BESSIE WET2ELL
U OF ORE
NEWS PAPER LIB '
EUGENE OR 97403
VOL. NO.
Man power
Two days of hard work by 19
area men nan resulted in
water being saved for Willow
Creek, which may have been
diverted into the John Day
River, Dick Wilkinson of the
Willow Creek Improvement
District says.
For many years a man
made diversion ditch nan been
carrying water into Willow
Creek at a point above
Cutsforth Park.
Last Spring the Forest
Service informed Morrow
County that a conditional use
permit allowing the Smith
Ditch diversion would not be
renewed, unless the stream
were cleaned up and better
maintained ugainst erosion.
The Forest Service suid if
the permit were not renewed,
about 90-acre feet of water
that had been flowing into
Willow Creek would be diver
ted into Ditch Creek, which
feeds into the John Day on the
other side of the mountain.
Not wanting to lose valuable
irrigation and other uses of the
water, the improvement dis
trict put together a work party
of volunteer labor and machi
nery, and on October 13 and 14
went up to the Smith Ditch.
The men spent the two days
clearing out vegetation, instal
ling rip rap and cleaning the
creek bed for about one mile.
Four bulldozers and a back
hoe were donated for the work
by area farmers, and both the
Morrow County Grain Grow
ers and Kiii7.ua Corp. donated
trucks.
Also saved by the work of
the improvement district was
a 340-foot waterfall, which
flows near Cutsforth Park,
and would hove been wiped
out by the water diversion into
Ditch Creek.
After the work was done, a
spokesperson for the Forest
Service said he anticipated
issuing a new conditional use
permit to the county for the
Morrow Co. Court endorses
L.C.D.C. resolution
lV MARYANN CEKl'M.O
Morrow Counly Court en
dtused a resolution presented
by the Klamath County Com
mission, concerning the con
trol of the Land Conservation
and Development Coin mission
L.C.D.C.) and sent it on to
Salem last Wednesday, Dec.
23.
"L.C.D.C. if no longer
meeting the needs of city and
county jurisdictions and their
people, showing no deference
to the productivity of the land,
or to the economy of the area,
but instead using the taxpay
er's money on expensive legal
actions and continual hearings
at Salem in a futile effort to
satisfy the philosophies of the
Stale Commission. . . "stated
the resolution.
The resolution went on to
slate that as L.C.D.C. is no
longer meeting the needs of
the cities and counties on land
issues, it should be put buck
under more local control.
"L.C.D.C. began as a coop
erative agency, to work as a
working partnership between
the cities and counties on land
GAZETTE-
Morrow County's
S3
saves water for Willow Creek
f c o h '
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Eldon Padberg with
water diversion, but that it
would be for one year only.
"We're concerned the prob
lem (erosion) might move
down (Smith Ditch). We're
going to go back and look at it
in a year, and we'll see what it
looks like then," he said.
Men who participated in the
work included: Jim Bloods
worth, Cecil Jones, Sam
Byrne, John Wood, Mack
Hoskin, Randy Ball, Don
Evans, Wayne Evans, Roger
Mortimore, Gene Crowell,
Tim Cheney, Dick Tarrell, Joe
McElligott, Jerry McElligott,
Eldon Padberg, Hank Krebs,
Dick Wilkinson, Charlie
Mackey and Tom Wilson.
"There were a lot of people
there, but I think this was all
who participated," Wilkinson
said.
issues. But now they (L.C.
D.C.) have become more
dictatorial . telling rather
than advising" said Commis
sioner Dorothy Krebs in a
further explanation of the
resolution.
In other business. Judge
Don McElligott informed the
court that the deadline to
submit a jail proposal to the
slate is February 1, 19H2. A
regional facility is the only
type which would be eligible
for state funds, stated McElli
gott. The study group which is
currently looking into all
options for a county correct
ional facility will present its
findings prior to the deadline.
The study group was organ
ized during a public meeting
December 9 and held its first
session Monday, Dec. 21. Ed
Glenn of Boardman was
appointed chairman of the
group and Diane Brownley
became secretary, reported
McElligott.
