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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2003)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 16,2003 The Official Newspaper of the City o f Heppner and the County o f Morrow Heppner Editor's note: letters to the Editor must b e signed The G a z e tte -T im e s will not publish unsigned letters. Please include y our address a n d p h o n e num ber o n all letters lor use b y the G -T office. The G -T reserves the right to edit The G -T is n o t responsible for accu racy o f sta te m e n ts m a d e in letters. (A n y letters expressing thanks will b e placed in the classifieds under 'C a r d of Thanks 'a t a cost of $ 7.) G A Z E T T E -T IM E S U S P S. 240-420 Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper Published w eekl) and entered as periodical m aner at the Post Office at Heppner. Oregon under the Act o f March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid at Heppner, O re gon Office at 147 W Willow Street Telephone (541)676-9228 Fax <541) 676- 9211. E-mail g tu h ep p n e rn e to rg tlu ra p id se rv e .n e t. W ebsite: www heppner net Postm aster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $24 in Morrow C ount), $18 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 62 years or older), $30 elsewhere David S y k e s ....................................................................................................... Publisher Katie W a ll............................................................................................................ Editor News and Advertising Deadline it Monday at 5 p.m. For Advertising advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p m Cost lor a display ad is $4 75 per column inch Cost lor classified ad is 504 per word Cost lor Card of Thanks is $7 up to 100 words Cost lor a classified display ad is $5 35 per column inch. For PublicLegai Notices public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p m. Dates lor publi cation 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 A d • Subm it a N ew s Story • V iew Real Estate for Sale • City Council & Planning Minutes • Local Businesses • County Park • Willow Creek Park Reservations • Free Digital Postcards • Senior Housing • and more! Irrigon’s doing its part [Editor’s Note: This letter was read at the M orrow C ounty School District board meeting, July 14,2003.] To the Editor: Being w e have heard the B oard say that the new Board does not have to agree with the previous decisions or can over turn decisions already m ade. 1 feel I need to go back and bring the new board and Supt. C rippen up to date on prior meetings and comments. O n Nov. 22, 1999, w hen w e started this last and continued cam paign for the return o f Irrigon High School, w e w ere told there w a sn ’t enough interest by the people o f Irrigon. Well we proved that w rong by people attending S c h o o l B o a rd m e e tin g s , having a Town Hall m eeting and lastly getting a petition with about 1200 signatures. Then w e w ere to ld the students d id n ’t w a n t th e re tu rn o f Irrigon fligh. Weij, kids signed tHe petition also. We certainly couldn't have the high school because o f the sew er system . Irrigon took care o f that. We even had one old B oard m em ber say Irrigon d o e sn ’t even have a police dept. That was not even relevant. Just another o f many excuses. N e x t th e S c h o o l District didn’t have the money but w ith the passing o f the bond [with stipulations] Irrigon would have their High School, at the O ct. 9, 2000 School Board meeting. At th a t tim e stip ulation #2 w as the big issue. W hich later all but one failed, and we were told you’ 11 have your high school. Stipulation #3 is not and has not been a big issue. S tip u latio n #4- Dr. C rippen said at the M ay 12 S chool B oard m eeting the Port o f M orrow has enough g o in g on and g ro w th w ill continue. Well, I’m here to say grow th will not only be in Boardman. O ur sewer system is scheduled to be finished in February 2004 and after that the building moratorium will be lifted. A w rite up in the East Oregonian Nov. 27,1999 said Irrigon was the fastest growing city in the state o f Oregon. We will