TW O - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, February 1,2006
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S 240-420
M orrow C o u n ty ’s H om e-O w ned W eekly N ew spaper
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 188 W Willow Street Telephone (5 4 1) 676-9228 Fan (541) 676-9211. E-
mail editort^rapidservc.netordavidCtf heppner net Website: www.heppner net. Post
master send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, PO. Box 337, Heppner.
Oregon 97836. Subscriptions $25 in Morrow County; $19 senior rale (in Morrow
County only; 62 years or older); $31 elsewhere; $26 student subscriptions.
David S y k e s.....................................................................................................Publisher
Katie Foster ........................................................................................................ Editor
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $4.90 per
column inch Cost for classified ad is 50c per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to 100
words. Cost for a classified display ad is $5.50 per column inch.
For Public/legal Notices public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m Dates for 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).
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meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary wntten in a certain way must purchase advertising space
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For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters All letters MUST include the author's address and
phone number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is
not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks
will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks" at a cost of $10.
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St. Patrick’s Senior Center news
The Nazarene Church is providing volunteers for
the Wednesday, Feb. 8 noon meal at the senior center.
The menu, celebrating Valentine’s Day is as follows: stir-
fry vegetables with chicken and rice, whole wheat and
white rolls, juice, cookies and ice cream.
The Hermiston Hearing Center will hold a free to
the public seminar for information, consultations and
demonstrations of varieties of hearing aides on Feb. 8, at
12:30 p.m., following the noon meal. The seminar will
take place in the common room, the consultations will be
in the office.
The Sentimentalists and the senior center extend
and invitation for people to attend their signing rehearsals
on Wednesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. Residents of the
center already have taken advantage of the courtesy
offered. This notice is a reminder that others are invited
to enjoy these musical moments in a pleasant environment.
The regular board meeting will be held Wednesday,
Feb. 15 at 12:30 p.m. at the center office.
Heppner Elks install new
community reader board
A new electronic community reader board has been
attached to the Elks Lodge building in Heppner. The board
is property of the Elks but was funded by the Elks Lodge,
the Elks Ladies and the Heppner Booster Club. The board,
which has been in the works for several years, will be used
to let Elks members know about upcoming Elks’ events,
as well as informing the community about upcoming school
and community events. The old BPOE sign will be taken
down from its current spot and moved to the rear entrance.
H EPPNER ELKS 358
676-9181
-
"W here Friends M eet"
142 North M ain
Thursday. February 2nd -
/> . FIJI M S ' J V i a M T
M JV JV E M
B a r b e c u e d C h ic k e n
w it h a ll t h e t r im m in g s !
Dinner starts at 6 p.m.
Lodge starts at 8 p.m.
Editorial: Change could be good,
but that depends on us
Published: Jan. 25, 2006
Reprinted from Sweet Home News
Well, here it is, 2006, ly be fleeing inordinately
and if y o u ’ve heard the high housing prices and
sounds of heavy equipment crummy city lives. They re
on the Western Land Reli ally won’t be much different
ance Trust property off Clark than any of us already here.
M ill
R oad,
you’ve heard the
sound
of
change.
W e ’ re
talking about 49
lots where de
v elo p er Dan
D esler sent in
excavating
eq u ip m en t to
begin w orking
last week.
These
lots are part of a
432-lot subdivi Dan Desler stands on the site of the 432-lot
sion th at was subdivision, off Clark Mill Road, where
given the go- work began last week. P hoto by S ean C. M or
ahead by the city gan w ith Sw eet H om e N ew s.
Planning Com
m issio n last year. T his We all know that we, or our
month, commission mem parents, our grandparents, or
bers approved a 236-unit de some relative down the line,
velopment at the end of 10th arrived here under similar
A venue. B etw een them , circum stances — usually
th at’s 668 new houses or looking for a better life.
apartments, and that does
Not to put too fine a
not count another 1,100 pro point on it, but w e’ve heard
posed lots along the river, muttering about “those Cal
about 500 of them Desler’s, ifornians” or developers who
in earlier stages of develop “are going to turn Sweet
Home into California.”
ment.