Morrow County Court
continued with the following
business:
The Heppner
Home-Owned
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 31, 1H1
equipment used in Smith Ditch work
A cleaned up Smitli
received notification of a
rescheduling of the meeting
with Umatilla Counly Com
mission for January 7 at 11 :45
a.m. in Pendleton. The
original meeting was set for
December 30 to discuss court
financing.
approved recommenda
tions for six month salary
raises within the assessor's
office, made by Greg Sweek.
received word from
Morrow Counly Health Nurse
Pal Wright, of her concern
over her malpractice insur
ance. Wright requested thai
the court review her insurance
policy and the possibility of
increasing her coverage. No
action was taken.
heard the weekly Road
Report from Don Briggs,
director of the Public Works
Dept. Twenty bids had been
received from local contract
ors, as of December 2:t, for
construction of a new county
maintenance shop in Lexing
ton, said Briggs, and the
department still intends to
publicize statewide.
TVTTET
Weekly Newspaper
H PAGES
20 CENTS
: j-. .
m4
Ditch
New phone tax
for 1982
A new tax, part of a law
passed by the 1981 Oregon
legislature to implement 911
emergency telephone systems
throughout the state, will
begin appearing on Pacific
Northwest Bell telephone bills
after January 1, 19H2, slated a
news release from PNB.
The three percent slate
excise tax will be applied to
the amount paid by customers
for local exchange access,
according to Glenn Kennedy,
area manager-Community
Affairs. It will not be applied
to monthly charges for leased
telephone sets, other tele
phone equipment or long
distance calls.
Tax dollars are transferred
to the State Department of
Revenue which distributes
them to local 9tl jurisdictions.
Some 33 other telephone
companies providing local
exchange service in the state
also will collect the tax
through monthly bills, the
news release continued.
The new 911 law will be
effective through 1991, at
which time the state has
mandated that all local gov
ernment jurisdictions must
have 911 emergency telephone
systems in place.
HEPPNER. OREGON
Columbia
study bids
By MARYANN CERULLO
A meeting of the Board of
. Directors of the Columbia
Basin Electric Cooperative
was held last Wednesday,
Dec. 23, to discuss three
acceptable bids which the
co-op recently received for a
cost of service study,
i Fred Toombs, manager of
' Columbia Basin, presented
the three bids to the board,
beginning with the engineer -'
ing firm of Minor and Minor of
Montana. Rate consultant for
; the company, Robert Scriv
t ner, gave their estimated cost
of the study at $19,800.
Black and Veatch out of
Kansas was listed next with an
estimate of $19,500.
- The last bid came in at
$16,800 from Economic Engi
Proposed
Budget cuts proposed by the
Oregon State Legislature to
jfeduce state department em
ployees by 20 percent could hit
home and hit hard in Morrow
County, District Attorney Ann
Spicer informed the Gazette
Times during an interview
last week.
If passed, the proposed 20
percent cuts are to be made in
all state departments in five
percent increments over a two
year period, said Spicer.
These cuts would mean the
state could lose about 184
Oregon State Police troopers,
Spicer emphasized. She said
from figures learned at the
Oregon State District Attor
neys Conference, held in
Eugene Dec. 2 - 4, the
proposed cuts would mean the
dismissal of all troopers hired
during the last five years.
Looking at Morrow County's
crime rate statistics for the
past seven years, defines
Spicer 's concern over the
proposed cut-backs.
During 1975 through 1977
inclusive, there were 77 felony
indictments through grand
juries in Morrow County. In
1978 there were 15 indictments
through grand juries plus 248
other criminal cases (misde
meanors and felonies on
waiver of indictment) bring
ing the total criminal activity
record for 1978 to 263 cases,
Spicer illustrated.
1979 shows total criminal
activity at 341 cases, with
felony indictments jumping
340 percent from 15 to 51 cases
over 1978. 1
During 1980 crime was down
in the county, but in 1981 it
jumped to a record high, 73
felony indictments and 318
other criminal cases.
If the proposed cuts become
WIw will be the first 1982
baby born in Heppner?
Who will be the first baby
born at the Pioneer Memorial
Hospital in 1982?
That's hard to say, but
whoever it is will once again
be showered with gifts from
Weather
By City of Heppner
Basin board discusses service
at Wednesday meeting
neering Service (EES) of
Seattle.
Toombs presented high rec
ommendations for each firm.
Three other companies which
had been contacted declined to
give estimates.
The board agreed on the
formation of an advisory
committee, but agreed that
final decisions would rest with
the board of directors.
After some discussion the
board moved and seconded
to meet with the rate consul
tant of each firm on the
morning of Thursday, Jan. 7.
