Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1994)
New bridge going up on Court St. U OFSSIE OF ORE W E T Z E L L fu news pape r LI B t l' j L' N E 5 7 4 0 3 OR Workmen put in re-bar for new bridge What has become a familiar rat-a-tat-tat to those living in the south Court Street area, will become a new bridge by the end of October. The wooden bridge on south Court Street has been demolished and a new concrete bridge is under construction by the state of Oregon. According to Heppner City Manager Gary Marks, plans for construction were underway before he became city ad ministrator. The state has a pro gram for repair of bridges and the program also has access to federal monies. The bridge, called a concrete boxed culvert, will be funded 80 percent by federal monies, 10 percent by the state and 10 percent by the city. A grant, called the small cities allotment program for cities under 5,000, will fund the city's portion of the costs. The pro ject is budgeted at $249,900, with the city of Heppner's por tion at $25,000. Marks said that the state put and let the bid. "The city has very little to do with it," he said. "In the process, we'll get a concrete bridge that will pro bably last forever." Once the bridge is com- pleted, the turn onto Hager Street, which was very sharp, will be much more gradual and the bridge will actually be mov ed. Although there will be 12-foot travel lanes, the actua- ly roadway is much wider and there will be sidewalks on both sides. The original bridge was built in 1948. A state bridge inspec tion determined that the original bridge was not in very good condition and thus qualified for the state program. The project completion date was set back around a month following problems with city water lines. Regulations drive hunter out of state Ji m Swanson (left) and John Bristow look over new subdivision above lone What can a town accomplish when it rises up in determina tion to accomplish a task? How about a 32 unit subdivision to bring in new residents. That's what lone set out to do 12 years ago, and through dif ficulties and hard times quali ty building lots are now available in lone. John Bristow and Jim Swan son, both members of ICABO, the community development group in lone, can stand on the hill overlooking lone and with sense of accomplishment point to an 80-acre development ready for tenants. • With power, water, sewer and a road system already in stalled, not to mention a spec tacular view east up Willow Creek Valley, the lots are ready for homes. Already five lots have been sold and many more in the one, two and three acre size are available. "They're ready to g o," says Bristow, owner of Bristows market in lone, as he surveys the results of a can do attitude in lone. "This is the result of a lot of people around here who wanted to do something to help our situation." "Hie situation was a declining population of the town and consequently the local school, which threatened the very ex istence of the school. "The bottom line is we did this to help out our school," says Sw anson, owner of Wheatland Insurance in lone. "W e saw the population declining and we wanted to stop it." The development, along with the recent approval of a road across the Bombing range to Boardman now help the situation. "If someone works at the Coal Fired plant and wants to live in lone, the road will make it that much easier,” says Bristow, who also worked diligently for the road opening over the years. Opening the road will change over a 50 mile commute from Boardman to lone to about 14 miles says Bristow. The development project has been named the Slim Emert ad dition because it was local ran cher Slim Emert who donated the 80 acres before his death for the project. Lots in the addition are selling for around $3,500 each, and Bristow thinks once homes begin to go up on the hill, it will make it that much more attrac tive and more people will want to live there. "This project isn't here to make money, it's here to attract families," says Bristow. ASCS nominations due Oct. 31 The Morrow County ASC Committee election will be held this year on Dec. 5. Eligible voters have the right to nominate candidates of their choice by petition. Blank peti tions (ASCS-669-3) may be ob tained at the county ASCS of fice. each petition submitted must be: limited to one nominee; signed by at least three eligible voters in the com munity; signed by the nominee; and postmarked or delivered to the county ASCS office no later than Oct. 31. Persons nominated should be currently engaged in the opera tion of a farm or ranch and be well qualified for committee work. A farmer is eligible to be a county ASC committee member if the farmer lives in the county and is eligible to vote in the ASC elections. County ASC committee members may not hold posi tions in certain farm and com- modity organizations, if these positions pose a conflict of in terest with ASCS duties. These positions include functional of fices such as president, vice president, secretary or treasurer, and positions on boards or executive committees. The duties of County ASC Committee member include: informing farmers of the pur pose