Klamath Basin Business — April

KLAMATH BASIN

April 2018

Basin Business

Business

Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

Sign up for firefighting training — Page 6

Mission Recovery Annual Leadercast coming up — Page 3

Student prizes for the Klamath film festival — Page 4 FINANCIAL FOCUS: Paying down home mortgages — Page 5

Peggy Berwick, manager at The Pumpkin Patch, says housewares are one of the store’s most donated items after clothing. The store will soon change its name to Gospel Mission Recovery Center Thrift Store as part of a rebranding effort. For details, see Page 2.

A publication of the Herald & News

Chamber: www.klamath.org

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Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

Basin Business

Mission for recovery

Thrift store rebrands to make clear its goal to help others

BY SEAN BASSINGER

Tyra Moore, left, an employee at The Pumpkin Patch, works on folding donations at the linen table on April 16.

The thrift shop will soon change its name to Gospel Mission Recovery Center Thrift Store as part of a rebranding effort.

E

H&N Staff Reporter

very October, The Pumpkin Patch thrift store gets calls about a pretty obvious question: Where could people get the pumpkins?

But it’s not an actual pumpkin patch.

That’s one of the reasons Kent Berry, director of the Klamath Falls Gospel Mission, says the shop is way overdue for a name change. “(Pumpkin Patch) was a catchy name and it caught on,” Berry said. “A lot of people still don’t realize it’s part of the Klamath Falls Gospel Mission.”

Starting in May, the store will be officially known as the Gospel Mission Recovery Center Thrift Store. Though it may not sound as colorful, Berry and others who work and volunteer with the Mission believe it’ll definitely get their goals across.

Even now, the shop helps with vocational training, community service and aid for people with the greatest needs.

They sell clothes, housewares, electronics and other items, in addition to offering special weekly programs for those who are in recovery.

“It’s much more than a used clothes store,” Berry said New visions The store first opened in 2008 at the mission property as a means to help the Klamath Falls Gospel Mission with its community service efforts. In 2011, the shop relocated to its current location, 840 Klamath Avenue, after the original site burned down.

Berry said the shop brings in about $50,000 to $60,000 annually to help support the mission. Though the mission itself is about to move across town along South Sixth Street, the thrift shop and its staff plan to stay put.

Peggy Berwick, manager of the store, says she currently works with about six Mission-funded employees in addition to a group of part-time workers from REACH Inc. and other organizations.

The store also works with the Department of Human Services TANF program and Department of Corrections Community Service Program.

H&N photos

by Sean Bassinger

Berwick said those who sign on from REACH have been among the store’s most helpful workers.

Kyle Clay, who often works shifts three times a week, said he enjoys the work he does. Clay often receives donations and helps to move larger items such as furniture.

“I help them a lot,” Clay said. “I’m really strong.”

“He’s a real good helper,” Berwick said with a smile.

Community assistance

As about half a dozen shoppers explored the store Monday afternoon, one man came in with a more immediate request.

He needed new clothes and shoes, saying he was needing to travel quite a bit.

Without hesitation, Berwick offered him a new set of clothes and boots. He traded in his older clothes, which had to be discarded because of their condition.

See MISSION, Page 4

The Pumpkin Patch thrift store, located at 840 Klamath Ave., will soon change its name to Gospel Mission Recovery Center Thrift Store as part of a rebranding effort. The store itself will stay at the same location.

Basin Business

Baseball great Joe Torre part of Leadercast Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Joe Torre is slated to speak at this year’s Leadercast Live event on May 4 at OIT. Torre was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 27, 2014, and the New York Yankees Joe Torre retired his Number 6 at a ceremony at Yankee Stadium the following month. Torre is currently the Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball. He has served as Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations since February 2011.

