Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1966)
LIBRARY U OF 0 EUGENE, ORE 97403 Property Taxes to Hold Near Last Ye ar's Level ' mm. , 1 y 1 . x V' T ' . I. . . MICROWAVE RECEIVERS, uit Installed In the Heppner TV re celvlng itatlon on the hill wnl ol town. reprent a consider able Investment by Oregon Telecommunications. Inc., which will bring microwave TV hero under contract. says Carl Spauld Ing. Happner TV manager, shown examining the equipment Bar ring unforeseen difficulties, microwave television may bo in op eration hero in about two weeks. (G-T Photo by Spike Pardee). Microwave TV Nearing For Heppner Viewers With good luck, microwave television to Heppner homes through thr ruble system of lli'l'i'ii'T TV may bo n rcnllty within two Wfi-ks, Curl Spauld InK, mnnnn'T of the cubic ti-m. Mid Monday. h'(iulmrnl was hclnt; , Install itl 111 Ik W(Mk, Inrludlnu a bis ri-ivptlon "dLsh", mvlvcrs una remolultor In thu m-w rocelv Int; Klailon on top of the hill wvst of the city. By Tupiulay, thin nd of the vii'in wj prptty well prepar ed for a trial run, but work wm -H to bo done at CJoodnoc lllll. nrar Arllnk'ton, which will rcluy KlunaU from IMrtland to Hrppni'r.. The nilcrowuvo nyslem cornea throuKh Oreon Teletmmunl iatlon. Inc., and Spauldina said that the Heppner iastalla tlon represont.i about un $S). txjo InveMtment for the firm, which alno Mipplles microwave television to a number of other it lest In Kustern CreKn, In liudltiR La Grande and Baker. Heppner TV will have an in vestment of about $ti.50. iiuiud Iiik cost of the wnall concrete bulldlnK. The cable system manaRer cautioned that the microwave equipment l delicate and "tern-jM-rumental" and thut It rould take some time to Ret It In proper adjustment before feed ln it throuKh the cable sys tem. If some eiulpment should malfunction, It may be neces sary to cull In an expert from another purt of the country to et It In proM-r operation, he Maid. Therefore, the public should not be disappointed If micro wave Is not forthcomlns as soon as is hoM;d. The cable system here contracts with OreRon tel. communication!! for the service on a monthly fee basis. Portland Channels Coming The new system promises to furnish class A pictures irom Portland over four channels. Under the now system, channel 2 (KATU) will bo viewed over channel 2 here; rhannrt 6 i KOIN I will come over channel Ci channel 8 IKGW) will come over channel 4; and channel 10 the educational 1 channel, and share KPTV I'linnnei . ; ,.. nrrlixi nnlv late at nleht and on week-ends when '. h,u.i..'niinnnl channel is off the educational cuum" ,hJL",r-,... A nlcturc means tha reception should be at least as goon as " iq 1 Tkkpr) celved from channel 19 vK"kj, paw. on channel 4 here. Under he new plan, KEPR will not be received locally. nce the networks will all be covered by the Portland stations. Wasco Translators Down Recent loss of pictures from KGW-TV, KOIN TV. and KATU TV. Portland., was due to the fact that the Wasco translator was shut down, Spauldlng said. Service was discontinued there at least temporarily when local people In that area failed to give necessary financial support for operation of the translator. Signals are picked up from the translator, not by cable, but by antennae on sets in the area, and there Is a difficult problem of enforcing any payment of fees for support of the translat or. The drastic action was a step to get this support. Hennnor TV has been picking up the Portland signals from the translator, although because of distance Involved, the signals ' i i J ure erratic and undefendable. When the translator went off the air. this meant the lost of the Portland stations here, but they will be restored when the microwave Installation is com pleted. and the local cable sys tern will no lotiKer rely on the Wm system for the relay. When the shutdown came, Heppner TV restored KNUU, Hlchland. to channel 2. replac Ins KATU. When microwave is a reality here. It will end a lohR period of waiting for the service. Ap proval bv the Federal Communi cations Commission took many months, and a proposed FCC dir ective that would have prohib ited the viewing of channels from more distant points In areas served by closer stations was headed off when a storm of protest rose around the coun try. Portland Hunter Dies on Saturday Of Heart Attack Isadore Cohen, 52, of Portland, 'hoi a huck Saturday afternoon In the Wilson Creek area some 18 miles south of Heppner, but he had little time to enjoy it. He died of a heart attack as he and a companion, Richard l.owry. also of Portland, start ed to skin out the kill at their camp. lxiwrv went to the Larry Gen try place on Rhea Creek and called Sweeney Mortuary. The body wrs brought to the mortu ary before being taken to Port land for services. Death occurred probably be tween 2:30 and 3 p.m. Satur day, Sweeney said. It was un derstood that Cohen had a his toiv of heart trouble. It was believed that he was employed as a meat cutter by a market In Portland. Edward Holman and Son, Portland, was In charge of ar rangements for funeral services which were Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Interment was In Willam ette National cemetery. Straub Expected Here October 17 Robert Straub, Democra t i c candidate for governor, will be In Hconner Monday evening. October 17, according to Orvllle Cutsforth, campaign chairman here for the candidate. A dinner will be held In the Wagon Wheel banquet room, and a public meeting will fol low at 8 p.m. Everyone is in vlted to come to the meeting and get acquainted with him. WEATHER By don giluam Official weather report for the week of September 29-October 5 Is as follows: HI Low Thursday 78 51 , Friday 75 38 Saturday 84' 44 Sunday 67 46 Monday 68 36 Tuesday 73 38 Prec. .36 Wednesday 78 41 '1 -a " '.'