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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2020)
Heppner considers 2 nd amendment sanctuary HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 139 NO. 7 8 Pages Wednesday, February 12, 2020 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon By David Sykes The Heppner City Council Monday began dis- cussions on making Hep- pner a second amendment sanctuary city. The action follows passage last month of a new sanctuary law by the town of Lexington aimed at protecting resi- dents second amendment rights to keep and bear arms. City Manager Kraig Cutsforth said he put the issue on the agenda be- cause he has been hearing from “several people” in Heppner who want the city to look into similar second amendment action. Local men join TimberUnity convoy to Salem ‘People need to get involved. This is about our future’ The Bailey Heavy Equipment Repair truck joins others in the early morning hours heading to the TimberUnity Rally in Salem last Thursday. By David Sykes Saying rural Oregon needs to stand up and get in- volved or lose their way of life, Heppner resident Ken Bailey, along with son-in- law Kolby Golden, joined a large truck convoy last Thursday that converged on Salem to protest a new global warming law they say will cost jobs, raise fuel prices and cripple small businesses. “I haven’t been involved with politics like this before,” says Bailey who owns an equipment repair business in Lexing- ton, “but this will just hurt everyone in rural Oregon.” In a show of unity against a proposed “cap and trade bill”, Bailey joined thousands of other loggers, farmers and working people in a large convoy of trucks, tractor trailers and other vehicles making their way to Salem to protest the bill. The convoy was organized by a group called Timbe- rUnity which sprang from a smaller rally held last June in opposition to a similar cap-and-trade bill intro- duced in the last legislative session. That bill died when Republican Senators left the capitol and refused to participate. The Legislature is currently back in short session with the Democrats trying once again to pass another cap-and-trade bill. TimberUnity organized last week’s rally to again protest the legislation, and Bailey was part of it. Start- ing from Lexington in early City Attorney Bill Kuhn warned the council that enacting an ordinance such as this could cause “a boat load of trouble.” He pointed out that second amendment sanctuary laws are difficult to enforce and would be costly to defend. “I can research this for one hour or the rest of my life,” he said of the city spending money on legal fees for the ordinance. “This is very complex,” he told the coun- cil adding that Heppner doesn’t have the resources like a larger city to litigate the law if it came to that. Kuhn also urged the council to read the letter in this week’s Gazette-Times from Law Professor Lance Tibbles (see page three), who has been following the sanctuary movement in Lexington. Among other things Tibbles says parts of Lexington’s recently enact- ed sanctuary law contains incorrect legal statements. “The fact that it is contained in a city ordinance does not make it correct,” Tibbles says. “The US Supreme Court has clearly stated that the right secured by the Second Amendment of the Constitution is not un- limited. It is not “a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatev- er purpose,” he adds. Heppner councilmem- bers discussed the sanctu- ary idea saying they expect restrictive gun laws to be coming from the Oregon Legislature. One proposed gun-lockup-law would ap- parently make it almost impossible to have a weap- on in your vehicle ready for use. After discussion the council instructed Cutsforth to do some investigation thus avoiding any legal fees from the city attorney. “I would like to see some more information on this,” councilmember Dale Bates said. Following the meeting Cutsforth said he would do some research and see what’s out there. He said there is everything from a full ordinance to proclama- tions that the city could do. In other business the council gave thumbs up to a permit request allowing Giselle Moses to keep two goats in the city limits. The goats are Nigerian Dwarf, grow to 19-23 inches tall and weigh only about 75 pounds, she said. “I want them not only for pets, but to provide weed/grass control, which will also provide fire prevention,” Moses said. G-T travels to Argentina (L-R) Kolby Golden and Ken Bailey meet with Representative Greg Smith while in Salem for the TimberUnity Rally. morning hours and driving his large farm service truck, he and Golden headed to I84 to join others for the trip down to Salem. Bai- ley said he merged with others rigs along the way including log trucks, semis and other vehicles at The Dalles, Cascade Locks and on down the freeway. By the time the convoy hit I205 there were 36 trucks from Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Morrow, Wasco and Gil- liam counties. The convoy was eventually joined with more trucks from all over central and southern Ore- gon. “It was quite a sight,” he said recalling the long line stretched out on the freeway. It was estimated 1,100 trucks had eventually convoyed to Salem. Bailey said he even met a man who drove a John Deere tractor all the way from Lakeview. Once arriving in Salem the trucks were directed to the fairgrounds and other parking areas and the peo- ple were picked up by bus- ses for the trip downtown to the state capitol. Bailey said the crowd there was large and orderly and he said it was estimated by Channel 2 News there were 9,000 in attendance. They listened to a variety of speakers includ- ing state representatives, TimberUnity officials and members of the Oregon Cattleman’s Association. Meanwhile inside a dele- gation from TimberUnity presented Governor Kate Brown with the groups own four-point counter proposal on how to tack- le global warming. That included tax incentives to encourage businesses and consumers to invest in cleaner production and transportation technology; using the state’s existing rights of way to plant trees and sequester more carbon dioxide; using the state’s purchasing power to buy lo- cal and decrease its carbon footprint; and increasing recycling infrastructure in the state. “Putting trees on the highway right of ways will soak up carbon,” said Bailey. He emphasized that TimerUnity’s proposals would help combat global warming without hurting Oregon’s rural economy. While in Salem he and Golden also met with Rep- resentative Greg Smith. Senate Bill 1530 as it is called, will set limits on the amount of manmade carbon released into the atmosphere, which pro- -See TIMBERUNITY/PAGE THREE Representative Greg and Sherri Smith pose with a copy of the Heppner Gazette-Times in Argentina. District 57 Represen- tative Greg Smith and his wife Sherri recently took a trip to Ushuaia, Argentina, taking along a copy of the Heppner Gazette-Times. In Greg’s note to the Gazette, he said, “Sherri and I were thinking of our friends in District 57 during our recent trip to Ushuaia, Argentina. It is located on Tierra del Fuego archipel- ago, the southernmost tip of South America, which is nicknamed ‘End of the World.’ The Heppner Ga- zette traveled with us 7,536 miles…. a long way from home.” ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. CHANDLER FAMILY RAFFLE Green Mountain Grill Daniel Boone Pellet Smoker W i n n will e r w i be l l b drawn e d r a w n February F e b r u a r y 1 14, 4 , 2 2020 0 2 0 Winner $5 each or 6 for $20 Proceeds will go to the Chandler Family Silver Creek, from Heppner, also sent a truck in the convoy. Tickets available at the Lexington and Heppner Locations Green Feed Store Lexington Store 242 West Linden Way 350 Main Street Heppner, OR 97836 Lexington, OR 97839 541-676-9422 800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221