MAO(Wt“î0ApP
lOôcSp^fÆ ^fcCncKl j
LtB(lAe.V
UMwieasnv c ro e o -o s )
EUhaofc.Oi-
9 0 4 0 3 '1 3 9 T
Rural residents propose livestock district
The now popular use of
"districting” has spilled over
into south Morrow County's
livestock industry where an
open range policy has prevail
ed. A majority vote of resident
property owners within the
proposed boundaries of a clos
ed livestock range will deter
mine the outcome.
A closed livestock district
must encompass at least 2,000
acres by law. The proposed
district is roughly described as
private property below Hepp-
ner stretching from Willow
Creek to Fuller Canyon and
bordered by the Slaughter
house county road and the
Bunker Hill area. County roads
will not be included.
South Morrow County has
been under an open range
livestock policy as many ranch
holdings are divided by road
ways that separate grazing land
from available livestock water.
Therefore animals have the
"right-of-way" which means
"driver beware". Livestock
owners in an open range area
cannot be held liable for animal
trespassing or damages from
accidents involving vehicles
with animals.
Abandonment of the Hepp-
ner spur railroad has created
problems. Neighborly differ
ences including the age-old
problem of sharing limited ir
rigation water from Willow
Creek, were accelerated when
Union Pacific Railroad officials
allowed competitive bidding by
anyone for the purchase of this
abandoned railway.
Although unsuccessful in a
high bid to purchase the
railroad right-of-way from
Heppner on down to his place
between Heppner and Lexing
ton, newcomer Jim Starr ap
pears to be caught up in the
controversy.
Starr says he didn't receive a
fair share of irrigation water for
his 20 acres of pasture land. By
obtaining the railroad proper
ty, he hoped to obtain a new
point of diversion for water
from Willow Creek. Part of the
irrigation ditch to his property
now crosses a neighbor's land.
But the fenced-in former rail
road track doesn't include
outlying boundaries of railroad
land, some of which has been
utilized as part of fields by
farmers.
Neighbors say that a 1920
water right on Starr's proper
ty doesn't entitle him to receive
ample water when supply is
limited. Starr contends that
some irrigators with older
water rights have been water
spreading.
Meanwhile railroad officials
rescinded a prior decison to sell
to the highest bidder. They
have allowed some adjacent
property owners to increase
their bids and purchase adjoin
ing tracts of railroad land.
However the rail line property
includes some blocks of
government land that will be
under the jurisdiction of land
agencies and may revert back
to the county.
During this turmoil, some
landowners submitted a peti
tion to the county court to form
a livestock district. Perhaps the
motive was to fence Starr in
pending his successful pur
chase of the rail line.
Local petitioners for this
livestock district including
Terry and Karen Thompson,
Paul and Betty Brown and Jack
and Ruth Maben, were not pre
sent at the Sept. 6 hearing for
the petition that was held dur
ing court meetings at the court
house.
"I'd like to know what the
point is?" asked Starr, who
voiced his opposition to this
district at the hearing. "People
may be irritated with me, but
this is taking away my rights
and the rights of others," he
said.
"It means we now have to
fence your cows out, the other
way you would have to fence
your cows in," said landowner
and neighbor Jim Bloodsworth,
the only person present at the
hearing favoring formation of
the district. Although Bloods
worth's property is outside of
the proposed district, he in
dicated that he would probably
annex into the district pending
its formation.
According to petitioner Jack
Maben, '"lire word was out
that this man (Starr) was going
to buy all the railroad right-of-
way and pasture it. I didn't
think that was fair. We were
just trying to help people out
to keep Starr from getting it,"
Maben said. The Mabens are
store owners whose home pro
perty at the lower edge of town
joins the railway.
"It seems like a moot point at
this time," said petitioner and
Bunker Hill landowner Paul
Brown, who, like Maben, is not
a livestock operator. Brown
said he was willing to go along
with his neighbors, namely the
Thompsons and Bernard Da
mon, a son-in-law of Happy
and the late Claude Graham,
whose place is currently under
lease to the Carlsons. Damon is
not a resident of the area, so he
could not sign on as a peti
tioner.
"Is this a safety issue or to get
back at a person?" asked Oliver
Devin, the former owner of
Starr's property. Devin, who
was present at the hearing, ex
pressed opposition to forming
a livestock district. He said this
could set a precedent for future
livestock districts or the expan
sion of the proposed district
which could impact him and
others. It could adversely affect
livestock growers that con
tribute to a major south Mor
row County industry, Devin
added.