Torre ranks fifth in all-time managerial wins, with 2,326. The Associated Press named him Manager of the Year in 1982 and 1998. During his 17-year playing career (first/ third baseman, catcher) with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, Torre compiled a lifetime .297 batting average, had 2,342 hits, 252 home runs and 1,185 RBI’s, and hit over .300 five times. He was a nine-time All-Star and the National League’s 1971 Most Valuable Player, batting .363 with 230 hits, 24 home runs and a league-leading 137 RBIs. Torre is also chairman of the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation, which he and his wife, Ali, launched in 2002. In 2010, Torre was appointed to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. Since October 2011, he has served as Co-Chair of the US Justice Department’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence.

Leadercast has brought people together and equipped them to become better leaders, managers, community members, and employees. Leadercast is the world’s largest one-day leadership conference, broadcast LIVE from Atlanta and simulcast to hundreds of locations around the world on May 4.

Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

Leaders to offer advice at simulcast World’s largest one-day leadership conference to be simulcast in Klamath Falls on May 4

Leadercast is the world’s largest one-day leadership conference, broadcast live from Atlanta and simulcast to hundreds of locations around the world on May 4.

This year marks the 18th year of the annual leadership conference and the eighth year Klamath Falls will be hosting the event from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Oregon Institute of Technology auditorium in the Student Union Building.

The theme of this year’s conference is, “Lead Yourself.”

What does it look like to lead yourself? How can you intentionally develop your own leadership skills and style? What qualities do you hope to embody as a leader?

In 2018, the Leadercast Live stage will highlight leaders who will answer these questions and explain the power and importance of leading yourself first so you can lead others well. n Companies with ideals of improving people’s lives at the center of all they do outperform others by 400 percent; n More than 70 percent of people consider an organization’s environmental and/or social impact when deciding where to work; n Employees who feel they are working towards a good cause show increased productivity by up to 30 percent; n People who are able to make a social or environmental impact on the job are more satisfied by a 2:1 ratio Leadercast Live will allow attendees and viewers to improve their own personal leadership journey with tips for self-evaluation and self-growth.

Top leadership experts will inspire more than 100 people attending the local event, and the more than 100,000 people who will attend the event live in Atlanta or at hundreds of other simulcast locations in more than 20 countries.

Jen Bricker will talk about her inspirational life. Although she was born without legs, she’s become an accomplished aerialist.

Among the leadership experts speaking this year are: n Mae Jemison — NASA astronaut, engineer and physician n Ian Cron — bestselling author, psychotherapist, enneagram teacher and speaker; n Andy Stanley — leadership Author & communicator; n Jim Loehr — co-founder of the Human Performance Institute n Catherine Hoke — founder and CEO of Defy Adventures, author; n Jen Bricker — acrobat, aerialist, author and speaker; n Michael Hyatt — author, speaker

Mark Fay, M.D. Scott Stevens, M.D. Physician/ Surgeon of the Eye Physician/ Surgeon of the Eye

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and CEO of Michael Hyatt & Co.; n Carey Lohrenz — The first female F-14 pilot, speaker and trainer; n Joe Torre — Hall of Fame New York Yankees baseball manager; n Tripp Crosby — Host of Leadercast Live.

For years, Leadercast has brought people together and equipped them to become better leaders, managers, community members, and employees.

Here is what people have to say about Leadercast: “With a constantly impressive lineup of speakers and the on-target themes year-over-year (and at such a value), I consider Leadercast a ‘can’t miss’ event,” said Kalpana Ommen, vice president talent acquisition, Cox Enterprises and nine-year Leadercast attendee.

“The whole day was interesting from start to finish. It was valuable to hear from leaders from various fields, as each had different perspectives and experiences.

“I was able to learn from leaders whom I otherwise would not have known of because I was unfamiliar with their work,” said Katie Booth, Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

“For me, it’s a re-charge. For one day I can plug-in, focus on me — my impact, obstacles, and growth opportunities.

“I love that it is not only a lecture but it’s an immersive experience that keeps me engaged…by a multi-sensory approach,” said Patrick Williams, Marketing Director, SunTrust Bank.

