Heppner gazette-times., April 02, 1986, Image 1

The Heppner
M a rc h 25 - I I
Gazette-Times
Weather
M orrow C ou n ty a H om e-O w n ed Hfek/y N e w sp a p e r
\ o l I«« No 14 M rd n rvd a v
t p r ll 2
Is*»
H e p p n e r. O re g o n
1>\ the ( lit\ of Heppner
III P a g e s
25'
Sch<H)l Board to resubmit $6,180,808 levy
Egg hunter
EVen Borber,
1 year o ld daughter o f
Barber o f Heppner, finds an egg
Don and
d u rin g
Judy
Elks egg
hunt
Saturday at city park.
The »«• 1»' .s-'rt school d is tric t levy
proposal vo te rs d r l r i l v d M a rch 25
w ill lie re su b m itte d H ilh o u l changes
at the Mas 2i> p rim a ry e le ctio n , the
school hoard and b od|(cl co m m itte e
decided Mom las night
The decision cam e a fte r lengths
discussion of the possible reasons for
fa ilu re of the less at the la it
e le c tio n , d is t r ic t s u p e rin te n d e n t
Doyle M cl a slin said
The d is tric t
a d m in is tra to rs also re p o rte d to the
c o m m itte e about the e le ctio n re su lts
and co n tra ste d this s e a r's resu lts
w ith last ye a r's results
The a d m in is tra to rs found M et as
lin said that many " y e s ' voters
co m pared ssith last ye a r had stayed
a n a s fro m the polls
F o r H oard
m an. th is y e a r s resu lts showed 5.1
fe w e r "yes ' votes th .in Iasi ye a r ami
70 few er ' no
votes
S im ila rly
Irn g o n and lone had 41 and 28 few er
'ye s" votes re s p e c tiv e ly a it h only
one less no' vole fro m each pre
cinet
Results fro m (.exin g tn n and
shoHed 2-4 fe w e r yes voles and II
m ore
no' votes
R esults fro m
Heppner in d ica te d 72 fe w e r "yea"
votes and K1 m ore "n o " votes
C ountyw ide
M cC aslin said. 224
■yes vo te rs stayed away fro m the
polls th is ye a r w hich is a m ore
sig n ifica n t n u m b e r than the 22 addi
Ilona I no votes
H eppner H ard
m an p re cin ct he said seems to
represent a tu rn a ro u n d w h ich some
c o m m itte e m e m b e rs s p e c u la te d
may be evidence of the u p com ing
tu rn a ro u n d at the K u i’ ua m ill
o th e r reasons the budget c o m m it­
tee discussed w hich may have con­
trib u te d to the budget s defeat in
eluded
the school board s h irin g of a
professional n e g otia to r d u rin g con­
tra c t n egotiations w ith co u n ty te a c h ­
ers and the b e havior of some of the
teachers am t some of the hoard
m em bers d u rin g the ne g otia tio n
process w h ich he desert tied as ad
v r rs a r iu l and p ro v id in g a negative
e n viro n m e n t lo r a budget vote
the area s economy is down
a la rg e num lw-r of people in the
c o m m u n ity w ith fix e d incom es may
see any increase in budgets as an
erosion of th e ir livelih<N>d
County to ask for $3,472,425 tax base
M orrow County w ill ask vo te rs to
a p p ro ve a *1 472 425 tax base at the
May 20 p rim a r y e lection
The
county is re q u ire d to ask fo r a new
ta x base e v e ry tw o years
The
e x is tin g ta x base. *522.000, does not
p ro vid e enough m oney fo r the coun
ty to o p e ra te fo r one ye a r.sa id
Budget O ffic e r L o R ayne Bow m an.so
the county has had to ask fo r special
one year levies in o rd e r to balance
the budget
The *1 472 425 being asked fo r the
new base is the exact am ount
in c lu d in g the c u rre n t la x base the
Line vear special le w a m o u n t, and
the h o sp ital le v y
re q u ire d to
balance the budget, she continued
This does not m ean a double ta x in
the case of the h o sp ital, she ernpha
