Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1954)
LIBRARY U OF 0 EUGENE, ORE. SHmetf Copies 10 cents Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, August 5, 1954 71st Year, Number 21 STATE WITHHOLDS SUPPORT MONEY HEPPNER SCHOOL DISTRICT Funds FROM Release Of Dependent On Start Of Building Program The Heppner school board re ceived notice last Friday from the state board of education that it is withholding state basic school support funds from the district because it had not met state re quirements in providing proper educational facilities in the HePp ner schools. The funds would have been distributed on August 1. The state money which last year amounted to over $49,000, and which has been budgted at $50,500 for the 1954-55 school year, amounts to nearly one fourth of the total budget for the district. The notification came in a let ter from Walter O. Shold, super intcndent of elementary educa tion, who said in part. ". . . The recent plan of improvement re ceived in our office represents a possible solution to the problems confronting the district but the plan has not had time to mater ialize; therefore, basic school sup port funds will be withheld pend ing further developments." The plan referred to in Mr, Shold's letter is one recently de velnped by the board to build a new elementary building on the Prock-Devine property north of the present school building. According to available informa tion, if the district gets a plan of expansion developed and ap proved by the voters of the dis trict within a reasonable length of time (estimated at about 8 months), it will not ultimately lose the state money that is now being withheld. Should, how ever, the district fail to get an acceptable plan underway during that period the state money would belost completely to the district. An election seeking approval of the Prock-Devin site is set for August Hi but it is doubtful that even should it receive voter ap proval, that will satisfy the state department, as the district already has one site approved (The Tum-A-Lum) though voters rejected a bond issue to build there. Apparently an approved bond issue and the start of actual construction on a new building Is the requirement the district must meet before it can regain the state funds. Board Meets Friday Tlie board met last Friday night in a special meeting with A. L. Beck, from the state de partment and Stewart Tufft, one of the district's architects, in an attempt to work out a building program for the Prock-Devin site that will be acceptable to the state and that might be approved by the people. ' Beck indicated that the sight would be usable if some additional land now belong ing to Kemp Dick and W. O. George were included in the area, if all, or at least a portion of Hin- ton creek which flows through the plot, were culverted; the street sides of the land fenced; and ar rangements made to close D street to through traffic during school hours, or some other method of controlling traffic were developed. Beck also said that a multipurpose room must be in- ciunea in tne new Duiieang so that youngsters would have their own covered recreational area and would not have to constantly cross the street to reach the pre sent gymnasium. Tufft has prepared rough draw ings for a 12 room and multi-pur pose room building for the site which would be built in two levels to take advantage of the natural slope of the ground. No definite cost figures on the site and building will be prepared until after the August 14 election as the board felt that it would be a useless expense until it was .certain that the voters would ap prove the location. Tufft did in dicate, however, that a two-level building could possibly be built somewhat cheaper than a build ing of similar size all on one level due to construction savings. Fund Loss Could Hurt The board at its Friday meeting did not go into a discussion of what action it might take should it ultimately lose the state basic school money. Members expres sed the hope that the people will approve some plan of expansion before the money Is entirely lost to the district. The district was warned by the state board, immediately follow ing the recent bond election that was voted down, that if some immediate plan was not ap proved, the district could lose its state aid money. The decision to withhold it was made just prior to August l, at which time a por tion of the year's funds are dis tributed to the various districts in the state who qualify. The withholding will not cause any Immediate difficulty in the school's operation, it was pointed out, as the district has a fairly sizeable cash-on-hand fund. Should the money not be forth coming within two or three months, however, t h e board could be forced to operate on a warrant basis. Actual loss of the money would necessitate either a special tax levy In the district to make up the lost funds or a drastic reduction in the school program which would probably mean the elimination of all bus transportation, hot lunch pro gram and other functions. Site Vote August n The board called attention to the next site election which will be held on August 14 and will seek voter approval of the Prock- Devin area and small