County voters to consider
cut version off school budget
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The music was "short, but sweet," a great lunch on a flimsy paper plate, and
"home-fashioned" rain bonnets all added to the fun at last Sunday's HHS band concert in the
park. The band, trying to raise money for uniforms, has rescheduled the rained-out concert for
next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the school gym.
Future of library
remains in doubt
The future of the Heppner
City Library remains dim this
week despite action proposed
by the city budget committee
and investigation by library
board members into alter
natives to full operational
funding.
Ed Struthers, chairman of
the library board, said the
consensus of the board is to
close the library on June 30
unless sufficient and sustained
financial support can be
established.
Heppner Council
to study budget
A special meeting of the
Heppner City Council has been
called for 7:30 p.m. Wed
nesday, May 18, to consider
recommended budget cuts
and other proposals from the
Heppner Budget Committee.
The meeting will be held at
City Hall.
The budget committee
made several additional cuts
in the budget last week to
reach the $45,455 reduction
necessary to come within the
six per cent limitation.
The effort was helped by the
identification of $11,000 in the
General Fund which was not
counted as available cash in
estimating the new fiscal bud
get. Allan C. Langenwalter, cer
tified public accountant, said
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Election results Page 9
Angling season opens 7
Graduation news 2
Judge replacement sought . .3
Heppner tracksters, golfers
to state .7
'
Last week the Heppner city
budget committee recom
mended that the city consider
turning off one-fourth of its
street lights in an effort to
save an estimated $1,900 to be
earmarked for library use.
Gene Pierce, chairman of
the budget committee, volun
teered his street light in the
proposal, saying he would pick
up the monthly charge.
Library board members
raised no battle to retain
library funding in light of the
tight city budget. The con-
the cash amount was inad
vertently overlooked in pre
paring a conservative budget
some 60 days in advance of
June 30. The time certificate
cash was not included in the
first entry of available cash
and not carried forward in
subsequent budget balances.
Langenwalter suggested
several changes in interfund
loans and paybacks, which left
the budget committee with
$11,000 to distribute "wher
ever they feel most appro
priate." The budget committee also
considered the possibility of
turning off one-fourth of the
city street lights in an effort to
obtain about $1,900 for opera
tion of the city library. (See
related library story in this
issue.)
,l3
43
4 '
1
sensus appears to remain that
anything short of full funding
(about $6,000) would only be a
step backward in efforts to
keep the library alive.
Pierce suggested that the
library board investigate the
possibility of a library district
comprised of Heppner, Hard
man and part of Lexington.
Formation of such a district
would give the library a base
of operation for several years
before the issue would need to
be placed before voters in the
form of a serial levy.
It was suggested that such a
district might merit investi
. gation, since approximately 30
per cent of all library patrons
are outside the city limits.
The bare bones library bud
get of 5,169 was cut by the
city, along with $500 for books,
following two defeats of a
budget request slightly more
than $45,000 outside the six per
cent limitation.
As of June 30, the library
will have an estimated $540 to '
operate on in the coming fiscal
year. This figure isn't firm.
Reports from within the
county budget committee that
even this much funding might
be forthcoming have not been
verified to the library board.
Struthers said that the li
brary has received tpme tem
porary offers of help from
both Kinzua Corporation and
from Columbia Basin Electric
Co-op.
Even with the county pick
ing up the utility and main
tenance tab and approval of
the budget committee recom
mendation to turn off some
street lights, the library would
remain $3,000 short of its
minimum budget needs.
Struthers said the library
board would explore any
avenue presented that might
insure funding for a solid
fiscal year operation of the
library ai us present level of
service.
Struthers stressed that the
library will close if adequate
funding is not forthcoming.
According to Struthers, funds
run out June 30, and the board
does not consider it wise to
operate past that point without -dependable
funding.
The board has considered
the pros and cons of operating
the library on reduced hours,
the use of all volunteer staff
and volunteer janitorial service.
By Tom Franks
Tuesday, May 24, county
voters will be asked to vote on
a significantly altered budget
for operation of the Morrow
County School District in the
coming fiscal year.
Despite the need to seek an
increase over the six per cent
limitation, the budget being
submitted Tuesday is nearly
$188,000 lower than the pro
posal defeated on April 19.
Based on projected valuation,
it will cost taxpayers 10 cents
per thousand less than the
current budget due to a pro
jected county valuation in
crease of $25 million and new
Federal Forest Fees, just
announced, which will bring in
$67,354. The school board
voted Monday to apply the
fees to reduce the levy by
$60,000.
