Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1984)
BESSIE WETZELl u or o r: e ti E V SPAI'ER LID E U G t : E OJi 9 7 4 0 3 The Heppmer ' Aforrou? vol. io2 no. ,s Thursday. APRIL i2. 1984 linger Park asset Neighbors 2! ft Willov Owk ftawing through Parents living across from Hager Parkcite extreme fluc tuation of watorflow from Wil low Creek Dan as the prime reason for their request to the Heppner City Council for a fence along the portion of willow Creek which runs thro ugh the park. Marcia Ander son, one of the neightxtrs of the park, says that it was only coincidence thai a girl fell into the creek near the other city park the same day that they presented their request to the city council. The two events, she says, were not connected Heppner mayor, Cliff Gr een, explains that the Corps of ,. "V,r Willow Geek cut into (tie creek i of the channel. Service clubs set finger printing clinics in Heppner & lone The Heppner Lions, Hep pner Soropti mists and the Hepptier-Ione AAUW in con juction with Eastern Oregon Friends of Child Find are sponsoring a child fingerprint ing project. On April 11 and 12, the above mentioned service clubs will conduct a voluntary finger printing session at the Heppner Elementary cafeter ia rooms. The sessions will be held on school property, al though the actual finger print ing sessions will be conducted by the Heppner Lions and Soroplimlsts and the Ileppner Ione AAUW clubs. The pro gram is strictly voluntary and the children must have their parents written permission to be finger printed. The clubs ask that the child ren be brought in according to the following schedule : Child ren with last names ending in A F from 5 to 6:30 p.m. April I w or hazard ( ?) of park vocal about need for fence 5 , Htiyor Polk Engineers is calibrating the gates on the dam so that they will work automatically in the future. He Says the surges of water pass through the gates making the water level In the creek suddenly very high. He understands that this process will continue for approx imately two months. Green says that by the time a fence could 1h built, the Corps will have finished with the cali bration process and waterflow would have returned to near normal levels. Jerry llealy, one of the parents who presented the request for a fence along the 700 foot portion of Willow Ixink on ihe Hager Park 11; children with last names ending from G-M from 6 to 7:1(0 p in. April 11; children with last names ending from N S from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on April 12; and children with last names T-Z from 6 to 7:30 p ni on April 12, It is request ed that the children not be dressed intheir best clothes or dressed in white. Finger prints taken will be given to the parents along with a child information packet to be filled out by the purents. The lone Extension Club and the lone Lion's Club will be sponsoring a similar finger printing project in lone. Wed nesday, May 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the St. William's Catholic Church basement. lone parents who are unable to bring their children at that time may call Jeri McElligott, 422 7257, for an appointment. . .... I ?0 County's pages 'it t ,'V - V - Creek to the Heppner City Council a week ago Monday night, says that the dam is there, and w hen the gates are opened, water rushes through them. Since the Corps of En gineers will be regulating the gates for approximately two months, he is concerned the water level In the creek will change drastically within shor periods of time all during the testing process. . Historically, the water level in the creek has been high for approximately a week to 10 days In the spring and then sufficiently lower the rest of the year. Now, with the dam, Marie Lane, another parent who was at the council meet ing and who lives across the creek from the park, says that not only does the water flow in the creek vary dras tically now, but the possibility also exists that the waterflow may be high at other times of the year, not just in the spring. The creek is normally low in the summer; high water levels will not be expected at that time of year by visitors at the park. Lane further points out that the creek bank is 30 feet from the park swings and that In the event that a child has disappeared or abducted it is essential that the police have as much clear and accurate information about the child as they can receive. Finger prints are a positive means of identification and a necessary part of each child's home identification file. Prints taken and the In formation packet will be given to the parents of the child. Please understand that this packet and the finger prints are strictly for the parents -absolutely no