Heppner gazette-times., March 21, 2001, Image 1

Irish couple join in Heppnerfs St. Pats festivities
E C 3 3 10 r o t t o l i
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Left to right: Bill Mitchell, Daley City, CA, Tom Melton from KUMA, Brendan and Ellen Moroney,
Dublin. Ireland, and Walter Joyce, Heppner. Mitchell, the Moroneys and Joyce, all natives of Ireland,
were honored at the KUMA Coffee Hour held in Heppner Saturday during the annual St. Patrick's
Celebration.
School district to receive dairy taxes
despite enterprise zone
The Morrow County
School Board, at their March 12
regular meeting, approved a
resolution
which
requires
Columbia River Processing. Inc.,
a proposed dairy operation, to
pay taxes on the school bond
construction levy, even though
the business would be in an
enterprise zone. Businesses in an
enterprise zone ar** ‘’enerally
permitted to delay payment of
taxes for a period o f time.
The monies will be used
to offset the district's bond levy.
The board also adopted
calendar option 'B', with a.post-
Labor Day start, for the 2000-
2001 school year, with possible
minor modification of conference
dates. This plan was approved by
licensed staff, classified staff,
advisory committee members
and district employees, 121 to
73.
Option
'B'
includes
teacher inservice and workdays
August 28-31; September 4 as
the first day o f school; Christmas
break from December 21 through
January 1; spring break from
March 25-29; June 6 the last day
of school for students; and June 7
and
10
as
teacher
inservice/workdays.
In other business, the
board:
-approved a resolution
accepting and appropriating
$148,651 in unanticipated grant
funds. The grant included
$66,604 for A.C. Houghton
Elementary and $74,047 for Sam
Boardman elementary to focus
on reading in kindergarten
through grade three.
-received a ballot title for
the May 15 school bond election-
the "Morrow County School
District General Obligation Bond
Authorization"; and question-
"Shall the District be authorized
to lsue general obligation bonds
not to exceed $22,000,000 to
expand
and
improve
its
facilities? If the bonds are
appro cd. they will be payable
from taxes on property or
property ownership that are not
subject to the limits of Section 11
and l i b. Article XI o f the
Oregon Constitution."
The measure may be
passed only if the election has at
least a 50 percent voter turnout.
-took action on licensed
personnel as presented for the
2001-02 school year as follows
(Heppner-Ione only listed):
Heppner
Elementary-
Lindsay Harle, second year;
Mary Ann Elguezabal, Sue Gibbs
and Molly Rill, third year; and
Karen Holland, contract.
Heppner Junior/Senior
High School-Gordon Cooper,
second year; John Flaherty, Lea
Mathieu, Carol Rosecrans and
Tom Shear, all third year; Mona
Hardman
and Jason Just,
contract.
lone Schools-Nohemi
Estrada, second year; Ryan
Rudolf and Tom Shear, third
year; and Mona Hardman,
Darlene Marquardt and Duane
Neiffer, contract.
-accepted as a second
reading and adopted revisions to
the attendance policy to bring the
policy into compliance with the
law.
The revision includes a
statement that grade reduction or
credit denial determinations may
include student attendance
According
to the
revision, "Student attendance
may not be the sole criterion.
However, if attendance is a
factor, prior to a grade reduction
or credit denial, the following
shall occur:
"The
teacher
will
identify how the attendance and
class participation is related to
the instructional goals o f the
subject or course; and how
attendance and class participation
may impact a student's grade
between 1-3 percent per days'
absence.
"Parents and students
will be informed.
"Due process procedures
are available to the student when
the grade is reduced or credit
denied for attendance reather
than academic reasons;
"Reasons
for
non-
attendance are considered and the
grade is not reduced or credit
denied based upon absences due
to: Religious reasons; a student's
disability; or an excused absence
as determined by the district's
policy."
Previously the policy
specified that students in grade
one-eight be in attendance 80
percent of the days enrolled in
order to be considered for
promotion to the next grade level
and students in grades nine-12
continued page 2
Heppner, before downtown renovation?
Brendan is originally
Irom County Tipperary and Ellen
is originally from County
Leitrim.
He is a retired "post
primary" (high school) teacher
and was head o f the English
department o f a coed school with
over 1,000 students.
Ellen was manager for a
catering business which provided
services for several different
companies.
The Moroneys have four
children, all living in Dublin
except for one daughter who is
living in Bahrain, The Arab
Emirates, and five grandchildren.
Ellen's father's sister and
brother, Tom O'Brien and Kate
O'Brien Campbell, emigrated to
the U.S., while her parents
remained
on
the
family
homestead in County Leitrim.
Bill Mitchell's mother was Rose
O'Brien Mitchell. Bill was bom
in Ireland and came to the U.S.
as a young boy.
