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New city pumper provides Lexington area
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VOL. 97,
County budget committee
to analyze defeated
What caused last Tuesday's
voter rejection of the request
ed Morrow County tax levy
dominated the discussion at
Thursday's budget committee
meeting at the County Court
house. Except for revaluation of
property in the county it was a
mystery to County Judge D.O.
Nelson and Warren McCoy
and the small group which
attended the informal meet
ing. Most of the members of
the committee were missing
for a variety of reasons, Don
Kramer was home nursing an
injured knee and the chair
man Gary Grieb wasn't able
to attend. Barton Clark, a
newly appointed member of
the committee, attended but is
still learning the budget de
tails. And his predecessor,
who declined to be identified,
felt the light turnout of voters
was the reason behind the
budget defeat.
At the end of the marathon
brainstorming, the court de
ferred its decision until Thurs
day when the budget commit
tee will again meet with the
court.
The chairman of the hospi
tal board, Fred Martin, also
attended the session and said
a decision to resubmit the
Pioneer Memorial Hospital to
the voters must be taken by
the County Court which first
divided the county and hospi
tal tax levies two years ago
into separate ballot issues.
When asked why the hospi
tal vote failed, Martin res
ponded, "I feel it was pri
marily a matter of communi
cation; it's a very complex
issue and hard to break down
the misunderstandings."
County Commissioner War
ren McCoy, Irrigon, said 90
percent of the problem is that
state and federal government
keep raising their demands on
county government and voters
here "took their wrath out on
the county government."
Nelson and McCoy were
disappointed with the election
results, noting the low attend
ance at public meetings held
in both north and south ends of
the county.
"We went to Boardman and
had five people at the meeting,
''.V- "-'
NO. 22
four of which were city
officials," Nelson said.
McCoy thought a direct
mailing to taxpayers might
achieve better results but
Nelson said they are used to
tossing such material away.
In one instance, flyers were
sent to all parents of school
age children and when McCoy
and Nelson arrived at the
Irrigon meeting, "not a soul
came," Nelson said.
A former member of the
budget committee said he
had heard some discontent
from taxpayers over the
inclusion of $18,000 in the
District Attorney's budget for
hiring a Deputy District
Attorney.
Nelson said the D.A. is
required to do more and trying
to rid the county of drug
abuse. A portion of the D.A.'s
expenses are borne by the
state ($5,796) but the county
Vandals strike
Heppner High
Heppner High School was
the scene of vandalism early
Thursday morning.
Someone made entry into
the school, overturned desks
and tables in two classrooms,
broke coffee cups in the
faculty room, discharged fire
extinguishers and damaged a
water fountain in the boys'
physical education room.
The incident has been re
ported to Heppner City Police
and the case is under investi
gation. Both Police Chief Dean
Gilman and Principal Jim
Bier do not suspect a connect
ion with the latest vandalism
and the vandalism last week
to four buses at lone.
Bier told the Gazette-Times,
vandalism has been on the
increase at the high school but
felt other school districts were
noticing greater problems. He
noted that there is an Oregon
law which requires assess
7"J A PT7 im FSTi m T
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Morrow
HEPPNER, OREGON
supports the office and secre
tarial expenses. The personal
services of the D.A. total
$39,186.
At one point, Nelson said if
we could sit down with every
taxpayer in Morrow County
and explain our budget, we
would receive their votes. But
he said the Court doesn't have
the time.
He believes the proposed
1979-1980 budget to be a fair
budget based on the necessary
road requirements and gov
ernmental expenditures. "We
can't lower salaries."
"If we made cuts, we might
set the county back 20 years,"
Nelson said.
"I think the county does a
real good job to take care of
what it has with 1200 miles of
roads to maintain."
McCoy said some north end
voters felt they weren't get
ting a fair share of the
ment of parents for the
damage if their children are
found responsible.
Recently, Bier said, the
Umatilla School District went
to court to force parents to pay
for a vandalism.
With the latest incident of
vandalism and other instances
of plugged-up toilets, Bier
says the school is going to
have to "look at our security
possibly installing an alarm
system or hiring additional
personnel."
Bier said this time of the
year is always a period of
some vandalism and often
such incidents are related to
reaction to punishment by the
administration or faculty.
No student court exists with
disciplinary policy in the
hands of district principals.
Bier says he prefers to work
with the majority of good
students to apply pressure on ,
thos who are the source of the
problem.
The Lexington Volunteer
Fire Department has a new
fire engine, a 1978 Inter
national 1,000 gallon pumper
with a 750 gallon tank.
