Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 21, 2020 -- THREE IRRIGON OFFICE ~ 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. Email to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net. Diehl very thorough Vote for Thatcher To the editor: I am writing this letter in support of Judge Diehl. I have known Glen Die- hl Since the early 2000’s when I worked as commu- nity relations official for the city of Boardman. It was in that capacity that I worked with Glen Diehl when he worked for UCSO on the BENT team or Narcotics Task Force. I assisted as an interpreter to the Narcotics Task Force. Glen Diehl was very good at what he did along with the rest of the team and it was a great experience for me to work alongside the team. Since then I have worked with Glen when he was working for MCSO as supervisor for the court mandated community ser- vice workers and probation officer. I currently work as an interpreter for Judge To the editor, I write this letter in support of Kim Thatcher for Secretary of State. Al- though I am a registered Libertarian, I am crossing party lines and will vote for Kim Thatcher enthusi- astically. Throughout her politi- cal career, I have seen Kim Thatcher cross party lines to listen to different ideas, work with the people who hold them, and frequently accommodate their prior- ities (even when she does not share them) in the in- terests of good civics. These qualities are hallmarks of a great Secretary of State and are especially important now because of the divisive nature of today’s politics. Diehl and have enjoyed working with him in all capacities. I feel that Judge Diehl, in both capacities, as community service crew supervisor and as judge, has done a great job and is sensitive to the needs of the non-English-speak- ing population in Morrow County as well as the En- glish-speaking population. I see how thorough he is and how he takes the time to make sure the defendants understand every part of their court process. In my opinion Glen Diehl has always been dil- igent and attentive to detail when he is doing his job and would continue doing a good job if he is elected to continue to serve as judge for the Morrow County Justice Court. Sincerely, Martin Montes de Oca Doherty has worked hard To the editor, I support Jim Doherty’s reelection as Morrow County Commissioner. As a commissioner, Jim has worked hard to represent all of the people and com- munities in the county. He never seems to favor one community over another as he sees the county not as north or south but as one entity. I believe that Jim is one of the most honest people I know and is working hard to do the best job possible for the citizens of Morrow County. I urge you to vote Jim Doherty for Morrow County Commissioner. Jerome McElligott, Ione Stand for God and country To the editor: The national press, na- tional media, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Demo- cratic party and traitors in government and the Republican party at the top, are all controlled by anti-American, anti-God radical leftists/Marxists that are committed to turning America into a partner in the coming globalist one world government. These same traitors continue to use their positions of power and influence to orchestrate treasonous plots to remove a duly elected president from office. The plot using the CIA, FBI, NSA and traitors embedded in every American institution came from President Barack Obama immediately once Donald Trump was elected President. For four years Amer- ica has been forced to en- dure the fraudulent Mueller Russian fiasco, the phony impeachment soapbox, the Covid 19 conspiracy and now an election that the press and media promise and promote to bring a corrupt 47-year career pol- itician to the White House. If they succeed, they will end the American Republic as we know it. They will change every Constitutional safeguard beginning with the Second Amendment. They know they cannot im- plement their coup unless they remove every firearm from every American pa- triot. Understand what will happen to America if these Democrat/Marxists are successful in deceiving, cheating and manipulating the vote to elect their man Joe Biden as President of the United States. Cast your vote wisely my fellow Americans. Stand without compromise for God and country. Stuart Dick, Irrigon Endorsing Matlack To the editor: I’m writing this en- dorsement letter for Sheriff Kenneth W. Matlack as I’m a former police officer and a retired armed security officer. I started in 1973 as a police officer for the city of Madras, OR until 1986. During that 13 years I resigned and went with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s department as a deputy for a year and half then I returned to the Madras City Police department. During that time I was also a volunteer ambulance driver and medical aid as well as a volunteer fire fighter for several years. In 1986 I resigned from the Madras Police Department to take a position with the Boeing company as an armed top-secret security officer stationed at a Boe- ing classified test site in Boardman. Later on I, and the public, had the honor of having Kenneth Matlack serve as our Morrow Coun- ty Sheriff. Sheriff Matlack has shown me, as well as all the general population of Morrow County, the hon- esty and integrity that it takes to be a great working sheriff. Sheriff Matlack has provided all that plus he is very proud and honored to “fill in the extra mile” as he has done and will continue to do as he serves as sheriff of Morrow County. I’m very honored to endorse Sheriff Kenneth W. Matlack for another full term for Morrow County Sheriff. Kenneth has the experience it takes to fulfill this position and will again serve Morrow County with the utmost integrity. Stan T. Toms, Boardman Hopeful Saints will host their Halloween party