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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2020)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 7, 2020 -- NINE ~ Letters to the Editor ~ 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 will be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10. Peterson will make hard decisions Dedication to citizens of Doherty works hard for our county Morrow County To the editor: What is this? Ed Glenn supporting a south coun- ty candidate over a north county candidate. Absolute- ly unheard of you say? Well there comes a time when even I recognize the need for a change to good government. County Com- missioner Jim Doherty has demonstrated his inability to serve Morrow County. When faced with a hard decision, Jim talks a big tale but when it comes time to make a decision, Jim dodges and either abstains or tables the matter. A case in point was a perfectly good agreement for the CREZ II and Jim turned it into a personal disagreement where the Commission continued to not vote or table items un- To the editor: Today, August 29, I had the pleasure of helping Sheriff Matlack put up cam- paign signs for the Novem- ber election. I’ve worked for Sheriff Matlack almost 16 of my 31 ½ years at the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Matlack has impressed me with his dedication to the citizens of Morrow County. Sher- iff Matlack is the hard- est working sheriff I have served under and really does “go the extra mile” for the citizens every day to get our work done. I remember when he was first elected, we had no animal control program. Sheriff Matlack started til the time was running out. Everyone in the entire county has benefited from the CREZ II agreements and now it is not clear who, if anyone, will benefit. See for yourself; watch the county court in action on Zoom. Joel Peterson is willing to show up and make the hard decisions all of the time. He understands that the county hires profes- sional employees to fill a position and sees no need to micromanage them daily. While a resident of south county, Joel will help gov- ern Morrow County for the benefit of us all. Cast your vote for bet- ter government; vote for Joel Peterson. Ed Glenn, Boardman Elephants in the room To the editor: The “Elk damage on private land” (GT 9/23/20) failed to include three ele- phants in the room. North- east Water Association has culled (shot) around 300 elk on private ground in south Morrow and Uma- tilla counties in order to bring “private land herds under control.” Director JR Cook blamed “increased pressure from the public in the mountains the elk are getting pushed down” on to private land. Cook rep- resents a coalition of local groups that “want the public to have good access to the elk herds and hunting them, but they want them back on public lands.” The first elephant that was ignored are the hybrid wolves that are driving elk, deer and soon cattle out of our mountains. These wolves are colonizing our Blue Mountains. The present game management from the Oregon Fish and Wildlife is essentially wolf management, i.e. wolf pro- tection. Instead of killing the wolves, the present plan is kill off the elk by culling and over the counter limit- less cow tags. Deer tags in Eastern Oregon have been reduced by 4000 buck tags. Hard to continue ignoring this elephant. The second elephant is fee hunting on private lands. LOP tags are sold by fee hunting contractors on private land to the great financial benefit of private land owners. In many cases the elk have been hazed to keep the herds off public lands. The public is no lon- ger allowed to hunt elk and deer on most private lands (thank God for the Wilkin- son ranch) once fee hunting was introduced, therefore the herds remain where the public can not push them back on to public land. We never had this problem in the Heppner unit before fee hunting was legislated. The foothills of the Blue Moun- tains provided recreation opportunities that brought multiple millions of dollars into Morrow County. Fee hunting is now reaping the bad fruit of this ill-con- ceived legislation. The third elephant is the most dangerous because all the “partners” (Rocky Mt Elk, Oregon Hunters Assoc., Oregon Dept. Of Fish and Wildlife, Gurdane Elk Management, etc.) have agreed to fixing the problem by systematically killing off our elk herd to protect private land owners. One of the great reasons Americans chose to live in Eastern Or- egon is our heritage of elk and deer hunting. Heppner used to support five gas stations, five grocery stores and six bars and restaurants, primarily because of moun- tain recreation and hunt- ing. Those three hundred “culled” elk could have supported 300 Morrow County families instead of feeding the continuing anarchy in Portland. These three elephants have been ignored but they are being ignored to our great detriment and delu- sion. The problem is not our birthright elk herds. The problem is the ill-conceived plans to manage them. Stuart Dick, Irrigon a program by funding it himself, allowing us to take stray animals to Pet Rescue. Countless animals have been reunited with their owners over the years because he cared. Sheriff Matlack has many years of experience, is a wise man, looks at the issues, listens to opinions and makes his decision. He has a sixth sense in hiring and I’ve learned to follow his wisdom. He is always willing to listen to the concerns of the Morrow County citizens. I hope the voters rec- ognize that he is the best choice for Morrow County Sheriff and elect him in November. Terry Harper, Heppner Khrushchev’s message 61 years ago To the editor: The following is not meant to be political but a commentary on where our country is heading. Khrushchev’s Message 61 years ago: Khrushchev also said, “We [Communism] will bury you.” A quick read but a lasting thought. Pretty scary now. A sobering re- minder. Almost exactly sixty years ago since Russia’s Khrushchev delivered this. Do you remember Sep- tember 29, 1959? This was his entire quote: “Your children’s chil- dren will live under Com- munism. You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept communism outright; but we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you will finally wake up and find you already have Communism. We will not have to fight you. We will so weaken your economy, until you will fall like overripe fruit into our hands.” “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” Do you remember what Russia’s Khrushchev said in 1959? Remember, socialism leads to Communism. So, how do you create a Social- istic State? There are 8 levels of control; read the following recipe: 1. Healthcare - Control healthcare and you control the people. 