Tickets are $75 for Chamber members and $100 for community members.

Visit the Chamber’s website or call (541) 884-5193.

Edwin Tuhy, O.D. Optometrist

Jennifer Sparks, O.D. Optometrist

New Patients Welcome

2640 Biehn St. • 541.884.3148 • www.klamatheyecenter.com

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Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

Basin Business

New prizes offered for Don’t be afraid to use students in KIFF 2018 your ‘mobile wallet’ The Klamath Independent Film Festival 2018 is introducing a new $100 prize category for student films.

To be eligible students must be in grades K-12, and residents of counties on the Oregon/California border for the “Regional Student Short” category — Curry, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath and Lake counties in Oregon, or Del Norte, Siskiyou and Modoc counties in California, or residents elsewhere in Oregon for the “Oregon Statewide Student Short” category.

Films must be less than 5 minutes in length and meet all other regular KIFF guidelines — completed after Jan. 1, 2017.

Entrants are reminded that they must have the proper rights to use all content in the films. As an example, owning a CD or track, or finding it on YouTube is not the proper license to use it in film.

We want to help you get your film on the big screen. Visit klamathfilm.org/festival. For more info, email info@klamathfilm.org.

Mission

from Page 2

Berwick said similar offerings usually run around $20 for a set of clothes.

In two other recent cases, the mission thrift shop helped a family whose house burned down and a woman who had arrived to stay at a relative’s house with nothing. In both cases, they were given new sets of clothes.

“You stop everything you’re doing and help them out,” Berwick said. “You help

Klamath County Chamber of Commerce 205 Riverside Drive, Ste. A Klamath Falls, OR 97603 Office: 541-884-5193 Fax: 541-884-5195

BY LAUREN SCHWAHN

NerdWallet

other people and it turns around. You get your blessings in return.”

Berwick and Cynthia Hanks, volunteer coordinator at the gospel mission, said the store is always looking for more people to help out.

For those interested in donatiing or volunteering, visit www.kfallsmission. org.

“We’re always, always recruiting volunteers for the store,” Hanks said. sbassinger@heraldandnews.com

Executive director:

Heather Tramp

Email: heathert@klamath.org www.klamath.org www.facebook.com/Klamath Chamber twitter.com/AccessKlamath

Smartphones have replaced lots of other accessories — cameras, f lashlights, calculators. But many people are still reluctant to swap the wallets in their pockets for their digital counterparts.

A key reason consumers are hesitant to adopt mobile payments like Apple Pay and Android Pay, surveys say, is fear over security: High-profile retailer data breaches have made buyers wary of sharing credit card information.

But while there’s cause not to rely 100 percent on your mobile wallet just yet — lack of widespread acceptance by merchants, for one thing — security concerns shouldn’t be holding shoppers back, experts say.

“I think some people get nervous about this idea of ‘This thing is sending telepathic waves to that machine to say that I’m paying,’ ” says Mark Ranta, head of digital banking solutions at ACI Worldwide, a payment systems company. But your mobile wallet is arguably the safest way to pay, and it offers a few benefits to boot. Here’s why this payment method is worth considering.

It’s safer than you think

Contactless payment services can offer more security than cash or traditional card usage.

“You never have to take out your credit card or debit card, so there’s a lot less chance of someone seeing it,” said Jason Chaikin, president of biometrics security company Vkansee. “For every transaction, (mobile wallets) create a random,

Executive Board President: Wes French First Vice President: Rachael Spoon Treasurer/Secretary: Jennifer Scanlan Members: Jason Chapman, Sergio Cisneros, George Ormsbee Immediate Past President: Todd Andres

one-time number — a transaction token — and even if someone was able to know that number, it’s not valid later.”

Samsung Pay, Android Pay and Apple Pay each use this process, called tokenization.

