TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 30, 2020
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
~ Letters to the Editor ~
Heppner
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
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provide your address and a phone number where you can be reached. The
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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
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to Heppner.net.
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25
senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student
subscriptions.
David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher
Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor
Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to
100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. 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.
Currins named to
MSU honor roll
Jacee Currin and Kolby
Currin, Heppner, have been
named to the Montana State
University undergraduate
honor roll for fall semester
2020.
The 1,546 students
with a perfect 4.0 grade
point average for the se-
mester were named to the
President’s List. The Dean’s
List includes the 3,834 stu-
dents earning grade point
averages of 3.5 or above
for the semester. Students
must complete a minimum
of 12 credit hours to be on
either the President’s List or
Dean’s List.
Obituaries
Marlen Andrea
Bowles
Marlen Andrea Bowles,
42, passed away Friday,
December 18, 2020. Marlen
is survived by her mother,
Claudia Ramirez; her fa-
ther, Frank Ramirez; her
three sons, Lukes Spauld-
ing, Jordan Spaulding and
Jesse Bowles and her two
grandchildren, Roman and
Kayloni Spaulding.
Marlen loved the out-
doors and nature. She liked
going hunting, fishing and
mushroom hunting. “She
loved her children so much
and would do anything for
her family. She was taken
from us way too soon. She
will be deeply missed. She
is with her heavenly father,
no pain, only love.”
Services will be held
for the family.
William E. West
On Thursday, Decem-
ber 24, 2020, William E.
West, loving husband and
father of three children,
passed away at age 87.
Bill was born May 9,
1933 at Mikkalo, OR to
Alvin and Neva West. He
spent his life enjoying the
love of family, ranching,
making music, fishing and
hunting. “He was a kind and
gentle man loved by many.”
Bill was preceded in
death by his father, Alvin,
his mother, Neva and broth-
ers, Jim and Doug.
He is survived by his
wife, Barbara; his three
children, Randy, Holly
and Mitchell; his brother,
Jack; 11 grandchildren, 10
great-grandchildren and
several cousins, nieces and
nephews.
Bill’s immediate family
held a graveside service at
the Arlington, OR cemetery
Tuesday, December 29,
2020.
Memorial contribu-
tions may be made to Pi-
oneer Memorial Hospital,
PO Box 9, Heppner, OR
97836. Sweeney Mortuary
of Heppner is in care of ar-
rangements. You may sign
the online condolence book
at www.sweeneymortuary.
com.
Death Notices
Marvin Boyle – Marvin Boyle, 79, died December
23, 2020. Marvin is survived by his wife, Beverly, and
numerous relatives. A private family graveside service
was held December 30, 2020. Sweeney Mortuary of
Heppner is in care of arrangements.
Lynda Lee Liu – Lynda Lee Liu, Heppner, died
December 21, 2020 at the age of 77. She was born Au-
gust 10, 1943. Lynda is survived by her husband, Alvin
Liu. Springfield Memorial Funeral Home in charge of
arrangements.
Dollars printed out of
thin air
To the editor:
Our government
borrowed a total of
$2,384,3000,000,000 for
COVID 19 relief in March
and April 2020. That means
23 percent of dollars in cir-
culation in America were
printed out of thin air this
year. Our government can
do this only because the
U.S. dollar is the world cur-
rency reserve. That means
governments around the
world must use the U.S.
dollar in order to buy and
sell. That is about to change
and when it does it will
take a fist full to buy a
loaf of bread. Where did
that COVID money go?
Lining the pockets of the
bureaucrats, wealthy, poli-
ticians and lots of pork. For
instance, Governor Brown
has stolen COVID funds
allocated to eastern Oregon.
Why? Because COVID 19
and its pork has made her a
dictator and put the world
in lockdown.
Now, the same Congress
that has put our children and
heritage in debt bondage,
has once again used the
COVID pandemic to or-
der the Fed to print anoth-
er $2,300,000,000,000. A
$900,000,000,000 COVID
relief bailout and a cleverly
attached omnibus package
of $1,400,000,000,000.
Where does this money
go? Those bureaucrats that
voted for this debt tyranny
had less than eight hours to
read the 5,593 pages of this
pork fest. Let’s see: Federal
employees that have not
missed a solitary paycheck
get a 1 percent pay raise.
The U.S. Senate gets $89
million plus for furniture
replacement. Two closed
facilities, the Smithsonian
gets a billion and the Ken-
nedy Center gets 40 mil-
lion. Two new museums,
to further divide America,
will be built: The Women’s
Historical Museum and the
American Latino Museum.
82 billion has been allo-
cated for schools that have
been closed for months. 48
billion for COVID vaccina-
tion testing, contact tracing
and policing COVID lock-
downs. American citizens
get $600 dollars that many
Americans did not ask for
because they do not want
any borrowed money our
children will be forced to
pay back. All federal, state,
county and city employ-
ees, teachers, and multiple
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
government agencies have
not missed a paycheck. Do
we really need to borrow
money for them?
