E S S I e v; E T Z Z t. L U OF ORE r: t (.v c p a r ;;" r 't. ! n 'eUGENE 0 14 0 7 4 C 3 The Heppner High Low Preclp Tues.. Feb. 8 43 30 .24 Wed., Feb. 9 52 32 Thurs., Feb. 10 55 43 .04 Fit. Feb. 11 60 52 Sat., Feb. 12 62 41 .0! Sun.. Feb. 13 55 33 Mon.. Feb. 14 50' 33 . .12 ' """" ' r3 T7 VOL. 101 NO. 7 Burkenbine, Evans named as county's First Citizens Forrie H urken bine Forrie Burkenbine of Hep pner and Franclne Evans of Irrigon were named First Citi zens of Morrow County during the annual Heppner-Morrow County Chamber of Com merce bnnquet Monday night. Burkenbine was honored for his many years on the Hep pner Fire Department, and Evans was given the honor for hpr service to the people of Morrow County through many years with 411. Burkenbine has served a total of 28 years on the fire department, the Inst 16 years as fire chief. Gravel agreement on RyMARYANNCERl'l.1.0 Gilliam County has charged that Morrow County took 8,000 yards of gravel over an agreed amount, Morrow County Court learned during their meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 9. Gil liam Co. now demands $25,000 in payment for the gravel, stated Don Briggs, director of the Public Works Department. This would be the equivalent of 8.000 yards of gravel at $3 per yard. "1 can understand taking a few hundred yards extra by mistake, but there's no way we could have taken 8,000" said Briggs. According to Briggs, the truck drivers were ques tioned, records were checked and it was estimated that the county has actually taken 300 yards under the agreed amount. The gravel was ori ginally huulcd from a pit near Condon which was being shared by the two counties. Briggs was uncertain how Gilliam County had measured the gravel. Cattle theft seminar slated A special seminar on what to do before, and after losing cattle and other livestock will be held Wednesday, Fob. 23, 7:30 p.m., at the fuirgrounds in Heppner. There have been reports of cattle being lost during the last several months, accord ing to John P. Nordhelm, Morrow County Extension Service Agent. Guest speakers will be Leo Mitchell, Livestock Division, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture; Dick Baggerly, area brand inspector-supervisor; Carl Martin, senior trooper with Oregon State Police; Terry Springer, senior trooper, Oregon State Police; and Larry Fetseh, Morrow County sheriff. They will discuss what THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 17, 1983 Evans has devoted many hours to the youth of the county through 4 H, and has served with many o'.iier boards and groups. Both were presented with a plaque of appreciation by Chamber Awards Chairman Dr. Wallace Wolff. About 80 people turned out for the second annual banquet, which featured Ron Daniels, president of Blue Mountain Community College, as the featured speaker. Daniels spoke on the ec onomic future of Morrow County, and said with a come back in the housing industry and continued development of the Port of Morrow, the future should be bright. During the program, past president of the Chamber, Bob Harris, was presented with a plaque for his service by this year's President, David Sykes. Music for the banquet was provided by the talented husband-wife team of Mr, and , Mrs. Don Christensen. Thirty-seven door prizes were given away during the evening. The winners were: Briggs concluded by point ing out that he originally wanted to set up two separate pit sites to avoid confusion, but Gilliam County convinced him to share the gravel pit instead. The court agreed to visit Gilliam County Court In Con don to discuss the matter. In other business, Steve Fairley and Lucille Schmidt of Mon. closures In observance of Washing ton's birthday, all county schools, the Heppner Neigh borhood Center, local banks and post offices will be closed next Monday, Feb. 21. How Heppner dogs Several dog poisonings have been reported in the Heppner area during the past week. The number of dogs who have died is not certain, however, city police say they know of three. Norene Veterinary Clinic says one dog was treated for strychnine poisoning over the to do if ranchers are short This meeting is co-spon-some livestock and what to do sored by the Morrow County if something suspicious is Livestock Growers and the seen, Nordhelm said. Morrow County Extension Service. Truckers' strike didn't affect local grocers A trucker's strike that las ted about two weeks and ended last week didn't have much, if any affect on local grocers. Central Market and Court St. Market in Heppner and Del's Market In Lexington reported having no problems receiving freight during the strike. S & J Market said they had no problems receiving freight, Morrow County's 8 PACKS Velma Felt. Ray French, Eunice McElligott, Doug Smith, Christy Lovgren, Jim Hayes. Mary E. Gilman, Mary Forrester, Barbara Hayes, R. W. Lindstrom, Harriet Pier son. Bob Lowe, Joyce Winter, Justine Weatherford, Millie Rauch. Ralph Limanen, Cindy Green, Nina Denton, Arnold Mclby. Marian Abrams. Vir ginia Rosewall, Gail Burken bine. Cliff Green. Mike For rester, Irvin Rauch, Theta Lowe. A.K. Felt. Mari Gor danier. Joan McDonald, Bob Abrams. Eleanor Gonty, Vern Evans. Italy Tatone. Bob Har ris. Francine Evans the rocks Inland Machinery, Yakima, Wash., came before the court to discuss printing a feature story on Morrow County in the company's consumer maga zine "Newscenter." The story would include the county's usage of Inland Machinery's equipment, explained Fairley. The story is expected to come