Candidate swings through Heppner
Walter Ponsford, a farmer and
retired teacher from the Madras
area, made a swing through
Heppner last week in his
campaign for Oregon's Second
Congressional District.
Ponsford, a Democrat running
unopposed for the nomination in
the May primary election, will
probably face incumbent Rep.
Greg Walden, R Hood River in
the November general election.
One of Ponsford's major
concern
is
agriculture,
commenting that the American
farmer is being "hung out to dry"
Boaal? ffetsell
0 i ' : e 3 p i ", : .** L Î rr.. 7
—u,-; in . , Oii 'j ì 1 j 3
U of
County court meets
W alter Ponsford
Wranglers hold
first playday
Jennifer Thompson
selected for Girls
state
Jennifer Thompson
Jennifer Thompson, a junior at
lone High School, has been
selected as the American Legion
Auxiliary Unit #95 delegate to
Girls State.
Thompson, the daughter of
Dennis and Janet Thompson of
lone, will join girls from all over
the state at the annual youth
seminar on Americanism and
government to be held June 25-
July 1 at Willamette University
at Salem.
At Girls State, each girl is
assigned to a county, each
ranging in size from 30-45 girls.
The girls begin learning by
• organizing each county into two
cities, electing a mayor, two
council members and a city
recorder. They then begin
elections for county officials,
including three commissioners, a
county clerk, district attorney,
county recorder, district judge
environmental engineer, board of
education
member,
labor
commissioner,
three
party
delegates, three alternate party
delegates and two justice
candidates.
Later in the week the girls
begin state elections. Each
county will nominate their
candidates
for
governor,
secretary of state, attorney
general, labor commissioner and
superintendent
of
public
instruction. They will also elect
six
senators
and
12
representatives.
Athletic facilities will be
available and a barbecue will be
held during the week.
Morrow County Grain Growers
helps sponsor local girls selected
to attend Girls State.
Sonja McCabe
wins beef
Sonja McCabe of Heppner won
a half a beef in a benefit raffle to
aid Heppner residents Juan
Elguezabal and Faith Healy who
are both facing serious illnesses.
According to Ken Turner, one
of the organizers of the event, the
benefit raised $1,535. The
Lindsay family donated the beef.
Siren improvements underway
Chris Brown, the state of
Oregon Chemical Stockpile
Emergency
Preparedness
Program (CSEPP) manager, has
announced that new siren
activation consoles have been
installed at the Morrow County
9-1-1 Center and at the Umatilla
Chemical Depot.
The new units will provide
dispatchers with a simpler and
easier method of activating the
CSEPP siren system. The units
replace consoles that are now
out of date.
Brown said that the
technology improvements allow
the dispatchers to select the
needed siren and message text
for a particular event and then
press a single button to activate
the system.
The console replacement at the
Umatilla County 9-1-1 Center
was delayed pending the May 2
release of the independent
evaluation of the alert and
notification system.
"This is part of an overall
project to improve siren
activation, siren coverage and to
provide new, internationally-
accepted siren tones." Brown
said.
Seven new sirens are being
installed in communities closest
to the depot and six others are
being re-located to provide a
broader coverage area to newly
e s ta b lis h e d
h o u s in g
developments
and
new
construction
in
existing
neighborhoods.
Brown also said that siren
tones have been changed for all
of the Oregon CSEPP sirens.
"We
are
adopting
the
International standard, so that
the tone heard during an actual
emergency will be a very urgent
'whoop whoop' sound rather
than the steady siren sound that
was in use," Brown said.
The siren tone heard each
month during the regular test of
the system will also be changed
to a minute-long steady tone
rather than the oscillating siren
sound that was being used.
In an emergency, when people
hear a siren they should tune
into their local commercial
radio
station
to
receive
instructions on what actions to
take. As practice, residents are
urged to tune to their local
stations when they hear the test
as well.
For more information on the
Oregon siren system, contact the
O re g o n
E m e rg e n c y
Management
Office
in
Pendleton at (541) 96696440.
Sacajawea to come alive
during presentation
The story of the Lewis &
Clark
Expedition,
from
Sacajawea's point of view, will
be told at assemblies at
Heppner Elementary School
and lone High School on May
8. The assembly at HES, for
fourth through sixth graders,
will be held at the HES
auditorium beginning at 10
a m.. The lone assembly, for
fourth through 12th graders,
will
be
held
in
the
multipurpose room at 1 p.m.
The performer, Joyce
Hunsaker,
who
has
performances scheduled from
May 1 through 23 in Morrow
and Umatilla counties, models
the behavior and dress of a
19th Century Native American
woman.
The first performance is
scheduled for May 1 at the
Vert Auditorium in Pendleton.
The performances are
sponsored through a grant
received by the Oregon
Department of Education and
allocated through the region's
Gender Equity Team of
Umatilla-Morrow Counties.