portions of tne Dick and George property as the location of the new building. The election will be held at the school from 4 to 9 o'clock. No bond Issue question will ap pear on the ballot, as the neces sary amount has not been deter-, mined and it must be settled at a separate election. -), w iji iiai 1 1 1 n hi maypijimMiM r- . ... JACK C. FLUG, new county school superintendent who took over his duties here Wednesday. New County School Superintendent Takes Over Duties Essenpreis Rites Held Here Tuesday Funeral services for Mrs. Ge neva Gorger Essenpreis, 45, were held Tuesay, August 3 at St. Pat rick's church in Heppner. Rev. Francis McCormack officiated. Mrs. Essenpreis passed away July 30 at her home north of Linwood, Wash. Mrs. Essenpreis was born in the Willamette valley but was reared in the Lexington vicinity here she attended school. She had not lived in this area for several years. She is survived by her husband Ernest; two sisters, Mrs. Leo Coo sey, Hillsboro; three brothers, Henry and Leo Gorger of Pendle ton and Joe Gorger of Napa, Calif. Interment was in the Heppner Masonic cemetery. o - Jack C. Flug, recently appointed county school superintendent, arrived in Heppner last weekend and took over his duties here August 1. He replaces Leslie Grant, who resigned to enter the insurance business in Arlington. Flug, who comes here from Reedsport, Ore. where he served for 10 years as superintendent of schools and administrative prin cipal, has been in the education field nearly all of his life. He came to Oregon from Watertown S. Dak., where he had taueht for 15 years. He is a graduate of St Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. and has taken graduate work at the University of Minnesota, Eau Claire State Teachers College, Eau Claire, Wis., Northwestern University Minot State Teachers College; Minot N. Dak.; and the University of Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Flug have three daughters and four sons, three of whom are at home. Their three daughters are married, and they nave one son who Is in the Ma rines. The have moved into the Van Schoiack house on Gale street. One Pound, HV2 Oz. Baby Dies Thursday, Lives Three Days A one pound, 14V2 ounce boy, the smallest baby ever born at Pioneer Memorial hospital, died early Thursday morning. He was born Sunday to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Wilkerson of Hermiston. The tiny baby, named Patrick Rural Fires, Street Closing, Animals Problems of City Routine business took up most of the city council's time at the regular monthly meeting Mon day nignt, as mey ntarn a dis cussion of a possible street closure request, passed one ordinance governing the keeping of artirnals within the city limits, discussed the use of fire' equipment for rural fires and OKd the extermi nation of rats at the city dump. Ed Dick, chairman of the loea school board explained to the council the possible need for the closure of D street to traffic dur ing school hours if a proposed school building plan on land ad jacent to the street develops. No decision was taken until the building plan is definitely decid ed. The council accepted the offer of Harold Dobyns of lone to ex terminate the rats at the city dump which are beginning to bother residents near there. He will start immediately on the first poisoning and will continue the program on a regular basis. The dump has been posted, and residents are warned that the poisons used are dangerous to other animals too, and all dogs cats, ere, snouia De kept away from the area. Rural Fires Talked The council discussed at length the use of Heppnef's fire equip ment in fighting rural fires. It was pointed out that such use has been prohibited in the past, not because of lack of desire on the part of the city to aid farmers, but because the city could be held liable should the equipment be needed in town at the same time it was in use in the country. It was also pointed out that the residents of Heppner support the fire department through taxes, which are not assessed against rural residents, and logically the fire equipment must be kept available for emergency within the city limits. The city does answer fire calls o me neppner LumDer company Tn secon(1 of 1his war-s roval because of a mutual-aid agree- C()Urt 1o be prespnted at a dance, IS year old Princess Janet is the ' W .frflW ;?;V; Vtf Cr tif K to ; V iviS ' s - i - I ' 1 ; I ' ' - x " ' f : 1 . , ; . ., I i 1 , f' ' , I I " ' ' ' ' ' 1 - ": C ; ' ' Princess Janet Howton of lone Princess Janet's Dance To be Held at lone Ionc's rrincess Janet Howton will he tlie guest of honor Satur day night at the second of the cries of Morrow county Fair and Rodeo dances to be held at the lone Legion hall. She is being sponsored by the Willows Grange and her dance is under its man agement. ment in which the mill will send men and equipment into town when needed, and frequently the department responds to calls just outside the city limits when the exact location is not certain. The council suggests that if rural residents near here were in terested in forming a rural fire protection district, it would be Harley, was three months pre-1 lad to contract with the district mature, and