County jail 1 New laws forcing costly changes 1 I .At A i I I I The ice crystal world of Wallowa Lake during the early spring mirrors the snow-capped beauty of Eastern Oregon's Wallowa Mountains. (Photo by Glenn Morrison.) 4 By LIZ CURTIS The 1973 legislature passed a package of guidelines gov erning the operation of jails in Oregon which will take effect July 1, 1974. The Morrow County jail, constructed in 1902, probably would not be allowed to operate under the new guide lines unless changes are made. In January, Morrow County Judge Paul Jones took action on the problem by appointing a citizen advisory committee to study the situation and make recommendations to the county court. Sheriff John Mollahan and Heppner Police Chief Dean Gilman told committee mem bers that the jail is used as a temporary "lock-up" for adult male prisoners. The jail serves as a place to lodge prisoners until they can be transported by an officer to the Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton, or as a place to hold an offender for a few hours to let him "cool off." Juvenile and female prison ers cannot be lodged in the jail because the facility does not provide a place for such prisoners to be removed from sight and sound of adult male prisoners as specified by law. These prisoners are taken directly to Pendleton. Prison ers in the north end of the county are usually taken to Hermiston. Morrow County pays $7.50 per day for each prisoner lodged in a Umatilla County jail facility. On Feb. 12, Wayne Rutledge and Robert Prinslow of the Local Corrections Services from Salem met with the committee's representatives in inspect the jail. Rutledge returned to Heppner on Feb. 19 and reported his recom mendations to the full com mittee. Rutledge reported that the present jail can remain in use as a temporary "lock-up" for adult male prisoners after July 1, . 1974 if necessary improvements are underway to comply with the new law. The report to the committee states that the basic physical improvements to the facility should include the installation of an exhaust fan, an emer gency exit, a listening device, protected lighting fixtures, improved shower plumbing, removal of the wooden table, cabinet and sink from the minimum security area, re pair of the locking devices to the maximum security cells, removal of wooden trim and frames on the larger windows and installation of institution al commode-sink units in place of the conventional home toliet type fixtures now in the cells. The plastic material now on the larger windows need replacing with a suitable unbreakable, trans parent material. The committee discussed the need for an area in the present jail for the booking of prisoners. At present, ar rested persons are brought into the sheriff's office inside the courthouse to be booked and fingerprinted. Sheriff Mollahan pointed out that the presence of such persons provides a hazard to other people in the courthouse. The new jail standards specify that three meals a day must be served inside the jail, while the jail is occupied. The current practice of taking prisoners to a restaurant downtown cannot be con tinued. Committee Chairman Bill Collins has appointed various people to compile an estimate of the cost of materials for the proposed remodeling of the jail and report their findings at the next meeting of the committee which is scheduled for Monday, March 11. Abrams won't run Heppner attorney Robert Abrams has announced that he will not run for re-election to the board of directors for Blue Mountain Community College. Abrams has served on the board since its inception, a period of more than 12 years. He served as chairman of the board for two one-year terms, in 1969 and 1973. "I feel that the board should change, have some new blood," Abrams said, "and I think I've served my time." The board was not set up on a district representative basis, but Abrams commented that the citizens of Morrow County could petition for a board member if they wanted one on the board. "I hope someone will run for the board from the area. We really need a strong candidate for the position." Four students win Elks scholarships Four local high school students have been selected by the Heppner Elks Lodge tB.P.OE.t as scholarship winners for 1973. Selected from Heppner High School uere Dyrk Dunlap, first award. Greg Davidson, second award, and Kristi Haguewood, first award in the girl's division. From lone. Joan McElligott placed sec ond in the girls division. Each year the Elks award SI .000 locally to four winners. First place winners receive $300 scholarships and second place winners receive schol arships of $200. The winners are chosen by a panel committee which inter views prospective scholar ship winners and base the awards on such qualifications as scholastic ability, respon sibility, activities and leader ship both in and out of school, and financial need. This year's two winners traveled to Condon Saturday to compete in the district scholarship contest. Had they won there they would have qualified to compete in the national contest. First place winner Dyrk Dunlap is the son of Lynda Dunlap of Heppner. Dyrk has been active in sports during his four years at Heppner High School, participating in football, basketball and base ball. He is a member of National Honor Society and H Club at the high school. Dyrk plans to attend Yakirna Valley Community College where he will major in civil engineer ing. The other first place w inner. Kristi Haguewood. has been active in many activities and , has received many aw ards for her high school achievements. She is the daughter of Hon and Lynn Haguewood of Heppner and attended all 12 years of school at Heppner. Kristi 's recent awards include being selected as an Outstanding Teenager of America for 1974. Chapter Scholarship Award lor the Heppner FFA chapter, a winner in the Elks Leader ship Contest and various 4-H awards. She is president of the Pep Club, vice-president of Future Homemakers of A merica, treasurer of Future Farmers of America, secre tary of National Honor So ciety, and student body sec