FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Local couple’s WWII collection part of
Doolittle Raiders Gala
Chuck and Lisa Nelson with their collection of World War II memorabilia at the Doolittle
Raiders Gala Saturday in Pendleton. -Photo by David Sykes
Chuck and Lisa Nelson
took their large collection
of World War II memorabil-
ia to the Doolittle Raiders
Gala, held Saturday at the
Pendleton Airport. Chuck
has been building his large
collection for many years
now, and said Saturday
those items on display were
only part of what he has
accumulated. The display
showed uniforms, knives,
equipment and other au-
thentic items from World
War II and was there for
inspection by the public.
The Doolittle Raiders
Gala was an all-day event
and included a classic car
show, historical re-enact-
ments, screenings of the
documentary “WWII in
a Wild West Town,” and
a B-25 bomber flown up
from Madras for the event.
The B-25 is an original of
the kind of plane flown by
Doolittle and his men on
their raid on Japan during
World War II.
In the evening was the
banquet, show and auction
with old-fashioned USO
show and interactive enter-
tainment. Former Heppner
resident Chris Sykes and
his fiancé Rachel Parm also
helped with the event by
putting together the auction.
News from Hardman Community Center
Hardman Community
Center reports that the new
heater in the Annex finally
came off of back order and
is installed. The MCGG
team of John Ripple, Doug
Holland, Mike Correa and
Matt Baker donated the in-
stallation and their advice,
and diligently checked on
the back order. HCC mem-
bers involved were Sam
Martin Sr., Jim Kirkpatrick,
Don Ward, and Scott and
Claudia Smythe. And, of
course, the Ford Family
Foundation was responsible
for the grant to replace the
heater. Sam Martin will be
installing safety barriers in
the near future.
Claudia Smythe
touched up the floor paint
that was scratched from
dragging the portable pro-
pane canisters across it, and
members installed switch
plates and are in the pro-
cess of covering the hole
where the thermostat for-
merly went. Glass is there
to replace a window that
broke, also. The ceiling
trim on the east wall will
have to be stacked like the
north wall, due to the gap.
The windows cannot be
trimmed until they are, at a
bare minimum, reset—the
community center boasts
gaps/unevenness with the
wall and gaps of up to a
half inch between upper and
lower panes, large enough
that members say you can
squeeze a dish towel be-
tween them.
The center also has re-
ceived many pictures from
Mark and Tami Rietmann
and Gerald and Dianna
Hoeft for their collection,
and a donation of books
from Crossbar H.
Bob and Darlene
Hoskins and Craig and
Anne Munkers have or-
dered the fencing they are
donating for around the old
Hardman Cemetery where
Bob Hoskins’s ancestors
are buried. John Flynn will
tear out the old fence and
Dan Van Schoiack will
install the new fence.
Randy Hansen was un-
able to tune our piano due
to a broken bass bridge. It
was noted in the interior of
the piano when he opened
it by the previous tuner—
named RW Saunders—and
dated 1961. Hansen also
discovered that since then,
the treble bridge has split.
He cleaned up the piano and
looked up its history; the
serial number was issued in
1925, though one key was
dated 1909! HCC mem-
bers say they appreciate
Mike and Darcy Bergstrom,
whose donation allowed
them to explore this, and are
saddened that it’s in such
bad shape.
“We will enjoy it as
best we can, for as long
as we can, in the current
condition,” said secretary
Claudia Smythe.
On March 13, Jim Kirk-
patrick, Don Ward and Scott
Smythe performed “explor-
atory surgery” on the facade
of the Hall, which had been
boarded up and the doors
changed out. The engineers
in the group found that the
real cause of the window
breakage was structural—
the framing holding the
NOW
HIRING
DRIVERS
windows was inadequate
for the amount of glass, and
the constant wind in Hard-
man exacerbated the issue,
coupled with the natural
settling of the building over
time. The upper windows,
which were somewhat pro-
tected by a porch, off and
on, over the years are still
intact, but bowed. Petty-
john’s has given HCC most
of the estimates and the
State Restorationist has
added her input. The cen-
ter has commitments from
local contractors to donate
their time to complete the
work and volunteer labor
as well. They also received
donations from Bob and
Bonnie Buschke and Mid-
way Ranches to help with
matching funds. Once all
the numbers and informa-
tion are in, they say they
will decide how to proceed
to “stop the snow from pil-
ing up inside the Hall doors
and the how to keep the
curtains from billowing!”
After much research
and measuring, it is be-
lieved they can make the
men’s bathroom handicap-
accessible without chang-
ing the footprint. The build-
ing committee will have to
meet to go over the possible
plan, mainly to decide on
how and what kind of door
should be installed. Sherron
Woodside and Dick Paris
provided additional input
on this.
Scott Smythe has been
caulking and adding screws
to the Annex roof in hopes
of stopping the leak(s)—to
no avail—until a plan can
be implemented for a more
permanent fix. The trusses
are bowed from the Annex
settling due to the former
moisture problems. When it
was jacked up and tied off,
much of the tin loosened
and, with the bowing, it’s
not refastening very well.
As far as the other
scheduled 2017 projects,
Claudia Smythe is ready to
go on painting the women’s
bath hall and staining the
dark around the edge of
the dance hall floor, and a
crew is in place for work-
ing on the upstairs cleaning
and wallpaper removal.
Test plots are planned for
determining a floor fin-
ish. The donated tiles have
been taken out of stor-
age and counted and with
some “very non-profes-
sional fudging,” there will
be exactly enough for the
two bathroom stall floors.
