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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2006)
SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, Apnl 12,2006 ~ 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 pnnted in the newspaper. Letters may not be libelous. The GT reserves the right to edit. The GT is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks w ill be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks" at a cost of $10. Economic Development Group supports speedway excise tax To the Editor: A fter ho stin g a com m unity m eeting re g a rd in g the proposed B oardm an S peedw ay project and the proposed excise tax on speedw ay goods and se rv ic e s and considering carefully the pros and cons of the project, the board m em bers of W illow C reek Valley E conom ic D evelopm ent G roup have voted to endorse and support the building of the speedway and urges a yes vote on the Speedway excise tax vote that will be in the mail to you shortly. The p rospect o f creating hundreds of family w age jo b s in M orrow County and increasing the tax base because o f the developm ent and related- p ro jects m akes the speedway project a good one. Issues such as traffic and noise and zoning have been studied carefully and w ill be m itigated to the fullest extent possible. The excise tax will apply only to goods and services purchased at the racew ay and c a n ’t be changed without a further vote o f the p eo p le. It amounts to a user fee on people attending events at the speedway. The conduit bonds sold w ill be g u a ra n tee d by a m oney center bank by means of a letter of credit insuring no risk to M orrow C ounty residents. Tourist projects are im p o rtan t b ecau se they create job s, have people spend m oney in our communities and then the tourist leaves and doesn’t burden existing services for the most part. P lease jo in us in voting YES on the speedway excise tax and supporting the B oardm an Speedw ay project. (s) For the Board of Directors, George Koffler, President Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group Passing excise tax good step in supporting speedway To the Editor: A fter reading and listening to information and asking questions about the proposed speedway project in B oardm an, we have decided that it can be a positive developm ent for Morrow County. We will vote “yes” on the excise tax, as one step toward bringing the speedway and adjuvant businesses to the county. Previous concerns have been allayed as we have learned, the fo llow ing: Apparently, the majority of Boardman residents who have atten d ed m eetings about the project do not oppose it. Water quality in B oardm an w ill not be adversely affected. Neither the county nor the Port of Morrow will be responsible for payment o f borrowed funds if the project fails. Any tax proposal must be voted on by the county voters, so we must vote on this excise tax, but the tax will be paid only by people who make purchases in the speedway district. Tax revenue for the county, once the related enterprises are operating, can be expected to almost double the present base. The jo b s g e n erated by the construction phase of the p ro ject and then the perm an en t jo b s in the speedw ay d istric t can p o sitiv e ly im pact the county’s economy, in retail, services, schools and real estate. Several steps must be c o m p le ted if the speedw ay is to com e to Morrow County; the passing of the excise tax for that d istrict is one step. The guarantee by the developers of a certain number of race- day commitments is another. We voters cannot influence the decision-makers of the race industry, but we can vote “yes” on the excise tax to help move the project toward realization. (s) Dan and Doris Brosnan Heppner ELECT EO promised to be fair, accurate Spicer can be serious, fair-minded and balanced knows that teachers come judge To the Editor: O nce ag ain the community of Irrigon finds itself trying to hold the East Oregonian to a promise that was made to it by managing editor Steve Brown. That p ro m ise w as to be fair, accurate and balanced while reporting both the negatives and positives of Irrigon. We have asked for this promise because we truly believe the children of this community deserve nothing less. The East Oregonian has been working with a very small group of parents who have continually complained about Irrigon Jr. Sr. High School and its administrator Ron Anthony. A larger group of parents have met with the E.O . on tw o d ifferen t occasions. We were told that our com m ents w ould be included in future articles. We received nothing. Not one com m ent from those m eetings have ever been printed. We are assuming it is because there were to many positive statem ents made about IJSHS and Ron Anthony. Printing positives doesn’t sell papers. But the E.O. promised to be fair, accurate and balanced. We w ould like to address a couple of the