BESSIE WETZELL
U OF ORE
NEWSPAPER LIB
EUGENE OR 97403
fTi. A
THE
VOL. 96 NO. 10
HEPPNER, OREGON
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1978
: 8 PAGES
2()
Kathleen VanSchoiack Cindy Doherty
Cindy Doherty Queen of
Junior Rodeo 1978
The recently chosen 1978
Morrow County Junior Rodeo
Court, Queen Cindy Doherty
and Princessed Kathleen Van
Schoiack and Jana Steagall,
will make their first grand
entry in Prineville on May
27-78, as the first of 11 Western
States' Junior Rodeos get
underway.
The eighth annual Morrow
County Junior Rodeo, to be
held at the fairgrounds, will
, follow close on its heels on
June 2-4.
Queen Cindy, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Doherty of
Heppner, is a member of the
Western States Junior Rodeo
Association and of the Hepp
ner High School Rodeo Club,
as are both the court princes
ses. A 17-year-old senior at
Steelhammer named
Gazette- Times Editor
Gazette-Times Managing
Editor Terry M. Hager an
nounced this week the hiring
of Rick Steelhammer as
Editor of the Heppner news
paper. The new Editor fills the
position previously held by
Jim Summers, who has been
with the Gazette-Times for the
past year. Summers is return
ing to his home state of
Virginia.
Steelliammer, 28, who was
raised on a cattle Tanch in the
Prineville area, comes to the
Gazette-Times following a
four-year stint with the Char
leston (W.Va.) Gazette, a
daily newspaper with state
wide circulation. While in
Charleston, he covered at
various times, the paper's
labor, po'ice, City Hall, and
School Board to
discuss bond sale
The sale of bonds and the
investment of proceeds from
the bonds will be discussed
during a May 15 meeting of the
Morrow County District
School Board meeting at
Riverside High School in
Boardman.
School board members will
meet with a financial advisor
to discuss the bond sales and
short-term investments. The
board will also discuss a
request for annexing school
property in Irrigon to the City
of Irrigon, and talk about the
sale of surplus board-owned
property, including a school
bus.
Heppner High School, Cindy
participates in all senior girl
junior rodeo events including
breakaway roping, pole bend
ing, team roping with princess
Jana as her partner, barrel
racing and goat tying.
In addition to her rodeo
activities, Queen Cindy is also
a member of the HHS band
and active in Future Farmers
of America.
Princess Kathleen, 17,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bob
Van Schoiack of Heppner, is a
junior at Heppner High
School. She is a participant in
all junior and high school
rodeo events except for roping
competition. She is a member
of the HHS stage band and was
a counselor at the Tupper
Outdoor School last week.
A 15-year old sophomore at
feature beats.
While pursuing his political
science degree at Antioch
College in Ohio, he held jobs as
intern reporter for the Staten
Island (N.Y.) Advance, The
Troy (Ohio) Daily News, and
the Oregon Statesman in
Salem. Steelhammer has also
Rick Steelhammer
In othef action, the board is
expected to review renewing
the employment of classified
and extra-duty workers. The
meeting will start at 8 p.m.
Weather
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Thurs.,May4
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Jana Steagall
Heppner High School, Prin
cess Jana is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Steagall of
Lexington and is active in all
rodeo events. She was a
member of the HHS varsity
basketball team and junior
varsity volleyball squad dur
ing the current school year.
Members of the Court met
at the Steagall's residence in
Lexington on Sunday for
photographs in their denim
and plaid cotton outfits, top
ped by straw hats, purchased
at a discount from Woods
Western World in Hermiston
during the weekend.
All three girls said they
were eager for the junior
rodeo season to get underway,
both as contestants and offi
cial representatives of Mor
row County.
worked as a copyboy for
Newsweek magazine and ser
ved as a production assistant
for the Current Digest of the
Soviet Press in Columbus,
Ohio.
He graduated from Antioch
in 1973, and is a 1968 graduate
of Crook County High School
in Prineville.
