>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

I want to take this golden opportunity to thank all the fine folks of Union County who made my 18 months stay in the area as the interim pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in La Grande very enjoyable.

Everyone from merchants, city officials, and citizens made me feel welcome. I enjoyed the festivities of the community and various church programs that I participated in and would have like to do more.

I am now moving on to do another interim somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but I hope some day to come back for a visit and I may even bring my wife out to see this scenic landscape and meet the fine citizens of these wonderful communities.

Rev. Stan Hoobing, La Grande

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In a recent Observer article it was stated that the Game Commission refused to let Ladd Marsh be sprayed for mosquito larvae. The reason was that the larvae are an "important" food source for ducks. When it is a public health issue I think the Game Commission should be ordered to let Ladd Marsh be sprayed.

"Important" rather than "only" I believe is the key word here. Ask anyone whether they would rather see skinny ducks or have the possibility of getting bitten by a mosquito that has the West Nile virus and I am sure of what the answer would be.

My vote is for trim ducks. Let the spraying begin.

Rod Syverson, Elgin

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After reading separate articles about incidents that happened this week, one in Southern Oregon and the other farther away, one thing has become clear. We are facing a case of national cancer. Illegals, who are showing signs of more and more violence, are a clear and present danger to our country.

The Mail Tribune reported that police seized 2,500 marijuana plants being grown on about three acres of BLM land in Jackson County, the street value of which is estimated to be around $12.5 million. Suspects Rafael Santoya-Pineda and Noel Tadia-Arreguin, both of whom were armed when they were arrested by members of county sheriff and OSP SWAT teams, were put on "immigration hold,'' implying that their status was suspect.

Meanwhile, the Tennessean reported that Ivan Moreno, 30, reportedly an illegal immigrantfrom Mexico, beat, strangled and killed his next-door neighbor, Mary Sadler, 74, after a long, savage fight that left her house in shambles.

There are countless other stories being reported around the country about crimes committed by gangs members of Mexican, Central American or South American origin, as well as from other regions. Especially dangerous are the notorious Mara Salvatruchas, whom the FBI have identified as extremely violent, sometimes killing their victims with machetes. They control a large portion of the drug, stolen vehicle and alien smuggling operations in several states.

These two specific incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. These violent crimes committed by illegals are on the upswing. However, their activities are not confined to urban areas, as illustrated by the incident in rural Southern Oregon.

I urge you to call or write our senators and members of Congress to oppose the most recent Senate bill, which is another amnesty ploy. We must fine employers who hire illegals, stop the costly flow of health and human services intended for legal immigrants and U.S. citizens, and deny them the right to drive.

Let's take away incentives for people to enter this country by breaking the law as their first official act. It's not only a good idea, it's in our vital national interest.

Timothy Lucas, La Grande

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I am very disappointed in down town La Grande parking. I went into the Future No. 1 beauty school to get a permanent and to save money. I had requested a senior student but received a new student who had not done a permanent before. It took three hours and 45 minutes to complete the perm.

When I went to my car I had received a $12 to $18 parking ticket. It's almost impossible to go out and move one's car in the middle of a perm. Wal-Mart and the out-lying businesses make it much easier to shop without the worry of a parking ticket. My $22 perm is now costing me $34 to $40.

There needs to be some changes made in parking around the Future No. 1 beauty school. I am not the only one who finds it hard to walk at times. We have a lot of senior citizens who take advantage of the beauty school. The two-hour parking is limiting people to two hours of shopping. Something definitely needs to be done.

Bertha Feik, La Grande

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Once again, fire season is upon us and hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land are burning, killing billions of trees, animals, birds and whatever else falls in its all-consuming path.

The USDA Forest Service for decades supervised firefighting and returned millions of dollars to our communities for schools, roads and municipal government. Today the Forest Service does none of these things very well. It seems to have become a toothless almost useless beaurcracy that goes to Congress every year for more money.

To see how terrible forest fires are, every single person should go through the woods two or three weeks after a large area has burned. They would see some spots of green where the fire crept through at night, but in the day burned so intense it popped divets as big as dinner plates from the rock faces.

Acre after acre, mile after mile the landscape is charred and barren. Nothing is standing except a few burnt skeletons of once healthy trees. The smell of rotting flesh permeates the air. Many of the larger animals take three or four days to die from their burns or seared lungs. The prettiest most pristine places where birds and small animals abounded, are burned to where even the soil is a dry, milky white powder so fine you sink up to your ankles when you walk in it.

