Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1978)
The Library University of Oregon Eugene. Or 9703. For Microfilm OTW A .is: r SHOP HEPPNER FRIDAY TTIie Ileppner J r1 . A I I zcirzy1 i i. t t.-r , t . A I . - - . . . r i , - - harvest Flash floods struck portions of Morrow County for the second consecutive week, damaging croplands, roads, and farm buildings along Rhea Creek and its usually dry canyon tributaries. Late Friday afternoon, a cloudburst struck in the Ruggs area. A total of hVz inches of rainfall was reportedly recor ded within a 45 minute period at the Mildred Wright home. The downpour sent flood runoff down a usually dry side canyon leading to Rhea Creek at Ruggs, then swelled the normally trickling McKinney Creek into a muddy torrent. Mrs. Harold Wright of Ruggs was at the Wright's Country Store when she heard the flood waters rumbling down the canyon. When the gullywasher swept into Ruggs, "it looked like it was 30 to 40 feet wide, and may be five or six feet deep," she said. "It washed debris up against the fences, and when the water hit against that, it sent spray up in the air about 10 feet." The Harold Wrights had several acres of alfalfa land covered by water, silt and . rocks, ruining this season's . second cutting. In addition, a buck sheep Was missing, apparently washed down stream. Similar crop damage was also reported at the Kenneth Wright place, where one half inch of rain was recorded within 10 minutes. Runoff water seeped into the base ment of the Mildred Wright home. Water also seeped into a gasoling storage tank at Wright's Country Store, ruin 'ng the fuel. ' Floodwaters blocked Hwy. 37 at Ruggs, with runoff t I . - North Lexington grain grower Alfred Nelson became the first Morrow Countian to put combine to barley this year. He is shown here harvesting a field along Baseline Road last, Friday. When first loads were brought to the nearby Morrow County Grain Growers' elevator, yeilds of 1V4 tons per acre were reported on the dryland barley well above annual averages. Severe toim : Thunderheads bring damage for reaching to within three feet of the highway bridge. The Rhea Creek Grange Hall was surrounded by wa ter, which reached above the floor level on the building's exterior, but luckily failed to enter the structure. About 9 p.m., a second thunderstorm swept through nllywasfir ' ." . . ' " -v -.1. the area, this time centering around Hardman. Ranches that suffered crop damage in that storm included the Bob Stevens and Harold Stevens places. Floodwater entered the Huston Lesley home in Hardman, and inun dated Hardman 's Main Street with some two feet of muddy Severe storm activity again last week brought damage to lands in Morrow County-this time along Rhea Creek and in the Ruggs area. Croplands were hit this time, along with the canyon bottoms. VOL. 9G NO. 28 water. Hail accompanied both storms, damaging nearly ready to harvest wheat crops. Had both storms struck at the same time, area residents believed the results would have been devastating. As the runoff from McKin ney Creek, Hay Canyon, and - -" :lV. , . ,' ' . - - . ' k ' Morrow County's HEPPNER, OREGON County bu sit same amoiunf The Morrow County Court will submit the same operat ing budget request that re ceived a deadlocked 513-513 vote during the June 27 election. County officials hope to resubmit the budget to voters on August 8. If voters approve the budget during the August poll, it will cost an extra 68 cents per Hospital Aug. 8; Faced with a voter defeated budget, a one-man medical team and increasing costs, Pioneer Memorial Hospital board members came up with some, reductions in a budget that will go before voters again August 8. The proposed budget will be second week other tributaries swelled into Rhea Creek, damage spread down that stream most of the way to lone. Most of the damage was minor, and most residents were forewarned by upstream neighbors or the sheriff's office of the flood's imminent arrival. Most Rhea Creek farmers had time to i . 3 , v - J. ' ' I - r. .' : ,,..