Since their arrival in
Oregon on March 10, the
Moroneys had visited relatives in
Portland, The Dalles, Condon
and Heppner and planned to
travel to Hermiston to visit more
family. Locally, the Moroneys
visited cousins Gordon O'Brien,
Heppner, and Isabelle Campbell,
Condon.
Ellen says that the
family homestead in County
Leitrim where she was reared is
still standing. The family is able
to trace their ancestry seven
generations, back to the 1700s.
Lexington volunteers recognized
Neither Governor John
Kitzhaber nor his staff will
attend a public hearing on the
proposed closure o f the Ione-
Boardman
road.
State
Representative Greg Smith said
Tuesday.
Smith said he contacted the
governor's office recently and
asked that he or one of his staff
attend a soon to be scheduled
public hearing on the closure o f
the lone Boardman road. The
reply was no one would be there,
Smith told the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce during a conference
call Tuesday.
Smith, who is currently in
session with the legislature in
Salem, also said several deals are
in the works when 2.5 miles of
the road are turned over to the
Nature Conservancy as part o f a
larger land deal. The deal is part
o f a land sale involving RD
Offutt, the state o f Oregon and
the Conservancy. Smith had
hoped the governor would make
himself available to explain the
state's position on the land sale.
The road has been used for
some time by lone residents who
work mainly at the coal fired
plant in Boardman, and use the
road to get to work. The road
cuts many miles off their
commute, and lone city leaders
feel a negative economic impact
if the road is closed. There will
not be as many people able to live
in lone and work in the north end
of the county if the road is closed.
Smith said several options
being examined if the road is
closed include a $1 million cash
settlement to Morrow County, a
$3.2
million
economic
development grant to establish a
natural gas pipeline in south
Morrow
county,
and
the
establishment o f a state park
somewhere in south county.
Issuing a key to each coal fired
plant employee to be able to go
through a locked gate and still use
the road is also being discussed.
Smith said.
Heppner's St. Patrick's
Celebration was made just a little
more Irish with a visit from the
genuine article. In town for the
2001 festivities were Brendan
and Ellen Moroney from Ireland.
The Moroneys attended
the KUMA coffee hour Saturday
morning, spoke a little about
their homeland and joined in the
singing. The standing-room only
crowd at the Elks Club enjoyed a
good laugh with Brendan's quick
response to the question posed by
Tom Melton of KUMA radio,
"Just how far is it to Tipperary?"
"It's a long, long way," retorted
Moroney, amid gales o f laughter.
He also spoke a few phrases in
Gaelic
The Moroneys, who hail
from Dublin, are cousins of Bill
"Big Willy" Mitchell, who once
again made his annual trek from
Daly City, California.
(Left to right) Al Brazell, LeRoy Cline and Dick Kempas accept large
plaque thanking the three for their work on Lexington's water project.
"For dedicated service toward the completion of town water upgrade
project," the plaque said. The plaque had the names of 135 individuals
and 27 businesses and was presented at last Mondays town council
meeting.
Baker-Morrow partnership
presents grant awards
The Baker-Morrow Partnership
recently announced the awards in
the first round of the "Small Project
Grant" The grants will assist with
the cost o f 10 small community
projects with each project receiving
a grant o f $7,500 or less. The
projects were identified in the 2001
"Needs and Issues Inventory", a
statewide listing o f proposed
community facilities, infrastructure
and community readiness projects.
Heppner, Lexington. lone and
Hardman projects each received
grants.
"These are projects that have
great meaning and importance to
our smaller communities in Baker
and Morrow counties," commented
Brian Cole, partnership board
member from Baker City. "They
are projects that have been supported
by a great deal of volunteer work."
he said.
Projects awarded grants in
Morrow County were: Hardman
-
Community Center, $2,000; Heppner
City Park Project/Brownfield
Reclamation Project, $7,500; Clty
of Heppner Strategic Plan update,
$7,500; City of lone demolition of
dilapidated buildings, $7,500; and
Town of Lexington, new fire hall
master plan, $5,400.
"The city is extremely pleased
to receive the funds from the
partnership," said Jerry Breazeale.
city manager for the city of Heppner.
One $7,500 grant wilLassist with
the cost of updating the city’s
strategic plan. The second $7,500
grant will assist with the cost of
turning an empty bulk fuel storage
facility into a city park.
"The money will help us tum
an eyesore into a source of
community pride," continued
Breazeale.
The next partnership meeting
will be held in Baker County on
Monday, April 16. For more
information, contact GEODC. 276-
6745 or NEOEDD. 426-3598.
Governor
won’t attend
road hearing,
says Smith
LAWN THATCHER
RENTALS AVAILABLE
Morrow County Grain Growers
A reader brought this photo in of Heppner in the early 1920s. This view is taken looking north on main
street from the Heppner-Condon highway. Today the Forest Service building is located on the left and
Heppner Hardware on the right. Straight ahead is the Klamath First Federal bank building
y<mr lawn utU lew fm !
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Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
for firm cqwpmtnl *wt our wrt 11« 11