Some educated environmentalists tell us that fire is good for the forest. In my opinion, they are some combination of foolish, ignorant, cruel and sadistic, or maybe even all four.

John Petersen, La Grande

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Once again recently I heard and have heard of people griping bitterly about what they view as raw treatment by police officers.

Any American who gripes vehemently about bullies with badges obviously has no idea how law enforcement is administered in various places overseas.

In America when you see someone running down a street, most people stand around gawking, whereas in some countries pedestrians hit the pavement and stay there knowing that bullets could be flying any second. And if you do get hit, tough luck! You're not even allowed to sue. I certainly do not encourage it, but only in America can you spit on a cop and not get shot on the spot.

Some grievances against individual police officers are legitimate. However when you wear a uniform that's all John and Jane Q. Public see. When one looks good, everyone looks good. When one looks bad... Even police will tell you it's never the badge but the person wearing it who makes the difference.

So unless you truly have a grievance, why not seek out a police man or woman in your community, introduce yourself and ask what you can do to help.

Remember they can't help you unless you help them. And above all united we stand, divided we fall.

Only in America.

Ron R. Fischer, Elgin

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Whether you will vote for or against the upcoming school bond measure, every voter should attend at least one of the building tours scheduled for the public.

Reading about the problems in the paper and bulletins does not give me a very thorough understanding of district needs. Seeing helps clarify, and hearing others ask questions also brings up concrete visualization that will help me in deciding how to vote.

I was embarrassed at the Island City School tour when all two of us representing the public showed up. Maybe some businesses should give their employees an extra half an hour to attend the lunchtime tours. Many people with children are busy in the evenings and can't attend some of the scheduled evening tours. Whatever your thoughts are on the subject, if you don't vote, you can't complain.

Lets at least pretend we care as a community and seek some enlightenment.

Brenda Hamann, Island City

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It was 50 years ago this past July that my partner Dean Martin and I broke up our wildly successful comedy act and went our separate ways.

That was a crazy time. We were walking away from one of the most beloved, most profitable show business partnerships of all time, and everybody thought we were nuts. But each of us knew in our hearts and in our guts that we'd make it on our own. Big. And, of course, we did.

I don't say this to be egotistical. In the 1950s, America buzzed with the sense that if you just tried hard enough, you could achieve whatever you wanted. You could harness the atom, cure disease, play the Copacabana.

Anything was possible if you were willing to get out there and give it absolutely everything you had.

In 1956, just before we broke up, Dean and I did a 24-hour TV marathon at Carnegie Hall called the "Martin and Lewis TV Round-Up," to benefit a small organization called the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Back then, MDA was a group of adults with muscular dystrophy, parents of children with MD and their other loved ones. They had almost nothing except a dream and the willingness to give it everything they had.

But like Dean and me, MDA thought big. Against the odds, it believed these devastating, paralyzing muscle diseases could be cured. This belief is even more incredible when you remember that, at that time, scientists had absolutely no idea what caused muscular dystrophy, let alone how to cure it.

I stuck with MDA, and we did more Telethons. In 1966, we anchored our telethon to the Labor Day weekend, and it quickly became an American tradition. Over the years hundreds of talented performers, from Frank Sinatra to The Wiggles have shown up voluntarily and done 10 minutes on the telethon to further the cause of MDA's big dream. And the American public has responded with love and generosity.

In the past half-century, MDA has made remarkable progress. We sponsor an international program of research seeking cures and treatments for more than 40 neuromuscular diseases. We maintain a national network of specialized clinics. We help with the purchase of expensive medical equipment, and hold summer camps for kids.

And we're making jaw-dropping progress toward curing those diseases. This year has seen the start of the very first human trial of gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the United States. Also this year, the Food and Drug Administration approved a lifesaving treatment for Pompe disease, a disorder that routinely kills babies within their first year of life — until now.

So I'll keep on starring in the telethon until I die, because I believe we can accomplish the impossible. Please join us this Labor Day weekend.

Like Dean and me, like those people who started MDA, we may be crazy, but we've got a dream and we're not stopping until we reach the top.

The 41st annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern time Sept. 3 and run for 21 1/2 hours. Check local listings for stations and times.

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The Union County Museum in Union has both paperback and hard-bound copies of the Jack Evans book "Powerful Rockey, the Blue Mountains and the Oregon Trail" for sale in the gift shop. It is a great addition to your library or as a special gift.

We are pleased to be able to present the last few remaining copies of Dr. Lee Johnson's original book "A Brief History of Union County."

