Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1994)
M tM M N wttn Kinzua takes 159 job applications HEPPNER Photo by Joyce Hughes Kinzua personnel manager Paul Sumner (r) hands job application to Cathy Hancock and David Barnett, both lone. imes VOL. 113 NO. 18 12 Pages Wednesday. May 4, 1994 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon One hundred twenty-four peo ple applied at the Kinzua mill Fri day, April 29, the first day the company took applications following the mill’s sale to Pioneer Resources, L.L.C., ac cording to personnel director Paul Sumner. Sumner said that 35 applied Monday, May 2. He said that the mill, now called Kinzua Resources, L.L.C., will fill 95 hourly positions and around 20 staff positions. One hundred twenty-five hour ly employees worked at the mill prior to its sale, and around 23 management employees. Sumner said that Kinzua Resources is now in the process of interviewing. “ Close to the end of the week we will know what the majority of our work force will be,” he said. Some of those who applied had not work- ed for the mill before, he added. Most workers have been off since April 14, when the mill closed following its sale to Pioneer Resources, L.L.C., a Eugene-based group of investors. Since that time Pioneer Resources, L.L.C. sold most of the log deck and around 50,000 acres of timberland out of 180,000 thousand included in the purchase of the mill. Frederickson brothers awarded Job bank program will help students 1994 Conservation Farmers in pay-to-play plan for next fall The Morrow County School District has developed a way for student athletes and their parents to cope with the upcoming pay- to-participate program in district schools The pay-to-participate program will be initiated this fall because of severe budget cuts resulting from Ballot Measure 5 shortfalls. The program will cost $50 per student per sport or activity with a maximum of $100 per student per year and a maximum of $200 per family. The district expects to raise around $40,000 to sup port extracurricular activités for the 1994-95 school year. Accor ding to district superintendent Chuck Starr, unless legislation changes the manner in which schools are funded, all sports and extracurricular activities in Mor row County will be eliminated for the 1995-96 school year. In the upcoming year, however, students will be given the opportunity to work for their fees through a job bank program. ^ In Heppner and lone, all com munity organizations, industries, farms, ranches and businesses will be asked to provide job op portunities for students. When they have work for the students, they will contact the job bank. The job bank will then assign a student or students to do the work. According to Heppner coach Greg Grant, the business should require that the work be done efficiently and to their satisfaction. Tf the work is not done properly, the job bank will require the student to meet the re quirements on the student's own time at no additional cost to the business. In return, the business will pay the job bank $5 per hour for work done satisfactorily. The money earned will be ap plied to the student’s fees, whether it be for football, basket ball, drama club or other ex tracurricular activities. “ Inherent in this process is the opportunity we will have to teach good work habits,” said Grant. “ Some students may need help to improve their work habits, so we must view this as a learning ex perience.” “ Our aim is that every athlete will be given an opportunity to work to participate,” continued Heppner High School principal Steve Dickenson. “ We won’t ask for any outright donations, but we need to have community support. So please call us about any possi ble jobs that students can do.” Riverside High School and Columbia Junior High School are taking a slightly different ap proach to their job bank program, according to CJH principal Don Holes. Because businesses anu job opportunities are more limited in Boardman and Irrigon, the Booster Club is planning fund raisers to earn money for student participation. Students will still be required to work at a business, if possible, or provide some com munity service (working at the school, city government or senior center, for example). The monies raised by the Booster Club fund raisers will be used to pay the students’ fees. A fund raiser was held this past weekend at Willow Run Golf Course in Boardman, under the direction of teacher and coach Mike Wetherell. The CJH/RHS Booster Club is met Wednesday to discuss future fund raisers. For more information about the job bank or if you have jobs to offer, call Heppner High School 676-9138 or lone High School 422-7131. 