SIX- Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
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Letters to the Editor
Wednesday, September 17,2014
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Che Heppner Gazette Times vs ill print all letters to the Editor with the following
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letters Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under
“Card o f Thanks" at a cost o f $10.
Eastern Oregon is
denied a voice in
forest plan
To the editor,
The USFS states they wish the public’s involvement
with the Blue Mountain Forest Plan Revision, yet why
are they stonewalling the people's request to participate.
As we have grown to see over the last several months,
the USFS does not seem to truly want to engage with the
people of Eastern Oregon on the Blue Mountains Forest
Plan Revision (BMFPR), as proved through their lack of
desire to hold formal comment meetings for those unable
to submit written comments, or their unwillingness to ad
dress requests for notifications of meetings with public
officials in regards to the BMFPR.
1, as a member of Forest Access For All (FAFA),
have been appalled to find out through our group that
our request for formal notice of all meetings with public
officials in regards to the BMFPR has been stonewalled
by Forest Service leadership now since Aug. 17. I want
to make sure everyone knows the unwillingness of USFS
employees to answer a simple request and let the people
of Eastern Oregon attend meetings they hold with elected
county and state officials attending.
The people of Eastern Oregon deserve to know what
conversations are taking place and how' it will affect their
motorized access to our public lands. It is unconscionable
that such a simple request as,
.requesting notice of all
meetings with county, state or federal representatives or
staff 3 days prior to meetings taking place. Furthermore,
notification should include date, time and list of invited
attendees,” would be such a difficult task to answer, es
pecially when made to an agency that states they want to
have a fully transparent system as they claim.
1 would challenge each and every Eastern Oregonian
concerned about their motorized access to public lands
in our region to contact the Blue Mountains Forest Plan
Team through Ms. Jodi Kramer at jodikramer@fs.fed.
us and request the same as FAFA has requested above.
We deserve better than we are getting and it’s about
time we start standing up for ourselves and demanding
it. We were advised when attending the USFS meetings,
our voices would be heard and there would be “additional
meetings to voice our concerns.”
Terri & Dave Denton, Heppner
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Eastern Oregon Word Round-Up set for
Oct. 3-5
The third annual East
ern Oregon Word Round-
Up, celebrating a love of
reading, writing and book,
is set for Oct. 3-5 this year.
The event is open to the
public and features writers
of all genres.
The festival will be
held at Tamastslikt Cultural
Institute on the Umatilla
Indian Reservation and at
the Pendleton Center for the
Arts (PCA).
Tam astslikt will of
fer free admission to its
museum on Oct. 3 and 4.
Adm ission to the Word
Round-Up and all one-hour
programs are free. Two-
hour workshops cost $25
each but are free to junior
and high school students.
The event is sponsored
by the nonprofit Libraries of
Eastern Oregon (LEO) with
funding assistance from
The Wildhorse Foundation.
Proceeds are used to bring
community programs to
rural public libraries in the
region.
Keynote speakers are
Lidia Yuknavitch, nation
ally-acclaimed author of the
best-selling The Chronol
ogy o f Water, and Lance
Olsen, creative writing in
structor and author of Ar
chitectures of Possibility.
Yuknavitch will pres
ent “The Worth o f Risk” at
6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3
at Pendleton Center for the
Arts. All ages are welcome
to attend this inspirational
presentation on using one's
imagination to brave many
fronts. Yuknavitch will dis
cuss her own works and cre
ative process. Yuknavitch
publishes fiction, nonfic
tion, and genre-bending
writing online and in print.
She is the recipient of nu
merous awards and teaches
in the Masters of Fine Arts
program at Eastern Oregon
University.
In his keynote presen
tation set for 6:30 p.m. on
Saturday, Oct. 4 at Tamasts
likt Olsen will discuss spiral
theory and the materiality
of the page as depicted in
his novel Theories of For
getting. Olsen has taught
experimental writing and
practice internationally and
currently is a professor of
writing at the University
of Utah. He is board chair
man at Fiction Collective
Two, one of America’s best-
known ongoing literary ex
periments and progressive
art communities.
Daytime events
planned for Friday, Oct. 3
will be held at Tamastslikt
and include Native Ameri
can storytelling; the making
of serial poems, a reading
and discussion with author
Pamela (S teele) Reese;
poetry by Shaindel Beers,
who teaches at Blue Mt.
Community College; and
other readings.
Award-winning Herm-
iston author Karen Zacha-
rias will present a two-hour
workshop to explore the
twists and turns of character
development and dive into
story structure for both fic
tion and non-fiction writers.
On Saturday, Oct. 4
from 8-9 a.m., a free book
making workshop will be
held at the Pendleton Center
for the Arts, presented by
Roberta Lavadour, PCA
executive director.
All other programs and
workshops scheduled for
Friday and Saturday dur
ing the day will be held at
Tamastslikt.
Oregon poet laureate
Peter Sears will read from
his works along with Klick
itat poet Kolin Craig, who
lives on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, Summerville
poet Amelia Ettinger. who
writes often about the im
migrant experience, and
essayist Justin Quaempts,
a member of the Board of
T rustees of CTUIR .
Area editors and jour
nalists will fill a panel to
discuss the impact o f the
internet on the community
newspaper and the future of
print journalism.
Other one-hour pro
grams include Isabel Sup-
pe', author of Starry Nights,
who will share her sur
vival experience of falling
1, 100-ft. in the Bolivian
Andes, theh crawling for
days over a high-mountain
glacier with a broken leg.