was given a fair chance for survival until .Wednes day night when it appeared to be losing ground in his fight for life. The infant had been kept j in an air lock in the hospital, but MISSIONARY SPEAKS Rev.A. Walker Hall, missionary at the time of his death plans were being made to fly him to to China and Cuba, spoke last Thursday evening at the Assem bly 'of God church and told of more than 16 years of labor in those countries. He was accom panied by a son, Cecil, 12. Rev. Walker also showed slides of the work. He stated that he with his family expect to go to Hawaii in September for a year of labor, and from there to China. Doernbecher hospital in Portland where it would haev been easier to care for him. The survival chances for such a small baby are usually very slim, doctors said. Mr. and Mrs. Easton Void of Spokane were over night guests Friday at the Tom Wilson home. - , i - ' v .... , .1 BRIDGES AGAIN I This Ponticc owned and driven by I. H. Cornell- son, Lexington, came out second best when it struck a wooden nignway Driage aDout 5 miles below Heppner last Sunday after noon. According to police, Cornelison said that he was blinded by the sun and could not see the bridge until he struck it The1 car carried across the structure, taking parts of it along, and then stopped against the side of another car which was parked off the road awaiting an opportunity to turn around. The second vu wu, WwUCO Dy noo nwa. ana was driven by Charles Bailey. , grass blaze burning along No one was Injured. (GT Photo) tracks. I to nrnvide nrnnnr firf nrntivtinn x j . . . . ..-.v . housing of equipment and neces sary manpower. Such a move would have to be instigated by the out-of-town residents them selves, it was pointed out, but they would in effect, have their own fire department with equip ment properly designed to do the most good in rural areas. Hepp ner's equipment is designed pri marily for use within the city where there are water mains. The council authorized a con tract with Columbia Basin Elec-. trie coop to provie power in the city's upper wells, so that pump ing could be done by electricity rather than by deisel power, as at present. Substantial savings are expected. Ordinance No. 341 was ap proved by the group which pro hibits the keeping of cattle, sheep, horses, poultry, rabbits or goats within the city limits with out permit. The council also agreed to in vestigate a request by Tunnison and Wiilson, local logging con tractors, that they be allowed to install gasoline and deisel tanks and pumps on the city park pro perty adjacent to buildings which they are now using as a shop. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Howton, lone ranchers. The dark haired, hazel-eyed -princess is a recent graduate of lone high school where she was named Salutatorian because of her high scholastic standing. She was born in Spokane, Wash., coming here with her par ents seven years ago. She is an accomplished horsewoman and places riding as her first choice Two Grass Fires Cause No Damage Heppner firemen answered two alarms during the past week, both of them to extinguish grass fires which did no damage. The first call from the Percy Cox residence in southeast Hepp ner last Thursday afternoon when sparks from a trash barrel ignited surrounding grass. Sunday after noon they made a run to the Union Pacific depot to control a the More Requests For Continuance of Ferry Received Here The county court Wednesday received another petition giving the court the signers' moral sup port and expressing hope that some means could be found to keep Patcrson ferry operating alter completion of the new Uma tilla bridge. The petitions bore the names of well over 100 per sons, all of them residents of the state of Washington. The court has been considering some means of possibly purchas ing the ferry through the issu ance of revenue bonds, but so far no workable plan hasvleveloped. The court recently received an option from the operators of the ferry, but were unable to accept it clue to certain provisions which required the payment of $3,000 to hold the option while the county made arrangements for the fi nancing. The option was return ed to the operators with recom mended changes, but no word has yet been received from them. The court has previously re ceived several petitions bearing several hundred names, request ing the county to take some ac tion to keep the ferry operating. The company handling the fi nancing for the Umatilla bridge has attempted In the past to pur chase the ferry operation with an eye toward discontinuing service when the bridge is completed. Many residents of Morrow county as well as interested persons in Washington have protested against elimination of the ferry link between the two states. for sports. She also enjoys train ing horses and will appear in the rodeo on her own bay thorobred Major, which she broke herself. Her other hobbies include swim ming and dancing and, as she puts it, "any spoil." For the past five years she has aided her father during harvest by driving truck. Princess Janet's school activi ties were many and varied in cluding serving four years as cdass treasurer and two years as student body treasucr; she was named