Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1973)
THE HUME permits Vol. 90, No. 43 Heppner, Ore., Thursday, Dec. 13, 1973 15c buildoimg Merlin Stone wins Circuit Judge Henry Kaye, Pendleton, overturned a Nov. 6 finding of Justice of the Peace Charles O'Connor here Tuesday, and remanded the defendant back to Justice Court for retrial "if one is necessary." The defendant, Merlin Stone, 37, Hardman, was accused of criminal mischief in the third degree after he allegedly tore an aerial from a parked car last August. At the time of his arraign ment Stone had asked for a public defender. He was advised by Judge O'Connor that he would have to engage an attorney to represent him because the public defender for Morrow County had pre vious commitments. When Stone appeared for trial Nov. 6, he was late due to snow conditions. He also refused to enter a plea of Al Bunch, livestock Grower of ihe . j i:... ' i ' 'tA i.n hiiiu tn imnrnve Rrnwers Association and a By MARC1A BEDORTHA Don't tell Al Bunch that black isn't beautiful. His 150 head of Black Angus cattle has Grower of the Year" award from - the Morrow County Livestock Growers organization. Students produce own holiday musical play "The Meaning of Christmas." a musical play written by Heppner Grade School students, will be presented to the public Tuesday. Dec 18. 7:30 p.m., in the grade school gym. Vocal music, band and drama students m grades 1 through 8 will appear in the production. Selections the band will play, under the direction of Jim Acklev will be "Jingle Bells." "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." "White Christmas" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." , ... The vocals groups, conducted by Bob Jespersen, will present "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Caroling Caroling and three spirituals. Mrs Cathy Terney will direct the drama students. The community is invited to attend. No admission will be charged v guilty or not guilty, and was not represented by counsel. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 100 days in jail, which was suspended. He was ordered not to leave the state without the court's permission and was to refrain from any criminal action in the future. Stone's difficulties with the court were complicated by his Vandals hit Intruders rifled several postal boxes at the lone post office last Sunday, according to the postmaster, Mrs. Char les O'Connor. Letters, some containing checks, had been ripped open, torn and thrown into the office wastebaskets. Some checks may have been stolen, but no proof has been established at Bunch was honored recently at the Farm-City Banquet for his outstanding livestock management practices. Black cattle and good man- aeement have always plaved an important part of Bunch's life. Born the son of an Angus man in Missouri, he learned to love the breed. Along with his In If X , V II-: V: iT" V vA V -I VI Beauty is where you find it. A busy spider weaves his pattern of delicate filament as busy Heppnerites prepare for their own "miracle rf Christmas."5':" i : reirial inability to read or write. Judge Kaye in overturning the lower court's verdict ruled that any person is entitled to counsel, regardless of the cost to the county or state. "Everything should be done for the defendant, regardless of the case," Judge Kaye said. "This is an exceptional case, not a rule-of -thumb case." at lone this time by postal authorities investigating the incident. The vandal's apparently en tered the post office lobby some time Sunday afternoon. Mrs. O'Connor and a postal employee, Mrs. Mary Holtz, discovered the break-in when they arrived for work Monday morning. 11 brothers and one sister, Bunch was raised with good livestock management. His love for the Angus was sidelined when he joined the Air Force in World War II and spent five years, during which time he met and married the daughter of a Hereford breeder from lone, Betty Mankin. Even though Mankins were Hereford lovers, Bunch de cided to join his father-in-law in cattle and wheat operation north of lone. The Hereford and Angus men not only got along, but they worked together to Mor row County's Outstanding Soil Conservationist Award in 1952. It wasn't until 1954 that Bunch broke loose and started raising the black cattle. His first ranch was located north of Heppner, The B Ranch was one of the few in Morrow County to raise Angus. In 1960 Bunch increased his acreage and purchased a ranch on Clark Canyon Road and on Bunker Hill. With his wife. Betty, and three children. Mike, Gerald and Sharon, the B cattle 0 A ft Gazette-Times' office hours for Christmas The Gazette-Times will maintain its regular publi cation