a little differently this year. They are planning a trunk or treat in the parking lot from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Halloween night. Kids and parents are asked to stay in their car and drive through by entering on Gale Street and exiting on Church Street. Walkers are welcome also. This year’s Halloween celebration will include community Halloween dec- orating contests in Lexing- ton and Heppner. To regis- ter for the Heppner contest, email Hopeful Saints Min- istry at hepsaints@centu- rytel.net or call the church office at 541-676-9970. All entries must be submitted to the church office by October 28 and be inside the Heppner city limits. Judging will take place the evening of October 29. To register for the Lex- ington contest contact Bria Wright on Facebook. These community activities are funded by Morrow County Unified Recreation district. Additional details will be available on Facebook and future issues of the Heppner Gazette-Times. Trick or Treat drive through planned DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. As the late Dennis Richardson proved, a Re- publican can serve con- structively in a Democrat- ic state like Oregon for the good of us all. Party labels notwithstanding, Kim Thatcher’s brand of non-partisan governance is what will bring Oregonians closer together, making it possible to resume building on the best of what we are. For these reasons, I urge everyone across all party lines to vote Kim Thatcher for Secretary of State. Respectfully, Richard P. Burke, Tigard Former Commissioner and Chair, Oregon Government Ethics Commission -Continued from PAGE ONE Kate Knop who said the county’s retirement plan lost ground in the year 2018-19. The loss was due to a lower than expected return from the $26 million funds’ investments. There are currently 250 people drawing from the retire- ment fund and the county recently switched from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan in an effort to save money and keep the fund solvent. It is showing about an $11 million unfunded shortfall in what is owed and what is available to pay out, requiring the county to add money to the retirement fund each year. Commissioner Don Russell, who earlier en- gineered the switch to the defined contribution plan system, asked if maybe the county was being too conservative in its invest- ments. “Our investments look like it underperforms the markets substantially,” he said pointing out that all the major indexes such as the Dow and the S&P 500 were doing better than the county retirement fund. “Who sets the risk toleranc- es for the investments we do?” he asked Knop. Knop said the board of commis- sioners set the risk. “We are underperforming the markets by quite a bit and I would guess that is because our risk tolerance is low,” Russell said. The commis- sioners planned on having the fund managers attend a meeting in November to talk about the county’s re- tirement fund investments. Commissioner Mellissa Lindsay said the informa- tion the commission had was “old information be- fore the upturn so we need to get updated information. Our year to date is 9.6 percent so that puts us in a much better light,” she said of the current year. In other discussion Lindsay and new county planner Tamra Mabbott talked about the future of wind projects in the county. Lindsay said she held Nex- tEra and Wheatridge, the current owner and builder of the latest windfarm in the county, “up high” because they worked with wind tower neighbors to mitigate the loss of what she called “viewshed” from new tow- ers going up. “When Jer- ry Rietmann came with Andrew McConnell with Wheatridge they started to roll it out and some of the land owners were not that excited,” said Lindsay, who does not have wind towers on her farm. “Some of us liked our viewshed. We didn’t want this in our neighborhood. He came to our table and he said what could we do?” Lindsay said while the wind developers do not pay for loss of view, they will compensate adja- cent landowners for noise. Lindsay said what was done in Morrow County could be a model for how windfarms should be de- veloped. “The homeowners that were not involved in the project got to have that conversation and I think most of them are probably getting a compensation,” she said. She said many adjacent landowners are getting compensated for what they feel is “a loss in their living space,” because of what is happening to the benefit of their neighbor who is getting money from wind towers on their land. Umatilla County in- stituted a certain mile set back on wind towers from residents which Lindsay says may have given that county a “not open for business” signal for wind development, which she wanted to avoid in Morrow County. She said she was not against wind power and did not want others in the county to be put a posi- tion of not benefiting from wind. “If I’m an implement seller on Main Street and don’t want my home to be impeded upon like this I can’t go through the pub- lic process because I will lose my customers,” she hypothesized. “I will lose my business. I will tick off the farmers who want this to come. But If they come to me and say let’s talk about it then I can become part of the process and feel good about it. I would like to see that process where there is public comment and pub- lic process for setbacks,” she told Mabbott about future wind projects in the county. “With the ability to buy out of them and pay to get closer or have a noise payment, whatever that might be. Then it would be palatable for the per- son who has to live in the middle of it but not run off the project,” Lindsay said. She also wanted to make sure any wind projects in the county were properly bonded so that when it came time to remove the towers the money was there. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
