Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1997)
0 4 - J - V - I V . ..<i * • 4 4 . mmm I M *4 U • • . 4 *» • '■•• j - •• • ■ ^ *A < *- • tji . * •/. • - 2* * • - • . . a | ' • i |’1 ,• » I '/ > ; V* • C 1 • • • .' i .'1 -• .»/>• i-.rr ^ v - ■*;- ■ á . * » School board retains four-day school week BFSS U OF IE W t The Morrow County School Board, at a special meeting Monday , March 3, voted in favor of continuing the four-day w eek in Morrow County Schools In an earlier vote February 10. the board deadlocked on the four-day week issue Board President Scott Bauska and members Gary Frederickson, Scott Johnson and Russ Morgan voted in favor o f retaining the four-day week while Dwayne Carroll and John Rietmann opposed the motion Bill Doherty abstained from voting In the last vote, Bauska. Johnson and Morgan favored the four-day week and Doherty, Carroll and Rietmann opposed it Frederickson did not attend the Feb 10 meeting The board majority said they based their decision on financial considerations Estim ates ELL ORE NEWSPAPER FUSENE Of t indicated that the district saved around $200,000 under the four- day plan and it expects to save $ 150,000 to $200,000 next year The majority also maintains that nothing indicates that students arc not doing as well under the four- day week as they have in the five day week Opponents of the four-day week say the $200,000 in savings is insignificant when compared to the district's $14 million budget Former teacher, Jane Rawlins, Heppner, urged the board to choose the five day week, especially for elementary students "Can our people disregard those kids that age," said Raw lins "They depend entirely on us They're at our mercy 1 can't believe we're going to say they're expendable." Mike Armato. Heppner. echoed that sentiment, adding, "The one •«.V thing that's missing from this (four-day week) is excellence " •' Pnor to the board's vote. Bauska countered an accusation that the board did not listen to people in the community, besides parents "We have heard from the citizens," said Bauska "We heard it when Measure 5 was passed I heard it loud and clear when the sales tax didn't pass 1 also heard it when Measure 47 passed ." A motion by Rietmann to go to a "calendar plan", which would have allowed schools in the district to be on different schedules, died for lack of a second In his plan, some schools could elect to not schedule school on a particular Friday, if the school had a planned sporting event, for example, while other schools could opt to attend that dav * .• : • ' - - -■ ».'-.e:. *• - . . . . . <«* ’ ■ • ' '•« * ■ „ - • • ’ ' I ' » ' 'v ». . ’ '1 . ... ■ • '“ -V- "-y •• ... v ' ;• .. v - o . . < % ;. Low turnout may void Heppner city election VOL 116 NO 10 b Pages Wednesday. March 5, 1997, M C H D to hire another doctor The Morrow County Health District Board, at its regular meeting Monday. March 3, instructed administrator Kevin Erich to proceed with negotiations for an additional doctor for the district The district will pursue negotiations with Shanilka Natalie de Soy /a, M D , Hermiston In other business, the district has scheduled a budget meeting for this Thursday. March 6, at 7 p nv at the Boardman Ambulance hall Low voter turn-out for the March 11 mail-in election may invalidate the city of Heppner’s operating levy election As of Tuesday . March 4, only about 34 percent of the city’s ballots had been returned to the county clerk's office "Ballot Measure 47 requires lew elections to achieve a 50 percent voter turnout for the election to be Morrow County Heppner, Oregon valid." said city manager Gary Marks "Voters could approve the city's levy measure with a majority vote, but if less than 50 percent of the voters sent in their ballots the voters' approval is invalidated by Measure 47 rules." "Clearly. Ballot Measure 47 has added new importance to voter turn-out and has increased the power of each vote Your v ote Vandals break in Arm y Depot shed Vandals broke into a storage shed near Boardman. stole about $200 worth o f emergency response supplies and covered the shed with graffiti, according to a news release from the Morrow County Emergency Management public information office The shed is located near sites where authorities would set up road blocks in the unlikely event of a chemical accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot The barrier materials stored there have also been used to close roads during severe weather The damage is not the first instance of vandalism for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, according Find The Hidden Shamrock Win A Silver Eagle The popular St. Patrick's Day treasure h u n t is back again. Each w eek until M arch 12 a clue for the treasu re h u n t will be printed in the Gazette-Tim es. If followed, these clues will guide treasu re h u n ters to a green sham rock hid d en som e w here in the city lim its of H eppner. The first person to find the h id d en sham rock w ill w in a .25 ounce silver Am erican Eagle coin w orth $90. The coin is donated by the Bank of Eastern O regon and is on display there. FIND THE SHAMROCK and win the coin! RULES: 1. A new set of clues to guide you to the hidden . shamrock will appear in each edition of the Hepp ner Gazette-Times. 2. A total of four clues will be given up to March 12. 3. The hidden shamrock is not on private proper ty and no digging or moving of objects, dirt or other material is necessary to find the shamrock. 4. The first person to find the shamrock should bring it to the Heppner Gazette-Times office to claim the silver American Eagle. CLU E N U M B E R TH R EE H eeee’s Back! Mr. Clue Man from 1995. Father was a POL No longer alive. Good with a rod, and a cue stick too. This gu y’s got a hint just for you. é ' A ' n ' W W w Á ' Á ' W * ' * ’* ' $ ' * ' * ' * ' * * * •* * * EXTRA SPECIAL DOUBLE BONUS SUPER DUPER CLUE BOOSTER: (This week only, so don't get used to it.) Near Seasonal Symbol Follow the clues, and may the Luck O ' The Irish be with you. This contest is sponsored by the Bank of Eastern Oregon _____________and the H eppner G azette-Tim es.