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Sat., April 9 56
Sun., April 10 60
Mon., April 11 63
Tues., April 12 69
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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.)
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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.
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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.