.v4 . " ' - :; j 83rd Year THE GAZETTE-TIMES Heppner, Oregon 97836, Thursday, October City Council Passes An ti-Litter Law Heppner' city council passed the "antl-lltter" ordinance at Its third and final reading, ap proved the zonlnjt ordinance's first reading, and considered possible chance In the city charter at the regular monthly meeting Monday night. The ordinance against litter ing provides a fine of not less than 15 nor more than $100, or a jail sentence of not less than two days nor more than 50 days, or both, for those found guilty of scattering any type of debris or trash on either public or pri vate proiierty. First reading of the ordinance audit of the city's records and WEARY FIRE CHIEF Charles Ruggles, wearing protective glasses, looked like a man from Mars alter the Elks Tem ple lire in May, 1962. (G-T Photo) Charles Ruggles Resigns Position As Fire Chief Fire Chief Charles Ruggles will soon end his service as a "smoke eater" after being a vol unteer fireman for 37 years. He tendered his resignation to the city council at the Mon day night meeting and asked that It he effective no later than January 1. 17. The council accepted the let ter with reluctance and immed iately cast about for a replace ment. The fire committee will consult with Chief Ruggles and members of the department to seek a new head for the vol unteer department. Ruggles, whose Insurance bus iness is located almost direct ly across the street from the city fire station, has been chief here for about 16 years. It was in January, 19-18, within a week after he moved to Heppner, that he fought his first fire in this city. The worst blaze In his recol lection was the fire of July 18, 19-19, that destroyed grain ele vators of Morrow County Grain Growers here with total loss, including nearby buildings, of $000,000. Probably the second worst fire was that which gutted the Elks Temple in downtown Heppner on May 11, 19H2. Chief Ruggles said in his let ter to the council that his res ignation Is "due to business and personal" reasons. He said later, In elaboration, that he is quitting on Instruction of his physician. He first started as volunteer fireman at the age of 18 and was a fireman at Moro and oth er places before coming to Heppner. Because the living quarters of Mr. and Mrs. Ruggles adjoins their business and because the location is so close to city hall and the fire station, It has been ah ideal situation. All fire calls could be handled through the one central location, and Mrs. Ruggles has devoted freely of her time to stand by and take and receive calls while the de partment was answering alarms. And how is an old "fire horse" going to restrain him self from answering the call when the fire horn blows dur ing the night after January 1? "Well, for a while I'm sure I'll have trouble staying In bed," he said, a little remorsefully. "StWJ ft, " on zoning followed the recent public hearing at which no one appeared. The ordinance must be presented twice more at en suing council meetings before it can tecome city law. Possibility of charter changes came up after Allan Langen waiter, C.P.A.. of Hermlston gave a report to the council on the made recommendations. He suggested that the coun cil consider offering an amend ment to the charter for vote of the people that would make the position of city recorder appoint ive rather than elective. Lang- enwalter pointed out that he felt the council, working close ly with the recorder. Is In a better position to choose a cap able person for the office than leaving the matter to an elec tion. He also felt that once a competent recorder is on the Job, it should not be necessary for the person to seek to con tinue his position by running as a candidate lor reelection. To Review Charter City Attorney Bob Abrams concurred in the suggestion and added that the city should consider proposing other charter change. Abrams said that he felt It didn't seem right to have some city officers elected for four-year terms, as councilmen are, and have some elected for two-year terms, as the recorder, treasurer and mayor are. Abams asked the council for permission to do more research on the charter. He suggested that It should be compared with the model charter prepared by the League oC0.egon- Cttie with an idea Of -bringing the entire document up to date, rather than doing it "piece meal." Langenwalter reported that the books and records of the city are In "very good shape" and commended Elaine George, city recorder, for excellent work done. He also said that Mrs. Ernest McCabe, treasurer, is doing a very good job. The auditor had only two other comments to make on the city's business. He said that the state tax street fund is accum ulating more