Both of these books are out of print and of limited number.

Please plan to visit our ever-changing museum and purchase one of these books while they last. We are open Monday through Saturday until mid-October from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feel free to call 562-6003 for information.

Carolyn Young, Union County Museum board, La Grande

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The shadows are lengthening. One by one, as they ride off into the sunset, they leave a void that cannot replaced. I am referring to a handful of prominent historians, those with a compendium of facts and knowledge regarding pioneers and the settlement of Northeast Oregon that is invaluable.

Lee Johnson, professor of history at Eastern, who passed away 3 1/2 years ago, comes to mind. In Wallowa County, Lloyd Coffman and Alvin Josephy and, of course the very recent passage of Jack Evans and Glen McKenzie.

McKenzie, though not generally thought of as an historian, was very much so.

Johnson instilled in me a keen interest in the history of this area that has never diminished. Evans had been my go-to expert following the death of Dr. Johnson. Each had his own area of expertise.

If you have interesting facts and snippets of information regarding this area and relatives who homesteaded here, verify them and write them down for future generations.

Jon and Donna Skovlin have published three fascinating books regarding early day desperados, vigilantes and homesteaders of this area. Bob and Pearl Bull have compiled a delightful book entitled "A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That," and are in the process of compiling another.

Irene Barklow and Jane Bartlett of Wallowa County have done likewise. Mark Highberger, who submits frequent articles to The Observer, does a masterful job sleuthing out historic sites of communities around Oregon. Dick Mason, in his weekly column in The Observer continues to dig into little-known historic tidbits.

Santayana, the philosopher, once wrote, "Those who refuse to profit from the lessons of history are condemned to repeat it." Many view history as a dead subject. But history is alive and vibrant, and it has shaped and molded what we are today.

Gary L. Webster, La Grande

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This message is directed to the person who found my purse Aug. 16 that I had accidentally left in my shopping cart at the Safeway parking lot.

It's nice to know there are still honest people in La Grande.

Shirley Lester, La Grande

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I hope that history will not record that it took a single act of terror for Americans to cut and run from the principles that made us great.

Most, I believe, will not, However, not all Americans adhere to Ben Franklin's observation that those who abandon liberty for safety deserve neither.

Gary Poole has suggested replacing our system of free expression with one that imprisons anti-war protesters.

He has defended Richard Nixon, who attempted to destroy our democratic system, if only for one election, at a time when young Americans were dying in Vietnam to defend that system.

He suggests that the Guantanamo Bay detainees be treated without regard for international law. If we begin treating our enemies not by the standards of who we are but rather by who they are, what will be become?

The greatest threat of becoming a nation in which people can be imprisoned on the order of one man is that the practice as included a U.S. citizen. Our Founding Fathers fought a revolution against such practices. Would they feel that a 230-year experiment in freedom has ended?

If this paper published a letter attacking the symbols of our freedom there would be many angry letters.

When someone goes a step further, attacking not the symbols of our freedom but those freedoms themselves, too many Americans are silent.

Early in our history a French observer, deTocqueville, noted that America was great because America was good, and that if America ever lost that goodness, it would lose its greatness. I hope and pray that we will lose neither.

I absolutely support Mr. Poole's right to express his opinion.

Patrick Kelly, La Grande

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Follow the money.

That is easier said than done in learning how school districts spend tax money. School district budgets can be confusing, but there is a new online tool that shows Oregon school spending in an easy-to-read way.

The Open Book$ Project Web site, www.onenbooksproiect.org, displays school spending in five major categories:

• Teaching and student resources

• Buses, buildings and food

• Business services and technology

• Principal's office

• Central administration

Visitors can compare our district to others knowing the comparisons are fair because expenses are categorized the same way for each district. The numbers used are from the 2004-2005 school year, the most recent available. Information was submitted by local school districts and audited by the State Department of Education for accuracy.

Opinion polls show that most Oregonians don't know how much school districts spend on administration, and when they guess, they guess high — about one third of the district budget.

In reality, the state average for spending on central administration is three percent of total budgets, with seven percent for principals' office expenses. In a comparison of La Grande School District with 12 other school districts around the state that are the same size, La Grande does very well.

The average spent on administration among those 12 schools is 3.1 percent. La Grande spends 2 percent.

The average for principals' office expenses is 7 percent and La Grande is at 7 percent.

The average spent on business services across the 12 districts is 3.25 percent and La Grande spends 2 percent.

The average for buses, buildings and food is 20.8 percent while La Grande spends 20 percent.