seed Although the h o sp ital le vy has
already !>eeri approved
should a new tax base tie appr
oved the county would not have to
go out fo r a one ye a r special levy
each y e a r because the new base
would p ro vid e enough money for
co u n ty o p e ra tio n s B e ca u se the
county is a sking fo r a new ta x base
Bowman said, does not m ean that
the e n tire a m ount w ill be levied
The M orrow ( o u n ly Budget com
mille«- was scheduled to m eet w ith
the M orrow County Court W ed
nesday m o rn in g to decide what
n«*eds to tie done fo llo w in g the M arch
25 defeat of the *2.568 711 special
one ye a r o p e ra tin g lev y
n e gative effects of p u b lic ity d u r
ing the d is tric t's negotiations w ith
he fa ir board over use o f the
grounds
the county budget levy on the
-ame election b a llo t
an a ttitu d e fro m some people that
the budget should be voted down
once
Before a p p ro v in g the m otio n by a
44 vote, to re tu rn the same le vy to
voters in Mav the co m m itte e h a il
passed a m otion to cut the le v y . but
iot specified an im o un t to cut. fa ile d
motions to cut *.Ui uni *254).min and
one percent of the levy am ount of
p it mat
I he budget co m m itte e appointed a
i-on in " is - of c h a irm a n J e rry M c F I
b r a il
ind m e m b e r «
t o*W S I r e o r
Joe Stevens Dwayne C a rro ll. D ick
N u ttb ro c k
Sue I ’rou d fo o t, T y le r
Hansell am i J e rry H ealy to prom ote
the proposed levy by g e ttin g neces
sary in fo rm a tio n to voters
In a fin a l business ite m , the
budget c o m m itte e recom m ended
that the school board cancel the
proposed tax base e le ctio n fo r May
20 to keep the issue p u re
The
d is tric t is re q u ire d to have a tax
base e le ctio n this year e ith e r at the
p rim a ry e le ctio n or the general
election in N ovem ber F o llo w in g the
budget m e e tin g , the b o a rd conv ened
just long enough to ap p ro ve the
budget c o m m itte e 's recom m enda
lion to postpone the tax base election
u n til the N ovem ber general election
The ra ilro a d has not taken any
action to w a rd abandonm ent nor
have they announced any in te n tio n
of abandoning the H eppner B ranch
Inn- George Nkorney. p u b lic rela
lions d ire c to r fo r I m ini P a c ific
R a ilro a d said last w r r k
A ll b ra n ch lines a re under study
each year fo r p ro d u c tiv ity und cost
of operation, he continued
The
4.« m ile l nion P a c ific b ra n ch line
fro m Heppner J u n c tio n to H eppner
must tie m a in ta in e d in top co n d itio n
I ks a use it is the law and because it
must meet the ra ilro a d 's standards
\ section crew at lone was e lim in
aled last N o ve m b e r and the m am
tenance w ork was assigned to a crew
at Heppner Ju n ctio n. Skorney said
to save m oney
The section crew
« 'ra v e ls the e n tire b ra n ch at leust
•nee each w o -k and a recent tra c k
inspection by the tra c k e va lu a tion
ca r in d ica te d that the Heppner
branch is hi good co ndition
The tra c k is being maintain«*«)
said a spokesperson fro m M orrow
County G ra in G row e rs, who rep o rt
ed a problem w ith the sw itc h in g at
the sidings in l-exm gton on Tuesday,
and said that they w ere re p a ire d on
Wednesday
The lir a in («rower» considers the
ra ilro a d a good m a rk e tin g option
and would not lik<- to see the line
abandoned, although m uch o f the
wheat sold th rough the G ra in («row
ers is trucke d to the r iv e r and