To be blunt, Desler’s
We’re not too hot on
and these other projects have cookie-cutter, cheaply built
evoked some pessimism and housing, either. We’re not
suggesting that our local de
nay-saying in town.
We’ve all heard folks velopers are of the ilk that
either bemoaning the arrival build this kind of junk and
of these new homes (and res skate away as the houses
idents) or staunchly main slide down the hillsides. But
taining that it would never we expect that our city offi
happen, that Desler and oth cials will ensure that these
er developers would be un new homes are built the right
able to get their acts togeth way, built to last, and that
er to actually make some they will be a positive addi
tion to the city. Sweet Home
thing happen.
Well, something is can’t afford to have it any
happening. W hether it is other way.
Sure, local folks op
good or not depends on how
posed to change could resist
we all respond.
These residences are these newcomers, but that
not going to be hovels, at would be a mistake. Many of
tracting folks looking for the them will likely bring talent
cheapest place to lay their and positive influences to
heads. No, the people who our community. They may be
are expected to buy many of able to help Sweet Home
these homes will be people change for the better.
with money — either mon
Some of these new
ey they are earning at cur residents will bring vision
rent jobs or money they’ve and, we hope, energy to
saved for retirement. They make that vision a reality.
also will be people looking There is vision here now, but
for a better life, which is why it’s been dulled somewhat by
most of us have moved to tough economic realities that
Sweet Home at one point or have hurt Sweet Home and
another.
turned it into what it is to
Sweet Home has a day — a bedroom commu
lot of pluses, but its econo nity that needs to become
my is currently not one of something more than that.
The fact is, change is
them. These homes, while
certainly increasing travel on inescapable. The sound of
city streets and demands for that heavy equipm ent off
city services, also will in Clark Mill Road is the sound
crease cash flow in Sweet o f change. We want that
H om e. T h e re ’s a good change to be progress in a
chance that more businesses positive direction for Sweet
could get a foothold here Home and it will take atten
with the arrival of these new tion and effort from all of us
residents.
— city officials, residents
Some, if not many, of and newcomers to make that
these folks will come from happen.
out of state. Many will like-
Pop Can Drive to be held
The Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro
Rodeo Court is having an on-going pop can drive. They
will pick them up or you can drop them off.
For more information contact Renee Yocom in the
Fair office at 676-9474 or talk to Queen Heather Yocom
or Princess Josie Miller.
G-T News Deadline
Mondays at 5 p.m.
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Heppner
(ìazette-Times
676-922H
~
Letters to the Editor
~
The Heppner Gazette Times will print all letters to the Editor with the following
criteria met: letters submitted to the newspaper will need to have the name of
the sender along with a legible signature. We are also requesting that you provide
your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The address and
phone number will only be used for verification and will not be printed in the
newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the right to edit. The
GT is not responsible for accuracy o f statem ents made in letters. Any letters
expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under ‘‘Card of Thanks” at a
cost o f $10.
Reckless driving will cause accidents
To the Editor:
When there’s no traf
fic, the in te rse c tio n o f
Church and Gale Streets in
Heppner is a portrait of pas
toral serenity. The historic
Methodist church sits on one
comer, the Episcopal church
occupies another, and St.
Patrick’s church is just a few
steps to the north. Ironically
appropriate, since som e
body’s going to be killed
here, within spitting distance
of their own funeral service.
I live on this comer,
supposedly controlled by
two stop signs on Church
Street. Just about any time
of the day or evening, I can
count on looking out my
front window to catch the
reckless drivers on parade.
The most common offense is
a right turn from Church
onto Gale Street, running the
stop sign at the comer. 1 spe
cifically say “running” be
cause when they take that
comer at between 15 and 20
mph, that’s no “rolling stop”;
that’s running a stop sign,
pure and simple.