"W hatever happened to
neighborly concerns and
values, including working
things out and helping each
other?" said Monique Devin,
who also voiced opposition to
a livestock district formation
during the hearing.
" I didn't move here to get in
a fight with anyone. Maybe the
government will move me
someplace else," Starr said.
Starr purchased this local ranch
after the Dept, of Natural
Resources bought his property
near Lyle, Washington, under
the Scenic Rivers Restoration
Act.
Hearings slated on park district
The Morrow County Court
has scheduled a public hearing
Monday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m. at
the courthouse. The hearing is
concerning landowners who
have petitioned out of the
Willow Creek Park District. In
March, voters passed a park
district bond issue to build a
swimming pool and a three
operating levy for the pool.
Morrow County Judge Louis
Carlson said that the hearing
will be the second continuation
of the first hearing and the first
hearing for the second group of
petitioners. A third hearing will
be held for both the first and se
cond groups of petitioners.
Hearings will also be schedul
ed for a third group of
petitioners.
Architects selected for pool proposal
Rundquist and Hard, an ar
chitect firm from Spokane,
have been selected as the ar
chitects for the proposed
Willow Creek Park District
swimming pool.
According to Gary Marks,
pool project manager, Rund
quist and Hard were chosen
from eight applicants, three of
which were selected for inter
views.
Yaw's Restaurant open for business
By April Hilton-Sykes
With three
vital
re
quirements, good food, good
atmosphere and good service-
a new restaurant in Heppner
can't lose.
Yaw's restaurant, formerly
Cal's, recently opened on Main
Street in Heppner following an
extensive maiceover.
Steve and Linda Yaw "gut
ted everything but the kitchen"
in the restaurant, replaced
paneling with sheet rock,
painted, recarpeted, redecor
ated and put in new booths.
"We got a lot of support from
local merchants and from the
Bank of Eastern Oregon," said
Steve Yaw. "Thanks to our
friends, we remodeled the
whole thing with volunteer
labor."
But despite the bright new in
terior, the Yaws still aren't
quite done. Steve Yaw says that
they plan to put new doors on
the restrooms and eventually
want to put in a new heating
and air conditioning system
next spring, buy some new
cooking equipment, increase
I their hot water capacity and put
a new heating system in the
bar.
Yaw's will feature some of
their best family traditions,
hamburgers, French fries with
gravy, roast beef and French
dip sandwiches made with slic
ed prime rib, tenderloin and
steak dinners, seafood, home
made soups, soft chocolate and
vanilla ice cream and milk
shakes. They will have at least
three specials nightly over and
above the regular menu and
will have lunch specials Mon
day through Friday. The res
taurant is open from 6 a.m. to
10 p.m. and the bar, 11 a.m. to
11 p.m. The bar is only one of
two in Heppner which are
licensed to serve hard liquor.
The Yaws also plan to put
video poker and Keno in the
bar as soon as they are able to
get a license.
The Yaws are in the process
of "retraining and training"
their employees, said Steve. He
anticipates that they will even
tually employ 10 to 12 people
when the restaurant is com
pletely up and running. "Bus
iness has been excellent," said
Steve. "Service has been a lit
tle slow because we're training,
but most customers are really
understanding. We'll work on
speed as we go. We've also
been plagued by breakdowns."
Steve says that in addition to a
dress code, they will have ran
dom drug screening, as re
quired by their insurance com-
Steve and Linda Yaw, owners
pany. "Service is almost as im
portant as the quality of the
food," he added.
The Yaws aren't going into
the restaurant business as
babes in the woods. Between
the two of them, they have
over 40 years in the business
and Steve's family has a long
and celebrated tradition as
restauranteurs.
Steve's grandfather, W.P.
Yaw, founded the first Yaw's
Restaurant in 1926, which, says
Steve, was the same year W.P.
and Engleburt Franz invented
the hamburger bun. Another of
his grandfather's innovations
was the gas sliding broiler,
which sears the meat on both
sides and holds the juices in.
This type of sliding broiler is
now used by a famous hambur
ger restaurant chain.
In 1946 Steve's dad took over
the business, putting in the first
car service in the Northwest
and enlarging the business four
or five times. He was also the
president of the National Res
taurant Association.
Steve took over the restaur
ant business after his father
died in 1979. He expanded at
five locations, three of which
were franchised.
