Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2011)
Sheriff says drug use a factor in much of county’s crimes Matlack featured speaker at Tea Party meeting I ■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 ■ I • • < l l l l l l i i l l l l l i l By David Sykes Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 M orrow C ounty Sheriff Ken Matlack was the featured speaker at the monthly m eeting o f the Willow Creek Tea Party P atriots M onday night. HEPPNER imes VOL. 130 NO. 4 8 Pages Wednesday, January 26,2011 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Walden says FCC exceeding its authority with Net Neutrality rules By David Sykes Congressman Greg Walden says the Federal Communications Commis sion overstepped its author ity recently when it enacted Net Neutrality rules with out congress’ permission. Net Neutrality would al low the federal govern ment more control over the internet which, opponents say, would only lead to increased censorship and invasion of privacy. “ T hree h undred members of the house say ‘don’t do net neutrality,” ’ Walden told a gathered group of Eastern Oregon telecom business leaders at a lunch in Boardman Friday. And Walden should have some say in the mat ter as the newly-appointed chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. He was ap pointed after Republicans gained control of the House in the last election. Walden is the only Republican con gressman from Oregon. “The FCC chair man crammed this through and it exceeded its author ity,” Walden said. He said Net Neutrality is a “solution in search of a problem.” “I don’t want government run ning the internet. There are those who think this is the Fairness Doctrine for the internet,” Walden said. Walden also said Greg Walden R-Oregon (right) visits with Eastern Oregon telecom leaders at a meeting in Boardman last Friday. With Walden is his newest staff member Ray Baum, former chair man of the Oregon Public Utility Commission who will assist Walden on communications and energy oversight and legisla tion. -Photo by David Sykes with the Republican con trolled house there will be a lot more oversight of how the government is regulat ing the telecom business. He said federal monies have been misspent on broad band infrastructure and that he would like to see more broadband build out in the rural areas. Walden also intro duced his newest staff mem ber, Ray Baum. Baum was the chairman of the Oregon Public Utility Commission and will assist Walden on communications and energy oversight and legislation. On o th er issues Walden said the Republi can house is changing rules Gregory Smith & Co., for the past 10 years. He has offices in Heppner and La Grande where he manages the Eastern Oregon Uni versity’s Small Business Development Center. As part of his con tract with the county, Smith has agreed to establish an office in downtown Baker City as soon as possible with business hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and nights and weekends as needed. Sm ith’s proposal was one of four submitted to the county. County Commis sioner Chair Fred Warner Jr. said the Economic De velopment Commission, which he is a member of, recommended Smith for the job even though his bid was the highest. “It was not an ap ples to apples kind of as sessment,” Warner said. Sheriff Ken M atlack addresses the iqonthly meeting of the Willow Creek Tea Party Patriots Monday night. -Photo by David Sykes said. “Personally I believe the law is the law and if a person is here illegally he is breaking the law, but not everybody sees it that way,” he said. “The law is the law and the federal government should enforce the law,” he said. “I have been in this business 30 years and I would like to see the law enforced,” he said. Matlack said he did not think it was fair to the people who com ply with the immigration laws, and wait up to nine years sometimes to become legal citizens, to have other people come here illegally. He said his depart ment does not track the cost of dealing with illegals separately, and does not know their financial impact on the legal system in Mor row County. Matlack, who grew up and lived in the Uma- tilla/Irrigon area most of his life, says he began to see a change in Morrow County back in the 1970s when circle irrigation came and there was a demand for more labor. He said in the beginning the workers pretty much stayed on the farms, worked and did not cause much trouble. Later when more illegal workers arrived and jobs became scarcer, we began to have some troubles. He said he saw a rise in gang activity in Irrigon and that is one of the factors that prompted him to run for sheriff. He had been a state police officer for many years, but wanted to do something to rectify the deteriorating safety felt in North Morrow County. Matlack sees his number-one accomplish ment during his six years as sheriff, as being a change in the way the county purchas es jail space. Previously he said the county had a con tract with a set number of beds available at the Uma tilla County Jail. He said he reworked the contract to so the beds would be averaged out which made more space available when needed. He said this allowed him to put more people in jail when they needed it. “People are more apt to obey the law and do what they are supposed to do when they know there is a possibility they will go to jail if they don’t,” he said. He said pre viously people who should have gone to jail were being released with just a ticket. Matlack says an other positive sign for the department is the Secure Residential Treatment Fa cility in Heppner which has made beds available for people who are having mental problems. Previ ously he would have had to transport the people to Bend or other far away facilities, taking up valuable deputy time. Tea Party m em bers asked Matlack what they could do to help law enforcem ent in Morrow County. The sheriff said, “ Be our eyes and ears. Report things that