By the way, how do
you make a fast 90-degree
left turn without losing con
trol of your vehicle? Simple.
You “soften” the angle by
veering into the lane of op
posing traffic as you execute
the turn. At least, that’s fre
quently how it’s done at my
corner. It works great as
long as you d o n ’t smash
head-on into a car approach
ing you in the lane you have
no business being in.
A nother com m on
occurrence is cars going up
or dow n G ale S treet at
speeds of 40 mph and up.
Fifty is not unheard of, and
during the Christmas holi
days, I swear I observed
some clown tearing up Gale
at 60 mph As most of us with
driver licenses can recall, the
state-m andated lim it for
travel on residential streets
like Gale is 25 mph unless
posted otherwise.
Add these inexcus
able driving habits to the
unavoidable fact that people,
especially kids, are occasion
ally careless, and death or
serious injury is the inevita
ble result. Based on casual
observation over the last
y e ar or so, along w ith
enough knowledge of basic
statistics to be dangerous,
my guess is that the victim
will probably be a local child
aged 15 or younger, and the
killer will likely be a male
driver between 16 and 25.
W hile young men
typically display the worst
driving judgment most fre
quently, I’ve also noticed a
more disturbing trend. Hep-
pner’s reckless driving con
tingent encompasses a lot
more than just testosterone-
ravaged teenage males. It
also includes over-scheduled
soccer moms, female high
school students, local busi
ness owners and employees
of both genders, government
workers, church-goers, and
an occasional retiree for
good m easure. In o th e r
words, the phenomenon is
fairly widespread and virtu
ally every segment of the lo
cal driving population is rep
resented.
Am I just being are-
actionary old crank? No
doubt about it, but it turns
out I’m not the only one.
After asking around, I dis
covered similar complaints
from residents on Gilmore,
Riverside, Water, Hager, and
other streets around town.
All of which seems to point
to a very interesting anoma
ly: Heppner is the epitome of
small town rural American
life in just about all aspects
except one- an uncomfort
ably large number of us be
come self-indulgent maniacs
w hen p laced behind the
wheel of a motor vehicle.
So why isn ’t local
law enforcement doing more
(i.e., issuing citations by the
hundreds) to get the problem
under control? Beats me.
Som e tim e ago, I
posed that question to the
local sheriff’s office, which
is paid (by you) to handle law
enforcement for the City of
H eppner under a service
contract. The answer I got
was that they preferred to
“educate” the public rather
than issue citations on a
wholesale basis. Very pro
gressive-sounding, except
that approach falls flat on its
face when directed at those
mule-headed souls among us
who resist educational over
tures with every fiber of their
being unless the lesson is
backed up by force and/or
penalties.
So, what next? First,
if you agree w e’ve got a
problem, call or write your
local elected officials and
dem and more aggressive
traffic enforcement. You can
make your feelings known to
me or any other member of
the Heppner city council, the
mayor, the city manager, or
the sheriff. If enough of you
speak up, the wheels of gov
ernment will lurch forward.
You can also remain silent.
In either case, the old politi
cal adage holds true: people
generally get the quality of
government they deserve.
Second, if y o u ’re
one o f the lousy drivers,
adopt a belated new year’s
resolution to clean up your
act behind the wheel. Start
by coming to a full halt at
stop signs. After you’ve mas
tered that, work on the con
cept of obeying speed lim
its.
And third, join me in
the following pledge: RE
SOLVED- If I happen to
witness the senseless slaugh
ter or maiming of anybody
on our public streets by a
reckless driver, I will fall all
over myself in my zeal to get
to the courthouse for the
purpose of testifying against
the perpetrator, regardless of
his or her family name, posi
tion, or status in the commu
nity.
Don’t get me wrong.
Heppner is still the best place
I’ve ever found in which to
live. I just don’t want it to
be the best place for some
kid to die a violent and pre
mature death, especially as
a result of something as in
credibly stupid as a traffic
accident. We can do better
than that.
(s) Glenn Baker
Heppner
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