TUT
alive
Eric Anderson donates turf
The Hager Park site near
Heppner's southeast border
received a complete green
face-lift this week, as many
businesses and individuals
contributed to the movement
and installation of 13,000
square feet of turf donated to
the City of Heppner for the
park by Eric and Marne
Anderson of Iontr's Earth
Carpet enterprise.
Installation of the turf began
on Monday by a city crew
under the direction of project
manager Winn Crist. The turf
laying was made possible only
after combined efforts paved
the way for the laying of the
Earth Carpet.
Pettyjohn's Farm and
Building Supply and Morrow
County Grain Growers cooper
County bud.
percent Iby
With union wage negotia
tions still pending, the tenta
tive Morrow County budget
for the coming fiscal year
stands at $185,227 above the
six per cent limitation.
A contingency fund was
added to a budget approved
last Friday by the budget
committee, following four
daylong work sessions. The
new budget is scheduled to be
submitted for County Court
approval during the Court's
May 10 meeting.
Court members were expec
ted to center their discussion
around possible salary chan
ges based on a grade and step
scale in use by the county.
Pointing out that as of last
year, Morrow County had the
second lowest property tax
rate of any county in the state,
Judge D.O. Nelson commen
warrants the increase in the
budget." He added that the
proposed increased budget "is
needed for effective county
operation."
The county's assesed valua
tion last year increased by
about $129 million, Nelson
said, adding that the valuation
raise expected this year would
substantially offset any possi
ble increase in the tax rate
caused by the county going
outside the six per cent
general budget limitation.
A loose end still needing to
be tied up before the budget
can be finalized and put before
county voters will depend on
the results of wage negotia
tions between the county and
union workers, which could
effect wages for all other
county employees. With only a
few exceptions, the budget
now shows a straight across-the-board
salary increase of
six per cent.
On the agenda at the County
Court meeting yesterday was
discussion with the Hospital
Board about the $167,000
request for the county's esti
mated share of hospital opera
tion. A special tax levy has
provided funds for the hospital
in the past, and a levy was
expected to be one option the
Court would "seriously consi
der for the coming year.
-and we.
ated in moving the tons of turf
and unloading it in stacks at
the park site.
Also involved i.i the project
were Doug Tash of Morrow
County Creamery and Her
man Blettell who loaned trac
tors for discing and leveling
the area; Dick Wilkinson who
helped haul equipment and
loaned the city his roller to
level the turf; and Forrest
Burkenbine of Central Market
who loaned a tank truck to
carry water to the site to keep
the turf damp.
Because the underground
sprinkling system could not
be completely revamped and
made functional before the
turl arrived. Winn Crist is
asking for citizen volunteers
to help water the newly-laid
The largest budget increase
approved by the Budget Com
mittee for any single depart
ment was for the Sheriff's
Office. The proposed $171,527
budget would enable the
department to add two depu
ties and an additional com
munications clerk to its staff.
Almost $22,000 was pared
from Sheriff Larry Fetsch's
budget request only by shift
ing vehicles to a new line item
in the non-departmental bud
get. The 1978-79 proposed
budget for the Sheriff's office
is up $46,500 from last year.
A $37,000 budget request
from District Attorney Dennis
Doherty was pared sharply
down to $19,146, as compared
with $14,563 for the current
year.
A courthouse budget of
Patching joins Veteran's
Affairs loan office
Charles Patching, chief appraiser for the Morrow County
Assessor's office, has been named farm appraiser supervisor
for the Oregon Department of Veteran's Affairs Northeast
Oregon Farm and Home Loan office in Pendleton.
In his new job, Patching, a native of the Condon area, will
direct all farm appraisals for a five-county region, including
Morrow County, where more than $6 million have been
loaned to local veterans.
Patching joined the Morrow County Assessor's staff in
1973, eventually moving up to the chief apraiser's position.
He is a graduate of Oregon State University's agricultural
economics program, and is a licensed real estate broker and
appraiser.
Patching has more than 30 years experience as a cattle
and wheat rancher in eastern Oregon and Washington.