out in the April May issue. announced ever, grocery stores in Hep pner, Lexington and lone will remain open. Murray Rexall Drug in Heppner will also be open Monday. poisoned weekend. "We stayed up all night with it and it pulled through," said owner Jim Norene. City Police Chief Dean Gillman says it's a difficult crime to prove. "You almost have !o see them give the meat to the dog, take it and have it analyzed." in Heppner but produce prices went up during the strike, Scott Adkis son. owner of S & J, said the prices are now coming back down. Bristow's Market in lone also reported having no trou ble receiving freight at the store; however, owner John Bristow said Associated Gro cers had reported having some difficulty getting freight at their Yakima, Wash, outlet. :. JLi La Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper 25 Columbia Basin drops W.P.P.S.S. increase Columbia Basin Electric Co-op directors have agreed to stop charging consumers a 1.1 cent per kilowatt hour in crease which was levied in December and January to cover the co-op's involvement in two Washington Public Power Supply nuclear plants. The board also decided at a meeting last Thursday not to file for Chapter 11 reorganiza Heppner Physician search intensifies South Morrow County resi dents will not be left with only one doctor to serve the area after one of Heppner's two practicing physicians leaves the first part of April. Accord ing to Pioneer Memorial Hos pital Administrator A.K. "Lucky" Felt, a search to locate another doctor in Heppner began in August when Dr. E.J. McCoy left last August, and the effort intensi fied when it was learned that Dr. Joseph Gifford would be leaving his practice in Hep- pner. . . ,. Frit said the search com- mittee has been contacted by, and has made contacts with a large number of physicians, and one, a 48-year-old general practitioner from California, has shown an interest in re locating in Heppner. Felt said the California doctor's wife is 700 enjoy -4 "1 . A- 7 Four-year-old Heather Ripple (left) and her sister Joanna, 10, enjoy pancake breakfast during Morrow County Grain Growers Customer Appreciation Day Saturday. They are the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. John Ripple of Lexington. About 700 people were served a free pancake breakfast during the appreciation day, which also featured door prizes and displays by Log truck week injures 2, blocks traffic A log truck accident on Saturday, Feb. 5 caused minor injuries to the driver and a passenger and partially blocked traffic for nearly three hours at milepost It on Highway 207 near Hardman, according to Oregon State Police Trooper Carl Martin of Heppner. Martin said the load of logs on the truck apparently shif ted as the truck rounded a corner, causing it to roll over on the highway. Driver of the truck, Deane HEPPNER, OREGON tion under the bankruptcy code until the outcome of a suit the utility is involved in is known. The co-op's debt from the two abandoned plants totals $27 million, and Columbia Basin, along with 87 other utilities, have filed suits claiming they are not respon sible for the debt since the plants were not completed and a physician's assistant and they plan to visit Heppner later this month. Another pos sibility is a physician in his 60's from Colorado, he said. The Oregon Department of Rural Health was to be in Heppner on Wednesday, Feb. 16 to determine if the area can be designated as medically under served, in which case incentives are offered for doc tors to relocate to this area. Felt said he is positive it will be. If this happens, doctors can set up privnt practices in the designa tea area" a rid receive relief on federal education loans. Felt said funds were raised several years ago for recruit ing physicians and the re sources are available for this pt eject. The hospital administrator said if a doctor has not been breakfast factory representatives. "We had a real good turnout," said Dick Sargent of the Grain Growers. Winners of the door prizes were: Tom Pointer, Randy Thurmond, Burl Watternburger, Jr., Floyd Borman, Shirley Conner, Martha King, Lincoln Nash, Roland Bergs trom, Dustin Alford, Phil Kuhn and Dara Miller. Graves, 46, formerly of Hep pner and presently of Lewis ton. Idaho, and his son, Kenny, 15. of Heppner, received mi nor injuries, Martin said. Guy Van Arsdale of Van Arsdale Construction, Hep pner, removed the logs and cleaned the highway, Martin said The truck, which received moderate damage, the trooper said, was towed to Pendleton. Martin saids Graves was cited for alleged Careless Driving. by the City no power will be available for use from them. Toombs and board members feel optimis tic about the suit, which is being tried in Seattle, Wash. Toombs also said it will prob ably be several months before the outcome is known. The funds levied in Decem ber and January from the increase, which are being held in escrow accounts, will be located permanently to Hep pner by the time Gifford leaves, a doctor would be hired on a flat fee basis from a physicians' registry. Felt ex plained that the physicians' registry allows physicians to be hired on a temporary basis instead of setting up perman ent practices. The option is costly, Felt said. "This is not to be confused with temporary coverage," he said. "We'll make every effort to have someone on line when Gifford leaves, otherwise we ' wilt have a doctor on a week by week basis." The Heppner Economic De velopment Corporation has also become involved