funds than are necessary and that the sewer fund is now "beginning to car ry Its own weight" after sewer fees were raised. This is reliev Ing the burden on the water fund, he said. Sidewalk Repairs Set It was reported at the meet ing that all but two of the let ters sent by the city advising some property owners to repair sidewalks have brought replies. The city had ordered that ar rangements for making the re pairs be made by September 15, or the city would do the work and file liens for the costs against the properties. On the two who were not heard from, it was voted to pro ceed with the repairs and file liens for the costs. Agreement Reached It was also announced that the city and the Parker Corpor atlon have reached an agree ment on an easement across the Parker property west of town for a water main that will ex- tend to the high school. The city will pay $100 for the ease ment. The Parkers asked the city to consider supplying water to the Fred Hoskins residence just north of the city limits. The council, aware of the increasing demands on the system inside the city, did not act on this matter as yet, even though the proposed customer would be willing to buy the water sub ject to prior use by those with in the city ana conttning tne consumption of water to the residence only. Mayor Clarence Rosewall an nounced that the general elec tion for city offices will be No vember 8. and the council ap proved giving the usual notices of election and set fees to be paid members of the election board at $5 each. Jail Report Given Chief of Police Dean Gilman reported on a visit to the new Malheur county jail In Vale in connection with the joint city county committee's work to see what can be done about im proving jail facilities here. Gil man made the trip with Sher iff C. J. D. Bauman and State Officer Curtis Culp. The Vale jail is much larger than would be needed here, he said, and it provides for max imum security. It can house 52 prisoners and at the time of the (Continued on page 8) 6, 1966 " , " " -.' ' !' ' - ' " .'.-' ' ? F V "' A' . X- ,.. -: . . - ., . 1 r " 9tU.JSM WHEN JIM JACOBS. Heppner the Mustangs, this is what opposing tackier see. Jim, who has been troubled with injuries some this year, expect to be in the starting lineup against Bums here Friday night (See Story Page 6) (G-T Photo by Spike Pardee). Heppner Lumber To Shut Down; Market Blamed Heppner Lumber Company sawmill will shut down follow ing the close of work Friday, J. B. (Barney) Malcom, presi dent of the company, has an nounced. The closure will be for an in definite period and is due to a depressed lumber market blam ed on the nation's "tight mon ey" situation, Malcom said. Most of those employed In the sawmill here will be offered work at the Spray sawmill of Heppner Lumber Company. The plant at Spray will work two shifts and will employ some 30 men. Malcom said that he can ef fect certain economies by oper ating the Spray plant two shifts rather than to operate each of the mills on one shin He said that he has green logs to cut at Spray as compared to the dead timber available here, rand the logging supply situa tion is better at the Spray op eration Planer of the Heppner Lum ber Co. here will continue to operate. Malcom said that the plant here has operated continuously since it started eight years ago except for temporary shutdowns due to severe weather condit ions or similar circumstances. The operation has previously weathered depressed mar k e t conditions. "If and when the market picks up, we will start again," Malcom said. lone Lions Slate Broom Sale Soon lone Liens club will hold Its annual broom sale, on Wednes day and Thursday, October 12 and 13, it is announced by Ted Falmateer of the club. Men of the club plan to go from dour to door in the sale, expecting: to cover Heppner Wednesday, October 12, and Lexington and lone the follow ing night. They will have both regular brooms and whisk brooms for sale. The project is carried on cooperatively with Oregon In dustries for the Blind, and pro ceeds are shared between the blind and the . Lions. In the latter cse the funds are used for civic projects. Number 32 5PPNER 10 cents High fullback packs the ball fort Ballots Printed; Saturday Deadline For Registering Ballots for the general elec tion, to be on November 8, were printed by the Gazette Times Saturday and were de livered to Mrs. Sadie Parrish, Morrow county clerk. Con spicuously missing from the ballot was the 1 property tax limitation measure, ruled off by the courts. Sample ballots will be available to voters from now until election time at the clerk's office in the court house. A final reminder is given that Saturday, October 8, is the final deadline for register ing. For the convenience of late registrants, the clerk's office will be open Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Any who are in doubt as to whether they are properly reg istered should check with Mrs. Parrish. PTA Sets Dinner For High School Staff, Parents Heppner High school parents will welcome this year's high school teaching staff with a potluck dinner on Wednesday, October 12. at 6:30 p.m. In the high school cafetorium, accord ing to announcement by Mrs. Marshall Lovgren, high school PTA president. Parents are