finger prints will be kept by the police, school, or any other service clubs involved. If you have any questions, or would like to volunteer to assist in the pro ject, contact Lonny Watne at 676 9125 pr Bill Kuhn at 676-9141. T73 rj" n) T"7 f? T I 1 Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper 35. Heppner, Oregon ' -' .' If 1 ' t 1 .1 i GrOK and weeds ore overorown alona the banks of the creek. while "No one will argue that parents have the primary re sponsibility to watch their kids, if you are watching several kids and take your eyes off one of them for an instant to push a swing for another one, it only takes a moment ...why wait (to do something to make the creek less accessible to young child ren) until we lose a child?" Marcia Anderson, who was - also at the city council meet ing says that the park's neigh- -bors are net asking for an eight foot fence, but want "some sort of barrier to slow down younger children who are playing in the park." She emphasizes that they are con cerned not only for their own children but for all who use the park. Anderson points out that children who live close to the creek are probably better in formed of its possible danger than other children who don't live within walking distance but who come for the day and have not seen the swiftness and rapid changes in depth of the wateor who do not realize how easily the bank which is overhung with grass and undercut by the creek, can give way. Both Anderson and Lane point to the park as an asset to the community which is pretty and is used by a large number of people. They are concerned that people who do not use the park regularly, but just come for an afternoon may not realize that the water level can change so rapidly. They say that the Corps of Engine ers has considered fencing off a portion of the creek between the park and the dam and they have asked if the park portion of the creek can also be fenced. If the Corps of Engineers is unwilling to fence the park, Anderson says that she thinks the city of Heppner should recognize its responsibility to help make the park safer for everyone. Although other possibilities have been considered,such as asking the Corps of Engineers to release the large amounts of water in off hours or at night, Healy says that a cyc lone type wire mesh fence which would be more expen sive initially than other fence types but would require less future upkeep would probably be the best choice. He says that the parents requesting the fence recognize the fact that some kids will go around any kind of fence that is constructed, but anticipate that a fence in the "Four to Six Foot range would probably be an adequate barrier for most kids." U II Ml j 1 r,. V A I Green says that the city is still officially considering the matter of the fence. He is in the first stage of the process which is to contact the Corps of Engineers to see what they are able to do about the problem. The city, he says, will con sider the fence only if the Corps is unable to provide a ' i ulutioato the problem. Green, is not certain that a fence will deter children from falling into the creek because "a kid who wants to get to the creek will get there even if able adults are watching" and a ' fence will only slow down" those adults trying to rescue a child who has fallen in the water. DeVito heads County Mental Health Services t - V, ; ' ' ' V .A - V.. s .(3 ' v v i . rvv ; Joseph DeVito Joseph DeVito, Ph.D. is the new director of Morrow Coun ty Mental Health Services. His first day at the office in Heppner was Monday, April 2. DeVito's degrees are in the field of pscyhology. He receiv ed a Bachelor of Science at Manhattan College in New York, a Master of Arts at Columbia University in New York and most recently a Ph. D in 1978 at Georgia State University at Atlanta, Geor gia. Just prior to coming to Heppner, he lived in Norfolk, Connecticut for eight months. Before that, he was employed for one year as the director of a private practice at Edina, Minnesota. DeVito considers the two and one-half years he worked as the director of Mental health at Worland, Wyoming, probably the experience which most qualifies him for his current position. He says that he came to tackle a job similar to the one he had in Wyoming at a time when the Weather by the City of Heppner McCaslin The Morrow County School Board has announced the sel ection of Doyle McCaslin as Superintendent of Schools to replace Matt Doherty, who will be leaving the district July 1. McCaslin will assume his duties with the district on July 1. McCaslin has degrees from Yuba College, California, and Southern Oregon College, and received his administrative training at the University of Oregon. He is currently