Time to talk about fire control
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Newspaper
The Hrppocr
a zette
VOL 105 NO 32
W ednesday, August 12. 1987
unes
Heppner 25*
10 Page,
Has the seeding o f over 100.000
acres o f grassland under the Comer ■
' at ion Reserve Program created a
potential fire hazard in South Mor
row County'* And i f so. would pre
sent firefighting techniques he adc
quale to control the blazes *
These are questions to which mi
one knows the answers, hut several
people think it's time to talk about it
" I 'm suggesting there is going to
he a problem, and I think we should
do something about it . " says M or
row County Hxlcnsion Agent Fred
l.undin.
I undin is concerned that once a
tire starts in CRP ground, it may he
difficult to stop
Presently crop land in the county
is broken up by acres o l tallow
ground, which acts as a natural bar
rier to slow the speed o f fire C’RP
grassland would have no fallow
ground, and thus no harriers
Approximately 107.1X8) acres oul
o f 450.1XX) tillable acres in the coun
ty w ill he planted into grass, and
depending on variety, could reach
heights o f 20 to 40 inches
"Perennial grasses (the types us
ed in CRP) w ill n«tt he as dry as
wheat." says l.undin. but he says
that in two. three or tour years there
w ill be an understay o f dry grass that
could be potentially hazardous
Lundin suggests a rural tire
district may help control the threat
ot large grass fires.
" A fire control district doesn't
necessarily mean more taxes and
equipment." he says Coordination
o f the placement of existing equip
mem around the county, and maybe
controlling burning in the spring,
w ill help "M eeting once or twice
a year to talk about coordinating lire
fighting would he a good idea to o ."
he suggests
l-and within a 7.5 mile radius ot
Heppner is presently served by a
rural lire district, which contracts
with the Heppner volunteer fire
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Doug Dubuque of Kinzua Corp turns calf-roping saddle over to fair and rodeo court
Kinzua donates 37th calf roping saddle
For 37 years Kin/u.i C’orp has
donated a roping saddle to the lucky
winner o f the Morrow County
Amateur C alf Roping contest
The first saddles were purchased
fn>m various local saddle makers In
1959. the first saddle was purchas
cd from Hamlcy’ s in Pendleton lor
$360 Kin/ua was then known as
Hcppoer Pine Mills fhe smkllc now
is made hy Severe Bios
in
Pendleton, its value is estimated in
excess ol SI MX) A Severe saddle is
a priced posession lor any cowboy
and the amateur Call Roping saddle
is no exception
The saddle is the largest single el
fort in sponsorship toward the 1987
rodeo, states (ia il Papincau. and is
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Look at This
Contract talks stalled
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Morrow County Extension agent Fred Lundin examint
grass m field north of Lexington Lundin says there t
a fire hazard from the large amount of grassland nov
planted in the county.
department for protection
Harvey Childers, lone fire chief,
says a rural fire district was laid out
around lone in the mid I950v
h«iwcvcr. there is no board o f dircc
tors or budget
"W e had a lot ol people say they
thought it was a good idea, but we
never had anyone w illing to be on
the hoard and put in the tim e ."
Childers said
He said he worked on getting a
board two vears ago. but hud no luck
ami has done nothing since
Boundaries ot the lone rural lire
district extend approximately Trom
the Heppncr-Condon highway acioxs
to Strawberry to north of Lexington
Morrow County Judge Louts
Carlson is another one who leels it
is time to discuss a rural lire district ’
"W ith all the grassland in Morrow
County there isn't going to he anv
summer fallow to stop those fire s ."
said Carlson "W e need to have
some sort o f plan "
While Carlson says he is not
necessarily advocating a large lax
base to purchase equipment, he leels
it is time to discuss coordinating the
firefighting efforts in the county
Ix>ok for special
edition inside
Edi event» coining up during this
A special Fair and Rodeo
tion is included with this week's
newspaper The 16 page special
edition is fu ll o f pictures,
schedules and information about
________________
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year's Our and rodeo. The
special edition was made possi
ble by she support of
merchants
M orrow County Judge Louis
Carlson said
Summer project director Jay Har
mon is an industrial arts teacher at
Riverside High School in Boardman.
who has a background in construc
tion work Under his guidance the
boys have
extended the pole
feme along the paved ro.id built six
ced.it picnic nibtes and re painted the
men s bathroom at the park
the county provides the materials
necessary lor the projects and some
o f the tools Ihc school district is
donating a bus to transport the kids
to the mountains, and some tools
Juvenile Services pays Harman's
wages and Hast Central Oregon
Assoc o f Counties pays the boys'
wages
Ibis is the third year the county
has sponsored the program Hie pro
ject director each year has arranged
fishing and swimming oppoitunities
and scheduled guest speakers during
the non working hours
Back row from left Jim Stark, Dennis Whitaker, Jeff Davis, and Shane Fmkbemer, all of
Irrigon
Project Director Jay Harman (left) and Judge Louis Carlson are seated Roy Olson of Hepp-
ner and Chad Wynn of Boardman are also members of the project but were not present for
the photo
County, Road Dept, disagree on wage issue
be responsive to the economic con
dilions in (he county rather than
across the state," he said
The Union has requested tact fin
ding to attempt to resolve the
deadlock In factfinding, both sides
present their case to an impartial
factfinder who then issues a recom
mended settlement Cost lor lactfin
ding is about 31,1X8) to the County
and Union
I he Union has requested that the
"S o far we have talked to 12
physicians, and have had three come
in lor interviews." Hospital Ad
ministrator Hmcst Wick said Tues
day, on cllorts to recruit a doctor to
the Heppncr area
Two physicians recently left the
area, and active recruitment is
underway to bring armthcr doctor in
Wick said at this time he is work
ing on securing only one doctor for
the area "When we get one. then
we w ill go back to the (county
health) board and determine where
we w ill go from there
Wick said also that he lias been ap
pointed by the hoard as the county
health administrator, and as such has
been working on health issues at
both ends ol the county
" I ’ ve been working on finding a
new physician at Boardman and on
getting a new ambulance there
also." he said
On the Heppncr doctor search.