- r 1 " J Award-Winning THURSDAY, JULY 13, 1978 $1,000 property tax valuation over last year's county tax rate. The levy would raise a total of $246,655, the figure needed to catch up with inflation in supplies, materials and labor costs, county officials say. This year marks the first time the county has sought to go outside the six per cent budget limitation. The budget dget b budget cut, back to voters Mrs. Laughlin resigns about $39,500 less than the $190,082 budget defeated by voters June 27. The board was aided in their efforts with the unexpected resignation of As sistant Administrator Dene Laughlin. Board Chairman Fred Mar tin read from a letter sent by pull irrigation pumps and move equipment before the flood hit. Rhea Creek did spill out of its banks at several locations downstream from Ruggs, covering hay fields with mud, silt and debris. Doctors search committee to meet The Morrow County Doctor Search Committee will meet in Boarmdan, at the medical clinic Thursday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. After a tour of the clinic, the meeting will adjourn to the Riverside High School cafe teria. Chairman Kent Goodyear said plans for obtaining tem porary physicians for Hepp- ner and Boardman will be the main item on the agenda. Weather by Don Gilliam Hi Low Pre. Tues.,July4 72 53 T Wed., July 5 78 53 Thurs.,July6 84 Fri.,July7 87 55 .16 Sat.,' July 8 87 58 Sun., July 9 81 47 Mon.,July 10 75 46 Tues.,Julyll 76 49 Veekly Newspaper TWO SECTION'S 20 PAGES is basically a no-frills affair, with no funds earmarked for new construction projects or other major capital improve ments. Essentially, passage of the budget would mean that county government and its services would carry on fairly much as usual. A recount last week failed to change the outcome of the Mrs. Laughlin that stated she would retire from her position July 14, ending 22 years association with Pioneer Me morial. Mrs. Laughlin started with the hospital at the "bottom of the ladder and worked her way up", noted Martin, who commended the former Ad ministrator on her years of service to the community. Mrs. Laughlin's letter sta ted she was resigning because of health reasons and the "extreme pressure of the job." The assistant administra tor's salary of $15,490 was cut along with overtime money for maintenance, laboratory and x-ray technicians. Hospital Administrator Bob Byrnes also took a cut in the proposed raise he would get Senator given tour of Kinzua sawmill On a whistle stop tour of Eastern Oregon last Thurs day, Senator Mark Hatfield arrived in Heppner at 3:30 p.m. for an hour-long stay at Kinzua Corporation, high lighted by a tour of the company's $15-million saw mill and plywood operation. Kinzua's Allen Nistad told Hatfield the company now employs 414 people at an annual payroll in excess of " $7-million. In addition, Kinzua Corp.' contracts with nine local firms for contract logging, chip hauling, and commercial and pre-commercial thinning acti vities on the Kinzua tree farm and the Umatilla National Forest, with payments total ing in excess of $7-million annually. The contractors in clude Hardwick Logging, Inc.; Pine Contractors, Inc.; John Meadows Logging, Inc.; Grant Loggers, Inc.; Stan Powell Logging, Inc.; Chip-away Transport, Inc.; Todd & Jackson, Inc.; Greenup & Associates; Britt Logging, Inc. With his son Visko, Heppner Attorney Bob Abrams and Kinzua Operations Manager 20c June 27 deadlock. Judge D.O. Nelson said he didn't feel that the tie vote served as "a madate to cut the budget... we feel it's a realistic budget." Besides, he added, "what is there to trim? If we had decided to cut into it, we'd have to drop some services." for next year. County Commissioner War ren McCoy told board mem bers the biggest complaint he heard was that administration was too expensive In response, Byrnes said he would gladly take a cut in the proposed 10 per cent raise he would receive. The adminis trator's salary increase will amount to about six per cent after the cut. Added to the budget, how ever, was a $20,000 sum the hospital board felt was needed to recruit physicians to the Heppner and Boardman medi cal clinics. The hospital budget will be voted on Tuesday, Aug. 8 at the same time the county will re-submit its budaet although both will be seperate ballots. on Harry Kennison, Hatfield made an inspection of the company's plywood plant completed in 1974 before moving onto view' Kinzua's latest and most innovative expansion project. The new electronic 4-5 mil lion sawmill that's housed in a ' two-story building the size of a football field is nearing com pletion and what Hatfield saw was a bustling crew of machinists, electricians and laborers working to complete their tasks before painters arrived for finishing touches. ' Kinzua Corp. hopes to have the mill operative hv August 1 and plans a public tour of the facility sometime in early September. Kennison, the man behind the design and construction of the revoluntionary sawmill, told Hatfield that Kinzua Corporation would be able to utilize logs ranging in diame ter from 5-inches to 5-feet. "That will help us utilize trees killed by insects and those small diameter logs taken out in the thinning process," said Kennison. "It all fits in with Kinzua's overtU terttt mmi gemmt plan. f t S -Hf -"W. ftv-M.-i"