asked to bring dishes on the following plan: senior parents, salads; junior parents, vegetable and potato dishes; sophomore parents, meats and hot dishes; freshmen parents, desserts. Urgent PTA business will be the subject of a short PTA meet ing at 8 p.m. after which Prin cipal Dick Carpenter will intro duce the teachers to tne group, and there will be time for the guests to visit. Those who cannot be there for the dinner will be most wel come for the later part of the evening. ;; PFC. MONAGLE HOME Pfc. Larry Monagle is home on two-weeks iurlough Irom his army training at Ft Sill, Okla., and will be visiting nis parents, Mr. and Mrs- Charles Monagle, He will leave to return to his base on October 15, where he is training with the 73rd Light Maintenance company. Only 2 Areas Top 60 Mills For 1966-67 With the aid of some 53 mills In state relief, property taxes in Morrow county for 1966-67 will stay at about the same lev el as those for 1965-66, Rod Thomson, assessor, said after completing compilation of the assessment roll this week. The greatest increase In any code area is 2.9 mills in area 10-2. near Irrigon, where taxes will be 40.6 mills for the com ing year as compared with 37.7 for 1965-66. However, 17 of the county's 20 code areas show increases of from one-tenth mill to the 2.9 mills. Three code areas show de creases. One rural section near Irrigon (10-1) will be down 2.7 mills, to 435 for the coming year. The code area in the City of Irrigon (10-3) will go down 3.1 mills to 51.7, and in the City of Boardman (Code area 25-1), the decrease will be 8.7 mills, bringing It down to 48.0 from the 56.7 of last year. A factor In the decrease in Boardman Is the increased val uation there. Assessment roll shows valuation this year to be $263,909 with the new town de veloping, as compared with on ly $113,336 last year before the development was well under way. Only Two Areas Top 60 Mills Interesting enough, only two code areas In the county exceed the 60 mills that Is considered to be the dividing line where the proposed 1 property tax limitation would take effect had it been approved for the Novem ber general election ballot and then passed by the voters. Only Heppner and lone exceed 60 mills in taxes. Heppner's millage for all taxing bodies levying to property owners with in the city lim i ts totals 66.4. This is an increase of only 3 mill over 1965-66, and theoret ically would have put the to tal taxes within the city 6.4 mills over the 11 limit In lone, the millage for the coming year is 72.9 or 12.9 ov er the theoretical limit. Taxes there will be up 5 of a mill over the 72.4 of last year. . "Our tax picture is actually one of the best In " the state." Thomson said after compiling the roll. He pointed out trjat Wheeler and Gilliam counties have somewhat lower levies but added that the counties do not offer as many services as Mor row does. State Tax Belief Up Property tax relief from the state coming to Morrow county tor 1966-67 will be 5126.845. un from $96,875 last year, the as sessor pointed out. This is the county taxpayers' share or the total of $18,285,083 surplus fund earmarked for such relief around the state. It benefits all taxpayers in the county by 5.3 mills, lust one mill more than the 4.3 mills of relief last year. in addition, personal proper ty taxpayers will receive bene fit from the state to the tune of 8 to apply against Inven tory taxes. Another state bene fit comes in the form ot senior citizens' relief, which will be $2,754.72 for 1966-67. This is practically the same as last year, Thomson said. Morrow county s toiat taxaDie value for the year is figured at S24.125.082. after exemptions. This is an Increase of $694,032 over the previous year. Personal Property Climbs Personal property (before ex emptions) shows an increase to $3,297,150 from $2,871,840 for 1965-66. Real property (before exemptions) shows an increase of $393,460. going to $18,4U, 260 from $18,014,800. Accounting for much of the $425,310 increase in personal oroDertv valuation are mcreasea farm machinery and equipment, going to $1,213,510 from $1,087, 840, increases in livestock, par ticularly cattle, going to $814,- 090 from $677,995, and in other machi n e r y and equipment, reaching $826,100 as compared with $675,390 for 1965-66. Number of cattle is placedVat 33,844 as compared with 31,993 for 1965-66. Horses and mules are up to 893 from 840; sheep and goats are up to 15,893 as compared with 14,871; but swine is down to only 77 as compared with 104 last year; and poultry down to 5,503 as compared with 12,552 last year. Public utilities assessment is down somewhat from last year dropping to $2,622,772, as com pared with $2,643,350 for 1965 66. Agencies "Hold Line' The fact that taxes will re main at near the same level as last year indicates that taxing bodies adhered pretty much to their policies of "holding the line", imposing no great de mands for increases. Taxes imposed by cities for city purposes are an example. In Boardman, taxes for city purposes dropped to 6.5 mills as compared with 16.1 levied there last year, but again, the in crease in valuation is a factor. In Heppner. the tax for city pur poses will be down .1 mill, de creasing to 15.4 from 15.5. lone (Continued on page 8)