Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 10, 2021 -- THREE
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COVID cases on the
rise in states with
lockdowns
Research shows Dollar
General may impact
grocery store
To the editor:
Ben Franklin prudently
spoke the words “an ounce
of prevention is worth a
pound of cure. “Fortunate-
ly, the Governors of Idaho,
South Dakota, Texas and
Florida understand this
principle. They understand
the ounce of prevention in
protecting their states busi-
nesses and individual liber-
ty is better than the pound
of government lockdowns.
Forty-one states have mask
mandates and varying states
of lockdowns. Cases of
COVID-19 are on the rise
in 39 of these 41 states.
Kristi Noem, Governor
of South Dakota said, “We
already know that lock-
downs don’t stop the spread
of the virus, however they
destroy small business and
jobs, and they make it diffi-
cult for families to put food
on the table.” (Dec. 7, 20)
A national reporter wrote
of Noem, “Governor, if you
had not stood against the
lockdowns we would have
no proof how useless they
have been.” (Oct. 6, 20)
Florida Governor De-
Santos has kept Florida
free from lockdowns since
a short disastrous lockdown
last spring. “Every Flori-
dan has a right to work, all
businesses have a right to
operate and Florida is better
for it.” (Jan. 29, 21)
The state of Califor-
nia has dictated draconian
lockdowns yet the virus
spreads without restraint.
Fortunately, the citizens of
California have had enough
and are about to recall their
tyrant Governor.
Unfortunately, Or-
egon still tolerates their
like-minded Governor. Or-
egon may never recover
from Governor Brown’s
pound of cure. This dicta-
tor uses executive edicts
like a sledgehammer to
smash a fly, in this case
innocent businesses and our
To the editor,
With all the talk and
concerns about the prospect
of a Dollar General coming
to Heppner, I did some re-
search on the impact Dollar
General had on other rural
towns of similar population.
Three examples popped
up of rural towns with pop-
ulations between 1,200
and 1,900 people: Haven,
Kansas; Moville, Iowa;
and Kingsley, Iowa. Each
of these small towns had a
single grocery store before
Dollar General came to
town. After Dollar General
opened, the local stores lost
20 to 40 percent of their
previous revenue.
Eventually the full-ser-
vice grocery stores in each
of these small towns closed.
The residents of these town
no longer have access to
fresh meat, vegetables or
fruits. Instead, their choices
are limited to the processed
and packaged foods that
Dollar General was able to
sell at a cheaper price than
the local grocery store.
The question we now
face is what impact a Dol-
lar General store would
have on our community?
Obviously, it would bring
an option to purchase cer-
tain food items at a lower
cost, such as processed and
packaged food. Will a Dol-
lar General store reduce the
sales of our local grocery
store to the point of closure,
as in the case of the rural
towns mentioned above?
Fair competition is not
a bad thing. When I was
growing up we had three
grocery stores in Heppner.
We also had three car deal-
erships, three or four gas
stations, two hardware
stores, two drug stores,
several clothing stores, a
shoe store, a Sears, a dry
cleaner, an appliance store,
a pool hall, a bowling alley
and a host of other business-
es that covered main street
from one end to the other.
A major driver behind
all that commerce was a
steady flow of logging
trucks rolling down main
street to our sawmill, which
ran three shifts in its hay
day. All of that former eco-
nomic activity has dwin-
dled down to a handful of
fulltime businesses that
provide essential goods and
services to our community.
Now it is evident from
the fate of the sole grocery
stores in the rural towns of
Haven, Kansas; Moville,
Iowa and Kingsley, Iowa
that a Dollar General store
poses a real threat to the
availability of essential
food items in our commu-
nity. That brings us to the
question as to what action
can or should be taken.
The small town of Scio,
Oregon recently blocked
Dollar General by denying
a zoning change. They were
able to do that since the pro-
youth denied an education
and sports. Expect that to
change now that Trump is
out of office.
An ounce of prevention
against the virus is the best
antidote to this pandemic
scrooge engineered to end
our Republic, “one nation
under God.” God’s word
tells us to “fear not.” Fear
debilitates. Fear compro-
mises our immune system.
Fear destroys our courage
and heart to do what is right.
Trust in God and love God
and our fellow man, that is
how we conquer fear.
An ounce of preven-
tion against this pandemic
dictate: 1) building our im-
mune system with healthy
diet, nutrition supplements,
exercise and rest/recreation.
