Need info on Milton Freewater...A mental tour if you will????????

Treasonous-I don't believe it is fair to single out a few fruit farmers. Anyone who benefits from illegl immigration in the M-F area needs to accept responsibility for the problems and issues that impact the community negatively and work toward improving the community. Many times I have heard from fruit growers, "Where would Milton-Freewater be without the fruit farmers?" Great question.

Recently, while I was in Milton-Freewater, Watermill Winery was tagged with Hispanic gang graffiti and there was a fight between the Hispanic 13th and 18th Street gangs. A bullet, likely from a high powered rifle, when through the window of the OSU Extension office and went into the back wall. Seems agricultural communities are paying the price for using mostly illegal immigrant labor. Along with the good workers come those who find it easier to deal drugs and engage in criminal behavior. I doubt that M-F has the will or ability to take back their community. Local farmers, who have benefited from cheap, illegal labor cannot be counted on to be part of the solution.

I want to start out by saying that school stardards are so far behind that I had to pull out all of my kids. I now homeschool them trying to catch them up. The police department is a joke. I walked in to recieve help of a mother that was abusing her children supplying them with drugs and their response was if their over 13 there is nothing they can do. Aren't drugs illegal? I was also informed that a certain librarian was downloading child porn on the internet was caught and people were silenced. Nothing done! Don't others pay a high jail time price in doing such things. Another thing is living in the country does have it's perks here in milton like high speed car chases, drive by shootings....This town is so littered with drugs (meth) and crime it isn't a safe place to raise your kids. No potential no jobs. It's dead. I am looking to get out and hope to give my children a chance in life. Though having low payed jobs and high prices it's difficult to see the means to do so. Oh, entertainment can be accomplished by driving around in your car and beholding the view: horror, comedy, action. There seems to be a lot of frogs in the area. "Idols". Milton is in for a quick judgement call. Let's pay for new schools and like no frogs.

According to a Oregon State University study every time a drug lab or dump site was discovered in OR it was 11.5 times more likely to be in Umatilla County than in any other part of the state. When a meth-related spill, leak or other hazardous substance release was reported, it was 8.3 times more likely to be in Umatilla County. The OR Public Health Division documented 43 meth labs in Umatilla County between 1998 and 2005. Why would anyone want to live there and raise a family?

I have lived her my whole life.. and yes gangs drugs its all a problems but why. is the question.. becuase there is absolutely nothing else in this town. the police force is a joke they only go after who they want to once you've been pulled over they will do all they can to keep pulling you over. The schools arent the greatest but with a little parental involvement the kids can accomplish great things i personally know a machi graduate that went on to stanford... it can be done.. Like Hillary said it take a village.... we all need to be responsible

WOW!! What a bunch of negative comments.... I work in the school system and yes there are some things that need to be changed, BUT, I would hold our education at the elementary level, up to any in our country. We have had a Reading First Grant for 5 years and our elementary kids have been used as a model for others in this national grant system.
It seems like nothing is good in M-F but I beg to differ.
Crime is on the rise all over our nation and M-F is no different. I do think we need better and more police but that only comes with people willing to put the bucks where their mouths are... Vote for more police. Our school buildings are in disrepair because no one will vote for replacements.... I too am on a one person income and do not want more taxes but until I win the LOTTO, we have to vote for some school money. I think M-F has a better way of life than many towns and not as good as others. It is all in how you want to participate. Every child can play soccer, baseball, swim in a public pool(Which Walla Walla does not have), go to the new public Library and listen to stories, play in the park or whatever else you as a family want to do. There are opportunities to golf on a public course, with fees that working people can afford, attend school functions, and yes attend the public school board meetings or the town council meetings if you so desire. There are parks for picnics,and parks for camping. Yes, we do have problems but what town does not? I hope those who talk about the weeds and trash, that I don't see take a look at WallaWalla and Pendleton and every other town with this down-sizing of public works. I know I want the best for my children and grandchildren that have moved back here so don't tell others it is a bad place to live if you don't reside here.....