grow. S t ip u l a ti o n #5 is supposed to be being done. My question is, for how long? S tip u la tio n #1- Funding problems are all over th e s ta te . O th e r to w n s surrounding us are building new schools and staffing them. It has been proved at the May and June Board meetings that m oney is available and state funding will be up. W hat’s the holdup w ith our High School? W h e n w e w e re having the M atrix m eetings, every group, when it was put on the wall, said Irrigon should have their High School. Mike Patano, at his presentation, said every body w ould have to have a piece o f the pie. So far every b o d y ’s got th e re ’s except Irrigon. A nd I d o n ’t mean the new G rade School. Both the Matrix group and the Nelson report were in favor o f returning students in N orth M o rro w C o u n ty to their own communities. 1 might add that both these studies w e re m a n d a te d by t h e M o rro w C o u n ty S c h o o l B o a rd a n d p a id fo r by taxpayers. The work that went in to passing the bond w as a great effort for everybody. U pon p a ssin g the b o n d a group and the board and Supt. Bruce Anderson met at G reg’s Tavern in Irrigon, to celebrate and have pizza. The comment w as m ade y o u ’ll have your High School. I think everyone that attended the M atrix m eetings and voted on the bond did so w ith the understanding that Irrigon w ould have a High School. Even if the bond had only passed by one vote the whole district is obligated. S tip u la tio n #6 is yours. When the fifth and sixth grades m ove in to the new school this fall will you stick to your part o f the stipulation. That in the fall o f 2005 Irrigon will have a full-blow n High School. (s) Sarnie Griffin Irrigon Irrigon needs to show support for its kids To the Editor: T h e n e x t M o rro w County School Board meeting is going to be held in the District office in Lexington. July 14th at 7:30 PM. This will be the first m eeting o f the new Board. It is im perative that e v e ry p e rs o n in M o rro w C ounty, w h o u n d e rsta n d s e q u ality and b e lie v es that Irrigon deserv es a High School returned to our city, attends this meeting. None o f the promises m ade by the form er Board members w ere sincere. Those prom ises w ere only m ade to g e t u s to v o te fo r th e construction bond. Now that the bond has been passed and the new schools built we are back to convincing yet another Board that Irrigon needs a high school. That is why the return o f a H igh School to Irrigon w as not spelled out in the bond. That would have made th o s e p r o m is e s b in d in g . Instead, the only reference m ade referred to upgrading sport facilities at CM S to high school quality. The new Board does not have to honor any prom ises the old board made to the citizens o f Irrigon. Folks, we have been duped. N ow we m ust show up at M C S D m ee tin g s in f o rc e . O u r n e w B o a rd m em bers are being told that the people o f Irrigon have no real interest in our High School being returned. We are being judged by how' m any Irrigon citizens attend Board meetings! We, have been too easy to please. We need to remind this Board that the night the bond passed we w ere told that the stipulations had been met and as soon as the sixth grade could be m oved out o f CM S our high school w ould be restored. Mr. Bruce Anderson, after extensive research, stated th a t w e w o u ld lo se no programs and it would not cost anym ore to operate a 7-12 facility than it cost to operate a middle school. The only extra cost o f having a high school in Irrigon would be upgrading the sports facilities. That was taken c a re o f in th e b o n d . T he stipulations w ere an insurance policy for the Board. They knew that they could be used to deny Irrigon a High School forever. W e n e e d to s ta r t going to m ore m eetings and demanding that our children no longer be put in danger by being dum ped along a m ain highw ay in the m iddle o f the night. We need to demand that M C SD provide our children w ith activity buses so that regardless o f the income o f the parents all our children have the same access to their school. W e n e e d to d e m a n d th a t M C S D m a k e w h a te v e r c h a n