facts the E.O. left out. The first fact is that this titty twisting incident happened two years ago, not this year, but two years ago. According to the article in the E.O., Oregon State Law requires public officials such as teachers and ad m in istra to rs to report possible child abuse directly to the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS). If this is in fact true, and Mr. Melendez witnessed this act and deemed it child abuse, why d id n ’t he rep o rt it directly to DHS? Seems to us that he dropped the ball too. And let’s all remember, this was two years ago, the student and g randparent involved didn't want to press any charges, have gotten over it and have moved on. Is it possible this group of negative parents could do the same? T he second complaint of this group is the rap id rate o f teach er tu rn o v ers. Did the E.O. investigate this complaint before they reported it? Probably not or they would have printed the facts. Yes, Irrigon Jr. Sr. High School received seven new teachers for the 2005/06 school year. Two o f those were brand new positions, (because we went from being a middle school to a high school), two were to replace teachers w ho m oved into administrative positions, two teachers moved back home to be closer to their families, and the last one went back to school to fu rth er his e d u catio n . A nyone who w orks around schools and go yearly. It happens. Our principal, Ron Anthony, has found himself on the front page of the E.O. for violating the Internet p o lic ie s o f the M orrow County School District. The E.O. left people believing that he was looking at pom on the Internet. N othing could be further from the tru th . He re c eiv e d and forwarded an email. Nothing m ore, n o th in g less. Mr. Anthony did break a rule by forwarding it, and has owned up to his m istak e. Mr. A nthony has given this co m m u n ity a h e a rtfe lt apology and it has been accepted. We are in total support of Mr. Anthony and are proud of the way he is administrating our school, This small group of negative people have kept this community in turmoil this entire school year. Have they once given any thought to the d am ag e they are causing their own children and the c h ild ren o f this co m m u n ity ? T his community is tired of being held hostage by this group. If you d o n ’t like it here, move. Time and time again a larg e p o rtio n o f this community has come out in support of Ron Anthony and how he is administrating our school. The M CSD must think highly of Mr. Anthony as well since last year they had him administrating two schools for them. One man, two schools. We honestly believe this is a modem day witch hunt and it needs to stop. If a child receiv in g a titty twister is child abuse I guess my mother should have been ch arg ed y ears ago. My brothers gave their sisters plenty of them. In closing we once again ask the E.O. to do a better job reporting the facts. We also ask this small group of negative parents to move past the hatred in their hearts for the sake of the children of this community. We’ve accom plished a lot while b ein g d iv id e d , le t’s try working together and set a b e tte r ex am p le fo r o u r children. (s) Danny and Meredith Young Irrigon Justice Court Report Jeffre y P atrick Cutsforth, 46, Lexington, Passing in a No Passing Zone, fine $185. Kurt E. Hendrix, 32, Pendleton, Failure to Use Seatbelt, fine $99. John L ooney, 24, Heppner, DUII, fine $2914 and 40 hours of community service, 60 days electronic surveillance and completion o f an alco h o l ed u catio n program. BEO FINANCIAL SERVICES A n 31* W LOYAL BURNS MORROW COUNTY COMMISSIONER "Experience that can work for you!" '» Anda K. Zastrnw Financial Advisor ♦Long Term Financial Needs * IRA’s ♦ Life Insurance ♦Retirement Planning ♦ Pension Rollovers ♦Long Term Care Securities related products and services made available through BEO Financial Services are offered by Royal Alliance Associates, Inc., an independent registered broker-dealer, member NASD, S1PC, not affiliated with Rank of Eastern Oregon, its affiliates, divisions, or subsidiaries. • • • • • Not a Deposit of Rank of Eastern Oregon. Not FDIC Insured. Not Insured by any Federal Government Agency. Not Guaranteed by Rank of Eastern Oregon. May ( ki Down in Value. Home Office: 279 N. Main St.. Heppner, OR 97R34 • 541-474-9127 em ail: 1 -n.wr, For appointm ent in your area, rail Bank of Kaatern Oregon. To the Editor: Forty or so years ago, I w ould have been reluctant to endorse any w om an for an e le c tiv e p o sitio n in our county. However, after a few years of serving the county myself, I completely changed my o p in io n I learn ed th at intelligent, dedicated women are capable of doing most jobs as well or better than most men. Consequently, I was happy that a lady I have come to admire is seeking a county position this year, A nn S p ic e r fo r C irc u it Judge. A nn cam e to the