A couple of volunteers have
stepped forward to possibly
take on this project.
The next event sched-
uled for the Hall is the
Harshman Reunion on May
28.
Tax Wise & Otherwise
A periodic column by Daniel Van Schoiack, CPA
The Right to Remain Silent
Previous articles in this column discussed the execu-
tive order of President Trump to relieve taxpayers who
would be penalized by the “Individual Mandate” of the
Affordable Health Care Act.
The Individual Mandate penalty was at the heart of
argument to repeal the Affordable Care Act before the
Supreme Court in June of 2012. The argument was made
that Congress did not have the authority to impose the
penalty. Chief Justice Roberts shot that argument down as
he construed the “penalty” was in fact a “tax” imposed on
those who do not have health insurance and that Congress
had the authority to impose the tax.
Prior to the executive order, taxpayers were required
to indicate on their federal tax returns whether or not they
had health care coverage. Taxpayers who did not have
health care coverage faced a penalty of up to $695 per
adult and $347.50 per child, to a maximum of $2,085 per
household for the tax year 2016.
In response to the executive order, the IRS announced
they would accept tax returns which were “silent” in
regard to health care coverage and issue refunds under
those circumstances. However, despite an executive order
and an IRS directive, many tax preparers are forcing their
clients to comply with the Individual Mandate and pay
the penalty for lack of health care coverage.
Recently, on an internet forum for professional tax
preparers, I debated this issue with several participants,
including “Jack from Ohio,” who was concerned he would
get “dinged” by the IRS for preparing an inaccurate tax
return. His argument was fruitless. The IRS clearly stated
they will accept and process tax returns regardless of
whether the box is checked indicating health care cover-
age. While it is true the IRS might eventually send the
taxpayer a letter inquiring about health care coverage, the
IRS cannot assess penalties for failure to check a box the
taxpayer was not required to check.
Also, under Code Section 5000A(g)(2) and Reg. §
15000A-5(b), a taxpayer is not subject to any criminal
prosecution or penalty for failure to pay the individual
mandate penalty. Unlike other taxes, the IRS cannot file
liens or levies to collect the health care coverage penalty.
In fact, the only way the IRS can collect the penalty is by
withholding a future tax refund.
It appears many tax preparers have not informed
their clients about the executive order or the response
by the IRS. For example, a couple I am acquainted with
recently told me they ended up paying several thousand
dollars in taxes, including $1,700 for the individual man-
date penalty. They were surprised to find out they were
not required to indicate if they had coverage or pay the
penalty with the return.
While the law requiring health care coverage is still
in effect, the executive order and the IRS directive do not
require taxpayers to pay the penalty with their tax return;
or require professional tax preparers to enforce payment of
the penalty. Clearly, tax payers have the “right to remain
silent” in this matter.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any ques-
tions about this article.
Daniel Van Schoiack CPA, can be contacted at 541-
676-9971 or danielrvan@yahoo.com. Recent articles can
viewed at danielcpapro.com.
BOARDMAN
SHOOTING
-Continued from PAGE ONE era Jimenez, 26, of Pendle-
in Morrow County. MCSO
deputies and detectives
found that the victim, Rob-
ert Miguel Aguilera, 33,
of Boardman had received
two non-life threatening
gunshots wounds. He had
reportedly been shot while
at a residence on Frontage
Road in Morrow County
Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson has earlier that day in an alter-
released the following report:
cation with another man.
-Kevin Ray Dieter, 35, was convicted of Failure to
Investigation identified
Report as a Sex Offender, a Class A Violation. Fines, fees the suspect as Cesar Corcu-
and assessments totaled $1,100.
DA’s Report
BPA PLANNED
POWER OUTAGE
FOR THE IONE AREA
11:00 PM FRIDAY, MAY 5TH -
5:00 AM SATURDAY MAY 6TH.
For servicing and testing equipment and
performing routine maintenance
The outage areas include: Town of Ione, Ella Rd., Lower Rhea
Creek, Brenner Canyon, Ione Gooseberry Rd., Dry Fork, Lower
Willow Creek, North Lex and the surrounding areas.
The communities of Heppner and Lexington
will not be affected by this outage.
Columbia Basin Electric would like to apologize for any
inconvenience this outage may cause. If a member is unsure
whether or not they will be affected by this outage, please call
Columbia Basin Electric at 541-676-9146.
ton. After fleeing Morrow
County Jimenez was later
involved in two additional
incidents in Hermiston and
Umatilla where shots were
fired.
Monday shortly before
1 p.m., officers from the
Hermiston PD located and
detained Jimenez in Herm-
iston. The firearm used in
the shootings, a .22 caliber
rifle according to the Mor-
row County District Attor-
ney’s office, was found in
Jimenez’s possession.
After interviews by
Morrow County detec-
tives, Jimenez was lodged
at Umatilla County Jail
and arraigned Tuesday on
charges of Attempted Mur-
der, Assault II, Felon in
Possession of a Firearm,
Unlawful Use of a Weapon,
Menacing and Pointing a
Firearm at Another. His
next court appearance is a
preliminary hearing sched-
uled for May 9. Bail was set
at $350,000.
SWCD to
offer free
pine, fir
seedlings
Morrow SWCD will
be giving away Ponderosa
pine and a limited amount
of Douglas fir seedlings
this Friday, May 5, 8 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
Please bring containers
to the SWCD office in the
Ag Service Center at 430
W Linden Way in Heppner.