Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1983)
U OF ORE VOL. 101 NO. S FEBRUARY S. 183 IIEPPNER. OREGON PMM.'s 1st baby .I C- Vm Poor Aemoflol Hoipltal' first Pioneer Memorial Hospital's finally made an appearance. Talia Caillin Sweek arrived last Wednesday, Jan. Her parents are Marsha and Gregory Sweek of Heppner. Talia tipped the scales at 7 lbs., IS oz. Her grandparents are Mr. and and Bill Sowell, all of Heppner Ray Grace of Venezuela. Great grandmothers are Verna Howell of Heppner and Daisy Ziegler of Talia Joins a brother, Ian, two Local merchants have donated first baby, Including: $10 worth of baby food from Central Market, a f 10 gift certificate from Peterson's Jewelers, a $10 gift certificate from Coast to Coast, a f 10 gift certificate from S & J Market, a $5 gift certificate School board, advisory comm. positions open Candidates foi school board and advisory committee posi tions must file their petitions with the county clerk by Feb ruary 23. Petitions are avail able at the school office and the district office. This year there are a num ber of positions open. School beard positions to be voted on Include Zone III, currently being served by Jerry McElligott and Zone IV Position currently held by Irvin Ranch. Advisory positions include lone Lexington committee po Corps makes final plans to fill lake The Corps, of Engineers is making final plans and prep arations to close the six-foot diameter diversion pipe at the base of Willow Creek Dam and allow the lake to begin filling, said O.C. Dugger of the Walla Walla, Wash. District Public Affairs Office. Closure of the pipe is pres ently expected to occur some time during the last two weeks of February. After closure, about IK) acre-feet of water must be stored behind the dam before the lake level reaches the dam's outlet at an eleva tion of 2,000 (feet above mean sea level). The present diver sion pipe is at elevation 1,978. Average flows of Willow Creek in late February run about 35 cubic feet per second. If the creek is flowing at or about that rate after closure of V , Vs' V. . ' f i, 1 , '.. - baby of 1983, Tolio Coitlin Sweek, with her mother, Marha. first baby of 1983 26, at 9:02 a.m. Mrs. Ned Sweek and Mr. and Mrs. Prinevllle. years. gifts to 19S3's from Pettyjohn's sition number one, held by Paul Tews and position num ber five, Cecil, held by Ed Patton; Hcppner-Lexington position number three, Lex ington, held by Sharon Harri son and position number five, Heppner, held by Gail Hughes; Boardman-Irrigon position number two. Board man, held by Shane Fritz and position number five, Irrigon, held by Marilyn Putman. School board positions are for four year terms, advisory positions are three year terms. the diversion, it will take about one and one-half days to reach the 2,000-foot level. During this filling period, flows on the short reach of Willow Creek from the dam to Hinton Creek are expected to be minimal, Dugger said. Prior to closure, Corps per sonnel and the state water master will check stream flows in order to assure they are adequate to meet the minimum needs of down stream users during the initial filling period. Flows below Hinton Creek are expected to be adequate for stock water ing purposes. Once the lake level reaches the outlet works. Willow Creek flows will be regulated to cont. p. 3 Morrow County s 8 PAGE8 is here! 1 i I . iJ - " - , ... . m i t . 1: i. .'f - tS.' M Farm and Builder Supply, $10 in a savings account at the Bank of Eastern Oregon in Heppner, a $5 gift certificate from Morrow County Grain Growers, $10 cash from Ray Boyce Insurance, a $10 gift certificate from R & W Drive-In, one day's basic service charge for mother and baby from Pioneer Memorial Hospital, a $10 gift certificate from the Shoe Box, a $5 gift certificate from Cole's House of Fashion and Posy Palach, a $5 gift certificate from Murray's Drug, a $5 gift certificate from Court St. Market, a $5 gift certificate from Lexington Lumber, a $5 gift certificate from Case Furni ture, a $5 gift certificate from Lebush Shoppe, a $10 gift certificate from the Heppner Gazette Times and appropriate gifts from Sears and Heppner Auto Parts. Deputies join Two new deputies have joined the Morrow County Sheriff's Department recent ly Bill Caldera came to Hep pner January 5 after working three years