The best news is that out of the 12 districts, La Grande puts more of its money where it really matters than any of the other districts our size, on teachers and students. We spend 69 percent in this area and the range among like-size districts is 61 to 69 percent.

Additional district by district comparison information can be found on our Web site at www.laarande.k12.or.us. Go to the Hot Topics page and you will find our local link to the Open Book$ Web site and the comparison spread sheet.

Partners in the Open Book$ Project include the Chalkboard Project, the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators, Citizens for Oregon's Future, the Oregon School Boards Association and the Oregon Education Association.

Jay Rowell is superintendent of the La Grande School District.

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The good news: corporate profits are up and CEO salaries are skyrocketing.

The not so good news: the rising prices of gas, health care, electricity, housing and college are outpacing the growth in middle-income workers' wages.

Last year, for the first time since the Great Depression, Americans spent more money than they saved. That trend is worsening this year.

The good news: our increasing demand for goods from China has created millions of new jobs in that economy. The not so good news: the vast majority of the new jobs produced in the US economy over the last five years have come from the public sector and from the military and homeland security buildup.

The good news: the senate recently blocked a bill that would have tainted a proposal for a $2.15 increase in the minimum wage for over 7 million of the lowest paid Americans with a corresponding tax cut (or approximately 7,500 of the richest Americans, one that would have forced us to deepen our federal budget deficit by an additional $268 billion.

The not so good news: government spending is still so far in excess of revenue that our federal budget deficit in a relative sense is at the highest level in the history of our nation.

The good news: Federal spending programs have been able to borrow with simple IOUs most of the money held in the Social Security Trust Fund and that money has been put to work paying for social welfare, national defense, and tax cuts awarded primarily to upper income Americans.

The not so good news: in 2018 when those Social Security funds will be needed to meet the retirement obligations of workers and their employers who put that money aside, the Social Security Trust Fund will have to go and get that money back from the general fund.

The good news: I can borrow money from my 401K and IRA accounts to help me buy the things I want today. The not so good news: when that money is gone, I may be in real trouble because I'm not sure the tax payers of 2018 — my children — will be willing to divert general fund money away from the important needs of those future times as would be required to repay the dusty old IOUs to the Social Security Trust Fund.

The good news: Iraq did not have the WMDs and links to terrorism that prompted us spend an estimated $80 billion going to war. The not so good news: Present estimates for the cost of that war are at $2 trillion, a 2,500 percent increase.

The good news: Saddam Hussein is no longer in power in Iraq. The not so good news: Democracy has never taken hold under the circumstances known to exist in Iraq, and our actions have, unfortunately, given radical Shiite factions increased power and influence in that region where our oil dependency is increasingly coming into conflict with our role as deliverers of freedom.

The good news: we can choose from a wide range of solutions for the problems we face in today's world. The not so good news: it is very hard to find solutions that do not create more problems than were there to begin with.

Rod Sands lives in La Grande.

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An Aug. 17 article in The Observer by T. L. Petersen refers to a proposed charter amendment I offered to Union City Council at our Aug. 14 meeting regarding passage of ordinances.

To clarify the proposed charter amendment, it will be the registered voters of Union not the council, who will consider the amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot. If the amendment is approved, a proposed ordinance will be read by title at two separate meetings before being passed, not read in full once only before being passed.

The charter amendment does not change that an emergency ordinance may be passed at a single meeting by being read once in full and once by title if it is passed by a unanimous vote of the council.

Scott Morrison, Union City Council

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"Cougar ranks to be thinned in Heppner unit" in The Observer of Aug. 28 reports Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to kill 30 cougar near Heppner to increase elk calf survival.

The information given tells of a 40 calf per 100 cow survival six years ago compared with 18 to 100 this year, and declining herd numbers. We are lead to assume that this is due to greatly increased cougar numbers. I called the Heppner office with some questions and learned that six years ago they issued 600 cow tags to reduce agricultural damage. Since then calf survival rates have plummeted.

It appears obvious to me that this huge cow kill-off resulted in dramatically fewer births. If cougars killed the same number of calves as in previous years the survival rate would be skewed after killing so many cows. Calving occurs during a relatively short period of time so that predators become satiated and the excess calves survive. When few calves are born, it is predictable that the survival rate drops dramatically.

This is one more example of governmental management and information designed to mislead the public and published as is rather than being questioned first. Mainstream media today rarely question government information of any kind before disseminating it. A healthy democracy requires an informed public, which demands responsible questioning media.

Mary McCracken, La Grande