Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1977)
p. m -p- -9 0 t0- "j r-ir -f v r -jr- THE ' Ji GAZETT Tm fttv H EI High Wed, April 6 77 Thurs., April 7 83 Fri.,April8 69 Sat., April 9 56 Sun., April 10 60 Mon., April 11 63 Tues., April 12 69 41 40 35 VOL. 94, NO. 15 16 PAGES THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1977 HEPPNER, OREGON 15 C lone woman slain after kidnaping Michael Olds finally captured in Pittsburgh after shots fired The legal fate of Michael Andrew Olds, 34, of Walla Walla, Wash., may be decided Thursday afternoon in Pendleton when law enforcement agencies and prosecutors meet to review information and decide who will have first crack at the man charged with two Oregon murders and other lesser charges. Olds is charged in Umatilla County with murder and kidnapping. He is wanted in Morrow County for kidnapping and car theft and in Malheur County for the murder of Mary Emily Lindsay of lone. Olds faces a charge of murder in Umatilla County in the shooting death of College Place, Wash., cab driver Steven F. Schmerer, 23. The capture of Olds in a traffic jam in suburban Pittsburgh, Pa., Monday ended an intensive man hunt which lasted five days. Charges against Olds are pending in four states. In Pittsburgh, authorities have charged Olds with kidnapping, firearms violations and aggravated assault, among other charges. The legal process generally starts with the most serious offense when jurisdiction is considered. Morrow County District Attorney Dennis Doherty will be in Pendleton for the session concerning plans for prosecuting Olds. While events leading to the capture of Olds were underway near Pittsburgh, involving the exchange of shots with police and the freeing of more hostages, residents of southern Morrow County were attending funeral services for 75-year-old Mary Emily Lindsay of lone. Reaction to her slaying came in waves of disbelief, fear and finally anger among many residents at the system which gave freedom to the alleged killer and failed to produce discovery despite a massive response. The search for Mary Lindsay and Marion J. "Nick" Riley (a former Gilliam County resident) started in Morrow County shortly after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, when the Morrow County Sheriff's Office was notified by teletype regarding a suspect in the shooting death of the Washington cab driver near Helix, Oregon. Based on the time of first reports, Riley was already in another vehicle with Mary Lindsay and the suspect westbound for the Portland and Salem area. They would later return through Burns where Mary Lindsay was taken from the vehicle. She was found dead near Juntura, Ore., which is located on Highway 20 about halfway between Burns and Ontario. The first positive word in the search came Thursday, 36 hours after Riley was taken from his home in Pendleton. The call came from Riley at Hazelton, Ida., at 6 p.m. He informed his wife and authorities that he was set free along with a second hostage. Word that two hostages were free was broadcast, leading to hopes that Mary Lindsay was alive. It was soon learned that a Hazelton woman had become a hostage in Idaho and that Mary Lindsay had been taken from the car in Oregon. Late Thursday, the weight of information left little hope that Mary Lindsay would be found alive. Relatives were notified of the situation. Confirmation that the body had been located was received in Heppner around 10 p.m. Thursday night. Meanwhile, the search shifted to Brigham City, Utah, where Olds had released Riley and the Idaho hostage. From that point, the search extended nationwide with emphasis on Utah, Colorado and Montana, following several slim but definite leads. In the first contact with Riley, after his 36-hour ordeal, it was learned that the kidnapper had informed his hostages in Idaho that Mary Lindsay was not alive. Olds was captured near Pittsburgh after taking a man and his wife and son hostage. The family's station wagon was caught in a traffic jam and police converged on the vehicle. The FBI reported that Olds fired three shots, but no one was injured. Policeman Louis Rauhecker crept up behind Olds and put a gun to his head. It was all over except for the red tape. (Related pictures Page 4.) .13 Zh r ir . 'i "mi I l 1 : 4 In rter.---f 1.-, . n-k-.A A irzzZZZZ" LA .... r Vpf . S; X tr r f i FBI agents. State Police, Morrow County sheriff's officers, newsmen and relatives of Mary Lindsay are pictured in the front yard of the Lindsay farm home, six miles northwest of lone, as the search for Mrs. Lindsay and "Nick" Riley, of Pendleton, spread through three states Thursday morning, April 7. Voters face three budget e ecti ons School district budget The Morrow County School District budget election will go before voters Tuesday, April 19, with a requested increase of $425,833 to support in creased costs due to district growth, new facilities and increases in fixed costs, salar ies, insurance and other items. Polls will be open April 19 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at school buildings in lone, Ir rigon, Lexington and Board man. Heppner Elementary School is the designated pol ling place in Heppner. The total projected budget for 1977-78 is $3,085,373, com pared with the current year budget of $2,659,540 or an increase of $425,833. According to district offic ials, the increase in financial needs for the district breaks down as follows: Due to increases in salar ies, fixed costs, insurance, maintenance and improve ments to facility and pro grams, $263,879. Increase due to district growth, $110,000. Amount needed to equip and insure new shop