2) exercise grace toward
one another. We need each
other to get through this.
Grace for those that take
the vaccine and trust masks.
Grace for those that do not.
An ounce of prevention
is the best way to deal with
the next threat to Hep-
pner, Dollar General. Dollar
General and Dollar Tree
have grown from 20,000
stores to 30,000 in the last
decade. They are planning
on building another 24,000
across America. It will not
be easy to deny them ac-
cess to Heppner, however
no prudent business would
want to invest in a com-
munity where they are not
welcome. Now is the time
to convince them Heppner
is a poor choice. One is
rumored to be coming to
Irrigon and that would be a
better location.
A pound of cure being
shoved down our throat by
the dictates of a Governor,
acting without restraint,
has damaged us more than
all the multitude of threats
to our communities and
liberty. Chose the ounce of
prevention.
Stuart Dick, Irrigon.
EOU to waive
application fee
Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity’s admissions office
recently announced that it
would waive all application
fees Feb. 13 to March 15.
The decision applies
to all student types and
modalities intending to
start at EOU in fall 2021.
Applicants for graduate
programs, undergradu-
ate programs, online and
on-campus can save up to
$50 by submitting their ap-
plication during this period.
“Students and families
everywhere are already
juggling a lot,” Director of
Admissions Genesis Me-
aderds said. “This is one
way we can help remove
barriers and improve access
and affordability.”
Although the univer-
sity’s application deadline
isn’t until September, Me-
aderds encouraged students
to apply as soon as possible
if they hope to earn mer-
it-based scholarships. Ap-
plicants with a high school
or transfer GPA over 2.75
are eligible for a range of
EOU scholarships, and
financial aid counselors
continue awarding them
until funds are exhausted.
Students can begin an
application at any time, and
then submit it between Feb.
13 and March 15 to avoid
the application fee. Even af-
ter the fee waiver expires on
March 15, applicants may
qualify for a fee deferral.
Contact an EOU Ad-
missions Counselor for
more information. Appli-
cations are open now at
eou.edu/apply. Learn more
about application fees at
eou.edu/admissions/fee.
February Specials!
Love is in the Air!
20% off Montana Silver
through Valentine’s Day
$2.00/bag off Purina Equine Senior
through February
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
Heppner - 242 W Linden Way - 541-676-9422
posed location was zoned
industrial instead of com-
mercial. However, Dollar
General would not need to
request a zoning change in
Heppner since the proposed
location is currently zoned
for commercial business.
The city of Mesquite,
Texas has adopted an or-
dinance that requires busi-
nesses like Dollar General
to obtain a conditional use
permit. The ordinance was
passed to protect the supply
of essential food sourc-
es. Some parts of the city
have been overrun with
Dollar General type stores
and forced the closure of
full-service grocery stores,
creating “food deserts.”
This has become a prob-
lem in many urban areas;
especially in low-income
neighborhoods where trans-
portation is limited.
While the Mesquite,
Texas ordinance does not
ban Dollar General type
stores from setting up shop
and selling groceries, the
conditional use permit does
require them to dedicate a
percentage of floor space
to fresh meat, vegetables
and fruits. As a result, Dol-
lar General chooses not to
build since their business
model basically consists
of packaged and processed
foods they can sell cheaper
than full-service grocery
stores.
It is evident by a quick
Google Search that Dollar
General stores have led
to the closure of full-ser-
vice grocery stores in both
large cities and small towns
across the nation. An or-
dinance similar to that of
Mesquite, Texas does not
ban fair competition. How-
ever, it sets a level playing
field by requiring stores like
Dollar General to provide a
full range of groceries. That
is turf Dollar General will
not play on. Their game
plan is to stock items they
can sell cheap and take
away a significant market
share from the established
full-service grocery stores.
Dollar General is a pub-
licly traded company that
operates in a corporate
environment where the
CEO and executives are
rewarded for growth and
market share. I urge the
leaders and members of
our community to examine
the negative impact Dollar
General has taken on the
food supply in similar small
towns; and then take the ac-
tion needed to protect ours.
(Viewers can obtain links
to the sources of the above
information by contacting
danielrvan@yahoo.com)
Daniel Van Schoiack,
Heppner
BEO reports 2020
earnings
BEO Bancorp and its
subsidiary, Bank of East-
ern Oregon, announced
consolidated year end 2020
earnings of $5,499,000;
average earnings per share
of $4.64. Total assets were
$666.1 million; net loans
were $491.7 million, while
deposits ended the year at
$607.8 million. All mea-
surements show improve-
ment from 2019.