The tax levy to appear on
the ballot will be only ten cents
less than last year, but the
addition of the new forest fee
Mi
VOL. 94, NO.
Kin 7,11 a plywood operations
limited by logging slow down
Early May rains have
hampered area logging work
and forced a closure of
plywood mill activity at the
Kinzua Mill, according to
Harry Kennison, Kinzua oper
ations manager.
The plywood mill shut down
May 13 and is expected to
remain closed through the
week, leaving 110 employees
out of work. The stud mill is
running on two shifts and the
PMI lathe is operating on a
one shift basis. The sawmill is
continuing on, a normal run,
Kennison said.
"This is the second year in a
row this has happened, but it
shouldn't happen at all," Ken
nison said. "Hopefully, the
mill will be back in full
operation by Monday."
Kennison called this time of
the year a "gambling period"
because of the unusual weath
er conditions. Kennison said
mill logging work stops for a
two-month period beginning
Feb. 15, but this year the rains
prevented loggers from cut
ting after the break.
"Normally, you can go back
in the woods May 1 with no
problem, but some logs come
from Forest Service land and
roads are shut down with the
rain," Kennison said.
Plea negotiated
Attorneys for Leslie Dawn
Baird completed plea negotia
tions with Morrow County
District Attorney Dennis Do
herty and Circuit Court Judge
Jack Olsen Monday approved
their request to reduce charg
es of manslaughter in the first
degree and criminal mis
treatment in the first degree
to a single count of criminally
negligent homicide.
Baird, 23, was charged in
the Dec. 2 death of her
two-year-old son, Lloyd. Fol
lowing the acceptance of the
plea negotiations, Baird
pleaded guilty and Judge
Olsen pronounced sentence a
money will reduce the levy by
39 cents per thousand over last
year. According to current
estimates, it would cut about
$16.00 from the total which the
owner of a $40,000 home paid
out for school support this
year.
The result will be an aver
age tax rate of approximately
$8.33, placing Morrow County
in competition with Gilliam
County for the cheapest tax
rate in northeastern Oregon.
Budget cuts made since
voters defeated the first re
quest in April include nearly
$60,000 in supplies, services,
equipment, musical instru
ments, uniforms for band and
sports, furniture, and re
placement items.
Included in the cuts were
$3,740 for band uniforms,
$2,200 for a proposed evalua
tion of Heppner High School
by the Northwest Accrediting
team, $1,640 for a color video
tape machine, $1,700 planned
HEPPNER, OREGON
He added that one or two
days of good weather will be
just what the doctor ordered,
as far as Kinzua is concerned.
"We all need the rain, but
we also need the logs,"
Kennison said.
The mill is trying to stock
pile at least a two-week ad
vance of logs to assure that
once the plywood mill re
opens, it will be able to stay
open. On Tuesday, 150,000
board feet were brought to the
Weather
High Low , Precip.
Wed.,
May 11 55 39 .15
Thurs.,
May 12 64 37
Fri.,
May 13 67 41
Sat.,
May 14 61 43
Sun.,
May 15 57 36 .07
Mon.,
May 16 59 35
Tues.,
May 17 64 , 42 .02
Total measurable precipi
tation for May to date is 1.85
hundredths of an inch.
jail term not to exceed three
years, which was suspended in
lieu of five years' formal
probation.
Doctors attributed Lloyd's
death to cranial hemorrhag
ing, which resulted from one
to three blows delivered to the
boy's head, but they could not
determine the time the child
had been struck. Lloyd was 18
days short of his third birth
day when he died.
Two days prior to his death,
the child was vomiting, show
ing signs of convulsions and
lapsing into unconsciousness.
"It is my opinion that if Mrs.
' Baird had sought help at the
to replace carpet at Heppner
Elementary School, $1,600 for
painting the elementary
school, the shop and a boiler
room, $2,000 for air con
ditioners at Irrigon; $1,800 for
painting the old Heppner
gym; $2,400 for replacement
of cafeteria tables at A.C.
Houghton; $1,000 for an elec
tric piano at Riverside, $4,000
for outside bleachers at River
side; $400 for a biology kit to
be used in the science de
partment at lone and numer
ous other items.
Largest single item was
$17,500 which was earmarked
for the purchase of a 54-pas-senger
school bus for the north
end of the county. Another
$3,208 was cut from the budget
by dropping collision insur
ance on all school busses.
Public liability insurance is
being maintained.