____________ to the release In the last two years, highway message boards and a warning siren have been put out of service by vandals' bullets Repairs on the sirens and boards may total more than $50,000 CSEPP officials are looking into how much it will cost to make the message boards bulletproof, says Dave Trott o f Oregon Emergency Management "These vandals don't have much sense These crimes jeopardize public safety We may need to use the sirens or the reader boards on a moment's notice If they're out o f order because of vandalism, then our response to an emergency won't be as effective," says Casey Beard, Morrow County program coordinator "Our tax dollars bought these items, and now we're paying again to have them replaced or fixed." Flashlights, first aid kits, and stop/slow paddles for traffic control were stolen from the storage shed While the items are expensive. Beard says that every dollar counts Beard also wants potential vandals to know that nothing in the sheds is worth much money; there are mostly just traffic barriers and cones inside He says anyone with information on the vandalism or theft should contact the authorities County cancels bank payments The Morrow County Treasurer and Tax Collector offices have announced that effective March 1. citizens are no longer able to make their property tax payments directly to their local banks This service was instituted a couple of years ago to facilitate easy payment of property taxes However, after a number of problems with the process, including delayed tax payments and the discontinuation o f the serv ice by at least one area bank, it was concluded that this was not an effective service, said a county spokesperson Taxpayers may still make their payments directly to the Tax Collector's Office in Heppner. or the payments can be mailed in to their office in the envelopes that are provided with the tax statements For more information, call the Tax Collector's Office at 676- 5628. H H S drama club to present Southern spoof *-> * ' Murder in the Magnolias cast: front (l-r)-Traci Dickenson, Travis Judd, Julie Watkins, Kim Pointer; center- Abby Kahl, Laurie Michael, Kristen Marshall, back-David Michael, Mitch Mathews, Jake Roy, Lonnie Rill The Heppner High School Drama Club will present "Murder in the Magnolias", "a parody of characters and plots of almost every Southern play imaginable", this Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, at 7 p m at the Heppner High School cafetorium The plot of the spoof, w hich has the flavor of "Gone With the Wind", goes something like this: "Colonel Ranee Chickenwing has The Morrow County Arts Comcil is putting together a children's musical This play will require many speaking and singing parts for adults and children In short, the play is about nursery rhymes that get mixed up Director Shelly Rietmann says she hopes the play can be broken up into parts that each community can work on For example Heppner, lone, Lexington. Boardman and Imgon, would come together for one dress rehearsal and then a final perfomancc Help with costumes, sets, and music will be available, and busing if needed Those who are interested being on the stage crew, or auditioning for a part need to contact Rietmann by Monday, March 10, at 422-7243 "This will be a fun county and eommmity event and should not require a lot o f rehearsal lime," savs Rietmann "Come and let your talents emerge " This play production is funded by the Morrow County Unified Recreation District A total o f 592 students com pleted requirements for degrees at the close o f the University of Idaho fall 1997 semester. Local graduates include: Eric Neal Connor, Heppner. College of Engineering; Nina Kiyomi Tucker. Hermiston, C ollcge of Agriculture; and Ryan Nicholas Adelman. Pen dleton, College of Engineering A L -------— »"—'T - —-V----— r r <■ «» . ■ « . - - - , . * • •• a • - •. >. ••• *>• *■ -i * 7 \ • . . V : . . "... ..* • . » ... * V.V»* , i * * ' : • v: •* • .. • ■i, »] MORROW COOHTY GRAIN GROWERS Lexington 989-8221 1 -800-452-7396 V i r W * 9 • v ; • . • -■ * V \ * i Ï . . ■ .it v ■ *— .,. ; Heppner Little L eague and Heppner Girls' Softball sign-ups w ill be held on March 17-18 at the Bank of Eastern Oregon from 5- 6:30 p.m. Cost is $25 per player, with a $50 maximum per family. To enroll, children must be six years old before August l, 1997 and not turn 13 until after August l, 1997, to be eligible for Little League. Heppner Little I eague is also in need of umpires for the upcom ing season Anyone who is inter ested and can help should call Craig Gutierrez, chief umpire, or Rollie Marshall. Heppner League president. Ul graduates Fann & Hardware r~ >• v Little League sign Sale begins Thursday, March 6. ends Saturday, March 15 The first Heppner High School varsity baseball game will be held Thursday, March 13, at 3:30 p m at the high school baseball field Heppner will play the Pendleton Jvs : Bubba Kamrowski; Laurie Michael. Lorraine Carruthers; Abby Kahl. Lawy er Possum. Traci Dickenson. Princess Lotta Cargo; Lonnie Rill. Sheriff Billy Jerk, and Kim Pointer. Blanche Du Blank Director is Brandi Marshall, assisted by Eric Schonbachler Nancy Swarat is faculty adv isor Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children kicked the bucket, leaving the secret o f his buried treasure for a houseful of demented relativ es to discov e r " The "demented" cast of characters includes Trav is Judd as Ranee; Julie Watkins. Amanda Chickenwing; Kristen Marshall. Jezabel. Leah Denton. Voodoo Woman; David Michael. Pete Bogg; Mitch Mathews. Thombird Chickenwing. III. Jake Roy. M C Arts Council plans musical ups, March 17-18 H H S baseball season starts ■ . makes a difference more than ever." said Marks "If the County Clerk docs not sec a healthy upswing in ballot returns from city residents within the next week, the city levy will be invalidated no matter what the voters decide " Voters have until Tuesdav. March 11 at 8 p m to submit their ballots to the county clerk's office. • • . • ' ' . '">,92 ' - * ’< - % ■ ■ »1