Salutatorian and was active in dramatics. She also has a record of seven years In 411 work with her major inter ests being fat beef, horseman ship, cooking and sewing. As soon as the hustle and work and fun of the rodeo Is over, Princess Janet will start pack ing to leave for Forest Grove, where she plans to enter Pacific University this fall. Duke Warner and his orchestra will provide the music for Prin cess Janet's dance. Final Approyal Received For Hospital Contract The county court received word early this week from the public health service that the recent contract with McCormack Con struction company of Pendleton for the building of a new addi tion to Pioneer Memorial hospital, was acceptable to the service and that the contract has been signed. The court has notified the con tractor of the acceptance and said that Mr. McCormack indicated that his company will start im mediately, probably todav, on the excavation for the new wine Work is expected to proceed rapidly as the bid called for com pletion of the project within Kit) working days. McConiiaek won the contract with a low bid of $100 71)9 Henry Schwarz, 84, Long-Time HepDncr Resident, Succumbs Funeral services for Henrv Schwarz, 81, a long-time resident of Heppner, were held Wednes day at the Heppner Methodist church wilh Rev. Lester Boulden ifficiating. lie passed awav August 2 following a king illness. flir. Schwarz was born in Wuttenbuig, Germanv. Julv .m 1870 and settled first in Iowa on coming to America. After livimr in the midwest for several years, he moved to the Willamette val- ey where he operated meat mar kets in Corvallis and Monroe. lie une to Heppner in 1913 where he operated a butcher business, the Peonies Market until loon xcept for a short period whim he farmed in the Cottonwood area of Gilliam county. After retiring from the meat business, Mr. Schwarz worked for the. county for about 12 vears until hpalth recd him to retire completely. lie is survived by his widow. Minnie of Heppner; two sons, Leonard D Heppner and William of The Dalles; one brother, red of Milwaukie, Ore.; two sis ters, Mrs. Anna Rotzein and Mrs. Marie Baker both of Salem; and Hir grandsons. Pallbearers were C. J. D. Bau- man, Oive Rasmus, Frank Tur ner, J. O. Turner, R. B. Ferguson. nd Charles Vaughn. Interment was in the Heppner Masonic cemetery with Creswick nd Seuell Mortuary in charge of arrangements. 'Hopper Control Planned in County Fair Premium Lists Going in Mail; Judges Are Named Premium lists for the Morrow county fair will be in the m til this weekend to all past exhibi tors, N. C. Anderson county a,;'Miti announced today. The books are now being re ceived from the printers and as fast as they can be addressed they will be sent to ever one on the regular mailing list, he said. Anyone who does not receive a book, and who wishes one, may obtain it at Anderson's office for the asking. The names of judges for the various fair divisions were re vealed today by Anderson who said that Joe Johnson, assistant professor of animal husbandry at OSC will judge 4-H and open cioss livestock and contests. Others include: L. J. Marks, Wheeler county agent, saddle horse show; E. M. Nelson, Wasco county agent, hor ticulture, crops, woo and poul try; Mrs. John B. Alexander, Pen dleton, and Mrs. H. J. Campbell, La Grande, open class home eco nomics; Mrs. Russell McKennon, Pendleton, 4-H and open class home economics; Mrs. Ken Tillef sen, Hermistjn, 411 home economics. Judges for the North Morrow county fair at Boardman will be announced later. With widespread grasshopper infestations being reported in southeastern Morrow county, ranchers took steps this week for a control program to protect range and crops as well as to de stroy grasshoppers before egg laying time. Ranchers in the Buttercreek area began negotiations wilh air plane operators for spraying ap plication on several hundred acres which are infested. Bureau of Entomology and grasshopper control officials including the extension entomologist from Ore gon State College, are expected to spend Thursday with county ex tension agent, N. C. Anderson, in making a preliminary survey and preparation for the spraying pro gram. Arrangements are expect ed to be completed by Friday for application with Bill While, Pen- j dleton, being low bidder for ap ! plication at this time, j Aldrin, a relatively new chemi ; cal, which has proved very suc cessful in grasshopper control work throughout the county will be applied. Applications consist of two ounces of Aldrin, applied in one gallon diesel per acre. Anderson reported that kills continue over a period of from 10 days to 3 weeks from this chemi cal and that entire areas of range and bottom land need not be sprayed since migrating grass hoppers will be killed when they come in contact wilh sprayed areas. Ranchers in Balm Fork and Rhea Creek areas are expect ed to spray too, if a survey of its infestations warrant. MOVE TO KENNEWICK Mrs. Frank Baker left early this week for Kennewick, Wash., where she and Mr. Baker will make their home. He is employed on the Hanford project. Mr. an Mrs. Baker have just completed the construction of a new home in Kennewick, and plan to rent their home on Center street.