"Joyce Hunsaker provides an
outstanding role model for
young women and gets
students and the public to think
about the upcoming Lewis &
Clark Bicentennial, * said Sam
Pambrun,
director
of
professional
technical
education
with
Umatilla-
Morrow Education Service
District."
"These presentations will
bring the Lewis & Clark
Expedition to life for kids, and
really start to generate some
excitement as we move closer
to the Bicentennial of this
historic journey," said Brett
Kelver, coordinator for the
Umatilla County Lewis &
Clark Bicentennial Committee.
"The Bicentennial Committee
is working with the ESD and
other groups to schedule more
events like this one, because
folks will see that there's
something in this story for
everyone: history, science,
diplomacy, languages, music,
Native American cultures,
plants, animals, map-making,
navigation, outdoor survival
skills and more."
For more information
contact: Tama Wildbill, special
projects coordinator, Umatilla-
Morrow ESD at 541-966-3209,
NEWS DEADLINE
5 p.m. Monday
by
government
policies,
including international free trade
agreements, GATT and NAFTA..
Another of Ponsford's concerns
is access to health care,
expecially for senior citizens.
Ponsford has a bachelor of
science degree from the Oregon
College of Education and a
master's degree from the
University of Oregon. He taught
history, government and theater
in the Jefferson County 509-J
school district for around 30
years, retiring in 1992. He now
has a farm on the northwest end
of Agency Plains.
The Wranglers Riding Club held
their first playday of the year on
April 30.
New officers were elected,
with Lori Seitz, president; Sandy
Matthews, vice-president; Judy
Barber, treasurer; and Sheri Gre
gory, secretary.
Playday results are as follow's:
Stickhorse; first Blake
Greenup, second Ryan Dougherty,
third Bobbi Correa, fourth Dustin
Proffit.
Leadline: barrels-first Blake
Greenup, second Ryan Dougherty,
third Makenzi Hughes, fourth
Garrett Gibbs; poles-first Blake
Greenup, second Ryan Dougherty,
third Makenzi Hughes, fourth
Bobbi Correa; Figure 8-first Ryan
Dougherty, second Blake Green
up, third Bobbi Correa, fourth Tate
Gentry, fifth Makenzi Hughes.
Six year olds and under: bar
rels-first Rebecca Jepsen, second
Willy Gentry, third Donald
Matthews, fourth Stacy Jo
Halvorsen; poles-first Rebecca
Jepsen, second Willy Gentry, third
Donald Matthews, fourth Justin
Pranger; Figure 8-first Willy Gen
try, second Rebecca Jepsen, third
Donald Matthews, fourth Garrett
Robinson.
Seven year olds: barrels-first
Taylor Dougherty, second Jessica
Hughes, third Devin Robinson,
fourth Jacob Gregory; poles and
Figure 8-first Taylor Dougherty,
second Devin Robinson, third Jes
sica Hughes, fourth Jacob Gre
gory.
Eight to 10 year olds; barrels-
first Eric Jepsen, second Whitney
Matthews, third Regi Seitz, fourth
Brent Eckman; poles-first Eric
Jepsen, second Whitney Matt
hews, third Justin Gregory, fourth
Regi Seitz; Figure 8-first Brent
Eckman, second Whitney Matt
hews, third Eric Jepsen. fourth
Regi Seitz.
11-14 year olds: barrels-first
Lacey Davis, second Jenny
Griffith, third Amy Jepsen, fourth
Jaime Westberg; poles-first Jenny
Griffith, second Amy Jepsen, third
Lacey Davis, fourth Nicole Wil
son; Figure 8-first Jenny Griffith,
second Nicole Wilson, third Amy
Jepsen, fourth Jaime Westberg.
15-17 year olds: barrels-first
Ashley Ward, second Tracy
Griffith, third Kelsey Greenup,
fourth Tracy Rankin; poles-first
Ashley Ward, second Tracy
Griffith, third Brett Barber, fourth
Tracy Rankin; Figure 8-first
Ashley Ward, second Tracy
Griffith, third Brett Barber, fourth
Sibbea Jones.
Spelling contest
planned May 11
The annual Morrow County
School District spelling contest
will be held on Thursday, May
11, at 6:30 p.m. at Heppner
Elementary School.
The public is invited to observe
the contest.
Linda Shaw is in charge of
local arrangements at HES.
Refreshments will be served at
the end of the competition
By Doris Brosnan
Department
reorganization
needed after budget cuts.
The court further discussed with
Planning
Director
Tamra
Mabbott, the status of impact aid
potential and of the Army's
request for permit modifications.
Mabbott noted that the county's
hazardous waste ordinance could
apply in a J-Block permit
modification
because
the
modification would create a
handling and storage issue.