Raised in this valley-don't cop out and make excuses for M-F just because other areas have the same problems. What makes a viable, livable community is the attitude, pride and work that its residents put into making that community a better place. What messages does gang graffiti, shootings, drugs sent to the residents and those who might consider moving to M-F? Public works shouldn't have responsibility for cleaning up the trash and weeds. They have set the example in the City Park, golf course and the intersection at Columbia and Main. If the owners cared about their community and had any pride at all re. their property weeds and trash wouldn't be a problem. I believe most people, after driving through M-F, will keep on driving.

Raised in the valley-re. your comment about the educational qualities of the elementary schools-please explain the "no rating", given by the Oregon Report Card, for Grove School.

Because Grove School was a kg-2 until last year there are no previous test scores. The students grades 3-5 were tested but it takes a couple of years to show up on the state report card. They have to have some scores to compare previous years.

I was born and raised in the area, and graduated from the high school there 20+ years ago. It is NOT the same as it was then. It's disgusting and I hate what has happened to it. Sure we complained about it then, but what we complained about was the boredom of a small town - not drug use and needles and gang graffiti. How sad is that? The big scandal in high school was a door getting ripped off one of the stalls in the bathroom....I dare say the school would love to have that be their biggest problem now!

I know it does sound racist, but I agree with a previous poster - the decline began with the arrival of the labor camp, and it's gone more than down hill ever since.

to me, milton will, and always will be a little dope town
even every drug addict and dealer in walla walla gets their shit from milton.
the mexicans are slingin dope very cheap and will soon consume milton and then walla walla.
im watching it happen right before my eyes!
i dont recomend moving to milton or raising kids there. Florencia 13 is running shit there and the drugs and gang violence wont stop any time soon!
im leaving my home town off walla walla just to get away from the drug that has near ruined my life in just the past year. STOP BEFORE USING DRUGS....THIS MAY HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

GPM wrote:

I lived in M-F for 28 years and left because of the crime (a drive-by shooting a block from my home) and the inability of the City to address these and other issues. Some believe that corny frog statues are their salvation! Milton-Freewater is the unoffical meth capitol of Oregon. Drive through town and observe the toothless skeletons on bicycles. It is not uncommon to find needles in the alleys and the soccer field parking lot just west of town on County Road. M-F is in a downhill slide and the locals have their heads stuck in the sand. The school systen is a diaster (check out the OR report card on the net) and the local residents sit on their asses while the town crumbles around them, lamenting that they like M-F the "way it is or was." If you want to move to the WW valley put your bucks on the WA side of the state line. No one wants to admit, or discuss, that many of M-F's problems are tied to illegal immigration. A honest tree fruit grower will tell you that about 50% of his workers are illegal.

Yep some of what you do write is true, but then again you gave up and moved to some rrink dink little town, i bet in all the years you lived there all you ever did was shoot your mouth off about everything that is wrong without ever trying to fix the problems... get a life and than the good Lord you moved.

Goingnuts-before you make critical comments about anyone you should make sure you are on firm ground. Some of my efforts, while in M-F include:

*A charter member of the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council;
*Member-Agribusiness committee, Milton-Freewater Area Chamber of Commerce;
*Successfully organized a Neighbor Watch Program after a drive-by shooting a block from my house;
*Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected childern;
*Member, Mac-Hi Talented and Gifted (TAG) Citizen's Committee;
Adviser, M-F Foundation Horticulture Scholarship Committee;
Member, USFWS Bull Trout Recovery Team.

Yes, I proudly live in a "rrink dink little town" where family, hard work, and God are still priories and elders are respected. Most of the kids are in sports, 4-H and FFA. We don't have gangs and all of the garbage that goes with them. There is no graffiti. Locals leave their chainsaws in the back of their pickups all winter. When it is really cold shoppers leave their vehicles running on the streets and parking lots and when they finish their shopping their vehicles are still there. Why would I not want to live here? Also, my taxes are a lot less, which is important when living on a fixed income.

Now, goingnuts, let me know what you have done or are doing to make your community a better place.

Goingnuts-I'm anxiously awaiting your response to my post of Aug 06, 2009. Perhaps you have completed the journey of going nuts and you are now completely nuts and aren't capable of responding?