Although you load your card into the payment app, the actual card number is not shared with the merchant when you pay. Rather, a temporary code is issued in its place, similar to the way EMV chip cards work. EMV credit and debit cards have chips that create a unique code, or cryptogram, when inserted into a merchant’s payment terminal. However, the card is in view while the terminal reads the chip. Mobile payments provide security measures on top of existing bank protections that chip cards can’t match. Full card numbers are not displayed in mobile wallet apps, and users are able to authorize payments with their fingerprints, which can protect your card information in the event your phone is stolen.

It can be convenient

Services like Apple Pay let users add multiple cards to their phones or smartwatches, theoretically giving them the option to leave overstuffed wallets and purses at home.

But consumers don’t entirely trust mobile wallets partly because availability is limited, says Ranta. Not all cards and loyalty programs are compatible with the payment services, and some stores are not equipped to take mobile payments. Establishments such as bars and restaurants may accept only cash or plastic. Apple Pay has the highest retailer acceptance rate among the mobile payment services, at 36 percent, according to survey data from the retail consulting firm Boston Retail Partners.

“We’re still very much in the early stages of this,” Ranta said. “You’re still kind of stuck in this merchant acceptance problem of a two-sided equation. It’s still that awkward, ‘Do you accept it?’ and if (not), then you’ve got to find an alternative way to pay or just walk out of the store.”

But when shoppers can use their mobile wallets, it can mean saving precious time at the register. A common complaint among dissatisfied chip-card users is the slow transaction process, as shoppers wait for the EMV terminal to complete the transaction.

Basin Business

Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

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— FINANCIAL FOCUS —

Mortgage payments vs. boosting investments Should you make extra mortgage payments or boost investments?

Every month, you pay your mortgage. And, depending on your circumstances, you may be able to afford to put in additional payments – perhaps sizable ones. But should you? Or, if you really have the extra money, should you invest it?

Initially, you might think it would be quite nice to rid yourself of that mortgage sooner, rather than later. But is it really the burden it seems?

Actually, you get some real benefits from a mortgage. It certainly provides something of great value to you — your home.

If you got your mortgage — or refinanced your home — within the past decade or so, you are borrowing money at a pretty favorable interest rate, by historical standards.

And even assuming a mild rate of inflation, such as we’ve had for the past several years, you’ll essentially be paying off your mortgage with cheaper and cheaper dollars over time.

Plus, your interest payments may well be tax deductible. (The new tax laws limit deductions on new mortgages of $750,000 or more. For questions on your specific situation, consult your tax professional.)

So, given these advantages, an argument could be made that you should be in no hurry to pay off your mortgage.

Still, you might be tempted to make the extra payments because you’ll be building home equity.

After all, isn’t this equity valuable?

It is — to a degree. The larger your home equity, the more money you’ll get to keep when you eventually sell your home.

But in the meantime, that home equity may be less useful than you

might imagine. For one thing, just building more equity won’t make your home more valuable — it will rise (or fall) in value along with whatever’s happening in the housing market.

By contrast, you could take the extra money and buy more shares in an investment such as stocks — and the more shares you own, the more valuable your investment will be if the price per share rises.

Also, if you were to experience a temporary job loss or some other financial emergency, your home equity might not help you much; if you’re not working, you could even have trouble getting a home equity loan.

Conversely, your investment portfolio can offer you greater liquidity, depending on your specific investments. Most investment vehicles, such as stocks and bonds, generally can be sold quickly, without much difficulty.

(Keep in mind, though, that if you were forced to sell investments when their price was down, you could take a loss on the sale.)

Clearly, you could gain some advantages by using any extra money to invest, rather than paying down your mortgage.

Nonetheless, you may simply get emotional and psychological satisfaction by speeding your progress toward the day when your house is paid off — and that type of satisfaction certainly has value.

You’ll need to weigh these intangible factors carefully in deciding whether to increase your investments or make extra mortgage payments — because, ultimately, you need to feel that you’re doing the right thing, for the right reasons.

