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About Nyssa gate city journal. (Nyssa, Or.) 1937-199? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1976)
• University of Oregon Library Eugene, 97LCJ — Nyssa Gate City Journal * 70th Year 1st Issue Town Crier By Pal Savage Wasn't it a great Christ mas? Sure nice to visit with friends and relatives this holiday season. Hope you enjoyed Christmas dinner We sure did. The weather was so very nice and a few degrees warmer. Hope you remembered to share with those less fortunate. Remem her the spirit of giving and sharing should go on right through the year, not only at Christmas. Perhaps that mi ght be a good New Years Resolution. • • Can't believe that 1975 is drawing to an end. Time seems to go so fast you just can't imagine where it goes Our town is another year older We have had babies born and people we know pass away, our school is in the process of being rebuilt, our town is the proud possessor of some beautifi cation projects, we have a new water tower on the hill, we have people willing to take the responsibility of public office and help our town to grow and function as an asset to its citizens and this part of Treasure Valley. We have our rich farmland and the farmers to produce the crops that bring in the harvest to the Amalgamated Sugar Factory, American Fine Foods. Farmers Feed and Seed. Wahlert Seed. Dessert Seed, all the produce houses, and all the bu sinesses that help process that bountiful harvest and provide employment for our townspeople We have a great supply of ambitious youth who are intelligent and arc interested in learning and making their Nyssa. Oregon Thursday. January 1, 1976 ' B&PW Sponsor will be the instructor for the course. Anyone interested in understanding the basics gf politics is encouraged to register. way in life. Our school system has some good teachers who will help guide these young pelple'along the rocky road of their school years. Most parents arc going to make sure their children are set on the right course and be there when they need a helping hand. Most of all we have each other, a group of citizens, called Nyssans. We each depend on the other fellow to do his share, and there will be times when we must shoulder not only our respon sibilities. but our neighbors as well. There is a lot to be done in our community and in order to get these things done, it will take each and everyone of us, shoulder to shoulder Our town is only as good as we make it. Won't you help by sharing a part of your citizen's responsibility this coming year? This is our Bicentennial Year so lets make it something to celebrate. Help our town to be not just a city but "Home." * • • "May you all have a very prosperous New Year." 15* Per Copy Sugar Beet Growers Schedule District Meetings, Elections Education Course An evening course, emi tted Political Education in Action, is being offered at TVCC this term. This is being sponsored by the Payette Business A Professional Wo- emn's club Registration for this seven-week course will be Monday, January 5 with classes to begin Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 to 9:30 p.m Shirley Crenshaw, with the Ontario Employment Office, Thunderegq Capital The Nyssa-Nampa Beet Growers Association has scheduled a series of district meetings, each beginning at 1:30 p.m. as follows: THESE THREE 13c POSTAGE STAMPS are now standard postage for all first class mail, effective early Wednesday. Postmaster Harold Pook said that all other mail rates went up at the same time, including registered and certified mail. The Postal Service also said that it is no longer necessary to use Air Mail, as regular first class mail goes by air in most cases. Minimum Wage $2.30 Jan. 1 Last month the Wage and Hour Commission increased the minimum wage to be paid to minors under 18 years of age. The rate was $2.10 per hour beginning December 4. On January I, 1976, the state minimum will increase to $2.30 for both minors and adults. Unlike federal, the state rate of pay does not include tips, commissions, other bonuses, spiffs or benefits. The n6w rate also covers minors formerly paid under federal rates set by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). When the state min’mum wage for minors is higher than the federal rate, it prevails. This means that lower pay rates authorized by the federal government for students, learners and ap prentices are not valid after December 4. However, the state currently grants special pay rates to individual employers for workers over 65 and handicapped of any age. To apply, contact the Bureau of Labor. On January 1, the new state minimum wage is $2.30 per hour. There arc some specific groups ol working minors who can be paid less They include agricultural workers, domestic