part-time for the Wheeler Co. Sheriff's Depart ment in Fossil and graduating from Blue Mountain Com munity College with an Asso ciate of Science degree in law Enforcement in 1981. Rob Meakins, of Irrigon began work as a Morrow County Sheriff's deputy Thursday, Jan. 27. Meakins has been a reserve officer for the Irrigon Police Department for the past year and a half. He has also been employed as a security guard for Taggares Farms for the past year and has been a Merchants put up $100 for best St. Patrick's Day logo Have some artistic ability? Want to earn $100? Then try your luck at the Heppner Merchants' St. Patrick's Day logo contest. Seeking a picture and slogan by which to identify the St. Patrick's Day event in Hep Passenger injured in One passenger was injured in a two-vehicle crash Tues day morning in lone at the Highway 74 intersection, ac cording to the Morrow County sheriff's office. Wallace (Mike) Matthews, 77, of lone, reportedly hit a Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper 25' Co-op examioies Chapter 11 foanIoHBtcv m financial solution Working toward a solution, or to find the "lesser" of many evils, the Columbia Basin Electric Co-op Board studied several options at a meeting last Thursday, focusing on reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws. The co-op, along with 87 other Northwest utilities, en tered into an agreement in 1976 to finance Washington Public Power Supply System nuclear plants 4 and S. Colum bia Basin agreed to the project to obtain power that Bonne ville Power Administration then said would be needed. After millions of dollars in cost over runs, however, the plants were terminated in January 1982. Many of the participants, including Columbia Basin, have filed suits claiming they aren't liable for the debt since the plants were not completed and no energy will be obtained from them. The co-op is currently col lecting a 1.1 cent per kilowatt hour increase from consumers in case ordered by law to pay the debt. Funds from the increase are being held in interest bearing accounts until a judge rules on the case. So, does the board decide to choose to continue with rate increases to cover the co-op's $27 million debt from the two Co. Sheriffs : -v, , I Bill Caldera volunteer fireman since his arrival in Irrigon two and a half years ago. He attended Centralia Community College at Cen tralia, Wash. Originally from Seattle, pner, the merchants have put up $100 for the best logo entered. The logo should capture the spirit of St. Patrick's Day in Heppner much the way the county Fair and Rodeo logo identifies that event. vehicle driven by Thomas W. Walters, 20, of Illinois, who is attending college in Portland. A passenger in the Walters vehicle, Pam Mueller, 25, of Portland, was transported by ambulance to Pioneer Mem orial Hospital in Heppner IIEPPNER. OREGON plants? Do they decide to quit collecting increases to cover the plants' costs and face paying a huge lump sum if ordered by law to pay? Or will they choose to reorganize' the co-op's debt structure under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws? These and other possible plans of action were presented to the board, and each poses its own problems. Jerry Shulkin, a Seattle at torney specializing in Chapter 11 laws, explained that option to the board. Chapter 11 allows a business to reorganize its debts while still allowing the business to operate without liquidating assets, Shulkin said. However, a business must enter into reorganization before it is in great financial trouble, which co-op Manager Fred Toombs says, Columbia Basin is not. '"Ve're absolutely not bloke,' he said. "We're at the time of decision." Orcas Power and Light, San Juan Islands, Wash., has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11, Shulkin said. Since an electrical utility has not filed for reorganization since the Depression, he advised the board not to make a decision that day, but to watch Orcas, which is in the same situation as Columbia Basin to Department i I i Rob Meakins Meakins, his wife, Lynna, and their three children, Scott, Michelle and Eric, reside in Irrigon. Both deputies will be work ing as patrol officers through out the county. Entries must be drawn of black ink on white typing paper, and turned into the Gazette-Times office