And it's not painted the
traditional fire-engine red.
New pumper
adds color
The Lexington Volunteer Fire
Department tested out its new
fire truck this week. The new
vehicle is a 1978 International,
1,000 gallon pumper pur
chased from a bond issue
approved in November, 1978.
The yellow truck replaces the
old red fire engine, a 1954
Ford, which will now serve the
department as an emergency
backup.
The Heppeer
County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper
THURSDAY,
county's tax dollars on their
roads and he felt the proposed
stationing of road workers at
Irrigon and Boardman would
alleviate that feeling.
Instead of placing road
expenditures in the general
fund, Nelson said the budget
committee might consider a
one year road levy.
To offset the inflationary
pressure on property-owners
from increased valuation, it
budgets
Pioneer Picnic draws
300 for annual event
of fun and fellowship
More than 300 guests attend
ed the 26th annual Pioneer
Picnic held at the fairgrounds
in Heppner Sunday.
Hosting this year's event
was the Peck family, descend
ants of Clinton North Peck
who first homesteaded on
Clark's Canyon with a 10-acre
timber culture in 1892.
Chairmen of the 1979 picnic
were Harold and Edna Peck,
Upper Rhea Creek residents,
who were honored by their
children for the couples 45th
wedding anniversary, coming
soon. The Pecks were present
ed with a handmade quilt,
made of blocks done by many
friends of the family and
depicting bits of Morrow
County history. Making the
presentation were the Peck
children, Patricia Hardy of
Albany, Shirley Palmer of
Eightmile and Marjorie
Church of Elk City, Idaho.
Door prizes were given to
Reidun Martinsen of Norway,
traveled farthest; Letha
Archer, Heppner, oldest per
son in attendance; Melody
Marlatt, Heppner, name
drawing. Miss Martinsen is an
International Foreign Youth
Exchange student staying
with the Roger Palmer fam
ily. Greeting the picnic-goers
were Heppner Mayor Jerry
Sweeney who delivered a
short welcome; Harold Kerr,
county extension agent, who
Instead, Lexington residents
will be seeing a new yellow
fire truck. The yellow color is
the latest innovation among
fire and emergency vehicles
and supposed to be more
visible at night, Fire Chief Ed
Baker told the Gazette-Times.
The fire truck cost residents
about $48,000 in a bond issue
approved last November re
placing a 1954 Ford with 200
MAY 31, 1979
meets
was suggested that taxpayers
unhappy with the hike in their
property values appeal direct
ly to the board of equalization
or appeal directly to the state.
County Assessor Everett
Harshman told the court that
property tax relief may be
coming from the state legisla
ture which is debating a bill to
lower taxes on homes by 30
percent; it would only be in
force for one year.
told the audience what was
happening in Morrow County
agriculturally and industrial
ly; and the Morrow County
Fair & Rodeo Court, consist
ing of Queen Debora Palmer,
Princess Lori Edwards and
Princess Jennifer Wenholz.
The Rev. John Maas of Hope
and Valby Lutheran churches
gave the invocation.
Highlighting the picnic as
it does every year were the
acquaintances renewed by
former classmates and neigh
bors and even relatives who
haven't seen each other over
the years.
Chairmen of the 1980 Pio
neer Picnic will be Mr. and
Mrs. Darrell Vinson of Heppner.
Juveniles arrested for
lone bus vandalism
Two lone juveniles, a 16 and
17 year old boy, were arrested
Friday and will be charged
with a Class C felony, criminal
mischiei in the first degree in
connection with the vandalism
of four lone High School buses
last week.
Morrow County Sheriff
Larry Fetsch said the youth
were "detained" by sheriff's
deputies and handed over to
juvenile authorities. The juve
nile Court Judge, D.O. Nelson
gallon and 500 gal. water tank.
Chief baker said the depart
ment would keep the old
vehicle as a backup in
emergencies and would be
installing a larger fire door to
accomodate the city's two
truck fleet.
Chief Baker and Bill Sheir
bon, a member of the depart
ment left May 19 on a trip to
Tipton, Indiana to pick up the
. . I -T I .:. -fc
GOP nominates Krebs for
county commissioner post
Dorothy Krebs, lone, has
been recommended to the
Morrow County Court by the
County Republican Central
Committee as its choice to fill
the position of County Com
missioner held by the late
Homer Hughes.
If appointed, Krebs will be
the first woman commissioner
in Morrow County history. The
County Court meets Wednes
day to consider the recom
mendation. Her selection was made
public by Central Committee
Chairman Steve Peck follow
ing a closed caucus of 16
Republican committee mem
bers at the County Courthouse
in Heppner, Wednesday, May
23.