are sus picious.” He said ordinary people have every right to make citizen’s arrests, but “I don’t recommend it.” He said a person could be sued or the suspect could be dangerous. He said if a person catches someone on their property stealing something, they do not have the automatic right to shoot that person. “Don’t be a -See TEA PARTY MEET ING/Page SIX pete. Tickets are available at the door and concessions will be available. M ark Lem m on, Bank of Eastern Oregon’s C hief Financial Officer and Heppner High School wrestling coach, has been instrumental in organiz ing the bank's sponsorship of the event. “The bank’s management has been very involved in establishing this annual tournament and looks forward to the 2011 competition. The first two years o f the event were outstanding and we intend the BEO Invitational to be a “can’t miss” tournament on every school’s future schedule,” said Lemmon. “We appreciate bank staff and local citizens who vol unteer to help at the event or sponsor amenities; their help makes the tournament run smoothly!” Anyone who would like to volunteer to help or has any inquiries concern ing the upcoming event, contact H eppner High School’s Athletic Director, Greg Grant, at 541-676- 9138 or Mark Lemmon at 541-676-0224. to better serve the public. “We are taking away the opening statements of the all the committee members except for the chairmen,” BEO to host annual invitational wrestling tournament Walden said. He said when you have 50 com m ittee members and they all get to talk for three minutes, the testimony drags on for too long. “We want to hear from the citizens we have asked to come in testify,” he said Walden heard of a variety of telecom problems from the industry leaders who attended the luncheon. Fred Ziari of EZ Wireless said his company is having problems finding quality -See WALDEN/Page SIX Pictured are members of the Heppner Mustang wrestling team, along with their coaches. -Photo by Sandy Matthews Baker County hires Greg Smith Editor s Note: The follow ing article was written by Chris Collins and appeared in the January 21 edition o f the Baker City Herald. A state legislator from H eppner who op erates a private business consulting firm has been hired as Baker County’s new economic development director. The Baker Coun ty Commission signed a contract Wednesday with Greg Smith, 42, who serves constituents of Union, Wal lowa, Umatilla and Morrow counties in District 57 of the Oregon House of Represen tatives. Sm ith w ill earn $8,000 per month - $96,000 per year - to recruit busi ness and industry to Baker County and to offer support to existing businesses. Smith and his wife, Sherri, have operated their business consulting firm. Matlack spoke on various issues including illegal im migration, drug use and jail space. “A large percentage of the crimes committed in the county are in some way related to drug usage,” Mat- lack told the group. He said the production and usage of methamphetamines “figures into much of the crime we have in the county.” Matlack said Uma tilla County was number two in Oregon in the pro duction of meth, and that has spilled over into Mor row County. He said a lot of the thefts on ranches and farms in the area are meth addicts searching for cop per and copper wire to sell and make money for the drug. He said after Oregon put controls on the sale o f Ephedrine, previously an over-the-counter cold medication, and made it a prescription-only medi cation, the production of meth decreased. Ephedrine is a material that is used in the production of meth, and drug makers would purchase large amounts at retail outlets. “The meth epidemic is still with us, however,” he said. Matlack also said the much of the meth pro duction has shifted to Mex ico where the materials to make it are cheaper and more available. He also said that Mexican nationals have been caught growing marijuana in our National forests. “Not so much in Morrow County, but it is going on,” he said. On the subject of illegal immigrants, Matlack says his department does not seek out illegals in the county, and that he, in fact, cannot arrest a person for just being in the country il legally. “In Oregon we have a law that says you cannot make an arrest if is just for being an illegal,” Matlack said. He explained that a person could be charged with being an illegal in conjunction with another crime, but not just being an illegal by itself. “This (illegal im migration) has become a political issue,” Matlack Other EDC mem bers are Mike Kee, Baker City manager; Baker City M ayor D ennis D orrah; banker Jeremy Gilpin; and rancher Craig Ward. The four applicants first were screened by a three-person committee of businessmen Dave Lind- ley and Peter Ellingson, and Rick Minster, Eastern Oregon regional business developm ent officer for Business Oregon. W arner outlined the three other proposals: -Gene Stackle, who formerly worked for Baker City as economic develop ment manager, bid $69,000 for the job, but that did not include the cost of setting up an office. -Jake Jacobs, who also has provided busi ness consulting services for the city and county, bid -See GREG SMITH/Page SIX Bank o f Eastern Oregon announces the in vitees to Bank of Eastern Oregon’s 2011 Invitational Wrestling Tournament to be held at Heppner High School on February 5. High schools scheduled to compete are Heppner, Riverside, Irrigon, Adrian, Crane, Elgin, Enterprise/ Wallowa, Grant Union, Im- bler, Joseph, MacHi (JV), and Union. The com petition begins at 10 a.m. and Bank of Eastern Oregon invites the public to come watch these talented athletes com- ()tt Open House February 4th n \ F ree L unc I h P () 10:00 am - 2:00 pM Hamburgers & Hoi Dogs Open House Special - January 31st-February 4th- A ll Case & Fleet Guard Filters 2 0 % O FF Limited to stock on hand M o r r o w C o u n ty G r a in G r o w e r s ^e)ringtor^8£L82^^^U80(U452^7396^^o^»rii^juij>m™ijsiu>ii^rfi^it^i www m ciz nft