county as a newlywed and recent law school graduate in the 1970s. She soon took a jo b as assistant district a tto rn ey for M orrow County. In that job she was g e n erally d e sig n a te d to handle the juvenile crimes. I rapidly came to respect her as a very p ra c tic a l and talented young lady and very in te re ste d in the future welfare of our children. W hen D ennis Doherty resigned as district attorney, Ann held the job for a term. In that position, of course, her primary job was p re p a rin g fo r trial and prosecuting law breakers. She was also the primary legal advisor for the County Court. I came to respect her as a serious, hard working attorney with a great respect for the law. I do not believe that she would be the kind of judge who would interpret the law to fit her personal p re ju d ic es. The term “ Compassionate C o n se rv a tiv e ” probably co m es m uch c lo se r to describing Ann than any other adjective I can think of now. She will be a serious and fair-minded judge with enough experience in both criminal and civil law to do an outstanding job. (s) Don McElligott lone East Oregonian doesn’t give equal coverage to Irrigon To the Editor: I was amazed to read on the front page o f the March 18 East Oregonian- in extrem ely large and bold font- “ Irrig o n su sp en d s P rin c ip a l o f the Y ear.” Anyone with an ounce of in te llig e n c e know s that Irrigon couldn’t suspend a mosquito. Morrow County is in a C ounty S chool D istric t, and any action com es from the M orrow County School Board. Irrigon (as proven by y o u r [E ast O reg o n ian ] recent poll) has a very large m ajority supporting (and appreciating) Ron Anthony. The things that have been accom plished in ju st two years w ith the new high school are amazing. I can’t begin to imagine how fast we w ould p ro g ress if the negative energy could be c o n v erted into p o sitiv e efforts. It would really be fun to all work together for the betterment of our kids and our community. T here w ere o th e r inaccuracies in this article as well. I believe they were corrected in a later edition, but in a very small font. I do appreciate the sensitivity portrayed by the Hermiston H erald and the T ri-C ity Herald in their manner of reporting this story. They called the district first to get accurate information- also, they didn’t splash it all over their front pages in a tabloid fashion. I hope I’m not being paranoid, but it really seems as th o u g h t the E ast Oregonian has an ongoing v e n d etta ag ain st o u r community. I vividly remember when we made a valiant attem pt to have our high school restored 10 years ago and our citizens flooded the paper with letters in support o f th is effo rt. The E ast Oregonian reciprocated by running a full-length editorial stating all the reasons they felt we should not have a high school. They seemed perfectly happy for every other town in our area to have a high school but did not feel Irrigon was entitled. At a meeting with ed ito r Steve Brow n, one m em ber o f o u r gro u p p o in ted ou t to him the meager coverage they give Irrigon com pared to any other town. One exam ple was the Awards Banquet, w here our coverage was minimal and other towns in our area received big write ups. The first year we had our high school, our students entered a fabulous float in the Irrig o n W aterm elon Festival parade. It won the “grand champion” trophy, but the E ast O reg o n ian bypassed it in favor of a p ictu re o f the R iverside cheerleaders float. We were tickled to pieces to have the Riverside cheerleaders, but wouldn’t it have been nice if the p ap er co u ld have rec o g n ize d both high sch o o ls? A fter several people called to complain, I believe they did later run a picture of our high school’s float. We have noticed the p ap er gives e x ce lle n t coverage for special events fo r ev ery tow n except Irrigon. In the years since I have bean chairperson of the Irrigon Watermelon Festival, we have given the E.O. th o u san d s o f d o lla rs in advertising. They are very willing to accept our money, but give very little coverage for our event. If this trend continues, there is only one re c o u rse fo r c itiz e n s o f Irrigon, and I don’t think I need to spell it out. (s) LaVelle Partlow Irrigon Illegal turkey hunting teaches children practices To the Editor: Sunday, A pril 9, someone shot a turkey at Cutsforth Park illegally. To begin with, it is illegal to shoot in the park. Whichever adult is teaching this child to hunt (it was a youth season) is teaching them to break the law. I and another person at the park have fed those turkeys all winter and they were almost tame. This happened at the very edge o f n ightfall. I observed the vehicle leave the park at dark with their lights on. (s) Barbara Gilbert Cutsforth Park Births A p ril 6: V ictor H ugo R am irez, 25, B oardm an and A ditene G a b rie la P a d illa , 19, Boardman.