2. Poverty - Increase the poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are pro- viding everything for them. 3. Debt - Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty. 4. Gun Control - Re- move the ability to defend themselves from the Gov- ernment. That way you are able to create a police state. 5. Welfare - Take con- trol of every aspect (food, housing, income) of their lives because that will make them fully dependent on the government. 6. Education - Take control of what people read and listen to and take con- trol of what children learn in school. 7. Religion - Remove the belief in God from the Government and schools Matlack is a people person To the editor: This letter is to explain why Sheriff Ken Matlack should be re-elected on Nov. 3, 2020. He is a people person and is very much appreciated by us and many others in Morrow Coun- ty. We first met him in the spring of 2008 when we first moved here. He knocked on our door and after introducing himself he explained that he was run- ning for sheriff and would appreciate our vote. He also shared what he planned to do to make our county a very safe place to live. We voted for him be- cause we appreciated his attitude and we felt that he would be the best man for the job. Since then I have felt very safe living here in Irrigon. There was a time Matlack will “Go the extra mile” To the editor: I’ve had the pleasure of working for Sheriff Ken- neth W. Matlack since Jan- uary 2005, when he was elected Sheriff of Morrow County. Sheriff Matlack stated he would be a “Work- ing Sheriff” and he contin- ues to prove that daily. He responds to calls, backs up deputies and conducts traf- fic stops as needed. As well as all of the administrative duties that comes with be- ing the sheriff. Sheriff Matlack has increased the capabilities of the Sheriff’s Office in many ways. He has expanded the Patrol, Communications and Criminal Divisions and established Morrow To the editor; Jim Doherty is in a November runoff to be re- elected as county commis- sioner in Morrow County. I have been watching Jim since meeting him over a year ago, and he will get a vote from me. I encourage everyone registered to vote in Morrow County to vote for him as well. Jim looks at situations from all angles and at- tempts to steer decisions in a manner that will ben- efit everyone in the county. Jim works hard advocating for our county in Salem. Jim spends time trying to understand the way things operate and is not afraid to push for improvement even when it is unpopular. County’s own Parole and Probation Division. Sheriff Matlack has increased the safety and security of our youth by implementing two School Resource Dep- uties and a K-9 program. I believe Sheriff Matlack is doing an outstanding job as sheriff. He has made substantial changes which have benefited the Morrow County Sheriff ’s Office and more importantly, the citizens of Morrow County. With Sheriff Ken Mat- lack’s continued leadership, experience and knowledge, the citizens of Morrow County will continue to re- ceive the law enforcement services they want and deserve. I fully support the re-election of Sheriff Ken- neth W. Matlack in the 2020 election. “Go the Extra Mile.” Brian Snyder, Irrigon The Heppner Ga- zette-Times wants to see pictures of your trophy animals from this hunting season. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos, mail them to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to editor@rapidserve.net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674. This behavior is exactly what we need in our local government. As a business owner raising my family in Mor- row County, I want Jim Doherty working for me as county commissioner. I know that with him in office, someone is think- ing of each individual and each entity when making decisions. Jim has been commissioner for one term, and during that time he has developed and adapted. I believe he will only be- come more effective with time in office. Please join me in voting to retain Jim Doherty. Morrow Coun- ty deserves to have Jim Doherty as part of our team. Thank you for your time, J. Fletcher Hobbs, Boardman because the people need to believe in ONLY the gov- ernment knowing what is best for the people. 8. Class Warfare - Di- vide the people into the wealthy and the poor. Elim- inate the middle class. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to tax the wealthy with the support of the poor. These statements made 61 years ago are more rel- evant today than any time in our history. It is time for people to pay attention and make informed decisions to protect what our country stands for. The poodle is off the front porch and the pit bull is in the back yard. Roger Britt, Heppner DEADLINE: MONDAYS when I thought our house had been broken into. I called 911 about 11 p.m. and within minutes Sheriff Matlack came to our house. He said, “Let’s investigate together.” In no time we both decided that a bird must has flown into our window and broke it. We were very im- pressed with the way he cares about people and AT 5PM caters to our needs. He sent his deputies to our house when we had a fraud com- plaint with our bank. The problem was solved and we had our money returned. We were elated as it was several hundred dollars of losses. Cordially, Stanley and Linda An- derson, Irrigon THERESA CRAWFORD FOR MORROW COUNTY JUSTICE OF THE PEACE • • • • Strong work ethic Common sense Compassion in and out of court Fairness, consistency and respect “I will treat the people of Morrow County and all who come before me with respect, consistency, effectiveness and fairness.” ~ Theresa Crawford Please like my facebook page Theresa Crawford for Justice of the Peace You can also email me anytime with questions t_buffy@live.com Vote November 3rd