“2020 can only be re-
ferred to as strange. Our
communities, counties,
states, country and world
have been impacted by
COVID-19. Future gener-
ations will read about, and
hopefully learn from our
experiences. Face masks,
quarantines and lock downs
have been added to our ev-
eryday vernacular. On top
of the pandemic, many of
our communities have dealt
with floods, fires and vari-
ous calamities. Our hearts
go out to all that have been
impacted by the events of
the past year,” said Presi-
dent and CEO, Jeff Bailey.
According to Chief
Financial Officer, Mark
Lemmon, “2020 Return
on Average Assets is 0.95
percent compared to 0.94
percent in 2019. Return on
Average Equity is at 13.81
percent compared to 11.81
percent in 2019. Our book
value per share is $34.94
compared to $31.90 one
year ago. Shareholder eq-
uity is also up 11.3 percent
year over year.”
Chief Operations Offi-
cer, Becky Kindle said, “We
are so very proud of our
employees that have faced
the challenges of 2020 with
resolve, as they continue to
provide banking services
to our customers through
whatever means necessary.
Our bank has worked hard
to keep our lobbies open
as much as possible, while
implementing the necessary
safety measures for our staff
and customers. It has been
a great team effort.”
“Our loan portfolio
is performing well as we
enter 2021. Agricultural
commodity prices have
seen their ups and downs
over the past year, but our
producers persevered, as
they have for generations. I
continue to be impressed by
how our communities have
worked together to support
local businesses, neighbors
and friends during these
often-trying times,” con-
cluded Bailey.
The Loop schedules
work session
The Loop - Morrow
County Transportation
will be holding a STIF/
STF Advisory Committee
work session February 16
at 10:30 a.m. at the Bar-
tholomew Building lower
conference room, 110 N.
Court St. in Heppner. In re-
sponse to the current health
emergency resulting from
the COVID-19 pandemic,
county facilities have lim-
ited seating capacity and
meetings are being held
electronically to provide
participation other than
in-person.
The work session will
be available for viewing
via Morrow County Zoom
meeting. To schedule a
Zoom Meeting invitation
please provide your name,
phone number and email
address with The Loop -
Morrow County Special
Transportation via phone
message at 541-676-5667
or email to kimes@co.mor-
row.or.us
The agenda includes
welcome and roll call,
draft review annual oper-
ating plan for fiscal year
2021/2022 and other busi-
ness as needed for the good
of the order.
Lent will be
different this year
Lent begins next
Wednesday. The Episco-
palians and Lutherans of
Hopeful Saints Ministry
have traditionally hosted
a pancake supper the night
before, on what is known as
Shrove Tuesday (February
16).
The pancake sup-
per has been an annual
fundraiser for the Mis-
sion and Outreach local
needs fund. However, this
year the pandemic is inter-
fering with that tradition.
Home-cooked pancakes
are always an option, but if
members of the community
would still like to support
local needs, they may con-
tribute by check payable to
Mission and Outreach (with
“Shrove Tuesday” in the
memo line), addressed to
the church at PO Box 246
in Heppner.
On Ash Wednesday,
February 17, the intended
return to Main Street with
“Ashes-to-Go” is also not
possible this year. For those
who the imposition of ashes
and personal absolution
is a meaningful beginning
to Lent, call Pastor Katy
Anderson at 541-676-9970
to schedule a time in the
church for private imposi-
tion and/or confession, with
appropriate COVID safety
measures.
In addition, throughout
Lent (February 17-March
24), Evening Prayer will be
offered on Facebook Live
every Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Hi, I’m Linda, your Morrow County Veterans Services representative, aka
VSO- Veterans Service Officer. As your local VA Advocate, accredited
under Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, I’m here to assist you and
your family access benefits that you may be entitled to.
VSO’s are trained and accredited to provide assistance to veterans, their
dependents, and survivors. This includes
not only applying for federal and state
benefits but also providing resources related
to the following:
•
Compensation and Pension
•
VA Health Care
•
Education & Training
•
Employment
•
Burial & Survivor benefits
•
Housing, & VA Loans
•
Transportation
•
Military Records
•
Vital Records
•
Disabled Veteran property tax
exemption
We also assist with other Oregon State
benefits such as Veterans License Plates,
Emergency Grant funds & more.
Call our office today 541-922-6420