“Not a good session for rural Oregon, »
says Representative Smith
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Librar)
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
VOL. 126
NO. 31
10 Pages
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Eastern Oregon got
the short end o f the stick
during the just concluded
state legislature. Represen
tative Greg Smith said last
week.
Speaking to Hepp-
ner Chamber o f Commerce
Sm ith said even though
the state had $2.5 billion
more in additional revenue
to spend this session, not
much o f it reached projects
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Bicycling the state to hear about land use
Two y o u n g m en
who recently set out on a
1,000 mile bike trip around
Oregon to hear about land
use conflicts and the contro
versial Measure 37, came to
Heppner last Friday.
M athew B erk o w
and G eorge Z aninovick,
who are students working
on their master degrees in
urban planning from Port
land State University, set
out from Eugene June 30
on their trek to learn more
about how different people
in various parts o f the state
view the controversial land
use law passed by Orego
nians.
“We w ill cover over
1000 miles through at least
24 counties in 40 days. Our
goal is to interview 100
people. We plan to ride four
or five days a week to leave
plenty o f time to talk with
people and hear stories,”
the tw o said on their website
www.landusestories.org.
"In addition to the
bike route, from Eugene to
Hood River via Medford,
Baker City and parts of the
Oregon Trail, we will be
spending a week or more in
Portland and the Willamette
Valley, where 68% o f the
Measure 37 claims reside,”
they said.
By the tim e they
reached Heppner Berkow
and Zaninovick could say
measure 37 had put Orego
I
Mathew Berkow (left) and George Zaninovich hear about land
use while in Heppner.
nians into two pretty clear
categories, yes and no, for
and against. “ We came on
this trip to find out how
people feel and think about
measure 37, and how they
use the land for their liveli
hood,” said Berkow.
In Heppner the two
met with Morrow County
Planning D irector C arla
McLane, county planning
commission members David
Sykes and Pam Schmidt,
and Merilee McDowell of
the Soil and Water Conser
vation.
M clane said even
though a high percentage
of voters in Morrow County
approved Measure 37, so
far she said there have been
only two claims in the coun
ty. Most o f the claims in the
state have originated in the
Willamette Valley.
M easure 37 m an
dates that if governm ent
changes land use laws that
affect how private prop
erty is used, the government
m ust e ith e r co m p en sate
landow ners for loss o f value
o f the land, or allow the use
to move forward.
In addition to work
ing on their master degrees
w ith the bicycle riding,
information gathering trip,
Oregon Public Broadcasting
will air interviews the pair
has gathered.
"We will speak with
a wide variety o f citizens,
including ranchers, farmers;
Measure 37 claimants, and
neighbors of claimants. Our
intention is to write a narra
tive that captures the diverse
perspectives we encounter.
This ‘story base,' as opposed
to the ever-expanding data
base o f Measure 3 1 claims,
can serve the public by
providing a more accessible
avenue for understanding
this issue," the two said.
important to the Eastern part
o f the state.
"T h e le g is la tu r e
spent a lot more money on
K.-12 (kindergarten through
high school education) but
others areas did not get
funding,” he said.
Smith particularly
pointed out his desire to
receive more money for the
state police so that there
could be 24/7 coverage in
the rural areas o f Oregon.
"With all that money and
we couldn’t even come up
with enough money for the
state police.”
Smith said econom
ic development that helps
Eastern Oregon also took
a hit, with the Baker Mor
row Partnership receiving
no funding, and there was
no money for capital infra
structure projects. “ It was
not good for rural Oregon,"
he said. “We got rolled.”
With control in the
government shifting to the
Democrats for the first time
in 10 years. Smith said the
emphasis in Salem was on
the environment and labor.
He was moved from ap
propriation committees he
Greg Smith addressed the Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday,
and said Eastern Oregon “got rolled”.
has served on in the past to
the environment committee.
He said he was able to stop
tw o pieces of legislation that
would have damaged East
ern Oregon. ( )ne would hav e
required electric co-ops like
Columbia Basin Electric to
buy a certain percentage of
their power from renewable
resources. The bill would
have increased power rates
by 30 percent. Smith said
he was able to get co-ops
exem pted from the bill.