the superintendent of the Glide School District in the Rose burg area. He has been an English teacher at Riddle High School, curriculum director and as sistant superintendent for the Glide School District prior to becoming superintendent. He has also served two years with the U.S. Office of Education in Washington D C. and has re ceived an award for excel lence from that office. McCaslin and his wife, Glenna, have three children, ages 18, 23 and 25. In comments to the Board McCaslin has indicated that Music Dept. Saturday, April 14 the Hep pner High School Music Dep artment is sponsoring a spa- mental health center here has increased in staff rather rap idly during the past year. He generally supports the direc tion which the changes in the mental health program seem to be going. He describes the director's job as one of both counceling and administration; however, "nobody ever gets into this business because of adminis tration," he says. He states the goals of the mental health program as trying to help people to be come more of the kind of person which they would like to be, with some control - for example, a counselor would not help someone to want to become a better criminal, but would try to suggest alterna tives and help him identify good ideals. DeVito describes his spec ialty as counseling psycho logy, both individual and fam ily, which includes personality assessments testing and clin ical interviews evaluations. DeVito and his wife Gail, who has previously taught the. handicapped, have three chil dren, Jill, ten; Becky, eight; and Gary, one and one-half. Although DeVito has only been in Heppner a short time, he says that already he "has noticed that Heppner is nicer when the sun is out;" and that the "spirit of the people seems to be very friendly," selected new Supt. Doyle McCaslin , ' he feels his broad range of work, including teaching, di recting curriculum and admi nistration as well work with spaghetti feed this Sat. ghetti feed w ith a dinner show. There will be three dinner seatings: 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 8 p.m. The entertainment will begin 20 minutes after each seating. Reserve tickets are avai lable from any high school band or chorus member. Some tickets will be sold at the door, but space is limited to the first one hundred per show. Performers involved in the 13 acts to be presented are: Renee Struthers, Donna O'Neal, Matt Howard, Wanda Sheriff's office hires reserve deputy t Allen Burkenbine The Morrow County Sheriffs Department recently placed a Reserve Deputy on active pat rol duty. Allen Burkenbine, a Heppner resident, completed the required prepatory train ing and testing and spent his first night on patrol on March 24. Burkenbine says that he will be on part-time active duty with the Sheriff's Office and continue as full-time produce manager at Central Market. He has been produce manager for five and one-half years. He High Low Precip Tues., April 3 57 41 .03 Wed., April 4 53 44 .17 Thurs., April 5 51 32 .07 Fri., April 6 58 33 Trace Sat., April 7 59 38 .38 Sun., April 8 50 33 Trace Mon., April 9 49 39 .03 I the U.S. Office of Education, provides him with the kind of background that he will draw on to lead the school district. Riley, Beth Forrar, Christy Rathbun, Cindy Stroeber, Jay Love, David Florea. Jack Estberg, Leah Cooper, Merry DeSpain, Tom Hammon, Archie Lucas, Danny Forten bury, Wendy Skillicorn. Steve Curtis, Trina Palmer, Don Christensen, Kitty Coon, Marion McMillon, and sixth grade volunteers. Cost for the entertainment, spaghetti, homemade garlic bread, tossed salad, punch and coffee is $3.50 per person or $10 per family. and his wife Raylene have a three-year old daughjer. Amy. He is a 1976 graduate of Heppner High School. Roy Drago, Morrow County Sheriff, said that to gain patrol status Burkenbine was re quired to complete Oregon Board on Police Standards and Training approved cours es on Civil Liabilities, Report Writing. Use of Physical Force, Firearms training and qualification on the range. Reserve Deputies must also spend a minimum of 20 hours inthe Dispatch Center to learn radio and teletype usage. Add itional training will be requir ed to maintain active status as a Reserve Deputy. Reserve Deputies on patrol will ride with and assist reg ular sheriffs deputies in all phases of their work. At this time two additional reserves are inthe initial training pro cess. The Department is keep ing the reserve program small at this time so that emphasis may be placed on organization and quality BPST approved training according to Drago. Anyone interested in joining the reserve program can ob tain further information bv calling the Sheriffs Depart ment at 676-9910.