dates during the holi day season. The Christmas edition, which traditionally carries - pre-Christmas advertising and Christmas greeting ads, will be published Thursday," Dec. 20. The newspaper's office hours will be changed, how ever, for the holidays. It will be open Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Dec. 22, 23, 24; closed Dec. 25, Christmas Day; and reopened Dec. 26. Correspondents and adver tisers are advised to submit their copy with these dates in mind. erew in size and quality. In conjunction with the beef operation, the Bunches also had a wheat ranch. Today, the B ranch has over 150 head of Black Angus, 30 per cent of them registered. Bunch's son, Gerald, and his wife, Tana, operate the Clark Canyon Ranch while Al and Betty run the Bunker Hill Ranch. The two ranches consist of more than 3,300 acres which includes 1,500 acres of dry land wheat land. In the summer, the B cattle head to the range land on Rock Creek and Basket Mountain in Umatilla County. One of Bunches' livestock improvement programs has been to initiate an artificial insemination program. In 1971 they used it on 50 per cent of their herd and recorded a remarkable 70 per cent con ception; last year they had 50 per cent conception. By using the Al program. Bunch has been able to have bigger quality calves from using proven tested perfor mance bulls. Bunch also uses top regis ytlwized At special meeting of the Heppner Common Council Friday night, 28 new building permits within the city limits were authorized. Permits have been held up by the state pending favorable action on the water improve ment bond election. The bond Issue was approved by city voters last week, and Mayor Jerry Sweeney told the council that a Mr. Hebard in the Oregon State Health Division had given his verbal permis sion for the additional 28 building permits. Hebard's only reservation in granting additional water connections is that water mains must maintain 30 pounds of pres sure per square inch rather Worker dies in (all of Hinzua : Douglas Melvin Evertson, 34, Umatilla, a construction worker on one of the Kinzua Corporation buildings, died early Sunday morning in a Pendleton hospital as a result of a 58-foot fall Friday afternoon about 3:30 o'clock. Evertson was working on a roof 40 feet above the floor when he stepped onto a loose ceiling joist and fell. He landed in a concrete pit 18 feet below the main floor line. 'Placed on -a stretcher; he had . to be removed from the pit by Sewer plant may cost Boardman has to have more sewage disposal space before it can add any more popula tion to the city, the city council was told at its meeting last week by the consulting engi neer, Stan Wallulis of Pendle ton. This could be expensive, he said. The need is for a system that would handle 4,000 popu laton. This should be a lagoon type system with treatment facilities, sewer lines, engi neering and land acquisition. Wallulis said this could cost up to $800,000. A conventional treatment plant might even run higher, he said. The city is being pressured to expand its sewer system beyone its 500 popula tion capability to handle the increasing number of workers being added to payrolls in the area. tered Angus bulls to improve the quality of his herd. When Bunch is not working with cattle or farming, he is involved with activities cen tered around the farming operation. He is an active member of the Morrow County Livestock Kindergarten on agenda A decision to allow a kin dergarten program to be a part of public elementary school will be made at the Morrow County school board meeting, Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m., at the A.C. Houghton Elemen tary School, Irrigon. The agenda includes items such as: request for a cable easement by Columbia Basin Electric Co-op, an adoption of economic agreement with classified employees for 1974 77, gasoline allocation and alternatives to reduce con sumption, system for financ ing unemployment insurance. Reports from A.C. Houghton Elementary math program and vocation study program will also be on the agenda. than 20. The mayor said a confirming letter of permis sion from Hebard will be forthcoming. 