Questions continued to arise
about the reasons behind the
modification requests, and the
court agreed that, though the
county does not want to delay
incineration, it is primarily
concerned with health and safety
and storage issues.
Mabbott also reported to the
court a request for a permit from
Lamb Weston to apply potato
waste at the airport. Concern
over legal responsibility and the
question of ground squirrel
presence surfaced, to be resolved
as a prerequisite to signing a
permit.
In answer to a concern over
possible water runoff and road
washout at the site of an
approved division of a property
into four parcels, Mabbott
explained rules governing the
building of dwellings in an EFU
zone off a parent parcel. She also
explained
how
two-acre
minimum parcels came to be.
Boardman City Manager Rex
Mather presented an amendment
to the enterprise zone agreement
with Enron, adding that Enron
will meet the 150 percent salary
requirement. The court approved
the amendment.
The Morrow County Court,
during its April 19 session,
approved the purchase of a
scanner for the clerk's office and
two picnic tables for the
fairgrounds and approved an
intergovernmental
agreement
with Wheeler County for
prevention coordination services
with Behavioral Health.
The court discussed the
possibility of contracting with a
consultant to handle the rural
addressing work with the 911
funds and several department
heads visited with the court about
the organization of office space
in the Irrigon, Boardman and
Heppner annexes.
Assistant Public Works Director
Burke O'Brien reported to the
court. The crew has started
transporting grindings to the
Irrigon pit to be run through the
crusher and will probably apply
the grindings on a road by the
second week of May.
They have started work on the
school bus parking lot in
Boardman. They are finishing
rocking at the south end and will
then work on Pole Line Road. A
brief discussion focused on the
reasons the county cannot plow
snow from private roads.
O'Brien noted that in
CenturyTel's plans to provide
telephone service to property
owners near Cutsforth Park, they
will request a utility easement
through the park, which must be
reviewed by county counsel. The
court agreed to a work session
with Public Works Director Guy
Van Arsdale, O'Brien, and
Financial
Director Lisanne
Currin, to discuss the Road
St. Jude participants log 1096
Fifty three bike riders enjoyed
pleasant
biking
conditions
Sunday, April 29, at the annual
lone Bike-a-thon. Funds raised
from the event will benefit St.
Jude
Children's
Research
Hospital in Memphis, TN.
Although the pledges have not
yet been tallied or turned in,
organizers consider the ride a.
success based on the amount of
money raised and the level of
enthusiasm displayed by the
participants. Counting both
courses, approximately 1096
bike miles were logged on
Sunday in a four-hour time
span.
Thirty three riders, in all age
groups, tackled the 22-mile
Ruggs to lone route. The first
riders to complete the course
were Robert McElligott and
Aaron Delveaux front Heppner,
pedaling the distance in one
hour and 34 minutes. Clusters of
riders pedaled in for the rest of
the afternoon with everyone
arriving in under three hours.
On the in-town route, Dalton
Campbell circled the one-mile
course 26 times, followed by
Aldan Burt, Shayne Key,
William Wehrli and Whitney
Wehrli with 24 laps each.
Preschooler Jason Thompson
logged 15 miles during the
afternoon, "all at a good clip
and never looking tired,” said
ride coordinator Anne Morter.
Participants are asked to turn
in pledges and donations by
Monday. May 15. so that prizes
may he ordered. Funds should
he turned in with the pledge
sheet in an envelope to the Bank
of Eastern Oregon in lone or to
ride coordinators, Anne Morter
or Janet Thompson.
A list of riders will be posted
soon.
All funds raised from this
event go directly to St. Jude
Children's Hospital. St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital is
a leading children's cancer
research facility and is funded
mainly by public donations. St.
Jude Hospital has one of the:
lowest overhead costs of any of
the major health chanties with
86 percent of every dollar going
to current and future needs of
the hospital, according to a
news release.
Tax notices will
not be mailed
The Morrow County Tax
Collector's Office has announced
that tax notices will not be
mailed out the third tnmester due
to
computer
programming
problems.
However, taxes will still be due
on Monday, May 15.
While mailing out the notice is
not required by law, the county
has done so as a courtesy to the
public. They plan to mail out
notices in the future.
For more information, call toll
free in the Irrigon area, 922-
4103: in the Boardman area. 481 -
2112; or in the Heppner-
Lexmgton-Ione area, 676-5628,
or stop by the courthouse.
Land O ’ Lakes DOG & CAT FOOD SALI
C at f o o d : 20 lbs for $8.49
D o g fo o d ; 40 lbs Hish Protein for $13.99
or 50 lbs. Chunk Style for $12.99
Sale Ends May 13th
VI o r
r o w
C
o u n t y
G
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 I*
r a in
~ £
G
r o w e r s
tqwpnum. am our *tb im i ww* mtgg mt________