SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, Apnl 12,2006
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Letters to the Editor
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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.
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em ail:
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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.