barged d o w n riv e r because of low er
cost and ran ch e rs get m ore money
fo r th e ir wheat If the ra ilro a d were
seriously co n sid e rin g abandonm ent,
he said they w ould just p u ll out
rath«-r than re p a irin g me line and
encouraging shippers to increase
th e ir use of the ra ilro a d
One p riv a te crossing and several
places w here the ra ilro a d crosses
county roads, are in d is re p a ir
M orrow County Judge Don M c F lli
gott re p o rte d and a t least one
ra ilro a d c u lv e rt m in is a tte n tio n Wc
have rin ju fs te d that the crtw xin gx be
re p a ir in i and we w ill co n tin ue to
request that thev In- re p a ire d he
said
Judge M c F llig o tl savs that the
Union P a c ific fo re m a n at H in k le to
whom he has re p o rte d the problem s
says that the com pany has no crew
or money a v a ila b le to re p a ir cross
mgs No m aintenance on the branch
lin e this past w in te r is an in d ic a tio n
that the b ru n ch is in danger, he suid
The county has lieen in fo rm e d by the
state P u b lic U tilitie s C o n u ~ i** io n rr
that the b ra n ch is rn d u n g c re d
P roblem s at ra ilro a d crossings
have no re la tio n to filin g fo r aban
do n m e n l, the ra ilro a d s p u b lic rela
lions d ire c to r said
(Tossings are
rep a ire d a cco rd in g to how bad they
a re and the ra ilro a d doesn't a lw a ys
agree w ith the user on how bad they
are Crews don 't usually w o rk in the
w in te r, he continued because of the
fr e e 'in g w eather
Dave Astle. r a il p ro g ru m su p e rvi
xor of the P u b lic U tilitie s C o m m is ­
sion says th a t the status of the
Heppner b ra n ch line has not chang
ed since the ra ilro a d announced that
the b ranch, along w ith three o r four
others in O regon, is under study
K iri'u u . he said, is the biggest, and
only m a jo r shipper and "they are
keeping r a il t r a ffic at a le ve l to keep
$512 raised for ambulance equipment
F rid a y m o rn in g
We tie lie ve she
was k ille d pr«'!l> close to th*- tim e of
her disappearanci-
Hadley said
W illia m s a B a k e r n a tive was re p o r
i c l m issin g M arch 22 by her m oth e r
I-lie n W illia m s when she fa ile d to
re tu rn fro m a local nightspot the
n ig h t before
She had la-on a resident of B oard
m an about I ye a rs w lw re she
worki-d as a d v e rtis in g m anager fo r
the B o a rd m a n F .n ie rp rise news
[M |ier
U n til her duties changed a
ago, she had been the
few
e tiito r. said ow ner
new> paper ! v
puhli sher D a vid F Svkcx of Hepp
Beth W illiam s
A Ha k e r m an was a rra ig n e d in
Ju stice C ourt M onday nlo rn in g fo r
the all«•dged m u rd e r of Beth Wil
ham s. 1 id v e rli sing m ana ger fo r the
J e rry Joe
Boa rdrria n K n te rp ris e
W ilson 27. an em ploy«» of a B aker
n il d is tr ib u to r . was arri*! vied Thurs
day a cco rd in g to B aker County
D is tric t A tto rn ey K enneth C Hadley
and has been lodged at (he B aker
County J a il w ith no b a il W ilson has
not yet entered a plea the D is tric t
A tto rn e y 's o ffic e said Should he be
co n v ic te d of the charge, the m a xi
m u m sentence is life in prison
A p re lim in a ry autopsy in d ica te s
that W illia m s died o f m assive head
in ju rie s
H er body was found in a
d itc h along T r a il Creek Road e arly
le h
to righi- C cf I laurtfsen, EMTIII, Betty Curnuft, EMT
Healy,
EMT I show
new
Penny Miller, EMT I, and
Faith
equipment fo r am bulonce
New i-q uipm e n l fo r thè a m b u la rn e