He also lamented the fact
the Democrats would not
recognize hydro power as
renewable.
Smith said he was
also able to stop a bill that
would have required moni-
toring and reporting o f all
w ater usage. He said he
fears a movement afoot in
Portland area to eventually
put a tax on all water us
age.
Smith also pointed
out that despite the large
increase in tax revenue be
cause o f O reg o n ’s grow
ing econom y; D em ocrats
raised $85 million in new
fees, some as much as 300
percent.
He said the legisla
ture did manage to put $300
million into a rainy day fund
for downturns in the econ
omy, but he felt that would
not be enough to do much
when hard times arrive.
Health district physician
staffing stressed
M o rro w C o u n ty
Health District CEO Victor
Vander Does told the MCHD
Board Monday night that
physician staffing for the
district had reached a criti
cal point during July. Vander
Does said that because of
previously scheduled va
cation time for physicians
and a physician’s assistant
and the lapse in coverage
between the time one doctor
left the district and another
will be coming on board, he
feared that there would be
no doctors in the community
one week in July.
Vander Does was
e v e n tu a lly ab le to hire
locums physicians to cover
the time period. He also
said that several physicians
are planning to com e to
Heppner for a visitation.
He reported that Dr. Betsy
Anderson is in the process
o f purchasing a home in
Heppner and is expected to
be on board shortly.
D espite the staff
ing difficulties, however.
V ander D oes and C h ie f
Financial O fficer N icole
M ahoney said that w hile
figures were not complete,
July was shaping up to be
an o th er " d e c e n t” m onth
financially.
The district ended
June with a $56,417 gain for
the month and a $445,550
gain for the year, with a
$37,129 average monthly
gain year to date.
Also at the meeting,
the board approved up to
-Continued on page two
From playing Bonanza to becoming a Fair Princess
Jessica Hamilton fell
in love with horses at the
young age of three w hen her
uncle. Jack Meligan, first
put her on a horse during
a family visit. Visiting her
uncle as a child was about
the only time she would be
able to ride. As a military
daughter whose family was
stationed in Europe from
1997 to 2005, Hamilton was
not able to have a horse. So
instead she used to “ride” a
suitcase, pretending it was
a horse, and played “ Bo
nanza”. Hamilton is now
17 and is currently liv ing in
Heppner where she can get
in all the riding on a real
horse that she wants.
Hamilton, who was
born in California, is the
daughter of Michael Hamil
ton o f Austin, TX, and Geri-
Ann Hamilton o f Heppner.
While traveling throughout
Europe she traveled to many
countries, including Ireland
Jessica Hamilton, 2007 Fair
Kodco Princess
only eight years old. She has
one horse, a 24-year-old bay
gelding named Mac, one cat,
and three dogs. Hamilton’s
favorite dog is a black and
white McNabc that she has
named Sassy. Some o f her
favorite activities include
going on cattle driv es. buck
ing bales, and riding barrels
for fun. Hamilton would one
day like to be on the rodeo
circuit.
When Hamilton first
moved to Heppner she saw
the rodeo court and decided
that she wanted to one day
be on it. So she applied,
participated in an interv iew.
i
county. The first time she ap
plied she w as selected to be
a pennant bearer. This year,
however, Hamilton was cho
sen to be princess. She sees
this opportunity as “a job
that allows her to represent
her community.”
Hamilton's previous
experience includes p ar
ticipating in the Wrangler's
Club and being involved
in various 4-H activities.
She also was a teamster on
Happy Canyon and Pendle
ton Round Up Wagon train
where the participants dress
up like pioneers and travel a
portion of the Oregon Trail
in a wagon and camped out,
facing problems just like the
pioneers might have faced.
H am ilton's favor
ite experience so far has
been C h ie f Joseph Days
in Joseph w here a rodeo
clown rode a m otorcycle
o ff a ramp and jum ped a
horse trailer and a truck.