Submitted by: Meredith Hoffman Financial Advisor-Edward Jones 1307 S Alameda Ave, Suite B Klamath Falls, OR 97603 541-273-2483

March jobless rates hold steady The employment situation in Klamath and Lake counties was largely unchanged over the past several months. Unemployment rates remained stable with Klamath County posting strong job growth over the past year, according to a news release.

Klamath County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 6.3 percent in March, from 6.2 percent in February. The unemployment rate remained near the 5.9 percent seen in March 2017.

Klamath County added 180 jobs in March, which would be typically expected this time of year. The largest monthly job gains occurred in retail trade (+50), leisure and hospitality (+40), and construction (+30).

Job growth over the past year continued at a relatively fast pace with the county adding 810 jobs (+3.6%). Over the year,

job growth was concentrated in retail trade and leisure and hospitality. Health care also posted notable gains, although the 420 jobs added largely reflected home care workers being counted in private health care this year, rather than state government.

Lake County: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6 percent in March, and similar to the 5.8 percent recorded in March 2017.

The county lost 30 jobs in March. The employment changed little over the year, dropping by 10 jobs. As with Klamath County, education and health services appeared to post the most employment gains by sector over the past year.

This actually ref lected the change of home care workers being reported in the private sector rather than state government.

Prescription drug take-back event Saturday A Prescription Drug Take Back Event will be offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Klamath Falls Police Department, according to a news release.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.4 million Americans abused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

The Prescription Drug Take Back Event

provides an opportunity for community members to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.

Bring your pills for disposal to Klamath Falls Police Department at 2501 Shasta Way. Please note, the department cannot accept liquids, needles or sharps. Only pills and patches will be accepted for disposal. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Take Back Day event on April 28, call the Klamath Falls Police Department at 541-883-5336.

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Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

Basin Business

Business profile:

Koena Construction

Only a few spots left for KCC firefighter training Klamath Community College is launching an exciting opportunity for students to live at a local firehouse and receive first-hand, real-world experience while pursuing an Associate of Applied Science at KCC. KCC’s Residential Student Firefighter Program is a great way for students to get hands-on training from professional firefighters. For more information call 541-882-3521 or 541-880-2373

Ribbon cuttings coming up Three Rivers Mosquito & Vector Control

Three Rivers Mosquito & Vector control is having an open house/ribbon cutting on April 26 at 11 a.m. to celebrate its anniversary. Join us t 651 Market Street for the festivities. (Mosquitos not invited.)

Crossfit Hogback

Come join the Chamber Ambassadors at 4162 Washburn Way on April 30 at 11:30 a.m. for a grand opening and ribbon cutting celebration.

Saturday forum on ‘Future of the Basin’ Interested in stragegically looking at what will help the Klamath Basin grow?

Plan on an all-day workshop called “The Future of the Klamath Basin.”

Hosted by the Center for Sustainable Economy, this free workshop is moderated by Jedrzei Raczynski and addresses the future of Klamath Falls and the Klamath Basin, mapping our values and assets, identifying potential stakeholders, and creating an outline of a series of placemaking workshops to make it happen.

Placemaking “refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value,” according to a news release.

More than just promoting better urban design, Placemaking facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural,

and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.”

Place Branding is the other side of the same coin. It focuses on our perception and communicating the placemaking efforts to a wider public to maximize the impact of real initiatives on the public perception of the place.

If interested in researching what “placemaking is all about and how it works, see: www.pps.org/article/rural-placemaking-and-main-street www.rural-design.org/resource/creative-placemaking-america This event is free and open to anyone in the community or visiting. It is at the Gaucho Collective from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Klamath Falls.

Please RSVP at https://bit.ly/2qZk1Lk

What is your name? Christine Serrano What is the name of the business?

Koena Construction, LLC What is the business address, phone number, and website? P.O.Box 1127, Klamath Falls, OR 97601 What was your motivation in opening this business? Our Motivation is twofold: First, to be able to work with family and people who share our vision.