ut P io m i-r M e m o ria l H ospital was
p u rc h a s e d r e c e n tly w it h fu n d s
raised al a N ovem ber 23 pool cal
cu tta a l B u ckn u m 's T a ve rn A total
of $512 was rais«-«l w h ich has been
u s u i lo purchase an oxygen c a rr ie r
a sufi tra u m a pack, and a ra d io
headset
S im ila r e q u ip m e n t has
been a v a lla tile fo r use in thè a m liu
lan«-«- said an F.MT xpokexperxon
bui thè new equ ip m e n t is m ore
p o rta tile and w ith thè headset, il i»
now possible (or an F.M T a l a
pa tie nt s side to have both hands
fr u * to l.ik e ca re of th«* p a tie n t and
Kinzim mgr. say*
H u m ors o f re o rg a n is a tio n at K in
-ua Corp m ay be ju s t th a t, a cco rd
ing to plant m an a g e r H a rry Kenm
son The 1114 JI has been try in g to fin d
w ays lo s ta b ilire in the lu m b e r
in d u stry because the econom y has
not been very good d u rin g the last
fiv e years
Kennison says th a t he
doesn't see the economy p ic k in g up
like some te ll us It is W hat he sees Is
m ore tim b e r on the m a rk e t fro m
ranchers than at any tim e in recent
years because they need the m oney
A m anagem ent co n s u ltin g fir m
has been at the m ill study ing produc­
tion and the o p e ra tio n of the p lant
We were try in g to get them to o ffe r
suggestions of w hat we could d o , "
he said, "we have th e ir re p o rt, and
w ill consider if c a re fu lly , but we
may not use too m uch of it "
Railroad not moving to abandon
Heppner line
Baker man arraigned for
murder of newspaper woman
She was a live ly w om un. and she
enjoyed life
Sykes said F rid a y
She was in vo lve d w ith things
around the c o m m u n ity , too
W illia m s had org a n ise d a fund
ra is in g au ctio n and d in n e r fo r a
c h ild in Irn g o n who had ca n ce r an«l
helped fo rm a local c h a rte r of
S o ro p tim isl In te rn a tio n a l. Sykes
said
W illia m s was v is itin g re la tiv e s in
Baker when she was re p o rte d m iss
mg p o lir e said
Wi ¡son was arre•sled w ith o u t in ci
dent Thut sdav aft«•r Uie d isco ve ry of
the fsid y. the d is tr let a tto rn e y said
The susjjir c i and v ic tim were not
lieh»•ved to have lieen a cq u ainte d
before M a rch 22 he said
W<- had been lo o kin g fo r someone
wrho had been •«•n w ith her and we
the sam e person
believe this
Hadley said
W illia m s is s u rv iv e d by h e r son
Jason P ie rce I I . of B oa rd m a n
s.ud a tru st fund was es'ah
lished F rid a y fo r the c h ild by an
empio; ee o f the B o a rd m a n F.nter
prise
Anv In la n d F tn p ire Bank b ra n ch
w ill a< cepl donations, he said
Prec
High
I.OW
40
60
Tue»
3»
65
Wed
68
45
T hu rs
6»
42
F ri
40
T ra ce
68
Sat
28
03
56
Sun
35
58
Mon
T o ta l Prec fo r M a rc h I 67
N o rm a l P re c fo r M a rc h 1 1»
still communicate over the radio
The new more portable equipment
makes it possible for one person to
handle all of the equipment and the
patient, continued the spokesperson
Fight EMI ■ arc available in
Heppner and one accompanies each
ambulance run It is important that
anyone calling for the ambulance
inform the hospital if there is more
than one person needing care, or if
the person needing the ambulance is
in need of special type care Speci
ally traini'd KMT's are available
the spokesperson emphasi’ es but
are not routinely sent on anbulance
runs
We have to know they are
needed,"
K M T 's m ust co m p le te a m in im u m
of 121 hours o f classroom education.