1st Interstate donates to PMH X-ray First Interstate Bank manager Jackie Allstott presented Kevin Erich, Pioneer Memorial Hospital administrator, with a $3,000 donation toward the pur chase of new X-ray equipment. “ We are delighted that we were able to make a donation of this size. Anything we can do to help retain services for our community is very important to us,” says Allstott. PMH’s radiology department provides residents with local ac cess to routine diagnostic x-rays, emergency trauma x-rays, ultra sound screenings, fluoroscopy, EKG’s and pulmonary function testing. Newer equipment is needed because of the age and in creasing frequency of breakdowns associated with the present machine. Erich says con tinuing to repair the old equip ment is very costly and will not enhance the radiographic capability of the facility. “ Over the past couple of years First Interstate Bank has shown its support for Morrow County Medical Services in numerous ways,” states Erich. “ First, through the donation of equip ment for the new addition to PMH administrator Kevin Erich accepts donation from First In terstate Bank branch manager Jackie Allstott Pioneer Memorial Clinic; se cond. by providing space for the Heppner Dental Office under a very reasonable lease agreement; third, with this generous donation of $3,000 for the purchase of x- ray equipment. We appreciate the commitment First Interstate Bank staff has demonstrated to health care in this county,” he added. PMH must raise between $125,000 and $200,000 for the equipment. Erich says the hospital is exploring all of its op tions, including still-under warranty used, refurbished, and new equipment. Grants are being sought for the majority of funds necessary. He added that the hospital is also accepting dona tions from the community toward the purchase of the new machine. Gary and Vernon Frederickson have been selected by the Mor row County Wheat Growers League to receive the 1994 Con servation Farm of the Year award. Their farms are in nor thern Morrow County near Boardman. Their parents, Clarence and Virginia Frederickson and Gary’s wife, 'Casey, are also involved with the operation. Gary and Casey have two children, Nikki, 11 and Cody, 1 Vi. Vern’s fiancee Suzanne and her son Greg, 11 are also involved. Vern and Gary attribute much of their success to their cadre of assistants, field employees Bob Waring and Sergio Morales, chief mechanic George Row and Pam Kuns and Debbie Shaw in the office. The Frederickson’s operate two separate farms. Frederickson Farms has leased 745 acres of cropland from the United States Fish and Wildlife since 1969. Portview Ranches, a partnership between Vernon and Gary, has leased 1600 acres from the Port of Morrow since 1985. Frederickson Farming is located in and around a wildlife refuge adjacent to the Columbia River. According to the lease, a certain portion of cropland is planted exclusively for wildlife. Limited waterfowl hunting is regulated by Fish and Wildlife. No deer hunting is allowed. There are five irrigated circles in production. USF&W does not allow use of restricted-use chemicals. Vern, who manages the farming part of the operation, each year submits a list of agricultural chemicals that they plan to use for Fish and Wildlife's approval. There are no fertilizer restrictions. Crops include wheat, alfalfa, peas, corn, lima beans and canola. Com or beans are planted in June after pea harvest to pro vide the operation with two crops off the same field in one year. Peas and alfalfa, like other legumes, add nitrogen to the soil that following crops can use. The primary soil type is Quin cy loamy fine sand. Although the wildlife management area has trees to reduce wind erosion, it Vern Frederickson is nevertheless necessary to main tain adequate soil residue. Vern works closely with the Soil Con servation Service as a director of the Morrow County Soil and Water Conservation District and as a client with erosion concerns. A complementary part of Frederickson Farming is Oregon Hay Products, a compressed bale operation that is operated with the Sumitomo Corporation, a Japanese company. Oregon Hay, managed by Gary , doubles the density of the hay, shears the bales in half, and then sends them overseas to Japan. About 75 per cent of the hay that goes through the compression plant has been purchased elsewhere. As many as 12 seasonal workers are employed at the Port of Morrow plant. In addition to the plant, Gary also is in charge of marketing and harvesting the alfalfa. Portview Farms leases proper ty owned by the Port of Morrow approximately two miles east of Boardman. As part of the lease, Portview Farms must accept ef fluent from a nearby processing plants. The Port of Morrow, in turn, must comply with Oregon Department Environmental Quality (DEQ) requirements relating to nitrogen management. The DEQ directs the Port of Morrow to require the use of crops that use considerable nitrogen. Alfalfa is such a crop. Vern commented that they are also going to try growing onions for the nearby onion dehydration plant. Other crops that Portview Farms has grown includes dark northern spring wheat, canola, com, and potatoes. Portview Farms must also con tend with possible wind erosion in the sandy soil. The effluent forms a crust on the soil and helps to prevent soil blowing. Main taining high amounts of residue in the soils has also helped reduce soil loss. In addition, they plant sorghum-sudangrass around the borders of the irrigation circles to reduce erosion and to provide cover for birds. The Port of Morrow recently built an effluent holding pond that will allow Portview Farms to apply the effluent when the crop needs it. The pond is about 40 acres in size. Doug Drake. Morrow County Wheat League president, com mented that the Fredericksons were selected for the award “ for their perseverence and ingenuity in managing highly erosive soils, their ability to deal positively with environmental restrictions, their involvement with several agen cies and their success at improv ing soil productivity and tilth.” I r r i g a t i o n S u p p lie s * : w Rainbird Sprinklers Irrigation sale continues thru Sat. '• . . • “v ., H a rro w C ounty C ra in C ro w crs ' . z- Lexington, OR • 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 ' ... . ’ •. :