g e s a re n e e d e d to guarantee that attending school at R iv e rsid e be the sam e caliber experience for Irrigon kids as it is for Boardman kids. We need to m ake forcing our children to go to school in Boardm an so expensive that M CSD w ill beg us to educate our kids in Irrigon. We m ust tell this B oard that w e are through subsidizing this district. A re you aw are that w hile we w ere tolerating this kind o f discrimination, federal money ea rn e d by th e c h ild ren o f Irrig o n w as bein g sent to H eppner and lone Schools? That m oney w as used in part to provide enough teachers to m aintain one o f the sm allest student/teacher ratios in the state in these tw o cities. This practice was stopped last year but the fact rem ains that over the years m illions o f dollars e a rn e d by N o rth C o u n ty Schools w as sent South. A very small percentage o f that amount would have reinstated a high school in Irrigon. In short, it is tim e the parents o f Irrigon sta n d up for th eir children’s rights and stop this flagrant discrimination. M C S D ’s Board has been very acco m m o d atin g w h en large g ro u p s a tte n d m eetings. D iscussions that include a large num ber o f c itiz e n s are m oved to the b e g in n in g o f the m ee tin g enabling people to get hom e early. See you in Lexington on July 14. (s) Jennifer Smith Irrigon Junior Golf program to be at WCCC Junior G o lf will be held at Willow Creek Country Club, sponsored by the Bank o f E a s te r n O r e g o n , fo r children 6-15. T he classes will be held W ednesday, Ju ly 16, Friday, July 18, W ednesday, July 23 and Friday, July 25. C lasses for 6- to 9-year-olds will be from 10 a.m .-12 p.m.; and for 10- to 15-year-olds will be 8-10 a.m. For more information contact C raig at 422-7455. __ ____ -,_____,, ____ _________________j«#-(ÿ m zw m pWWWWV* B K FRESH PRIME RIB Include! soup and talad bar O rder M agn etic D o o r Signs HERE “tftuw ic in M e (faxA 5 ” 8 MAIN STREET, HEPPNER IK ( / t c c tfu tclo o t (ftu h ic (fe s tiv a l All concerts begin at 7 p.m. Monday, July 21 "Smilin' Scandinavians" - Irrigon Marina Park ■ Monday, July 28 2 "Shenaniganst”, "Mulligan Stew" A "The C hicks" - Boardman Marina Park Monday, Aug. 4 "Sidewalk Sto m p e rs"-Irrigon Manna Park Monday, Aug. 11 Kinzel A Hyde - Boardman Marina Park Monday, Aug. 18 "Skweez the Weezle” A “Bade G la s" - Irrigon Marina Park , $14.95 - $85.00 couple JOHN'S PIACC House and Senate. Very much like the vote saved Clinton; alm ost strictly dow n party lines. Q uite sim ilar in tw o aspects o f Fascism. (A single party governm ent that uses force to have its way.) Look it up in a dictionary if you don’t believe it. O ne of th o s e “ scientific” opinion poles that B litzer raved so m uch about w as taken a w eek or so ago. G enerally, it wanted to know w h o a g r e e d w ith th is adm inistration. The results: over 6 5 ,2 3 percent; over 40, 35 p e rc e n t; u n d e r 30, 51 p e r c e n t. T h e o b v io u s conclusion is an old one: “With age, co m es w isd o m ." For most, it does anyway. Age and education; that is, a more open ended type o f education that covers both sides ot the story, and promotes “understanding” r a th e r th a n a c c e n tu a tin g d i f f e r e n c e s . T a k e B illy Graham for example. His goal is to h e lp fe e d th o s e devastated by war, certainly an honorable goal. Yet he will criticize their life styles: not one o f the m ost A m erican ized th in g s to d o c o n s id e rin g f re e d o m o f r e lig io u s e x p re s s io n . It s e e m s th e p h r a s e “ G r e a t A m e ric a n M elting Pot” has fallen out o f favor. Will it too be picked up again at some future date? Or w ill the phrase “ Love it or L eave it” com e back into practice? A n a r t i c l e in th e C a p ita l P r e s s , J u n e 2 0 , includes “ally bashing” and accusations that Australia paid k ic k b a c k s to the H ussein fam ily in order to m aintain wheat exports. W hether these accusations are true or not, it isn ’t proper to slam a country w hen it’s not proven. Take it to th e in te rn a tio n a l co u rt system, that’s w hy the U.N. is there. The environment. The environm entalists have given an “F ’ to