Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2020)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 12, 2020 -- SEVEN Scavenger hunts scheduled in August The Heppner Outreach Council has scheduled a scavenger hunt each week in the month of August. Each week, there will be a theme where residents can decorate their front win- dow, front yard, front door or anything visible from the street. Then the Heppner Outreach Committee will hide their buddy, HOC (pronounced Hawk), in a decorated yard. To help locate HOC in Heppner each week, residents are asked to help by posting a picture on the Heppner Outreach Council Facebook page showing HOC’s location. Those who help locate HOC and post a picture with their name will be entered into a drawing to win the same themed basket as that week. Some rules for the Scavenger Hunts are: -Do not touch our bud- dy, HOC. The Heppner Outreach will be in charge of moving him each week. -Do not post the pic- ture until the next day. So New Baby in Your Family? Engagement? Wedding? We want to share your life events! Stop in the Heppner Gazette office or email us with details and photos. All birth, engagement and wedding announcements are always free! 188 W Willow Street Heppner, OR editor@rapidserve.net if you see HOC on August 6, take a picture and post it on Facebook August 7. This way everybody gets a chance to find HOC them- selves. HOC will be in his one location every Thurs- day from 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. so that all families have time to try and find him. If you try to post it early your name will be taken out of the drawing. -You must post the pho- to on The Heppner Out- reach Council Facebook page, if you post it on your own, we do not get notified which means you will not be entered into the drawing. -HOC will be making his appearance August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27. Drawings for prizes will be on August 9, 16, 23 and 30. -You have to post the picture from HOC’s loca- tion from that week. You can’t post HOC’s location from the previous week. You will not be entered into the drawing if you do this. -Make your picture unique by doing a selfie within your parked car. Remember duplicate photos being posted will not be entered into the drawing. The Heppner Outreach Council is so excited to see what HOC is going to be up to during the month of Au- gust and to see their com- munity’s yards decorated. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM Prepare for power outages with a Generac home standby generator SCHEDULE YOUR FREE IN-HOME ASSESSMENT TODAY! 844-942-3614 FREE 7-Year Extended Warranty* A $695 Value! Off er valid March 16, 2020 - Sept 6, 2020 Special Financing Available Subject to Credit Approval *Terms & Conditions Apply I wanted to reach out to my fellow community members and let you know what I believe in and represent. I will bring over 22 years of full-time law enforcement experience, with nearly 13 years of those being a supervisor, and 20 years of those serving the people of Morrow County. Through my years in law enforcement, I have had been around many great leaders who have shown me what it takes to lead. Leaders are not defined by titles, but by their actions. The number one lesson I have learned is it is not a them versus us. It is a “WE.” We must work together, hand in hand to effectively work towards our common goals. I am committed to working with the communities by building partnerships and utilizing those partnerships to provide better services, while reducing inefficiency. As Sheriff, I will reorganize some staff in order to become more efficient. I will eliminate the Traffic Deputies positions, reassigning them to general patrol. Having Deputies assigned to write mainly speeding tickets on I-84 and Highway 730 is not good use of our County resources. The Sheriff’s Office should NEVER be in the business of generating revenue, as this leads to distrust by the people. I fully support the School Resource Deputy positions as I want to expand upon their role within the schools to include a teacher/mentor. I am also supportive of the Blue Mountain Drug Tasks Force. I will continue providing a Deputy and other resources as needed for this vital role, as the drug epidemic continues to ruin lives. Part of the reorganization will lead to 24 hours patrols by the Deputies, with dedicated south county patrols. The south county patrols will encompass a Deputy’s entire shift. Not simply an hour or two. The citizens of Morrow County deserve equal services. I will challenge our community members to engage with the Sheriff’s Office staff, and vice versa. I will reactivate the Volunteer Search & Rescue Program, and create a Volunteer Citizens on Patrol Program, and implement a youth law enforcement mentoring program. I feel these programs, are worthwhile as they are a positive example of what can be accomplished when working hand in hand with our communities. With that being said, Oregon law forbids law enforcement officers from working with federal immigration officials solely regarding immigration enforcement. My stance on immigration enforcement is straight forward. It is a federal issue and needs to be resolved within the federal government. Local resources should not be used for immigration enforcement when the only crime is a person’s legal status. However, I do support the idea of being able to work with immigration officials when trying to remove violent criminals from our communities. As Sheriff, I will ensure the Sheriff's Office becomes accredited through the Oregon Accreditation Alliance. This will help bring up the quality of service while reducing liability. I will only hire/promote qualified people for positions, and make sure they obtain/retain state certifications for their respective positions. I will not promote employees to supervisory roles if they have a family member working within the same division. I will work diligently to end any nepotism or appearance of nepotism with- in the Sheriff's Office. While there have been some people spreading false information about my intent on moving the Sheriff’s Office from Heppner to the north end of the County, I assure you this is inaccurate. The Sheriff’s Office must work closely with other government entities on an on-going basis. Many of these are based in Heppner, thus is it vital the Sheriff’s Office in Heppner remains an anchor point for the services it provides. However, I do support the need to have a full-time clerical person assigned to the north end to handle administrative paperwork which the Patrol Deputies are currently performing. This will allow the Patrol Deputies to concentrate on keeping our communities safer. Lastly, I often get asked how I feel about the 2ND Amendment. I can assure you I will ALWAYS defend YOUR Rights granted to you under the Constitution of the United States, and the State of Oregon. I am a firm believer in a person’s right to protect themselves and others. This includes the right to own and possess firearms, as granted to them under the US Constitution. I do not support any laws which restrict a person’s Rights, whether it is regarding firearms or any other Constitutional Rights. I WILL NOT permit any law to be enforced by my staff, which is in violation of the US or Oregon Constitution. If you have any questions or comments, I may be reached at either 541-561-0792 or MarkPratt@PrattforSheriff.com. Please visit and follow my campaign at: PrattforSheriff.com & Facebook.com/PrattforSheriff Sincerely, Mark Pratt