workers in households, ’news carriers, and news vendors. Youth car.ip workers have a special state minimum wage sche dule. Some of these groups of workers must be paid federal rates. We suggest that you contact the U.S Department of Labor. Wage and Hour Division, for current federal rates and regulations. To help employers under stand and comply with state law. the Bureau of Labor will have a statewide, toll-free hotline After January 1. you may dial I 800-452-3503 for information on state wage and hour laws and minimum wage rates, if you want to receive notices of Wage and Hour Commission meetings, you may use the hotline to make that request as well. January 5. Payette-Buck ingham-Letha. Weiser-Re becca, and Oregon Slope Districts at Oregon Slope Community Hall. January 7, Marsing-Home dale District at the Marsing American Legion Hall. January 8, Vale-Hope, Jamieson and Luce Districts at the Boulevard Grange Hall. January 9, Nyssa Factory, Oregon Trail and Adrian Districts at the Oregon Trail Hall. January 12, Bowmont-Stod- dard-Mora. and Nampa Fac tory Districts at the Country Inn. Nampa. January 13, Wilder-Doles. Notus-Parma-Mangum-Cald- well-Amsco Districts at the Ten Davis Community hall north of the Mangum beet dump. Five of the districts will elect directors for three year terms The districts and ¡he incumbent directors are as follows: Weiser-Rebecca, Luther E. Roberts; Nyssa Factory. Frank Skeen; Oregon Trail. Robert C. Holmes; Nampa Factory, Gerald Hillyard; and Notus-Parma-Mangum-Cald- well-Amsco. Donald G. John ston. Some of the items that will be discussed are the rise and fall of the sugar market, contract negotiations, pro posed research plans, and the request of the Company to use the futures market as a hedge in selling of sugar. Potato Growers Set Annual Meeting January 7 is just around the corner and that is the date set for the Annual Malheur County Potato Gro wers Association Meeting. A very good program has been developed and to give you some idea of what you might expect—Chuck Stanger. OSU Researcher from the Malheur Branch Experiment Station will give his latest informa tion on potato variety per formances and results of his extensive work on weed control. Mr Jay Glatt, from Dale Max. Mln. Proc. the Oregon State Department 17 of Agriculture will talk on his Dec. 23 33 .07 Dec. 24 34 experiences obtained from 20 29 recent trips to the mid-east Dec . 25 35 trace 37 and far-east as they relate to Dec. 26 31 .1» Dec. 27 41 29 the export potential of .14 processed and fresh potatoes, 34 25 Dec. 28 Dec 29 Mr. Henry Yang. Research 36 32 and Development Represen 30 .14 Dec. .10 tative for the Union Carbide Owyhee Reservoir Storage 12-29-75 591.060 Acre Feet* Chemical Corporation will 12-29 74 408.850 Acre Feet discuss the pro's and con’s of WEATHER using Temik for soil born and air born potato insects. In addition to Mr. Yang. Jim Jensen, tech Representative of Stauffer Chemical will appear on the program and talk about the use of water run Eptam for late germina tion weed control in potatoes The local processors will be on a panel to discuss what they see ahead for the Malheur potato growers. The panel will be moderated by Jim Lampkins. First Vice President of the First Na tional Bank of Oregon and Senior Loan Officer for Eastern Oregon. The discus sion of the panel will be of great interest to all Malheur potato growers. The time and date again are January 7, 1:30 p.m., Elks Lodge, Ontario. All growers and allied industry people are encouraged to attend. RESEARCH ON IRRIGATED LAND at the Malheur Experiment Station near Ontario includes crop variety testing, soil fertility and weed control experiments and testing of new crops for the area. Here, station superintendent E. N. Hoffman checks some irrigation tubing at the station, which was established in 1942 (Oregon State University Experiment Station Photo) Babson’s Business and Financial Forecast for the Year 1976 By Babson's Reports Inc., Wellesley Hills. Mass.. De cember 24. 1975. In its forecast for 1975 published a year ago, the staff of Babson's Reports envisioned an unfolding scenario far less pessimistic than the general atmosphere prevailing at that time The primary message then was that the nation's problem fix the ensuing 1975 calendar year was a recession and not a devastating de pression This thesis was predicated on the probability that recuperative forces would start to emerge as imbalances in the economy were corrected. Babson's 1975 forecast also called attention to the various cushions which would play a vital role in lessening the severity of the reces sionary forces despite the doom and gloom psychology holding sway as 1974 drew to a close At the same time, however, the forecast warned against expecting the sort