The increase in the current
budget amounts to $208,306
over last year for teacher
m iMU! pa jP""111 J jjj Ji
THURSDAY. MAY M, 1977
mill short of the 350,000
board feet per day needed.
Kennison said the limited
operations would continue
until one million board feet
are available.
G-T
James M. (Jim) Summers,
23, of McLean, Va., has been
named editor of the Gazette
Times effective this week,
Terry Hager, Times' general
manager, said.
Summers comes to the
Times from the staff of the
Enterprise-Courier in Oregon
City. There, he was respons
ible for police and court news
along with general news and
features.
He replaces Tom Franks,
who served as editor for the
past four months. Franks will
continue to reside in Heppner
and will write for the Times as
a columnist, Hager said.
Summers attended McLean
High School in Virginia and
graduated from the Univer
sity of Florida, Gainesville, in
March 1976 with a B.A. degree
in journalism.
in Baird homicide case
time she realized the child was
ill, he would be alive today. He
isn't," Doherty said.
Doherty said he also intends
to institute a termination of
parental rights suit against
Baird, who is the mother of a
16-month-old baby. The infant
is currently under temporary
custody of the state through
the Juvenile Court and is now
in a foster home.
Concerning the plea nego
tiations, Doherty acquiesced
to the reduced charge, saying,
"The state has not been able to
develop any evidence to at
tribute the injuries causing
death to Mrs. Baird or any
salaries. This includes $66,000
for new teachers with the
remainder going for salary
increases based on recent
teacher negotiations with the
board.
Another $54,819 is in the
budget to cover full health
insurance. Another $17,000 is
earmarked for supplies for the
six new teachers in the fields
of music, art, physical edu
cation and general classroom
instruction. The figure also
includes increases in other
supply costs due to inflation.
The total increase in the
proposed budget will be
$366,051. Compared with last
year, there will be a $31,970
increase in unemployment
benefits and workmen's com
pensation. The contingency
fund will remain unchanged at
$30,000.
The budget this year for the
entire district was $2,659,540.
The increase of $366,051 brings
the budget request for the
10 PAGES
The period of September
through February is used as
the decking season when logs
are accumulated for the rest
of the year. Kennison said the
decks were built up "pretty
Staff change
While in Florida, Summers
worked for the Independent
Florida Alligator as copy
editor. He also wrote free-
Jim Summers
other individual."
Doherty painted an unpleas
ant picture of Baird's past
which, he said, included
compulsive habits, use of
narcotics and a previous
removal of child custody for
neglect. Lloyd was taken from
Baird for a period of several
months by authorities in Okla
homa City and she was being
sought by police for possible
child abuse at the time of
Lloyd's death. Baird has been
separated from her husband
for several years.
She sat sobbing, head in
hands, throughout the court
proceedings.
t
V .
" d. "A
coming year to $3,025,591.00
less forest fees.
The overall result, counting
forest fees, is that taxes to be
levied under the May 24
election budget are nearly
$188,000 less than the request
voted on in April.
Polls for the election May 24
will be open from 8 a.m. until 8
p.m. at school buildings in
lone, Irrigon, Lexington, and
Boardman. Heppner Ele
mentary School is the desig
nated Dolline place in Hep
pner.
The budget for the coming
year includes $84,147 for com
petitive interscholastic ath-.
letics. It was built on an
expected enrollment of 1,560,
but current projections call
for 1,600 students.
Citizens who desire detailed
information on the budget or
have questions regarding ex
penditures or taxes may call
the office of the superin
tendent in Lexington at 989
8123. 15 c
well" this year, but not quite
enough for the critical May
period.
"We would have been just
fine if we weren't rained out,"
Kennison said.
lance feature articles for the
Gainesville Sun.
After graduating from col
lege, Summers moved to San
Antonio, Texas, to work for
the River City Times, a
monthly news magazine. He
next moved to Portland and'
started work with the Courier.
Summers is single and has
taken up residence in Lex
ington. He maintains an active
interest in athletics and com
peted in Amateur Athletic
Union swimming for eight
years. He also competed in
college.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Elson Summers, live in Har
risonburg, Va. His father is
retired following 30 years in
sonar acoustics research and
development work for the U.S.
Navy.
"If you are any kind of a
mother at all, you will never
get over this. If you are not, 1
there's nothing this court can
do to change that," Judge
Olsen told her before pro
nouncing sentence.
Additional terms of the sen
tence include participation in
a mental health counseling
program, waiver of the patient-doctor
confidential rela
tionship privilege and agree
ment to a search of her
person, home or auto for nar
cotics at any time by her
probation officer.