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TW O - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 17,2012 ~ Letters to the Editor ~ 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 ounty’s Hom e-Owned Weekly N ew spaper Published weekly by Sykes Publishing, LLC and entered as periodical maner 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 (541) 676- 9228. Fax (541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor urapidserve net or david(g!rapidserve. net Web site: www heppner net Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, PO. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscnptions: $29 in Morrow County; $23 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older), $35 elsewhere; $29 student subscriptions David Sykes...............................................................................................Publisher Andrea Di Salvo.............................................................................................Editor All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p m For Advertising advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p m Cost lor a display ad is $5 per column inch Cost for classified ad is 50$ per word Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to 100 words Cost for a classified display ad is $5 75 per column inch For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub lication 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) For Obituanes. Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited lo meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space for the obituary For Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor M UST be signed by the author The Heppner GT will not publish unsigned letters All letters M UST include the author s address and phone number for use by the GT office The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The G T 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. Retain Hampton as judge Dear editor: In the race for circuit court judge, there does seem to be a clear “winner”—Judge Lynn Hampton, who cur rently serves in this position. She has been serving as our circuit judge for the past two years, and is doing a great job. I see no reason to change. Lynn knows the law and this community. She has practiced law in the courts of Umatilla and Morrow County for many years, in private practice, as a prosecu tor and as a tribal attorney. She has represented average citizens in our courts, and she knows the law from many different perspectives. As a prosecutor, she has also represented the people of the State of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes. Judge Hampton does not have an “agenda” as a judge. She interprets the law as it is written, fairly and effectively. She is calm and patient in her approach to cases, and treats all who come before her in a fair and respectful manner. That is why I am voting to retain Judge Lynn Hampton as our circuit court judge. Pam Monger, Hermiston, OR Been there, done that To the Editor: 1 don’t write letters to the editor very often, but I like to compliment people when I see their dedication and commitment to a task or a job in the community and county. This brings up my “Hats O ff’ to Leann Rea, incumbent Morrow County Commissioner. Here we have a hard-working lady who wasn't bom with a silver spoon in her mouth. She and her husband Gerald lived in Condon, where Gerald managed the Condon branch of a John Deere company. Later, they owned and operated an irrigation farm on Bombing Range Road, until recent years, when Gerald became ill. The hard knocks of cor porate business and the competitive nature of corporate irrigation brought out the business talents and grit that Leann displays in her current job as county commissioner, tough but fair. To the unsuspecting citizen in Morrow County, the job o f commissioner requires knowledge in budget prepara tion and making sure that taxpayer dollars are well spent. It requires travel time for county-related issues in Salem, as well as other places where our county is affected. Leann has been instrumental in labor negotiation and wage-scale negotiations. This is a difficult task. A commissioner must represent the citizens of this county but must also treat county employees in a fair and respectable manner. Leann has been able to do this balancing act with great skill. I am very comfortable when I cast my ballot for Lean Rea, Morrow County Commissioner. When you have a good thing going in the Morrow County Court, take my advice, and vote yes for Leann Rea. Louis Carlson, Heppner Morrow County Judge, retired 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 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. Hampton intelligent, determined To the Editor: I am writing to endorse Judge Lynn Hampton for election to the position in which she is currently serv ing - Circuit Judge, Position 1, for Umatilla and Morrow Counties. As you may already know, Judge Hampton has been serving as a judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit since her appointment to the bench almost two years ago. She was appointed to her present position because of her broad range of legal experience, her knowledge of the commu nity and her ability to be fair and impartial. In her time on the bench, she has shown that she is able to manage a heavy docket and resolve a large number of cases fairly and effectively. I had the honor of serving the Sixth Judicial District as a district and circuit court judge for 18 years. When Judge Gariy Reynolds and 1 retired in 2010, two judicial vacan cies needed to be filled by gubernatorial appointment. At least 10 local attorneys applied for the appointment, and a three-person local bar committee then interviewed five of the most qualified candidates. That committee ultimately recommended three attorneys to the governor for his consideration. Governor Kulongoski then interviewed those three candidates, and selected Judge Hampton and Judge Eva Temple to fill the two vacant positions. It was a wide-open process, open to any attorney, otherwise qualified, who wished to apply. The final decision was made by Governor Kulongoski, who had also served as a Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court before becoming governor. 