of rapid recovery from setbacks that this nation had expe rienced over the past 30 years. The causes of this latest recession were parti cularly deep-rooted and there was no question but that they would be difficult to cure. I 1976—Overall Prognosis Favorable Everything considered, however, the staff of Bab son's Reports forecasts fur ther economic progress for 1976, even though readers of this column should not expect a return to outright boom conditions Unwieldy inven tories and short term busi ness and consumer debts have been reduced over the past year or so. but the real stuff needed to spark a pro tracted upsurge—aggressive business and consumer pur chases, plus massive capital expenditures—are simply not, on the horizon. As things stand, the first quarter could well be the best part of the year in terms of economic expansion. While the en suing quarters will tack on additional gains, the size of the year-to-year improve ments will diminish as 1976, progresses. But the key is that the trend will be upward throughout the entire year. In terms of "current dollar value." the nation's Gross National Product in 1976 should score an advance of some 11% over the 1975 totals that look as though they, in turn, would barely eclipse those of 1974 when final tally is made. While an increase of 11 % may seem impressive, the force of up thrust will not be all that great. The broadest year-to- year gain will be seen in the first three months because this quarter is compared with the deepest point of the recession when the rate of inflation was still intolerably moderate and high. The low-key nature of the busi- e/ ness uptrend can be better appreciated by projecting the GNP on a constant-dollar basis (1958 as the base period), adjusted ta remove the influence of inflation. Babson's Reports projects the "real" GNP for 1976 at 4% above that for 1975. This upshading is only a bit greater than the basic growth rate of the economy «.¡d surely does not merit a “boom" label. Keep An Eye On Inflation By and large. 1975 wit- nessed a fair degree of success in damping the fires of inflation. While this corroder of purchasing power remains uncomfortably high, its impact has been ma terially reduced in the course of the past 12 months. In early 1976. inflation should be moderately well con tained. but with the advent of the spring months upward pressures will again streng then. As was the case in the past two years, this will be due to cost-push rather than demand-pull factors. The latter, however, could com pound the problem somewhat in the middle and latter parts of the year as business makes headway. In the initial months of 1976. inflation will not build in direct proportion to the amplitude of new wage hikes, since the substantial reservoir of underutilized production capacity in many industries and the cautious buying policies of consumers and businessmen militate against free and unrestricted price markups. But this bamer against inflation will be increasingly difficult to maintain as 1976 proceeds. The cumulative effects of boosts in labor costs, shipping charges, and other operating expenses will gradually offset some of the benefits of higher production and sales, squeezing profit margins to such an extent that only compensating price boosts can alleviate the situation. Also, continuing massive deficits in the federal budget will add potent fuel to inflation, both psychologically and to the degree that such deficits are monetized. We envision in flation averaging some 7% in 1976. Inventories— less Dominant In 1976 Sudden changes in the policy of business toward inventory holdings in the year ahead will not be the dominating influence on eco- nomic activity that they have been in the past two years. The Arab oil embargo cre ated fear of supply shortages and price increases. The ensuing splurge of inventory accumulation served to buoy I974's business for the better part of the year before it was realized that consumers had altered their spending pat tern and that high borrowing costs were negating the cost benefits of stockpiling. The resultant turnabout in policy in favor of retrenchments in inventory holdings and bank loans triggered the sharp slump in industrial activity in late 1974 and early 1975. And. here again, in some segments of the economy businessmen overreacted. So as signs of a loosening of consumer purse strings were seen, overly deep slashes in inventories had to be cor rected. It was this move to replenish stocks of raw materials and finished goods which brought about the unexpectedly early and steep business climb starting in the second quarter of 1975. Such pronounced swings in business inventories are not likely to be repeated in 1976. There may be some stockpil ing early in the year to hedge