Her compelling story of life
and death and the redeem
ing power o f beauty has
been compared as the true
female version of Touching
the Void.
W ell-know n author
Molly Gloss will read from
her forthcoming book, Fall
ing from Horses. Other pro
grams include meditative
prompt writing, creative
writing workshops for chil
dren, place-based writing,
and several readings.
Two-hour workshops
include one on writing for
TV and movies, presented
by noted Portland screen
writer Micki Selvitella. Da
vid Axelrod, co-director of
the MFA program at EOU,
will lead a workshop on
writing the prose poem, and
Nate Liederbach, author of
several stories collections
will present a workshop on
Describing the Indescrib
able.
John C arr W alker’s
w orkshop “ From Short
Story to Novel” will en
courage writers to try their
hand at novel writing, as
will Robert Stubblefield’s
workshop to establish con
flict, character and setting.
Stubblefield has been pub
lished widely and has won
numerous awards.
Rob Whitbeck will give
a workshop on poetry in
historical and regional con
text and will address issues
facing the working poet.
He is the author of Writ
ing Home, a survey of the
history and literature of the
Northern West.
On Sunday morning at
PCA, Pendleton poet Bette
Husted, internationally-
acclaimed author Ursula
Le Guin, Barbara Drake,
and several others will read
from their works. Follow
ing their reading. Sears will
give an informal presenta
tion on what it means to be
Oregon’s poet laureate and
his vision for the position.
The Word Round-Up
also includes a trade show
and authors’ tables. Trade
show spaces are $25 to
businesses and free to east
ern Oregon nonprofits.
For a complete sched
ule, see www.easternor-
egonwordroundup.org. For
more information, contact
Lyn Craig Hancock, LEO
executive director at leoli-
braries@gmail .com.
CAPECO considering local classes to
help fall prevention in elderly
Pendleton, Ore.—Or
egon is one o f 48 states
that supports the National
Council on Aging (NCOA)
Falls Free Initiative declar
ing Sept. 23 Falls Preven
tion Awareness Day.
Falls are the leading
cause of both fatal and non-
fatal injuries for those 65
years of age and over. Every
14 seconds, an older adult
is seen in an emergency
department for a fall-related
injury. The chances of fall
ing and of being seriously
injured in a fall increase
with age.
“Nationally, over 2.4
million older adults were
treated in emergency de
partments for falls and 30
percent were hospitalized.
As a result, the medical
costs from falls are signifi
cant. In addition, the death
rate from falls is increas
ing,” said Marci McMur-
phy, Area Agency on Aging
Director at Community Ac
tion Program of East Cen
tral Oregon (CAPECO).
“ We can change this by
bringing greater attention
to the many preventive
measures that can be eas
ily employed to keep our
seniors safe.”
This y e a r ’s them e,
Strong Today - Falls Free
Tomorrow, highlights the
important roles profession
als, older adults, caregivers
and family members play
in raising awareness and
preventing falls in the older
adult population.
“Falls are not a nor
mal part o f aging and the
resulting injuries can steal
quality life from seniors
and their families,” said
Albert Terrillion, NCOA
Senior Director, Clinical
Community Partnerships.
“This awareness day is an
opportunity for older adults
and their support communi
ties to learn how to reduce
falls risks so our seniors can
stay independent for as long
as possible.”
At senior centers and
other community-based or
ganizations across the Unit
ed States, programs like
A Matter of Balance, Tai
Chi, and Stepping On help
older adults gain strength,
improve balance, and build
confidence to help them live
healthier lives and preserve
their independence.
Locally, C A PECO ’s
Area Agency on Aging has
received grant funding to
offer Tai Ji Quan: Moving
for Better Balance classes
throughout Umatilla and
Morrow Counties. Accord
ing to McMurphy, “Several
staff are now certified to
lead this program. They
will be working with area
senior centers to offer this
evidence-based falls pre
vention program to older
adults.”
For more information
on the availability of class
es in your area, contact
Helena Wolfe at hwolfe@
capeco-works.org or 541 -
564-2560. Wolfe has stated
that CAPECO would like to
hold classes in Heppner but
that “a solid base of partici
pants who are interested” is
necessary for classes to be
scheduled locally.
Community lunch menu C IT Y C O U N C IL
Heppner United Methodist Church members will
serve lunch on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at St. Patrick’s
Senior Center. The meal will include parmesan-crusted
baked fish, rice pilaf, mixed vegetables, Waldorf salad, hot
rolls, Boston cream pie, milk, coffee and tea. Suggested
donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change.
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-Continuedfrom PAGE ONE
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management in Eugene. It
was a week-long training.
The classes were very rig
orous and informative. The
floodplain through Hep
pner impacts us all and this
training will help the city to
better manage it and to take
informed actions for the
residents that live or own
properties in the floodplain,
Cutsforth said.
Fire Department August
Report
Rural wild land fires - 3
False alarms - 1
Secure landing zone for
helicopter - 5
M otor vehicle acci
dents - 3
Structure fire - 1
Lift assist - 1
Mutual aide Hermis-
ton - 1
Mutual aide Gilliam
Co. - 1
Task force called for a
wildland fire to Gilliam Co.
Wildland fire in town
- 1
Illegal bum barrel - 1
Smoke alarm investiga
tions - 2
Smell of gas - 1