Krebs won the nomination
on the first ballot in competi
tion with 10 other candidates,
Merle Cantin, Ralph Crum,
More than 150 contestants expected
Junior cowboys ride into
Heppner for weekend rodeo
Junior Rodeo is slated this
weekend at the Morrow
County Fairgrounds with an
estimated 150 contestants ex
pected to compete from Idaho,
Washington, Oregon and Cal
ifornia. Three shows are scheduled ;
Friday night starting at 7:30
will make a determination of
the case.
The boys are also being
questioned about six or seven
other cases involving vandal
ism and theft in the area.
The principal of lone High
School reported that the
vandalism caused an esti
mated $2,000 damage to the
vehicles which have been
repaired and returned to
service.
vehicle and save the residents
$900, then drove it back to
Oregon. The pair experienced
a windstorm in Wyoming but
other than that, Chief Baker
said the trip was smooth.
In addition to the fire
engine, the department pur
chased new hoses, 1200 feet of
two and a half inch hose
adding to its complement of
800 ft. of one and a half inch
hosing.
The new fire engine gives
the department greater fire
fighting capacity and could be
the impetus towards creation
of a rural fire district. At
present, the 8 man depart
ment serves only the immed
iate boundaries of Lexington.
Chief Baker said he will invite
the Deputy Fire Marshall
from Pendleton to see their
new vehicle and discuss prop
osed boundaries for the
district. To create the district,
High
Tues., May 22 88
Wed., May 23 81
Thur., May 24 75
Fri., May 25 83
Sat., May 26 76
Sun., May 27 63
Mon.,May29 61
PAGES
Dorothy Krebs
Don Peterson, a committee
member, Arnold Braat, Irri
gon City Manager Jack Bais
den, Dick Wilkinson, June
Lindstrom, Paul Taylor and
Truman Messenger. The rules
committee rejected Baisden's
p.m. and again on Saturday
and Sunday at 1 p.m. The
events are divided into two
categories, Senior (15-18 year
olds) and Juniors (9-14). Cost
of admission is $2.50 for adults
and $1 for students. Refresh
ments will be sold by the
Lion's Club.
Senior boys will be com
peting in a variety of events
from saddle bronc and bare
back riding, bulldogging, calf
roping and bull riding and
Senior girls will be partici
pating in such events as
cow-riding, breakaway roping
pole bending, barrel racing,
goat-tying and team roping
with one header and the other,
heeler. Junior boys' events
include breakaway, calf
riding and calf-tying. The girls
will be barrel racing, pole
bending, calf riding and team
roping.
The Morrow County Fair
and Rodeo Court will make an
appearance at the grand
opening of the rodeo each
boundaries must be outlined
and the issue voted upon.
Baker told the Gazette that
when fire occurs outside the
city limits, the Morrow County
Grain Growers respond with
its equipment.
The chief hopes to arrange a
public demonstration of the
truck to residents of Lexington
after storing and installing air
masks, hoses and other equip
ment. He urges anyone interested
in joining the fire department
to contact him. Men or women
may apply and receive $2.50
per meeting (50 cents is
deducted for refreshments)
and $7 per fire call.
The department currently
has seven men, Gary Mun
kers, Floyd Barman, Ray
Shuman, Bill Sheirbon, John
Ripple, Harry Green and
Charles Hutchinson.
WEATHER
Low
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candidacy because he wasn't
a resident of the county.
The wife of a sheepgrower,
Henry Krebs, Dorothy holds a
master of science degree from
Oregon State University, is a
former member of the board
of directors of Blue Mountain
Community College and says
she is interested in finding
solutions to governmental
problems.
"I didn't know which way it
would go. Obviously, she had
good support. I think we found
an electable Republican," the
committee chairman said
Thursday following Kreb's
selection.
The committee notified all
the applicants of their decision
Wednesday night and thanked
them for their participation.
Peck said the committee felt
there were several good
candidates for the position.
night, which will also feature a
colorful ceremony of horse
manship, outfits and rodeo
hats.
The rodeo is approved by
the Western States Junior
Rodeo Association and is one
of a series of rodeos attracting
young rodeo stars. Silver belt
buckles will be given away to
the top competitors with a $15
entry fee charged to partici
pants. Joe Nichols will serve as the
announcer for the annual
event.
DMV office
closed from
June 4-15
The State Motor Vehicle
Dept., Heppner, will be closed
from June 4 through 15, to
enable the examiner to attend
school in Salem.
It will reopen on June 18.