1 have known Judge Hampton since 1978, when she came to Pendleton to begin her practice. In the mid-1980s, we served together as deputy district attorneys under Dis trict Attorney Dave Gallaher. In addition to prosecuting criminals, Lynn was also the legal adviser to the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners. Later, when I was the Morrow County District Attorney, I utilized her expertise as a special prosecutor in several complicated cases. Lynn also served as prosecutor for the Umatilla Tribal Court for a number of years, and helped establish the tribe’s first child support enforcement program. She has also been in private practice. In the interest of full disclosure, Lynn also happens to be my sister-in-law. Knowing her life story well, I can vouch for the fact that she has had to work hard for every thing she has achieved, and has done so with intelligence, good humor and determination. She has not been handed anything. In addition to her legal training, she has the life experience which is so important for a judge. Please join me in electing and retaining Judge Lynn Hampton. Jeff Wallace, Hermiston, OR Senior Judge Re-elect Rea for commissioner Lynnea and I have known and worked with Leann Rea since the early 1970s as we came to together in helping to promote the Morrow County Fair and the 4-H programs in Morrow County. • Her credentials for serving as a Morrow County Com missioner are numerous and speak well of her heartfelt, professional commitment to serve her family, her con stituents, and her county’s well-being. Her eagerness to stay abreast of what’s happening in our county and state issues bodes well with her represent ing us all, whether it’s studying a gravel fee proposal, county budget issues, state-wide legislature actions, city concerns about county revenue sharing, land and water use, wolf depredation issues, etc. The list is long and worthy to be represented by Commissioner Rea. Her history and values in Morrow County run deep... and are not likely to change anytime soon. We appreciate Commissioner Leann Rea because she speaks from her values and supports her decisions with concrete convic tion of who she is and who she represents. We hope you’ll join fellow Morrow County voters in voting to retain Leann Rea as Morrow County Com missioner. Dick and Lynnea Sargent, Hermiston, OR Jon M edicare Part D Open Enrollm ent is O ctober 15th - D ecem ber 7th Morrow County Health District will conduct free Medicare Part D Workshops from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the following locations: > > > > > > > Oct. 18th Oct. 23rd Oct. 25th Oct. 30th Nov. 1* Nov. e* Nov. 8th - Hospital, Heppner - lone Market - Hospital, Heppner - Hospital, Heppner - Hospital, Heppner - lone Market - Hospital, Heppner Additional dates will be announced soon. Pleas« call 541-676-9133 or 1-800-737-4113 to make an appointment • f MORROW COUNTY HEALTH DISTRICT E x c e lle n c e In H e a lt h c a r e I LIEUALLEN EXPERIENCED: -Worked on over 1700 cases in criminal and civil law -Pro Tem Judge in Milton Freewater Municipal Court since 2007 BALANCED: -Prosecuted and defended Criminal cases -Represents clients on both sides in a variety of civil cases FAMILY AND COMMUNITY: -Grew up in Eastern Oregon, and returned after college, and after Law school with his wife Lynn to raise his four children -Rotarian -Youth Wrestling volunteer YOUR VOTE IN NOVEMBER IS APPRECIATED Paid For by the Committee to Elect Jon Lieuallen Judge ALL ADVERTISING DEADLINE: Mondays at 5 p.m. Caught in a dilemma (or a gillnet) “Prohibits commercial non-tribal fishing with gillnets on Lower Columbia River” is the title of Ballot Measure 81. The title itself is somewhat misleading as it does not ban all of the gillnets on the Lower Columbia, only gillnets on the Oregon side of the river. Washington State gill-netters would not be affected by this law, as it only applies to Oregon commercial fishers. This measure prohibits commercial non-tribal fishing with gillnets in Oregon “inland waters” but allows the use of seine nets. That sounds easy enough; the gill-netters can just change over to seine nets and life goes on. Problem is, it will cost around $150,000 for a commercial fisher fo make that change. This would result in many Oregon commercial fishers going out of business. Whoops, there goes another Oregon business that we can ill afford to lose. But for a good cause. It will save the wild salmon from extinction. Really? Is a ballot measure the proper tool to employ in conservation efforts? But hold on here; close analysis of this measure reveals it is not primarily about conservation but more about reallocation of salmon. The measure would allow more salmon to be taken by sport fishers while banning the Oregon commercial gill-netter. Good news for the sport fisher, which constitutes a total of 6 percent of Oregonians and who, incidentally, already harvest 80 percent of the salmon to the gill-netters 20 percent. Really good news for the Washington gill-netters, who are currently allowed to fish on both sides of the river, as are Oregon gill-netters. This measure does not thoroughly address this issue, if at all. Will the Washington fishers now have the whole river to themselves? Sure looks that way. Also, under this measure, it will be illegal for any salmon taken with gillnets to be sold in Oregon. Whoops, there goes that fresh salmon dinner you look forward to once in a while at your favorite fish restaurant. And, whoops, here comes another hit, this one on Oregon res taurants, seafood wholesalers, and retailers and local fish markets that sell fresh salmon. This is getting real fishy. Hmmm, you may hate gill nets. But how about live lihoods in Oregon? If you vote yes on this one, it will affect more than salmon. It will affect a lot of people who depend on fishing for a living. This is another com plicated issue with no easy answers. For some very good insights on this subject, check out the voters pamphlet that arrived in your mailbox recently. It brings out some very interesting points. For example, it mentions the rich Washingtonian who put up a half a million dollars to help sponsor this initiative, thereby underwriting 89 percent of the cost of collecting signatures. (See page 72 in the pamphlet). Susan Hanna, PhD, and professor Emeritus of Marine Economics, Oregon State University, had this to say on page 71; “We should all be working togethe. . through existing public processes that are committed to recovery, science based decision and balance. This is a stronger basis for fish recovery than slogans and images of a ballot measure campaign.” Hanna is advocating a no vote on Measure 81. A no vote will continue current commercial fishing practices. It really does not have to be a dilemma, after all. Jack Meligan, Heppner For the Willow Creek Tea Party Patriots Fusion voting To the editor; This may be of grave consequence to the Oregon voter. A precedent has been set. “The Working Families Party,” or “Working Fami lies,” has been printed on our voting ballot alongside the established political parties such as Democrat, Republi can, Libertarian and others. This puts the “Working Families” on par, of equal stature, to those old and venerated political parties, at least as far as the voting is concerned. But the Working Families Party is in no way equal. The Working families Party was first organized in 1998 by a coalition of labor unions then known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or commonly known as “ACORN.” Using Oregon State Bill 326, signed into law by Governor Ted Kulongoski in 2009, our secretary of state has initiated fusion voting, and caused the Working Fami lies, (a.k.a. ACORN) to appear as co-equal nominees of certain candidates. Check it out, then decide. And please vote. Floyd White, Heppner, OR Community lunch menu Hope Lutheran, Valby Lutheran and All Saints Episcopal church members will be serving lunch on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. The meal will include taco casserole, coleslaw, tortillas and spiced pears. Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change. Join us for our 1st Annual Halloween Party , - la . m. Sat Oct 17th* Karaoke & Prizes Forj Best costumes Route 7 4 Restau ra n t j tone