in the situation. "The Heppner Economic Development Corporation has been working for several months as a neutral entity at M.C.G.G. Science Fair, Open House slated in lone lone Elementary School will hold a Science Fair-Open House on Thursday, Feb. 24, immediately following the Cardinal Club meeting. The Cardinal Club meeting is to begin at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria and the science fair open house will follow at 7:30 p.m. Grades kindergarten through eight will have sci ence projects on display and students in grades five through eight will have their projects judged. Refreshments will be served in the elementary building. V I 8 of Heppner refunded to consumers, Toombs said, although it hasn't yet been decided how the refund will be handled. Toombs said a decision on handling the $150,000 refund will be made in March. A residential consumer us ing an average amount of 1,140 kilowatt hours per month will see a decrease of $12.54 in his bill with the 1.1 cent per toward stabilization of the medical services in the area," said Jim Hayes, corporation board president. Hayes said the corporation is concerned since a good hospital with physicians on staff is vital individually and economically to the community. Gifford will leave just eight years after his arrival in Heppner. He reportedly will set up a practice in Prairie City. Also being considered by the hospital board, is a proposal to hire St. Vincent Hospital of Portland to act as a consulting service for the hospital. Felt said representatiaves from the Portland hospital visited Pioneer Memorial eariier this month and re viewed the hospital's opera tion and problems. If an agreement is reached between the two hospitals, St. Vincent would provide Pioneer Mem orial with help needed in any area. The representataives are to return soon and explain to the board what areas they feel they can be of assistance in. and how much the service will cost. Felt said a hospital in Burns has been using the service for about one year and seems very pleased with it. It has also shown to be cost effective there. Felt said. HHS senior named to Shrine team Wesley Marlatt Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Marlatt Sr. of Heppner, has been named to participate in the 31st annual East-West Shrine Football Game to be held in Baker, Saturday, Aug. 13, announced Les Payne, head football coach at Heppner High School. Marlatt's selection caps an outstanding football career at HHS where he has lettered for four years and has been named to the Columbia Basin Conference All-Star Team for two consecutive years as an offensive and defensive tackle. Not only has Marlatt excel led on the gridiron for the Mustangs, but he is also an outstanding student. He has acquired a 3.84 grade point average in seven semesters at Heppner High School and is currently ranked on top of his senior class academically, Payne said. Marlatt's future plans include attending Brig ham Young University next fall, majoring in science. The East-West Shrine Game is an annual benefit sponsored by the Shrine Clubs of Eastern Oregon with the net proceeds going to the Shriner's Hospital for crippled children in Portland. kilowatt increase dropped, Toombs explained. Reorganizing the co-op's debts under Chapter 11 was an option presented to the board by Seattle attorney Jerry Shulkin, who specializes in the practice, at the board's Jan uary meeting. Shulkin said that by filing for a Chapter 11 the co-op could reduce its $27 million debt to a maximum of four to five million dollars, unless the 88 utilities involved in the suit are not held respon sible for the debt. Toombs said that dropping the increase to cover the plants would not put the co-op in immediate financial dan ger, problems could arise, however, if a ruling in the suit is not favorable to the co-op. If the co-op does lose the suit, the . board may reconsider filing for a Chapter 11. Orcas Power and Light, San Juan Islands. Wash., has al ready filed for a Chapter 11, claiming its consumers can't pay the debt. Shulkin told the board at their January meet ing that a Chapter 11 reorgan- ization has not len filed by an electrical utility since the De pression, and advised the board to watch what happens with Orcas Power and Light. Toombs hopes that since the increase has been dropped that consumers will use more electricity. Co-op revenue has dropped since 1981 from a reduction in power consump tion by consumers. Directors on the co-op's board have agreed to a re commendation from a recent ly formed irrigation commit tee to install demand meters on irrigation pumps over 50 horsepower. New rates for irrigators were also discussed by the board but no action was taken. The board is to discuss the issue at their next meeting February 24. ( r , .... . Wesley Marlatt Jr. The two 24-player squads are made up of outstanding class AA. A and B senior football players from around the state of Oregon. Other area players named to the team are Steve Bittinger, Ar lington; Tim Eastman, Wes-ton-McEwen; Andy Bjaze vich. Riverside (Boardman); and Carlton Pease, Mac-Hi. This represents the seventh consecutive year a football player from Heppner High School has been selected and marks the 23rd time in 31 years Heppner has so been represented. In 1955. Ralph Marlatt, Wes' uncle, played in the classic. John Murray was the Mustang pick last year. Marlatt will report to a two-week extensive training session in La Grande, July 31, in preparation for the game.