and provisions of the ASCS programs; keeping the state ASC committee informed of local conditions; recommen ding needed changes in farm programs; participating in county meetings as necessary; and performing other duties as assigned by the state ASC committee. This program or activity will be conducted on a non- discriminatory basis without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, or disabilitv- Vern Wilson says he's had enough. Had enough of the Oregon hunting regulations he says don't make sense; had enough of the fish and wildlife department. And had enough of the so-called citizen input in the formulation of Oregon hun- ing laws% “vv- »•” So Vem and his wife Lilly are leaving town. Leaving the county. Leaving the state. The Wilsons are moving to Idaho. Upset especially with the bull elk regulations, Wilson says the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has so messed up the tag application process that many people have become frustrated and just quit hun ting. He says Idaho has more sensible game regulations. So he's moving there, to Medvale, 25 miles north of Weiser, for the hunting. Wilson moved to Heppner from California in 1970 mainly for the hunting, and says now it's why he's leaving. "Im against the total draw system on the Eastside mule deer. It's not necessary, and has forced us all to hunt in one unit. I think we need to protect our right to hunt just as much as we protect our right to bear arm s." And Wilson hasn't just sat around quietly the past several years as the hunting rules have changed. "I've been to their public meetings, lots of them," he says almost with contempt for the system of public hear ings the state holds on propos ed new game regulations. "They will not use hunter's in put from public meetings. They end up doing what they plann ed on doing in the first place. These meetings are just for show ." Wilson says the state should have an elected board of direc tors for the fish and game department similar to Idaho. In Oregon the governor appoints the governing board, which makes the agency unrespon sive to the public, Wilson says. He also wonders why an out of state person was brought in to Vern Wilson administer Oregon's draw system, and an out-of-stater ap pointed the new director of ODFW. "W h e n the department started this whole mess by splitting the bull elk season and forcing us to enter the lottery to hunt first, I hadn't heard any of my friends or fellow hunters who thought it was a good idea. We were told they wanted the ones who were drawn to have a quality hunt like in the old days when there were fewer hunters." Wilson says they can't turn back the clock, and instead need to deal with the reality of today. For instance Wilson says he recently, after 25 years got an antelope tag, and when he and his wife got to the antelope country, "there was almost a buck for every doe I saw, and I saw hundreds of them and only a few other hunters in the area." He says the ODFW is overprotecting the antelope. Wilson moved to Oregon for the hunting, now the former Columbia Basin Electric Co-op lineman and Heppner gas sta tion owner is leaving, because of what has happened to hun ting in this state. "It is so com plicated, aggravating, frustrating, and confusing that many hunters have quit hun ting altogether. Young hunters have a hard time getting tags and some don't get to go when they are first eligible. This is very disappointing to a young person," Wilson says with a shake of his head. Boosters to hold steak dinner The Booster Club steak feed and auction will be held Satur day, Oct. 15, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Heppner Elks Club. Prizes for the auction, which will get underway around 8 p.m., will include one night at the Pendleton Red Lion; one set of tires from Morrow Coun ty Grain Growers; one day of bass fishing for two in a drift boat from Doug Lowe; a salmon, steelhead or walleye fishing trip for four from Laverne VanMarter; a salmon dinner for four; one night's lodging for two at the Cliff House at Clarkston, WA.; and tickets to OSU, WSU, Seahawk or Trail Blazer games. Advance tickets for $7 each are available at Murray Drug, Ployhar Insurance, Bank of Eastern Oregon and Morrow- County Grain Growers. Tickets will also be sold at the door. Çet rJ^ady The dinner menu will feature barbecued steak, baked potato, salad, homemade bread and dessert. Over the years, the Heppner Booster Club has contributed to many school and community projects. Through fund raisers like Reno Night, dinners, bake sales and raffles, the Boosters have donated money to the baseball field project and foot ball lighting project. The Boosters have purchased a video camera, trophy cases, volleyball nets, dance team uniforms, cheerleader pom poms and flags for the high school. In past years, the Booster Club has provided food baskets for many high school activities such as Drama Club and FFA. Each cr>ring, ' - Heppner F *h ’ . j receive sch ... . . u ^ a trom the Booster Club. fo r W inter Sai Ends Saturday, Oct. 8 Shop the store for SUPER BARGAINS Morrow County Grain Growers L e x in g to n 989-8221 1-800-824-7185______________