Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 15, 2023 -- THREE
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Protected
It was recently brought
to my attention that there is
a certain group of people
that are considered “Pro-
tected People.” Being a
rather new term to me, that
opened my mind to a flurry
of questions. Hmmm….
Exactly what criteria are re-
quired to arrive at protected
status? What kind of pro-
tection? Twenty-four-hour
police protection? Security
cameras? Bodyguard? Ger-
man Shepherd? I wanna be
protected. Do I get to pick
my bodyguard?
But wait…. Aren’t we
all supposed to be kind of
protected? Isn’t that what
laws are for? And what
exactly are these folks pro-
tected from? Since our
laws, our brains, and a few
tactical tools are meant to
protect us from physical
harm, I’m assuming the
type of protection afforded
these people must be from
something other than a
punch in the nose.
Maybe they’re talking
about something a little
more discreet. Maybe emo-
tional distress, aka hurt
feelings. If that’s the case,
we need to remember the
old saying about “sticks
and stones.” People will say
mean things sometimes…
and sometimes people will
actually disagree with what
you say or do. Your best
protection, in that case,
is your feet—as in, walk
away. Or use your fin-
gers and scroll on. Might
wanna also remember that
freedom of speech is a
thing. It’s also protected
by something called the
Constitution (Woke folks…
seriously, look it up).
I think the danger in
setting aside a particular
group of able-bodied peo-
ple as needing more pro-
tection than another group
is that Protected People can
quickly become Pampered
People. Their special status
can give them a bit of a
“tude” and before you know
it, they’re stomping their
little spoiled feet and de-
manding special attention.
They want their cake and
eat it too, so to speak. And if
you refuse to decorate their
cake, you may find yourself
in court, or without a busi-
ness that you thought was
yours. Your right to choose
your own customers goes
out the window, along with
your right to express and act
on your religious beliefs….
which is also supposed to be
protected. Kinda makes me
wonder…who’s gonna pro-
tect us from the Protected
People?
There is a certain group
of people that should be
protected….but they ha-
ven’t been. For several
years, in fact, it’s been open
season on them. And the
result has caused millions
of them to lose their lives.
These folks can’t stomp
their feet and threaten to
take you to court, or even
speak on their own behalf.
They can’t even beg for
their lives. And that’s why
they need protection.
We were all there
once…. growing, changing,
living in our spectacular
world. But, except for a few
shadowy images, that world
is largely hidden from view.
How tragic is it that we only
see the need to protect those
we can see.
“Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born
I consecrated you; I ap-
pointed you a prophet to
the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
Susie Crosby
Heppner, OR
Births
Bridger Lee Boyer—Ty-
ler and Lindsey Boyer of
Lexington are proud to
announce the birth of a son,
Bridger Lee Boyer. Bridger
was born Feb. 20, 2023, in
Pendleton. He weighed 6
pounds, 13 ounces.
Grandparents are Jean
McKnight and John and
Kelly Boyer of Lexington.
Great-grandparents Dave
and Norma Harrison of
Vancouver, WA.
County seeks $1.3 million
in Congressional funding
for water nitrate solutions
By Andrea Di Salvo
Water nitrates were
back on the agenda at the
March 1 meeting of the
Morrow County Board of
Commissioners. The dis-
cussion began when Mor-
row County Planner Tamra
Mabbot asked the board
to sign off on a request for
more Congressionally Di-
rected Spending.
Following a board dis-
cussion on Feb. 22, Mab-
bot and other county staff
worked with Ronan Iglorio
of GSI Water Solutions
and Nick Ducote of Du-
cote Consulting to develop
a proposal to submit for
the 2023 request for the
Congressionally Directed
Spending (CDS). GSI has
contracted with the county
as a water consultant, while
Ducote Consulting has con-
tracted to help write grants
for Morrow County.
The proposed $1.3 mil-
lion is the second round of
CDS funding the county is
seeking. Morrow and Uma-
tilla counties previously se-
cured $1.7 million in a joint
a Congressionally Directed
Spending (CDS) request to
help address nitrate con-
tamination of private (do-
mestic) wells in the region
last cycle. However, this
funding is not anticipated to
be available until the third
quarter of 2023 through
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Science and Technology
grant program. The county
will submit an application
to the EPA at that time to
release the funds.
Ducote clarified that
the county wasn’t compet-
ing for the grant, per se, but
Congress had earmarked
the funds for the coun-
ty with the EPA, and the
county still had to follow
through with submitting all
the paperwork to the EPA
and meeting all that agen-
cy’s requirements.
“It takes the EPA a very
long time to develop the
guidance for each of these
years,” Ducote said. “You
have to wait for them to go
through their process and
determine and define all
that before you can even
engage in that application
process to get the money
moving.”
“And there’s really spe-
cific parameters on what
that $1.7 million can be
used for,” added Mabbott.
“It’s apart from providing
drinking water or emergen-
cy services.”
The CDS/EPA funding
is limited to domestic well
areas that can be feasibly
served by connecting to
existing public/community
water systems.
That was the first
round of CDS funding. If
received, this second round
of CDS funding is only for
Morrow County and would
help further the design and
engineering to provide wa-
ter from a public system for
Morrow County domestic
well users impacted by el-
evated nitrate levels in their
drinking water.