Second, to provide affordable, environmental solutions to Oregon residents’ construction needs. We use the term Holistic Construction because with each job we take we are trying to address the clients complete needs. The name of our business, Koena is the Hawaiian word for balance. With each job we take on that is what we are trying to create for our clients.

Tell us about your goals and marketing strategies: Currently we are registered with the HomeAdvisor website to provide us with leads as well as a number of fliers and word of mouth. We joined the Chamber in hopes of creating a larger local presence.

How does your business fit in Klamath’s marketplace? As for the Klamath Falls marketplace for General Contractors … We are a little fish in a small pond swimming with a hundred older fish. That is to say we are trying to create a niche for ourselves in a very traditionbased industry. To that point, I am a woman contractor, a Native Hawaiian, and my company is approaching building from a slightly different angle.

There are a number of “Green certified” or LEED certified contractors and building projects. But if you look at the materials lists of products that are being passed as “green products”, a lot of these products contain “Red Listed” chemicals.

Things known to create hazardous living environments.

At this time we are working to develop cleaner, resource- and environmentfriendly building products of our own.

Also we have established partnerships with companies who share our passion for clean, holistic living spaces who already have such products on the market.

Give a brief statement about your background and previous experience: I come from corporate sales, holistic therapist, and federal contracting background. I know it seems completely unrelated to construction, but once you combine my experience with my husband’s nearly 30 years of work experience in the trades. He and I make a pretty formidable team.

How do you see your business developing over the next few years? According to our first year plan, we will have a couple full time crews to attend to all jobs small or large. With these crews we hope to win local, state and federal contracts as well as private residential jobs.

But aside from the everyday renovate, remodel and restorations, we plan on building new homes with a living building perspective.

A living building returns energy to the earth and creates as small of a footprint as possible.

Any other information you’d like to share? While we are a new company, we maintain solid work ethics. If we tell you we’re going to do something, we do it.

Business Hours

Monday- Friday 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Koena Construction LLC 541-887-7138 2400 Redwood Drive Klamath Falls, OR 97601

KLAMATH BASIN

Business

Basin Business

Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

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Business profile:

Foxy Stitches Upholstery opens

Foxy Stitches Upholstery owner Ben Fox returned to Klamath Falls last year to open his full-time, fullservice professional upholstery shop.

Fox has been encouraged by Klamath Falls residents familiar with his work to open a local upholstery shop. Skilled and experienced as a cabinet maker, furniture builder, saddle maker and fabricator he is able to tackle most any upholstery-related project H&N file photo regardless of complexity.

Ben Fox works on a project at Foxy Stiches.

“We can build just about any-

thing including solid wood frame custom furniture that actually fits your space,” he said.

Furniture, auto, pontoon boats and RVs, along with an experimental airplane and even a corporate jet are among the company’s projects it has worked on.

The shop offers “Quick Turn” 24-72 hour service for businesses.

“While every project needs to be completed in a timely manner, many businesses can lose revenue when their chairs, booths and tables are not available every busi-

ness day,” Fox said.

Fox said funds received from the Klamath County Economic Development Grant Program were extremely beneficial and is confident his services are keeping money in the county that would have gone to the Rogue Valley and beyond.

The shop is at 7917 Gearhart Court. Hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Telephone is 541-295-5491 and website is foxystitchesupholstery.com.

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Thursday, April 26, 2018, Herald and News

Basin Business April 2018 Newsletter

Ore gon State Senator Dennis Linthicum – District 28 I represent the citizens of Senate District 28, which includes all, or part of Þve rural, mostly-eastern Oregon counties: Jackson, Klamath, Lake, Deschutes and Crook.

Senator Dennis Linthicum OR Senate District 28

As Senator of one of the largest Senate districts in our state, it Capitol Phone: is extremely important that my constituents remain in contact Capitol Address: with me about the issues and concerns that affect their lives.

I encourage you to use the information here as a resource and to contact my ofÞce by either phone or e-mail so that I can know how to best serve you. I am honored to be here in Salem Þghting for your freedom and liberty.