5 The new permits will in-, elude eight for the hospital area, five for the area on Chase Street, and the re maining 15 can be given in the "floor of the valley." No new permits, however, can be issued in the Lott-Rasmussen Addition at this time due to the adverse pressure condition at the high school. The council approved the building permit for Howard Carrells to construct a new $40,000 residence on Chase Street, pending receipt of Hebard's letter of approval. Sweeney informed the coun a crane. He was rushed by ambu lance to Pioneer Hospital where emergency treatment was administered, then taken to Pendleton's St. Anthony Hospital. Wesley Wise, 23, Boardman, a fellow worker who was about 30 feet from Evertson at the time of the accident, told the Gazette-Times that Evertson was putting in ceiling joists, and was walking across them fceiling joists carrying a joist when he stepped on one that The current system dumps the sewage in a lagoon along the Columbia River under a 50-year lease with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The city had hoped to work out a plan with the corps to expand its present lagoon or lease an additional site. This idea has been killed by the Corps of Engineers. They say the tract lying north of the railroad adjacent to the present treat ment facility is located within an area designated for future public recreational use and the tract lying west of the Boardman area is part of the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge. Wallulis told the council that it would not be practical to tie the city's sewer system in with the propoesed sewage disposal system in the Port of Morrow. Prospective developers have approached the city with Urowers Association aim a director of the Morrow County Grain Growers. He's a member of the Heppner Elks . L"'A ' "Av W 1 A I .-rJ -t V . I J by city cil that with the passage of the " water bonds, Steve Anderson, city engineer, will begin at once drawing plans for the proposed system. He hopes to have plans with the highest priorities completed by Feb. 1, submitted to the state ' for approval by March IS, and call for bids on the contract by April 15. Meanwhile, the City of Heppner plans to advertise sale of the bonds on March 15 and call for bids on April 15. The council discussed the possibility of raising water rates for customers residing outside city limits. The utili ties committee unanimously recommended that users out side the city have their monthly water rates in gave way. Evertson was employed by Kirk Construction Co. of Kennewick, Wn. The deceased was born in Chico, Ca., and lived in Orofino, Idaho, for six years before moving to Umatilla last April. A carpenter, he was a member of Carpenters Local Union 933. He was married only last Dec. 26 to Evelyn M. Widner in Orofino. ' Survivors include the wid : owT his parents", Mr.' and Mrs. Homer W. Evertson, Orofino; $180,000 proposals for package treat ment plants in lieu of an expanded city system. Jim Van Domelen of Pendleton, . district engineer for the De partment of Environmental Band and chorus fo perform Wednesday The Heppner High School Band and Chorus will present their annual Winter-Christmas Concert Wednesday, Dec. 19, 8 p.m., in the high school cafetorium. i Vocal selections, according to Bob Jespersen, music instructor, will include "O Holy Night," "With a Voice of Singing," and "Wassail Song." Dale Holland, 6th grade student, will be featured in a solo, "Monotone Angel." The band, directed by Jim Ackley, will perform "Carol of the Drum," "Morning Song," "Christmas Festival" and others. The public is invited. There is no admission charge. Year' Lodge and the American "j"6v- ' Legion, and has served two terms on me Morrow uouniy School Board. A Al Bunch b preseated Ue Mtw Cwiaty Outstanding Livestock Grower trophy by Merlia Hughes, presideat. Morrow County Livestock Growers. creased. Discussed was a rate one and one-half times the city rate. The council took no action on the utilities com mittee proposal, but author ized the city attorney to draw up an ordinance required to effect such a rate increase, and which will be acted upon at a later date. The council canvassed the water bond election votes and certified the results as being 158 ayes, and 73 nayes and one ballot spoiled. Before adjourning at 7:55 p.m. to attend the Heppner Wallowa basketball game, . another special meeting of the council was approved for the week of Dec. 17, the date and time to be announced. a son, Jess L., Caldwell, Idaho; two daughters, Re becca D. and Jody L. Evert son, both of Caldwell: three stepsons, Todd J., Timothy V. and Trent W. Widener, all of Umatilla; a brother, Larry G., Washington, D.C.; two sisters, Myra M. Anderson, Orofino, and Diane Hicks, Gresham, Ore.; and his grandmother, Gertrude Jones, Umatilla. Funeral services will be held this week at urotino under" direction of Burns Mortuary of Pendleton. Quality, said he didn't care for this idea. He lauded the council for its efforts towards working out a program, and said he is doing everything he can to get the project going as soon as possible. The livestock grower has - also appeared at the Hardman ij v'"5 guitar. - A A a ,r ';- r, (.
