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Letters to the Editor: Dec. 2, 2016

Dog a real problem

I am sure the incident of the lady who shot the “running dogs” is a horrible nightmare for her and her family. There is undoubtedly more to this story than the incident report, and I will not condemn this woman.

Most farmers who make their living from agriculture do not allow their dogs to run. An owner of one dog generally won’t have a problem with a dog who wants to run. However, add a second dog (with neither dog being kenneled), and they will stray.

Dogs who run are a very real rural problem that raise havoc with native wildlife populations and livestock. It’s not the dogs fault. The blame rests entirely on the owners. Feral cats also have a devastating effect, as do our native bird populations.

Don’t be too quick to judge this woman until you have lived on a real working farm and have had to deal with problems associated with running dogs.

Jim LeTourneux

Sheridan

 

Don’t punish husband

This woman should never have shot the dogs. All she had to do was call animal control and put in a complaint. Animal control personnel would have contacted the owner of the dogs, and it would have been handled.

For people to punish her husband, who has his own vet business, is absolutely showing the stupidity of the public. He is not responsible for the actions of his crazy wife. Put yourself in his situation. Judge the wife for her wrong actions, not her spouse who had nothing to do with it.

Sandra Ponto

McMinnville

 

Look at big picture

Seeing the picture and story of the woman who shot the dogs got me fired up.

As a cattle rancher, I have lived in the country for most of my adult life. I have had issues with neighbors’ dogs. Years ago, I called animal control when I found a calf gutted by a pack of dogs. The animal control officer came out and took pictures and gave me an education.

She said people’s “sweet little doggies” let loose in the country often form packs, and their personalities revert to a pack mentality. She said they could range as much as five miles overnight and kill sheep and other small livestock, then show up looking innocent outside the back door in the morning.

Her advice was that if we felt we needed to destroy a nuisance dog, to destroy it, bury it and send the collar to her so she could deal with the owner. She advised not to start a “border war” with the neighbors, that she would inform the owners their dog was found dead.

As more and more people have moved out to the country for the “good life,” they seem to feel they can just let their dogs run free. This is not the case. You are responsible to keep your dogs on your property.

We have had to call animal control numerous times when we knew which neighbors’ dogs were running through our livestock. An officer visited the neighbors and fined them for lack of control of their animals and having unlicensed animals.

When it hits the offender’s wallet, it seems to help. Bottom line? The News-Register article seemed to favor the dog owners. The law favors the property owner when neighbors can’t properly control their dogs. Maybe the News-Register should check with the county Animal Control to give a more well-rounded report.

Ed Horacek

Yamhill

 

Give rent, not toys

I have worked in social services for many years. I have yet to see a family where the children had no gifts at Christmas (unless they do not believe in gifts).

Why all the emphasis on toys? Two or three gifts are plenty for any child. What low-income families really need are simple, not fun, but very essential items to provide for their children, such as gas cards or gift cards for oil changes.

Maybe they need a couple of tires, a brake job. Consider paying a heating bill or delivering a load of firewood. How about paying for a month or two of auto or health insurance?

These can be delivered to any of the local social service agencies to be distributed, or if you know of a family in need, give these gifts yourself. Want to give more? Pay a month’s rent. These last longer than toys.

Carolyn Sauers

Yamhill

 

Thanks for everything

Our annual Thanksgiving celebrations reboot our collective memory. They remind us we have much for which to be thankful.For instance, be thankful radios and TVs have off switches. There is more to life than pundits, pollsters, politics and pols.

Be thankful for birds and butterflies. Be thankful for puppies and kittens. Be thankful for the chance to watch toddlers discover their first of each. Be thankful for digital cameras to capture it all.

Be thankful for crater lakes and grand canyons. Be thankful for both wide vistas and tiny flowers. Be thankful for nature conservancies and nature photographers who help preserve them for the toddlers yet to come.

Be thankful for what you can enjoy each day and even more for what you can joyfully share with others. Even be thankful for history books, both to remind us nothing bad lasts forever and alert us to cherish the good while it is still around.

Be thankful for your memories of people and places no longer here. And, work to ensure you are remembered fondly when you, too, are gone. I’m sure there is far more thanks we should give. But, most of all, be thankful we are not turkeys.

Charles Hillestad

McMinnville

 

Backpeddling on bike path

The Nov. 22 meeting of those concerned about the Yamhelas Trail revealed much about County Commissioner Stan Primozich.

When asked how much it would cost, he spent two minutes trying to manufacture an answer, then admitted no one knows what the trail would cost. When confronted by a farmer who owns a portion of the rail line, Primozich said he’ll go around that farm.

That is precisely why a similar trail in Benton County wasn’t built, and Primozich knows it. He never said why he voted against a public hearing on the trail where he’d have to confront those who own land along the old rail line.

That group overwhelmingly said they were not made aware of bike path plans and were opposed to the intrusion it would bring into their daily lives. Two had heard of it, called Primozich several times, but never received a call back.

Primozich deflected blame for that. His assurance that the Oregon Department of Transportation would pay for the trail, not Yamhill County, brought a passionate reminder that ODOT money isn’t free. It comes from us. It comes with strings attached and a requirement of financial participation by Yamhill County.