Chambers, was a member of the communist underground working throughout the East Coast Baltimore and Washington, D.C. He narrates an insightful story of great personal intrigue, mystery and espionage that is unforgettable and is an immensely readable story of hope in our age of cultural unrest.

Chambers suggests that misplaced faith in government, science, education or materialism eventually leads many people to communism. In their lives, people experience hardship, trouble, tragedy and sometimes bad-luck. They inherently understand something is not right with the world.

People need a purpose in life. They need a purpose which goes beyond themselves where they can Þnd meaning and identify with likeminded individuals. They have a natural desire to pitch-in and solve societyÕs problems.

Religion occupies this station for most people but when someone doesnÕt feel any need for help from a higher power then they put their full faith into human institutions or ideologies. These

503-986-1728 900 Court St. NE, S-305 Salem, Oregon 97301

E-Mail: sen.DennisLinthicum@OregonLegislature.gov Website ebsite:

Misplaced Faith in Government, Science and Education…

This month, I want to recommend a great summertime read. The book, Witness, written in 1951, is the autobiographical account of Whittaker ChambersÕ political and spiritual odyssey into, and out of, communism. If you are not familiar, Chambers was the lead witness in the Alger Hiss case investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA).

The HCUA was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and organizations suspected of having direct ties to communist operators.

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ideological allegiances form the ÒismsÓ of our modern world, like progressivism, utopianism, pragmatism, collectivism, scientism with overtones of the class struggle, in elitism, egalitarianism, Marxism, socialism, and communism.

We have a tendency to forget that, groups follow leaders and concentrated power overtime degrades to become arbitrary, despotic and mindless. Even our own Constitution must be rigorously followed, or it will lose its guiding character because any power exercised by a minority can be just as tyrannical as that exercised by a majority. Ultimately, the weight of our human institutions must rest on their relationship to the individual.

Chambers takes time (800+ pages) to intimately identify the real problems of our modern world.

He notes, Òreligious rejection has taken a speciÞcally political form, so that the characteristic experience of the mind in this age is a political experience. At every point, religion and politics interlace, and must do so more acutely as the conßict between the two great camps of men. É The most conspicuously menacing form of that rejection is Communism.Ó

The movement is particularly menacing because, ÒThe Communist Party, despite occasional pious statements to the contrary, is a terrorist organization. Its disclaimers are for the record. But its record of kidnappings, assassinations, and murders makes the actions of the old Terror Brigade of the

http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/linthicum Socialist Revolutionary party look merely romantic.Ó

Chambers goes on to tell us that, ÒThe Communist Party respects only force,Ó while, ÒOnly terror terriÞes it.Ó His keen insight on this issue helps us understand the full faith and fervor of the progressive-left, the Antifa movement, new identity politics and the daily assaults on our constitutional form of limited government.

Chambers was astonished when he realized that the men he knew never took the New Deal seriously as an end in itself. Instead, Òthey regarded it as an instrument for gaining their own revolutionary ends.Ó Chambers draws the conclusion that the surface manifestations of the New Deal, Òconcealed the inner drift of this great movement.Ó The drift toward socialism was carried along by sincere people who supposed themselves to be simple liberal-minded individuals striving for justice, equality, the working-man and revolution.

He labeled the New Deal as, Òa genuine revolution, whose deepest purpose was not simply reform within existing traditions, but a basic change in the social, and, above all, the power relationships within the nation. It was not a revolution by violence. It was a revolution by bookkeeping and lawmaking.Ó

This has been happening for 80 years and we, too, have been gently guided along this path toward government control. We mistake selfgovernance as needing more laws, more rules and a larger bureaucratic apparatus. Is this the way to a better society and a more prosperous life? – No – it is not. Vote for Life, Liberty, Less Government & Lower Taxes

If we don’t stand for rural Oregon values and common-sense – no one will!