against the debilitating ef fects of a possible protracted tie-up of the nation's trucking industry by the Teamsters early next spring, but for the most part labor negotiations during the year ahead do not involve industries which would require intensive strike-hedge inventory ac cumulation Moreover, the somewhat more liberal con sumer spending pattern is neither deep-rooted nor ex tensive enough to encourage merchants to load up. And manufacturers and retailers still haunted by memories of the surplus goods of the past 18 months are not anxious for a repeat of that fiasco. Industrien! Production The last major cyclical up trend in industrial production peaked in the latter part of 1973. Except for a moderate adjustment, factory opera tions were sustained neat that top level for almost a year owing to the scramble for inventories. Finally, how ever. the stagnation in consumer demand forced a drastic liquidation of surplus stocks during the second half of 1974 and triggered the nosedive in production. In the six months encompassing the final quarter of 1974 and the first quarter of 1975, the economy was battered by an awesome sequence of events: Production curtailments, shortened workweeks, em ploye layoffs, and plant closings. But since the upturn last May. the Federal Reserve Index of Industrial Production has advanced steadily and somewhat more steeply than was thought likely a year ago. What with the gathering momentum of the fledgling recovery phase. 1976 makes its debut enjoying a brisk pace of factory operations. While the strength is not evenly spread across the industrial spectrum, the cyc lical advance of automobile output and the more positive signs in the long-subdued home building sector are optimistic. Consumer de mand for apparel, ap pliances. and home furnish ings is also contributing to the industrial improvement. So even with allowances for possible strike interruptions, it now looks as if 1976 can manifest an overall upward trend, although factory pro duction may not exceed the close to-3% long-term growth rate of the economy. Year-to-year comparisons are likely to be most impressive during the first four months since corresponding 1975 • • O , V .♦ <□ I I figures were in the cyclical trough of the recession. Thereafter, gains will narrow even as factory operations continue to make progress— ex strikes. This may not seem impressive, but a predo minantly upward trend at approximately the rate of the nation's basic grow-th is surely far more acceptable than the adverse experiences suffered in parts of the past two years. A more ambitious pro- jection of both the real GNP and industrial production is not warranted at this time since business capital expen ditures for the expansion of productive capacity are likely to remain limited. Such spending, particularly when superimposed upon powerful consumer demand and ag gressive inventory accumu lation. is a prerequisite for a business surge of boom pro portions because it takes this type of activity to hike demand sharply for man power and materials. But there is still a sizable amount of productive potential in American industry either underutilized or idle. Until the impetus of fullscale production is felt and bu siness confidence is again running strong, it is unlikely that budgets for capital investments will be libera lized to any appreciable extent. This may apply especially to 1976 inasmuch as the high level of factory operations will doubtless be reached in the second half when profit margins will feel increasing pressure and the monetary climate may well present a considerably less expansive posture. True, political overtones will be strong in much of the new year, and there may well be a push for business capital expenditure incentives. Capi tal spending policies, how ever. are not likely to anticipate any such favorable legislation but rather to wait and see. The total of capital spending in 1976 may top thaffof 1975. but the edge should be small and contain a substantial inflationary con tent. It should be noted, too. that many such outlays will be for compliance with environmental improvement regulations rather than for raising production. So. this aspect of economic activity in 1976 should prove to be more of a sustainer of business than an upthruster. ( orporate Profits Corporate profits in 1975 did better than had been anticipated because of the unexpectedly sharp and early business recovery and the decline in some raw materials costs. With the prospect of even further advances in business during the new year, corporate profits after taxes could well run 20% above the 1975 levels. Most of the gains are likely to occur early in the year, however, as the bite of costs will tend to deepen as the year proceeds. (Continued On Page 9)