Elected officials who love grant money take the bait and leave taxpayers to deal with the hook.

Tom Hammer

Wheatland

 
Paper’s bias showing

The Nov. 18 news article, “Family of man shot by police files lawsuit” is a good example why citizens have lost so much respect for the news media.

Nowhere in the article did it state that Juventino Bermudez- Arenas was reported as an illegal alien who had no right to be in our country in the first place.

The murder of Parker Moore never should have happened. There is plenty of blame to go around: A president who openly advocates for illegal immigration, a state that forbids police officers from proactively arresting illegal aliens, reporters and news media who run cover for them and businesses that openly hire them.

There are 136 inmates classified as “criminal aliens” incarcerated for homicide by the Oregon Department of Corrections. That number doesn’t account for the murderers who have been shipped to federal prisons. Josh Marquis, the Clatsop County district attorney, estimates it costs about $1 million to prosecute a murder trial in Oregon. That means we have spent at least $136 million on trial costs alone. That $136 million doesn’t include yearly incarceration costs, health care or public legal counsel provided free to criminal aliens. There is, of course, no way to compensate the families of the murder victims. Just another dead American at the hands of another illegal alien.

Thank God we elected Donald Trump for president.

Jim Ludwick

McMinnville

[EDITOR’S NOTE: As previously reported by the News-Register, investigators suspect Juventino Bermudez-Arenas was in the United States illegally based on inconsistent Social Security numbers given to his employer and lack of official paperwork.]

 

Commissioner listening?

I want to thank Yamhill County commissioners Stan Primozich and Mary Starrett for attending the trail meeting last night. It was nice to be able to ask questions and not be filled full of bike-trail propaganda from the bike club.

My main reason for this letter is to thank Primozich for finally acknowledging that the adjacent landowners were never contacted about this trail project, even though he held tight on his position for about an hour before relenting that we were never notified.

I would like to remind you, Mr. Primozich, that my neighbor and I have been telling you this for almost two years. It is very hard for me to believe that you thought everybody had been contacted when you have been told repeatedly that we have not been notified.

You say everything about the project has been transparent, and yet a group of people highly affected by the trail told you they did not know about the trail until a group of private citizens sent out a mailer. How do you expect people to trust and believe in you and the project if you are not up front and honest about it?

The people at that meeting are some of the heart and soul of adjoining landowners. I hope you can hear what they were saying. Do you ever buy anything without knowing the cost and legality? Why should the taxpayers commit to buying something without knowing the cost and legality?

Chris Mattson

Yamhill

 

I was just asking

If you thought former McMinnville City Manager Martha Meeker might have been gruff and autocratic, then consider the McMinnville Senior Center. I got into a bit of a scrap with one of the center’s employees.

I occasionally donate books to the center and use its Internet. I stopped by Nov. 21 and asked if I could talk to someone about the Grotto Christmas Festival the center is promoting. It is overtly religious.

The Catholic church uses area school choirs at no cost to the church to sing religious songs. Part of the money collected helps the Portland Archdiocese’s multimillion-dollar settlement in child-abuse cases. Parents and students alike must pay a parking fee even though the students sing for free.

The Senior Center employee was very irate when I asked if she knew these things. She dodged my questions, scurrying back to her desk. Fifteen minutes later, she apologized for being “rude” and “short.” I accepted her apology and started asking her a question, but she was once again defensive and evasive.
I was shocked by her dismissive and rude attitude.

This is not the attitude we deserve as senior citizens. There must be open dialogue at the center. We should always be able to ask questions of those in authority and receive a courteous reply.

Dan Hilbert

McMinnville


Riddle needs answer

The election is over, but you may still cast a fan vote for Sam Riddle, Linfield football quarterback.

He’s a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, which goes to the outstanding NCAA Division III college football player of the year. Linfield quarterback Brett Elliott won the trophy in 2005.

Cast your fan vote for Sam by 10 a.m. Pacific Time, Dec. 5, 2016, deadline at this link: bit.ly/2ge2bhG.

Tim Marsh

McMinnville
 

Comments

yamhillbilly2

Wow! I seriously doubt Dr Wood and Nicole had a "working farm". Raising what? Free range cats? Were the neighbors dogs decimating the heard? Where in Nicole's story does she mentioned contacting dog control? Did her husband really have no clue as to her level of anger with the neighbor's dog? I don't expect him to control his wife's actions. As far as loving and kindness towards animals, does that only apply to those belonging to people who pay for his services? I can't believe he didn't "counsel" Nicole on a better course of action rather than to kill the neighbor's pets. How on earth do some of you think the NR is showing bias to the dog's owners?

Don Dix

Tim Marsh -- the voting is available on d3football.com as well.

Mudstump

Ed Horacek - I agree that owners should keep their dogs from becoming a nuisance, but there are legal actions that can be taken before getting your gun. I'm sure Animal Control has dealt with many problem animals and owners as well. The point is that this lady didn't even give Animal Control a chance to deal with the dogs. She didn't pick up the phone to call the neighbor or call the police. That's where she went wrong.

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