In 1988 Steve got out of the
restaurant business, but not for
long. A year later he moved to
Wasco and bought the Wasco
Inn. In Wasco he also bought
a small ranch and began rais
ing cattle and hay. He then
found a ranch at Rhea Creek
and moved to Morrow Coun
ty. " I liked the area and the
people here," said Steve, who
branched out into the supple
ment business. But when the
Yaw's restaurant in Orchard,
Washington, sold, the family,
at the urging of Linda and
S tev e's daughter, Heidi,
bought Cal's restaurant in
Heppner. " I just couldn't let
the tradition die after 71 years,"
laughs Steve.
Linda has also had a long
time career in the restaurant
business. She started working
in a restaurant when she was
only 15 years old. The two met
when she was hired as the
manager of the Orchard res
taurant. Steve had been train
ing cutting horses and one of
the horses rolled over on him.
Pretty much helpless, Steve
was unable to fix his own meals
or even eat, so Linda brought
meals to him. Six months later,
he asked her to be business
partners with him. "Sh e was
such a fine cook," he says. For
awhile it was all business, but
then they started dating
and married after moving to
Heppner. Now married for
four years, Steve, 49 and Lin
da, "39 and holding", worked
together in the supplement
business too. "W e're a good
team ," says Steve. "S h e 's
good on the ranch and good in
the business." Linda, who has
also worked at RJ's and Cal. 's,
will take care of the day to day
operations at the restaurant
and Steve will handle purchas
ing and quality control.
Steve says Heidi, 25, is plan
ning to work her way into the
business. Now living in Wil-
sonville, she hopes to move to
the Heppner area as soon as
she can find a place to rent.
Steve also has a daughter,
Deanna Wright, 26, who lives
on Rhea Creek not far from the
Yaws, along with her husband,
Dean, and children, Christina,
5, and Alisha, 3. Steve's son,
Steven Jr. 27, is a cabinet maker
in Milwaukie. He has a son,
Jeff, 3.
Linda has two children,
Nicole Ernst, 26, who has a
son, Andrew, 5, and Fred
Ernst, 20, who works for
Kinzua.
Steve says that they plan to
buy as much as they can local
ly. "W e want to keep our
money in the area," he adds.
History Center planning meetings slated
The Morrow County History
Center's planning team will be
in Heppner Sept. 17-23 work
ing at the GEODC building for
an intensive community design
workshop.
This effort follows several
months of research directed at
understanding the land, people
and landscapes of Morrow
County.
In addition to plans for the
museum itself, the design team
will be exploring the possibili
ty of integrating the museum's
site design with street im
provements already scheduled
for 1997.
The goals of the workshop
are: to establish a direction for
the future of the museum as an
institution, a direction for the
physical design of the buildings
and exhibits and to integrate
these goals with existing plans
for community development.
Members of the community
may choose the level of in
volvement that they are com
fortable with, said a planning
team news release. "They may
simply attend the opening and
the closing public sessions.
They may attend open houses
at noon on Tuesday, Wednes
day, and Friday. They may
schedule individual appoint
ments to share family histories.
Regardless of the level on in
volvement, the design team
Ballots due Tuesday, Sept. 19
Voters are reminded that the
deadline to submit ballots for
funding for the Morrow Coun
ty Unified Recreation District is
Sept. 19. Ballots must be turn
ed in at the Morrow County
Courthouse Clerk's office by 8
p.m.
The district is asking for
$450,000 a year for three years
to pay for sports, clubs and
other extra-curricular activities
for county school children.
hopes that people will bring in
their ideas, concerns, or objec
tions; old family photographs
and Bibles; photographs of
potential items to be donated;
and the stories that come from
multiple generations of families
rooted in the land."
The design team's prelim
inary schedule is as follows:
Sept. 17, 12 to 5 p.m., design
team sets up workshop in
GEODC; Sept. 18, 10:30-11:30
a.m. consultants' work period
with individual public appoint
ments, 5-8 p.m., introductory
public forum; Sept. 19, 12 to 1
p.m. community open house,
5-8 p.m. public forum; Sept. 20,
10:30-11:30 a.m. consultants
work period with individual
public appointments, 12 tol
p.m. community open house,
5-8 p.m. public forum; Sept. 21,
museum planning and design;
Sept. 22, museum and exhibit
design, rough drafting strategic
plan report; Sept. 23, museum
and exhibit design, 12 to 3 p.m.
public design forum.
DANNER
Boot Solo
Our in Store prices
10% oft
Sale through 9-30-95
top by and check our super pricing on DANNER Work and Sporting boots.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-4S2-7396