Wick said he has an interview
scliedulcd with a doctor and his wile
It w ill be their second visit, he said
Search for doctor continues
Don’t miss Sidewalk Sale Fri
Circle this Friday on your calen
dar because you don't want to miss
the big Heppncr Sidewalk Sale
Downtown merchants w ill he o f
fering lots o f specials on sale, and
Central Market w ill be holding a
produce tent sale in the parking lot
Look for a display by the Hepp-
ner Art Club, a bake sale by the
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a prized possession lor the remainder
ol the recipients lifetime The sad
die is such a cherished posession o f
each cowboy that in 1985 when 18
ol the saddle winners rode in the
parade only one rider hat) to set
another saddle and that was IX>n
Greenup whose saddle had been
stolen
A street dance, put on by Dan
ncwick. Wash . and a Jaws ol Lite
Burns
and J D Productions begins at
device demonstration by the fire
9 p m at the park No admission
department, just to name a lew
price w ill be charged but numbered
F» hh 1 booths unhiding ham
buttons arc on sale now for SI ($2
burgers, tacos, slutted baked
on (estival day) the lucky person
potatoes, corn on the cob. and
whose number is drawn at the dance,
homemade nutty buddies, with
w ill receive S100 cash
something to tempt every member ol
the family O f course, there w ill be
cotton candy, snow cones, and plen
ty o f ice cold watermelon lor
everyone
Free entertainment begins .a 11 H)
and goes on all day long the festival
committee has secured the talents ol
Contract talks between Morrow
the T ri-C ity Fiddle Kids. Sunset County and America Federation ol
Country Shufflers, and the Blue M l State. C ounty and M un icip a l
Old Time Fiddlers to name a lew I inployecs luteal 2479. the Union
representing Morrow County Road
Department workers, have broken
down t-owcll Ashbaugh a stale
assigned mediator, was unable to get
the county and union to agree on a
new contract The road department
contract expired on July I, 1987
According to Bob Allen. Union
President. “ We re just trying to get
our wages in line with other road
departments in the region We re
pretty ck>se to the bottom of the heap
in wages " Another big issue is in
suranee coverage The County is
pushing for new contract language
that could result in employees pay
mg part of the insurance costs cur
rently paid by the County
Morrow County Judge Louis
Carlson said that the employees in
the Road Department arc our friends
and neighbors and it is not the coun
ty s intention to do them out of their
due eamings "w e do have to live
within a budget, though." he pointed
out "There arc a certain number o f
dollars in the budget for labor items
Tom Kenney, son o f B ill and Marge Kenny o f Heppncr. holds a 2 0 "
and that amount o f money is based
4 lb 3 oz Bass he caught about noon Friday at W illow lake He had been on the ability of Morrow County tax
fishing from the hank with his brothers Jim and John since early morning
payers to pay the bills We need to
He caught the fish with a purple pg
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Irrigon plans Watermelon Festival
The F ourth Annual Irrig o n
Watermelon Festival w ill be held on
August 22 Irrigon l.ions w ill host
a Watermelon Pickers outdoor
breakfast tro m b a m until 10a m
at the manna park A Fun Run tor
walkers and runners o f all ages
begins at 8 a m
at the park
A parade gets underway at 10
a m on Main Street and includes a
• Kiddie Parade' Festivities begin
at the Marina Park at the completion
ol the parade Several exhibitions in
eluding a sheep shearing demonstra
lion hy a former New Zealander.
Allen Lambert, a rae K won Do
demonstration by the Northwest
Tac K w on-D o School o f Ken
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Youths gain summer work experience
Six Morrow County youths have
been at Cutsforth Park this summer
as part o f the county's Training
Guidance program
Die seven week program provides
the youths with an opportunity to be
away from home in an outdoor cn
vironment. learn to use hand tools,
budget their own money, purchase
and prepare their own food; build a
good sell image while learning g«xxl
work habits, and to take pride in a
completed public service project.
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Soroptimist Club and a display by
the Morrow County Grain Growers.
The Morrow County Fair and Rodeo
Court w ill also he on hand to sell fair
buttons
The sidewalk sale rum all day Fri
day There n still time if your group
or organization would like to par
ticipate in the sidewalk sak.
County negotiator. Don Ncottland
Assoc of Salem, schedule a lace to
face meeting between the commix
xioners and employees to reach
agreement on this contract No
meeting had been scheduled as ol
Monday
Weather Report
by
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August 4 - August II)
High low l*rrc.
I UCS
W«-,l
Lburs
1 ri
Sat
Sun
Mon
92
85
84
91
97
98
82
50
50
58
M
59
48
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0
0
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Market Report
( ompNm.nl, o t m . M ono, Count, 0»*f- I W <
ltirs d a y , Aug. I I
Soft White
*2 72/2 74
Barley
'84 Mi 8S
Hard Red W inter
*2 87
PIK
Generic Certificates! I0 T «.ash less
Aug
e x p ira tio n
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