retary. She accompanies the choir and has been involved with girls sports in high school. Kristi plans on at tending Pacific University in the fall where she will major in marine biology. Joan McElligott has been an honor student at lone high school where she is currently president of National Honor Society and secretary of her senior class. She is a member ol lone's Pep Club, the school paper staff and the Girls Atheletic Association. Joan is active in girl's sports at lone where she participates in basketball, volleyball and tennis. For nine years she has been active in 4-H including the junior leadership pro grams. On weekends she works at Beecher's Cafe in lone. The University of Portland is Joan's planned college desti nation where she hopes to major in history. She is the daughter of Don and Eunice McElligott of lone. Greg Davidson is involved in school journalism at Hepp ner High School where he is editor of the yearbook and the paper staff. Greg is president of the National Honor Society, Thespian Club and senior class. His parents are Bob and Mildred Davidson of Lexing ton. Last year Greg was selected to be listed in the annual volume "Who's Who Among Outstanding American High School Students." This year he was selected as an Outstanding Teenager of America for 1074, and was a recent winner in the Elks Leadership Contest. Greg plans on attending Northwest Business College in Portland where he will take business courses. GA2 E-TnMES Vol. 91, No. 2 Heppner, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 28, 1974 15c Housing project wins approval A preliminary plat of Valley View Estates, Kinzua Cor poration's proposed housing development, was accepted by the Heppner City Planning Commission, last Tuesday night. The plat was accepted with a variance for the construction of 22 single unit dwellings and six four-plexes, to be built in the vicinity of Pioneer Hospital. The motion to accept the . preliminary plat came after one and one-half hours of questioning directed to Ran dal! Peterson, chairman of the Planning Commission; Allan Nistad, president of Kinzua Corporation, who presented the plans; and Donald Stae bler, who engineered the plans. One of the first questions asked Nistad was when he planned to begin construction on thesubdivision, should it be approved. "The need for housing in Heppner is now, not in the future, Nistad replied. Nistad continued, "If the commission gives me the rwk f i v i J yl- h V' - ' 3' 1 '"'-'-' GREG DAVIDSON KRISTI HAGIEWOOD DYRK DL'NLAP joan McElligott approval on these plans, I will then be faced with a great decision of going ahead with the project, for at the present time I don't have either a contractor or a builder." Although Peterson re peatedly tried to explain to the small group of interested citizens present that many of the questions they asked of the commission would be dis cussed at a future meeting, the group would not be put off. Where will the water come from to supply the subdivision? What will be the size of the paved area of the streets? Will this project be subsi dized by any city, county, federal or government a gency? What will happen to Gil more Street with the added traffic, and w ill the subdivider be responsible for widening Gilmore Street ? Will any property along Gilmore Street betaken by the city if the street has to be (Continued on page 5) Higher postal rates due Saturday The federal government will add its bit to inflation bv boosting postal rates on Mar. 2 for all classes of mail. First class mail goes to 10 cents, post cards to 8 cents and air mail to 13 cents on Saturday. . .Second class matter, which includes newspapers, will have increased rates applied at intervals over the next eight years, with an immediate increase of about II) per cent. Parcel post, or fourth class, will be increased on an average of 6 per cent. The new rates won't last long. Another increase is scheduled for July of this year. CC hears FFA A girl's place in agriculture "Womens Lib has hit FFA," said Kristi Haguewood, as she, Kyle Robinson and Barry Munkers, all Future Farmers of America students at Hepp ner High School, addressed the Chamber, of Commerce Monday. Kristi was introduced by her advisor, Hal Whitaker. "Girls are no longer just cooking and taking care of the home," Kristi said, "but they are helping do a man's work, such as patching fences, welding, electrical work an many other tasks to be done on a farm." "If a woman is capable of doing some of the repair work around a ranch, she can pitch right in and do the job rather than keep after her husband to do it when he is busy with other work." Kristi became interested in agriculture about three years ago and enrolled in vocational agriculture and shop skills. At that time there were only four girls in FFA. Today there are 12 girls in the chapter, and of the eight members of the judging team five of them are girls. Kristi then introduced Kyle Robinson, FFA president, who was recently chosen as a State Farmer. Robinson described some of the tests and paper work required to qualify as a State Farmer. "Only two per cent of the membership can be chosen as candidates for the title, and only 85 FFA students were chosen as State Farmers from a total of 270 candidates." "Not only was my livestock checked," he said, but had to be accounted for. The entire ranch was gone over by State Farmer representatives." "Further testing included my ability to do paper work, such as math, and being able to keep accurate records for most of my livestock. Although Robinson raises beef, a complete knowledge of most types of farming is essential, including the uses of various types of tractors, knowledge of livestock di seases and livestock farming; and one has to earn at least $500 during the year on his project to qualify as a State Farmer. Barry Munkers, FFA judg ing team member, told the chamber of his and Robinson's (Continued on page 6 ) iff ' Future Farmers Of America speaking before the Chamber of Commerce Monday were, from the left, Kyle Robinson, president, Kristi Haguewood, Treas urer, and Barry Munkers, secretary.