The vast majority of the
omnibus borrowed money
goes to foreign countries:
494 million to Ukraine, 130
million to Nepal, 85 million
to Cambodia, 135 million
to Myanmar, 1.3 billion to
Egypt, 505 million to Latin
America and 25 million to
Pakistan. Virtually hardly a
penny goes to help the poor
or needy. Not one of these
countries is a friend or ally
of America. Two, Myanmar
and Pakistan, are presently
participating in war training
with Russia and China. In
November Russia and Pa-
kistan held their fifth annual
“Druzhba” war exercises.
Ten million of the omnibus
packages to Pakistan goes
to gender training. Egypt is
presently being armed by
Russia.
The present national
debt for the USA is 27
trillion. This COVID/om-
nibus debt will push the
debt to close to 30 trillion.
Essentially our government
is borrowing against our
personal saving, our Social
Security and pension funds
who own most of the debt.
If the USA defaults or the
world goes off the dol-
lar as the world’s reserve
currency every American
would essentially go bank-
rupt overnight. The interest
on the national debt was
593.1 billion in fiscal year
2019 (ending Sept. 2019).
The International Monetary
Fund notes a healthy Gross
National Product to debt
ratio is 60 percent. The
USA GPD to debt ratio is
136 percent without the
latest Congress debt fiasco
of 2.3 trillion. Very soon
the interest on our debt will
equal and then surpass our
ability to defend our nation.
Historically that has spelled
disaster. And our youth are
taught global warming will
ruin their future. Elected
and unelected traitors are
lying to our youth as they
steal their heritage.
What are Americans to
do in the face of impending
tribulation? Our forefathers
turned to the God of the
Bible. Support your local
church or brethren that
uphold the Bible. Our fore-
fathers faced their enemy
with faith and courage.
They prepared to endure
and be victorious no matter
how stacked the odds were
against them. Fear not for
God is for us. The battle
belongs to Him.
Stuart Dick, Irrigon
Business Speak
Reporting paycheck
protection and
economic injury
disaster program fraud
By Greg Smith
Unfortunately, scammers are taking
advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic in a
variety of ways including submitting ap-
plications and receiving funding using an-
other person’s identity. Victims may very
well be unaware until they receive a letter
from the Small Business Administration Greg Smith
(SBA) informing them of payments due.
It is critical that those suspecting their identity has
been stolen act quickly to limit financial loss and damage.
SBA officials recommend identity theft victims do ALL
the following:
1. Contact the Processing and Disbursement Center to
report suspected fraud by calling (800) 366-6303. Their
team will make a note to the file and place a hold on funds
if they have not already been disbursed.
2. Notify the SBA Office of the Inspector General to
report any suspected fraud on the OIG’s Hotline at 800-
767-0385 or email OIGHotline@sba.gov.
3. Place a fraud alert on credit reports. Contact one
of the three major credit reporting agencies. Whichever
company is contacted is required to tell the other two.
• www.Experian.com/fraudalert, or 1-888-397-3742
• www.TransUnion.com/fraud, or 1-800-680-7289
• www.Equifax.com/CreditReportAssistance, or
1-888-836-6351
**Consider adding an extended fraud alert (valid for
seven years) or a credit freeze to credit bureau reports.
4. Reach out to the Federal Trade Commission: www.
IdentityTheft.gov to file a report about the situation. Once
a person has entered their information, the site will create
an Identity Theft Report. Print it or save it to a computer;
it will need to be referred to later.
5. Contact the Oregon Attorney General’s Office at:
877-877-9392 or by emailing help@oregonconsumer.gov.
It is possible to file an online complaint on their website
by clicking the Consumer Protection tab.
6. Victims should contact the Social Security Ad-
ministration as soon as possible, even if they are not sure
their number has been compromised at 1-800-269-0271
or submit a report online at https://oig.ssa.gov.
Another Round of PPP is Coming
While it is a good thing Congress has passed another
round of Paycheck Protection Program funding (much of
which is a forgivable loan), it does give scammers a new
opportunity to steal someone’s identity.
It is critical that all people (not just business owners)
take every precaution they can to protect their personal
information. Our offices have received reports from
non-business owners who received a letter from SBA
stating an EIDL loan of several thousand dollars was
taken out in their name and that a payment was due soon.
With that said, the PPP is an excellent program, and
it is very much worth applying for. Business owners, and
especially those who have not previously applied, should
get their financial information in order now and equally
important, research the allowable expenses so the loan
may be forgiven.
Greg Smith is the director of the Eastern Oregon
University Small Business Development Center located
at 1607 Gekeler Lane, Room 148 in La Grande, OR.
If you are seeking free, confidential business advising,
please call 541-962-1532 or email eousbdc@gmail.com.
When it's time to sell
your house,
Call Sykes Real Estate
South Morrow County's
No.1 Real Estate Business.
Phone: (541) 676-9228
Cell: (541) 980-6674
Fax: (541) 676-9211
188 W. Willow
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
david@sykesrealestate.net
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