N you hovo unclaimed money search ter your name at wwwLetsta.ocus on the Internet . C lck the button “lo ok tor Unclaimed 1 Free public accese to the Entsfru t can be found at your local Iferary and at ■ Ybu can aieo search tor your name at www.m issing money.oom N you have resided in any ot the following states: A Z. CO, DC. DC, FL LETTERHEAD • ENVELOPES • BUSINESS CARDS STATEMENTS • INVOICES • » 4 more! Heppner Gazette-Times Printing 676-9228 IA. KS. K T M E. M O M A. M l. M N, MO M T .F C .f C .N H NM , OK. Ott. 1C, SO. UT. VT. VA. VM. WV. Access www iaidsensd.org and you wM be itoectsd to isctobnsd property web sitae tor M states The Internet se e s are updated frequently so check often down and destroy chemical weapons. To be more exact, the Army is m ounting a $1.2 billion effort to dispose o f munitions containing more than 3,000 tons o f nerve and mustard agents, enough to kill about 90 percent o f the U.S. population (Hunsburger 1). This is a giant step forward for the U.S. Army in reducing the risk of human fatalities caused by chemical agents. However, the transportation o f chemical agents to the new disposal unit justly adds to the need for additional testing o f leaks. The leaks of chemical agent could be either by direct air contamination or through ground water contam ination. Either way, you could be contaminated and not even realize that it is occurring. According to geocities.com, a website dedicated to giving you the facts about what chemical agents do and how they do it, "Gases (and) vapors . . . when inhaled can be absorbed through any part o f the respiratory tract"( 1). Absorption o f these chemicals can have senous effects and can cause death. Some o f the possible effects are anoxia resulting from airway obstruction, weakness o f the muscles or respiration, blood pressure falling, and unconsciousness. Human lives are not the only thing at risk for the surrounding residence if ground water is contaminated. Residents could loose their crops or livestock. Families surrounding the Depot depend on their crops and livestock for money to survive. It is their first, and, in most cases, only source o f income. It would be nearly im possible to clean-up the chemical agents and the water supply would be drastically lowered. Families would be forced to move, if the situation was bad enough. Some people may say that the Army is doing everything they can right now to test and notify the public o f leaks. Is there really such a thing as enough testing when lives are on the line, especially when there have been signs o f possible present leaks? In The Oregonian editorial entitled "Umatilla Chemical Depot em ergency plan shows flaws," colum nist Brent Hunsberger questions the response time to alert nearby residents o f a nerve-agent release. 'H u n s b e r^ r ’ reported, "Hermrston's chief, whoi“uis responsible for mobilizing hundreds o f emergency workers, thinks it's inexcusable that for an hour and a half his department sat unaware o f the site's evacuation. Had chemical agents been involved... the results could have been disastrous for the 30,000 people who live within about eight miles o f the depot." This slow o f an emergency response is dangerous and gives even more reason for more testing to be done. As a resident living near the depot I understand the uncomfortableness o f knowing that my family's health is at risk. I share the values o f our crops and animals' lives. I want to know that my family is as safe as it could possible be when they are home and that is why I am reaching out to you, my community, to stand and take all the precautions available to keep our loved ones-children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends safe from harm. As stated earlier, life is sacred and worth enough to take the extra precautions to save. All that I am asking o f you is to write your government officials and stand up for children o f the future, for they are the ones who are going to suffer the consequences if nothing further is done to protect lives. It is time to stop ignoring the warning signs and do what is necessary to defend against the cruel death a chemical leak can cause. All we need is a few more precautions and public awareness to get this goal accomplished. Our Oregon government representatives are there listen and serve us. Join together and write a letter to save lives. (s) Amy Papineau Lexington WCCC plans family barbecue The Willow Creek Country Club will have a family barbecue on Sunday, Jun 17, at 4 p.m. The golfing is for both men and women with the type o f play determ ined by the com m ittee in charge. Each family will bring their own meat to the barbecue. Those whose last names begin with "A" through ”K" should bring salad and "L" through "Z", dessert. Hosts for this family barbecue will be John and Kelli Boyer, Gary and Becky Hunt, Dale and Karen Holland, and Del and Linda LaRue