It) hours of c lin ic a l tra in in g and
m ust pass a w ritte n and p ra c tic a l
exam f«*r s ta le c e rtific a tio n The
o rig in a l c e rtific a tio n is good fo r tw o
years 20 hours of a d d itio n a l tra in
ing a re re q u ir r d fo r renew al
The K M T 's next goal is a p o rta b le
c a rd ia c m o n ito r d e fib u la to r costing
to iino to (ssi There are tw o mon
ilo rs at the h o sp ital and they ra n
lake one fo r the am bulance, but the
m ore p o rta b le unit w ould Slav w ith
the a m b u la n ce and be m uch easier
In use they said A4* ai th e ir
ra is in g e ffo rts
fiiB in - w ill t» towaT
the line in s e rvice, but at b o rd e rlin e
usage because now they can tru c k
cheaper It 's a dangerous s itu a tio n
If K in ’ uu doesn't support the lin e , it
w ill not fie th e re , the lin e 's fu tu re
depends on the long d ista n ce ha u lin g
which K in ’ uu provide»
G ra in is
u su a lly a short d ista n ce haul
That the lin e is "u n d e r study,
A stle says, m eans that the ra ilro a d
is looking in to the econom ics of the
line If a com pany can prove that it
is losing m o n e y . abandonm ent is
usually approved unless there is no
a lte rn a tiv e shipper a v a ila b le U nion
I ’ a c ific , he c o n tin ue d , has been
"b e s t of a ll about not abandoning a
line if th e re is any business le ft at
a ll
Should the r a ilro a d decide to
abandon the lin e , they w ould have to
app ly to the In te rs ta te C om m erce
fiu i.m is s io n The s la te has no say in
the m a tte r, A stle concluded, but
w ould know of the proceedings and
n o tify a ll users
K m ru a 's use of the r a il line has
fa lle n o ff d ra m a tic a lly in the last
fiv e years, Kent G oodyear says,
because r a il rate s w ere not com pet I
tiv e w ith those of o th er s h ip p e rs
W ith d e re g u la tio n , r a il rate s have
dropped d ra m a tic a lly w h ith in the
last six to eight m onths and now are
m ore com pelitiv-e
k m -n o he said used 47*4 ra ilro .n l
cars d u rin g 1880
The com pany s
use of the r a il lin e drop|>ed lo about
320 ca rs d u rin g the econom ic reces
sion, but last y e a r used 420 c a rs and
he expects that th is y e a r's use w ill
he close to thut of 180(1 The r a ilro a d
has changed and is now w illin g lo
ship s h p rle r d ista n ces w ith in a 2tsi
m ile rad iu s, tru c k s a re s till used
The ra ilro a d is im p o rta n t fo r
th e m ill. G oodyear said fo r a w h ile ,
it was eheajier to tru c k e v e ry th in g ,
but user fees on tru c k s and roa d and
gasoline tax have increased as w e ll
as lia b ility in su ra n ce rate s
If the ra ilro a d should be ahundon
<*d. Goodyear said, b a rg e and tru c k
rates w ould p robably in crease w h ich
w ould a dversely a f f w t the co u n ty
They say th e y are not abandoning
the lin e , but th e ir actions show that
they m ust be c o n s id e rin g it s tron g
l y h e said of the co m p a n y 's fa ilu re
to m ake re p a irs at crossings, p u llin g
the section crew fro m lone, and
in d ic a tio n that money fo r im p ro v e
m entx is not a v a ila b le
Both G oodyear and Judge M c K lli
gott have lieen in fo rm e d by C laudia
H ow ells, an a ssistant to the p u b lic
u t ilit y co m m issio n e r that it is easier
to b u ild a case to m a in ta in a line
before fo rm a l abandonm ent is file d
than a fte rw a rd s
H ow ells w ill be in M o rro w County
M ay 12 fo r a m ee tin g w ith the
ra ilro a d shippers, the county co u rt
lone C o m m u n ity and A g ri Business
O rg a n isa tio n , and the Heppner Kc
o nom ic D evelopm ent C o rpo ra tio n
Should U nion P a c ific decide to
abandon the lin e . Skorney said, they
w ould have to have to fin e th e ir
intent w ith the In te rs ta te ( o m m e rce
Com m ission and if no protests fro m
shippers i not p riv a te in d iv id u a ls
who do not use the lin e i w ere file»*,
they could then be re a d y lo abandon
the lin e in th re e m onths If pro te sts
a re file d , the p ro ce d u re w o u ld then
take 10 m onths if the abandonm ent
rrc e iv e d a p p ro v a l
Voter turnout 41 %
A to ta l of 1,740 o r 41 percent o f a ll
re g is te re d v o te rs in M o rro w C ounty
cast b a llo ts in the Tuesday M a rc h
25 e lection The g rra te s t p e rcentage
of tu rn o u t was at lone w ith 85
percent o r 254 re g is te re d v o te rs
ca stin g b a llo ts F o rty e ig h t p ercent
o f re g is te re d v o te rs at le x in g to n
and H eppner cast b a llo ts T h ir ty
Mur percent of Boardman v o te rs
■»d J8S percent of Irngon voters
rked their o pinions in the special