“Not that we don’t ap-
preciate our neighbors,”
said Mabbott. “It’s just that
it’s time to focus in and
look for solutions in Mor-
row County, which will be
unique to Morrow County.”
Mabbot told the board
of commissioners that a lot
of folks, including senators
Ron Wyden and Jeff Merk-
ley, would like Morrow
County to move forward
with applying for funds to
study and remedy the drink-
ing water problem for rural
residents.
“It was difficult to write
because we don’t know the
outcome of the current Con-
gressional direct spending
project,” said Mabbott.
“I’m really happy to
say that we have the City
of Irrigon and the City of
Boardman’s support of all
this,” added Mabbot, “be-
cause this next phase would
look at, among other things,
an opportunity to extend the
city water system.”
Mabbot said that isn’t
an easy issue for the cit-
ies. She said Irrigon, for
instance, needs more water
just to serve its own resi-
dents.
“But at least we can
study that baseline feasi-
bility of what would it take
for a city to extend water
outside of their city limits
and their Urban Growth
Boundary,” she said.
“This phase is hopeful-
ly to take us from the end of
the testing and survey and
study phase that’s about to
start, to some actual solu-
tions,” Ducote added. “To
even evaluate alternatives,
you have to do a little bit
Spiritually Speaking
Father Thankachan Joseph
St. Patrick Catholic Church Heppner
Human Sight and Divine
Insight
This fourth Sunday of our Lenten reflections leads us
to recognizing Jesus as the Light of the World.
As we continue to read from the Gospel of John (9:1-
41), we come across the miraculous healing of the man
born blind and the intervention of the Lord in his life. We
also see the salvific history gradually unfolding through
various readings of those days. On the first Sunday of
Lent, we reflected on the sin of the first parents and its
consequences. On the second Sunday, we heard the call to
Abram from the little town of Ur to move to an unknown
land and his trusting in divine providence. In the third
week, we saw how the people of Israel failed to recognize
the mighty presence of the Lord in the person of Moses.
On the fourth Sunday, we come across the anointing of
David as the King of Israel by Samuel.
The first reading from the First Book of Samuel
(16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a) describes the rejection of Saul as
the king of Israel and the anointing of David in his place.
God sent Samuel to anoint another king in place of Saul.
Samuel went to the house of Jesse as God directed him,
but he walked into the household with a “human sight.”
“We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The
consequence of walking by human sight was that Samuel
mistook Eliab, the tall and handsome son of Jesse, as the
one he sought. Samuel was looking at the physical fea-
tures, God was looking at the spiritual deposits.
God says to Samuel to choose the littlest one, David,
as the king…a clear sign that God doesn’t look at the
external appearance of anyone. The Lord says to Samuel,
“Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have
rejected him; God does not see as human beings see; they
look at appearances, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (v.7).
The rejection of Saul, we need to understand, resulted
because he revolted against God. The arrogance of Saul
was the main cause of his downfall. In other words, he
was impatient, hasty, he did not follow instructions that
were given to him. It is good for us to reflect on how we
follow certain instructions when we read scriptures or
when we attend religious services, that inspirations that
run through our mind and heart are the real inspirations
of the Lord, that He wants to communicate with us.
We have gone through almost half of our Lenten ob-
servances by now. The anointing of David is a clear sign
for each one of us to ask ourselves, “Do I need to make
any amends in my life? In the same way as king Saul
disobeyed God, how did I ignorantly revolt against God?”
The Gospel reading from John this week is an illus-
tration of “I am the light of the world” (8:12). Chapter 9
is an explanation by Jesus very clearly and vividly of that:
“I am the light of the world.” The whole chapter of 9 is a
lengthy conversation that takes place after the healing by
Jesus of the man born blind and his being sent by Jesus
to the pool of Siloam.
The conversation that takes place between the phari-
sees and the man born blind is their interrogation of him.
A heated argument takes place between the pharisees and
the man who was healed by the Lord. The words that in-
spired me most in these reflections were the words of the
man who was healed: “If this man were not from God, he
wouldn’t have been able to do anything” (v.33).
Actually, this is called the miracle of miracles. The
blind man could regain his sight, but the Pharisees could
not see the effect of this healing by Jesus and His divin-
ity. The Pharisees with their spiritual sight could not see
the work of God. They became spiritual darkness and
unbelief. For them, the greatest proof was that Jesus did
all this on the Sabbath; they said, “This man cannot be
from God. He does not keep the Sabbath” (John 9: 16).
The Pharisees are descending into darkness. The blind
man, with his physical sight, could see the work of God.
He gained physical sight and spiritual enlightenment. He
also defended both his healing and the healer.
-Continued to PAGE FIVE
Morrow Co. Ag Technology Field Day
May 5 th , 8 am-5:45 pm
73117 Strawberry Ln. Lexington, Or
Hosted by Starvation Farms & PNDSA
7:30 Coffee and light snacks Noon lunch provided.
Shop presentations start at 8 AM with field demonstrations at 1 PM Social at the
conclusion.
Companies Presenting
Dog Food Special!
10% off Red Flannel
&
Exclusive
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
Heppner - 242 W Linden Way - 541-676-9422
PYKA*
SPONSERS