Following the three inter
views, it was decided that the
consultant for the firm chosen
to do the rate study would
meet and exchange ideas with
the board and advisory com
mittee. The board recognized Har
budget cuts
reality, Morrow County will
definitely be noticing some
changes.
Spicer said the cuts would
most effect traffic work and
predicts an increase in bur
glaries as well as accidents.
In Irrigon alone, there were
22 reported burglaries be
tween August 18 and Nov. 27 of
this year, Spicer said. There
may have been more that
were not reported, she added.
Of those 22 burglaries, 10
were investigated by the OSP,
the other 12 were handled by
the Morrow County Sheriff's
Department.
Last year, the state began
releasing about 80 troopers,
Spicer said. "My feeling is,
we can't afford to lose any of
them -not when crime is going
up that fast."
What do the Oregon State
Police do for Morrow County?
OSP troopers do much of the
trained investigating for the
county and aid the county
sheriff and deputies in re
sponding to accidents, Spicer
reported.
On the average, she said,
one county deputy is on duty at
a time. The Arlington and
Hermiston OSP offices pre
sently have troopers available
for Morrow County, if needed.
The OSP have investigated
many burglaries and perform
much of the major investiga
tion work. The OSP handled
almost all of the Guzman
murder (Boardman) investi
gation the D.A. said.
'The Sheriffs Department
does do investigating, but they
don't have the man power to
do it all," said Deputy District
Attorney Harold McLean.
At present, Spicer reports,
the Arlington office, whose
troopers patrol the Arlington,
many of Heppner 's businesses
and merchants.
For complete details of the
first baby contest, see page
five of this week's Gazette-Times.
High Low Precip
40 32 trace of snow
41 32 .09
52 36 trace of snow
44 32 3 in snow
38 28 'i in. snow
41 30 .02 in. snow
39 20 0
Tues., Dec. 22
Wed., Dec. 23
Thurs., Dec. 24
Fri., Dec. 25
Sat., Dec. 26
Sun., Dec. 27
Mon., Dec. 28
old Peck of Heppner who
voiced a concern over the
wisdom of spending the con
sumers' money on a rate
study.
"What's the point if you're
not going to follow this rate
study and just compromise all
over again?" inquired Peck.
Columbia Basin approved a
rate increase last July 30. The
increase was the result of a
compromise between a rate
study commissioned by the
co-op and one by the large
irrigators.
The board reasserted that
all final decisions would lie
with them.
Peck next questioned
whether members of the
advisory committee would be
knowledgable enough to know
what to look for and what to
ask.
could hit
Condon and Boardman areas,
is proposed to be closed. The
Hermiston office will remain
. open, but with a reduced staff,
she continued.
One of the major changes in
services from the OSP, Spicer
said would be response time.
, Spicer went on to explain,
for example, if the county
deputy was working in the
Hardman area, and someone
needed help in Boardman
there may not be an OSP
trooper available to respond,
posing a possible dangerous
Hey big guy...
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Last week's snowfall prompted many kids, young and old
to get out and have some fun in the snow. As a result,
snowpersons began popping up in yards all across town.
This one, which stands about 7 ft. tall was built Saturday by
Vince Brant 19, Hermiston, and Susy Olson, 15, formerly of
Heppner, and now living in Hermiston. The snow man, as of
Monday, was residing on Susy's father, Eddie Olson's lawn at
Shobe Street in Heppner.
Fred Toombs agreed to
contact members of both the
board and the committee to
discuss what questions should
be asked of each firm.
"The intent of this cost of
service study is to come up
with a rate increase that will
be fair to all consumers
involved," said Toombs.
The advisory committee for
the cost of service study
includes, as of Dec. 23: John1
Bristow and Raymond French
who will represent the resi
dential consumers; Forrie
Burkenbine and Bill Flatt for
small commercial; Al Osmin
and Phil Wilson, small irrb
gators; Marvin Padberg and
Brock Tucker are to represent
the large irrigators; and Bob
Lankford and Harry Kennison
for the industrial consumers.,
home hard
situation.
"After cuts, we will not have
the availability of OSP troop
ers that we have now, if at
all," the D.A. continued.
If people will get going and
write letters prior to the
January 11 legislative session
(when the final decision will
be made) maybe the cuts
won't be so severe," Spicer
added.
"I urge people to write their
congressmen and state legis-1
lators and give support to the
OSP," added McLean.
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