before March 1, 1983. (Be sure your name is on the drawing). The logos will be judged and the winner will receive $100. V ' I " JLii two-vehicle crash where she was treated and released, said a hospital spokesperson. The sheriff's office said Matthews was cited for al leged Failure to Yield Right of Way. Weather m - - , : , nl n"" 1 1 1 -"""" " 111 4 tjLilt , i'r-lM ILisi I Columbia Basin Electric Co-op Toombs (R), listen as attorney see what happens. .. Shulkin estimated that by filing a Chapter 11 the co-op could reduce its WPPSS debt by $27 million to a maximum of four to five million dollars, providing the judge rules that the utility is liable for the debt. He said Orcas will pay a Chapter 11 filing fee fixed by the court, and his firm, if the utility is successful in obtain ing a Chapter 11, will expect a substantial bonus. The WTPSS increase itself is causing the co-op plenty of grief, but power usage is also down and uncollectible ac counts are up nearly 50 per cent from December 1981 and are expected to be at least 50 percent higher again this year. Also, if the utilities don't continue raising rates to cover the plants' debts, the Rural Les Schwab, CowBelles begin 19th Annual Beef Promotion in f - vti ! .1 1 Morrow County CowBelles Donna Moeller (L) Judy Barber and Sandy Bennett along with Les Schwab Manager Dale Thompson show beef certificate to be given away during free beet promotion. CowBelles will be at les Schwab's Friday, Feb. 18, to hand out free servings of beef pocket sandwiches. Les Schwab Tire Centers in cooperation with the Oregon Beef Council and Oregon CowBelles are holding their 19th Annual Beef Promotion through February 28. The tire firm has ordered $75,000 worth of certificates this year to be given away in the state of Oregon. Each certificate will carry a $7.50 value and will be given with the purchase of two or more new passenger or pickup tires High Low Precip. Tues., Jan. 2S 52 43 .08 Wed., Jan. 26 58 44 .0 Thurs., Jan. 27 52 27 , ,0 Fri.. Jan. 28 51 29 Fog Sat., Jan. 29 40 31 ' .0 Sun., Jan. 30 51 32 .10 Mon., Jan. 31 44 36 Tract fog Total precip. for Jan. was Board President Herb Wright (I) Jerry Shulkin explain Chapter 11 Electrification Administra v Uon and Cooperative Finances Corporation will not make any further loans to the utilities, even though the co-op is cur rently meeting all financial obligations to the mortgagers. "I believe we have complied with RE A by raising rates to cover WPPSS, and I also believe the consumers can no longer pay it, Toombs said. Toombs also explained that the co-op has enough cash to pay its debts until August, but could be out of money as soon as April or May. "If we don't do something. . .we could be in a cash flow problem," he said. Toombs and Shulkin both advised the board not to make a decision right away on whether to file for a Chapter 11. The board considered or four Les Schwab pasf euer or pickup retreads. Two etr tificates ($15.00) will be given with the purchase of four or more new passenger or pickup tires. These certificates can be used towards the purchase of beef at any grocery store, restaurant or meat market. The stores will be working closely with the CowBelles to provide local promotions that will include cookoffs, demons strations and distribution of t y v wl y . r ; I . I f fHA t ' ; -1 .Pi .89". Normal precip. is 1.41" and co-op Manager Fred under bankruptcy laws. , meeting before the regular ' February meeting to further discuss filing for reorganiza tion. In other business, the board: heard a report from Marvin Padberg, lone, of the Irrigation Committee. A committee of board members and local irrigators was formed recently to come up with a way to allow the irriga tors, who are having problems trying to pay the increased rates, to continue running their pumps. Padberg made several sug gestions and gave some recommendations to the board. Board President Herb Wright said that the recom mendations would be taken under advisement. redpea using beef. The Beef Council and the Oregon CowBelles are most pleas ?d in working with Les Schwab Tire Centers in help ing to publicize and promote Beef Certificates and beef products in general. The Les Schwab Tire Cen ters gave away $113,970.00 worth of Beef Certificates throughout Oregon, Washing ton and Idaho in 1982. . y