Morrow County Assessor Everett Harshman said
Patching's duties will be performed by other staff members
in his office until a new appraiser can be hired.,
Heppner, lone 8th grade
graduation next week
"It looks like we've made it" will be the theme for the
dinners and dances to be held in honor of graduating eighth
graders from both Heppner and lone Junior High Schools this
month.
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green stuff several times a
day.
"This Saturday (May 13)
the Boy Scouts will be at the
site to help finish leveling and
landscaping the turf," Crist
said. "Any and all others who
can help there will be appre
ciated." He asked that volun
teers come to the park at 9
a.m. or as soon after that as
possible, and added that help
would also be apprecieted in
daily watering for the next few
weeks until he can get the
sprinkler system in working
order.
With the community behind
the Hager Park project,
Heppner should be the home of
a healthy green space on the
banks of Willow Creek in time
to beat the summer heat.
I.
$13,940 was approved, up
from its current $9,190, and
included salary for a full-time
janitor. The new proposed
county court budget of $44,397
showed a substantial increase
over the current $25,171 bud
get, mainly because the
$14,740 salaries item for the
two county commissioners
was previously paid out of
road department funds this
year.
The initial request for the
non-departmental budget,
$142,499, increased to $277,902
with the addition of a $32,000
line item for vehicles (trans
ferred from other depart
ments), a $50,000 general
emergency (contigency) fund,
$18,000 for a tax roll assessing
machine, $3,000 for a gas
pump at the Irrigon office, and
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a few other items. The non-departmental
budget for the
current fiscal year totals
$273,254, including $125,000 for
tax refunds to pivot irrigation
owners.
Other major department
budgets were approved gener
ally as requested, and were
within a six per cent increase
over the current fiscal year.
They were: Circuit Court,
$22,323; County Clerk, $31,596;
Health, $21,427; Justice of
Peace, Irrigon, $17,850; J. of
P., Heppner, $14,915; Juve
nile, $19,411; Planning office,
$62,900 (request cut by $4,000),
Tax Collection, $19,823; Trea
surer, $11,588, and Assessor,
$92,582 (minus shifted vehicle
requests and minor cuts).
Final discussion at Friday's
budget meeting, centered
Plans for the separate events are now being finalized by
the mothers of eighth grade students from both schools.
Heppner students will celebrate the end to their junior
high days at a dinner served at 6:30 p.m. followed by a dance
on Friday, May 19, at the Heppner Elks Lodge. The students
will be joined by their teachers, Principals Don Cole and Jim
Bier, and guest speaker County Judge D.O. Nelson at the
dinner.
A buffet-style banquet scheduled for Saturday, May 20, in
the lone School cafetorium at 6:30 p.m., will also be followed
by a dance for lone eighth graders. The buffet will be
prepared by parents who plan to join their children and the
teachers for the meal. Seventh grade students have been
invited to the graduation dance.
A will and prophecy for next year's freshmen will be read
for students from both schools.
Linda LaRue appointed
Mayor for City of lone
Linda LaRue, two-term member of lone City Council,
has been named the city's acting mayor.
Mrs. LaRue will complete the term of the former Mayor
Robert Drake, who resigned April 5. Drake stepped down
from the mayor's post after selling his business, the
Independent Garage in lone.
The current mayor's term expires later this year, as do
three positions on city council. The city is seeking
civic-minded citizens to run for the posts during the
November election.
Mrs. LaRue is wife of Del LaRue, teacher-coach at lone
High School.
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City Foreman Randy Krueger and Winn Crist heave-ho with
a piece of sod at Hager Park. The turf Earth Carpet was
donated by grower Eric Anderson of lone.
ix
around what to do with
approximately $79,000 of reve
nue sharing money ($15,000
carryover and $60,000 the
county expects to receive).
The Revenue Sharing Com
mittee decided to budget
$15,919 for the Neighborhood
Center ($8,746 federal money
to be repaid to the general
fund, and the rest into a
Morrow County Capital Im
provement Fund). Future
uses of the money from the
fund could include a jail,
senior citizens center, parks,
ball field and other such
projects.
While the budget is not yet
completely finalized. Morrow
County residents can expect a
date at the polls to vote on a
budget substantially above the
six per cent limitation.