facility and equalize the educational opportunity, $51,879. The total increase is 16 per cent above the current budget. The cost to taxpayers, ac cording to district computa tion, would be $9.21 cents per thousand dollars of property, an increase of .39 cents per thousand over the present $8.82 per thousand. Based on a $40,000 home, the increase for the year would be $15.60 cents. The current assessment on a $40,000 home is $352.80 for the vear. Passage of the measure would mean the annual tax on a $40,000 home would be $368.40. j r ? " . N 0 1 , , jt - If : -J Heppner city budget goes to voters April 26 BMCC April 19 "The people of Heppner will have a second opportunity to vote on the proposed city budget on Tuesday, April 26," Mayor Jerry Sweeney said Tuesday. The decision to resubmit the proposed budget, after it was defeated April 5 by seven votes, 129 to 136, came during a meeting of city officials Monday night. "We are not going to re submit the budget just be cause it lost by only seven votes," Sweeney said. "We are going to resubmit it because it is a good honest budget. It will be submitted for the same amount." The proposed budget for the coming year is $46,445 outside the six per cent limitation. The tax increase on the proposed levy would be 75 cents per $1,000 using current valuation. The present tax for city operation is $2.77 per $1,000 true cash value. If passed, the tax for city operation will be $3.52 per $1,000 true cash value. The second vote on the budget will be held from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the old city library next door to City Hall on Tuesday, April 26. During the first vote, a total of 256 ballots were cast by Heppner electors from among 855 registered voters, ac cording to current records. Care Center children busy with visits, field trips Chloe Pearson, director of the Heppner Child Development Center, and children at the Center accept American Flag presented by officials of the Heppner American Legion Post, Ed Baker, commander, and Grace Steers, adjutant. Chloe Pearson, director, Heppner Child Development Center, reports that the child ren have had two field trips recently. The center staff transported the children in their private cars to the Fiesta Bowl to bowl. On April 4, the staff and all children able, visited the Harold Wright farm at Ruggs. The children especially enjoy ed the animals. Mrs. Pearson says that, "the Wrights generosity and cooperation was greatly ap preciated." The next field trip for the children will come on April 19 when they will visit the Heppner Fire Department. The center was recently given an American flag by the Heppner American Legion Post. The children enjoyed dyeing Easter eggs and had fun hunting the eggs the staff hid for them. An on-going craft workshop is conducted with the children. Hospital gets go ahead The Heppner City Planning Commission Tuesday night approved a conditional use permit for proposed expansion of Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner. The permit calls for an extension of the hospital by 57 feet on the north end and a depth of 108 feet, equal to the present width of the existing hospital. The two story addition would allow 16,000 square feet of floor space. Ten thousand square feet upstairs would be devoted to hospital rooms while six thousand square feet on the ground floor would be used for laundry facilities, maintenance activity, storage and an emergency generator. Almost two-thirds of Blue Mountain Community Col lege's proposed 1977-78 oper ating budget is for instruction, President Ron Daniels said today. In response to a request for more detailed information on budget items, Daniels said C2.6 per cent is for instruction. This comes to $1.10 of the total $1.79 levy per $1,000 true cash value. Another 3.7 per cent is for instruction support ser vices. Student services, including admissions, counseling and student activities, absorbs 9.8 per cent of the budget and student financial aid takes 3.4 per cent. Costs for plant operation and maintenance accounts for 9.6 per cent of the operating budget and college support services requires 8.4 per cent. The balance, 2.5 per cent, is for capital outlay and contingencies. Daniels announced the com parisons after the college's recent two-county survey re vealed that 15 per cent of the people surveyed wanted the additional informatiun. Of some 1,600 surveys returned, 244 indicated a need for the categorical information. The college's operating bud get to be voted on April 19 requires a district tax levy of $1,858,367. If approved by voters, the cost to taxpayers of Morrow and Umatilla counties would be about $1.79 per $l,0ou true cash value. This rep resents an increase of 26 cenls over the current year's levy. Miller: 'Producers been had' Tad Miller of Heppner, president of the Oregon Wheat Growers League, returned from Washington, DC, April 6, following three days of work on the new farm bill. Miller told wheat producers this week that he came back "feeling that the wheat producer had been had." "If we were able somehow to get everything we wanted from the Administration and the House, it would still not be enough. Carter's campaign pledge to reduce government spending seems to be in the back of everyone's mind," Miller told wheat growers via the Oregon Wheat League weekly newsletter. "Our hope may still be in the Senate, though. I've always been an optimist, but I just can't get too optimistic over our chances of turning this thing around in the near futur. "WTe've just plain got too much wheat and I can't see prices improving much until we've reduced our supply," Miller said.