this administration for r e d u c in g th e c le a n a ir sta n d a rd s set by p rev io u s adm inistrations, along with charging the tax payer to clean up those businesses pollutants. This letter has gone on e n o u g h . J u s t o n e m o re com m ent. It d o e sn 't m atter what kind o f social or religious or political life anybody leads. “ We the People o f the World” have one thing in comm on. If not for us w orking our lives away, there w ould be no way for any government to survive. W hat do w e get out o f it? M ore law s, th a t we d o n ’t m a k e , so a ll th e v a rio u s governments can survive. John Q uincy A dam s (P resident 1825-1829) had the roots o f a good idea. He called him se lf “a m an o f my w h o le co u n try .” H e n ev er considered h im se lf a “party m an.” Should we be thinking any less for the whole world ? Enough is enough. (s) Phillip Kight Heppner T h e lo n e S c h o o l be held at the ,one U nited District will be holding a work ^ hurch o f C hrist. session,T hursday,July 17,at U n th e a g e n d a is 6 p.m. The work session will discussion o f staff schedules. Menu Special Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July I , !» To the Editor: A little m ore history. O ckham ’s Razor, a principle popularized by W illiam ot O ckham , 1285-1349(7), that states: “ entities are not to be m u ltip lie d beyond n e c e s s i ty ...” O r in m ore common English, “don’t get to big for y our britches." Two examples: The Commander in Chief with his insistence on war and the bilking this county got from the school board. I w as asked recently where 1 got my Ph.D. In actual fact, there isn ’t one. W hat 1 did have w as a tutor for three years betw een the ages o f 13 and 16. An amazing gentleman that taught m e that there are tw o aspects o f learning that should never, ever be denied. Those are, logic and honesty. Logic in the realm o f“common sense” and “ d o n ’t ev er stop asking questions." Exam ple: O n at least four occasions a government official (Powell in p a rtic u la r) w as a sk ed a question. His reply w as some d e v is e d j o k e to a v o id answ ering at all. H onesty for its obvious attributes is the opposite o f lies and halt-truths. Just how deep does “devious” affect all o f us? A q u ic k congratulations to the principal for his added curriculum and “ challenge” to “ look a little deeper into governm ent." O n w ith h is to r y . M a n if e s t D e s tin y : “ th e fulfillm ent o f our m anifest d e stin y to o v e rsp re a d the c o n tin e n t a ll o tt e d by p ro v id e n c e ...” W h at does that say in plain English? “God w ants us to m ove here and take over.” The C om m ander in C hief said virtually the same thing w ith the “ spread" o f dem ocracy. Even though the Iraqis, at least som e factions o f them , d o n ’t seem to w ant dem ocracy or Bush. It seem s m ore a fear o f losing their lifelong religion. “Manifest Destiny” is an A m erican invented term , first used by John L. O ’Sullivan in the “United States Magazine an d D e m o c ra tic R e v ie w " (July-Aug 1845). For the most part a Dem ocratic concept, it fell out o f favor during the 186 0 s to 188 0 s a n d w a s picked up again in the 1890s as a Republican policy. Is it any w o n d e r w hy p e o p le d o n ’t w ant to talk about politics? M em ories last m uch longer than 30 or 40 years. O n the new s over the last few weeks: The statement w as m ade that the planning stages o f the Hussein regime take over w as started tw elve years ago, but the Dem ocrats v o ted not to s ta rt p u ttin g t o g e t h e r a r e p la c e m e n t leadership that soon. A caller to CNN made the point: Is this circumstance pre-emptive and an impeachable offense'? A s im a g in a tiv e as some attorneys are, I suppose it c o u ld be. Yet, it w o n ’t happen, the Republicans have the m ajority o f seats in the ISD to hold work session JOHN'S PIIK€ ■ Heppner Gazet te-Ti mes 676-9228 The flow of history, logic and honesty Letters to the Editor g M»GE y Funded by Morrow County Unified R»crM«on Olitrlct 1 Portland G«n»r»l Electric N. Spontond by North Morrow Community Foundation t m r W W W w W W W W W W W W W W W W 9 » W w W W ? W ? f f l f tftttMrmrtk /
