Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2001)
Centennial students learn readin\ writin’ and ropin’ during annual city-country exchange Co3î I a t r o t a e l l U o f J Kowapaper L i b r a r y L u g a n o , OH 9 / ‘l ' 3 Centennial Middle School students (left to right) Janelle Davis, coordinating Centennial teacher Bruce Collins. Michael Horner, Rick Craft. Mike Miller. Chelsie Morrison and Katie Hilt. VQL 120______ NO. 18______ 10 Pages Wednesday, May 2,2001 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Volunteers save Willow Creek Field Volunteers clear the Willow Creek Little League field. County budget situation better than anticipated The Morrow County Budget Committee met on April 24- 26 to pull together the county budget for the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The enterprise seemed daunting in the wake of the failure of a 1.5 million dollar levy that the county proposed last November. There were several reasons that expectations were changed. One of the most, significant was the receipt in April o f an almost SI .4 million payment on previously levied, but uncollected (delinquent) taxes. The county's share of this unexpected back tax payment exceeded $380.000. Another new source of revenue is over S113.000 which the county will impose next year in administrative cost reimbursements from several departments who receive funding from outside sources, such as grants from the State or Federal government In the past, these departments have not been assessed any portion of these costs, leaving the general fund to pick up the tab. However, starting with the 20101-2002 fiscal year, the county w ill begin collecting for these "indirect costs". This is possible because of study w hich the county commissioned this fiscal year to determine what amount could be allocated to each department based on demand for sen ices from the county. The resulting plan is in the process o f being approved by our federal fiscal agent at this time. Because of the expected budget shortfall, the C ounty Court met with every county department last December to carve out almost $700.0(H) from the budget. This preliminary preparation also helped the budget process go more smoothly, according to the budget committee members. As a result of both the unexpected additional revenues, and the preparatory budget cuts, the budget w eek ended on a high note. "The county did have to reduce expenditures again this year but not to the extent w e had anticipated just a few short months ago," said County Judge Terry Tallman. "We are relieved, but not out of the woods yet l hc coming years still promise to be very trying and will demand every ounce of fiscal resourcefulness we can muster." Sign up for Babe Ruth by Mav 10 Anyone between the ages of 13- 15 years old and interested in playing Babe Ruth baseball this summer should contact Rick Johnston. 676-5562. or Rick Paullus. 676*8779,by rhunday. M l) 10 A hard working group of volunteers saved the Willow Creek Field in Heppner for today's Little Leaguers and players o f the future. "The field was contaminated with puncture weed." said organizer Dave Pranger. "It was like sliding into a thistle patch." Pranger said that Little League opening day had been planned for the Willow' Creek Field that day. but it had to be moved because the field was unplayable because of safety concerns. Pranger said that the volunteers, which included Jerry Gentry, Jay Coil, Brian Thompson and other Little League Board members, started about six a.m. Saturday, April 14, removing the top four inches o f soil. They scooped the dirt into trucks donated by Miller Excavating and Roger Britt and then transported the contaminated soil to Carl Thorpe's place. Thorpe helped dispose of the contaminated soil and then donated new soil which was spread out and measured. ITie group was finally able to set the new bases about 5:30 that evening. "The main idea is everyone in town needs to work on this problem, added Pranger. w ho is the Morrow County Weed Control supervisor. "It's a safety issue as far as kids go." lone Topic Club holds senior tea lone Topic members honored 12 lone High School senior girls and their mothers at the annual tea on April 25 at the social room of the lone United Church of Christ. Seniors present were Adrienne Swanson. Shelby Krebs. Molly Barrow, Ann Shear, Ashley Carmack. Chanssa Gates. Nonnee Walters. Samantha Wilhelm. Jeanette Brantley, Allison 1 lalvorsen and Jennifer Ibompson Katie Bacon w ill be graduating w ith the group, but was not able to attend the tea. Each girl told of her plans for further education. Landscaping Railroad Tie s 0 ]* T S A l x E ! $ 9 .5 0 e a c h Sale good through May 5th Morrow C ounly (¿rain G row ers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 t*tytf^yiew,wt n»« «m.wcgwi Well, it looks like the Centennial and Heppner Junior High eighth graders survived another exchange, although perhaps some were a little worse for the wear, considering the number o f injuries, mostly minor, that occurred both in Heppner and at Centennial. Following are Centennial students' observations on the week. Mike "Scope" Miller a 14-year-old Centennial exchange student from Portland, experienced one o f those minor injuries first-hand when the scope on the 30-06 he was shooting hit him in the forehead. Miller seemed to take the injury with a grain o f salt and it didn't prevent him from having fun. Miller, who stayed with the Jay and Kelly Jo Keithley family in Heppner, liked the fact that "everything was in walking distance" in Heppner. "It's safe to walk here," he said. "The hospital," however, "can't handle anything big," he added. Besides the Heppner school being a lot smaller. Miller said that there was more one-on- one with teachers here. "If you have* questions you can get them answered better, especially when there are only 22 kids in the class," he said, adding that there are usually 30-31 kids per class at Centennial. At home Mike lives with his parents, Val, a lab tech at a hospital, and Dan. an accountant, and his 10-year-old brother Kevin. Michael Horner. 14 of Gresham, also got a little target shooting with a .22 during his stay at the Dean and Debbie Wright place at Ruggs. Homer said he found kids pretty much the same in the country as in the city and they dress pretty similar too. Homer said the best thing about the exchange was meeting new friends, adding that he hasn’t gotten bored away from the city. He, too, had some misadventures, commenting about an emu getting loose and a car getting stuck. Back home in Gresham. Michael lives with his parents, Michelle, who works for an assisted living center and dad. Scott, who works at the Freightliner parts plant, and his two brothers, Tyler. 11. and Riley, four. At home he enjoys playing baseball, football and hanging out with his friends. The highlight of Katie Hilt's week was being able to drive a team of horses. Katie, who stayed with Jack and Renee Yocom and their family, got to drive Jack's dad Joe's team. She also enjoyed getting to know people from the Heppner area and also getting to know the people from Centennial better, since their school has around 1.000 students in just two grades. Katie is no stranger to the country, however, since she lives in Boring with her parents. Vem, a paramedic in communications and training, and Lora, a Centennial school bus driver, and 11 -year-old sister, Kimberli. At home she enjoys singing, playing volleyball and track. While she misses her friends, she doesn't miss the mall and the movies back home Katie says that "You can Lacev Matteson (right) and Ashlev ward show a Centennial student how to tie a goat as part of the Centennial eighth grade exchange program on Thursday, April 26. Centennial students Jerel Cohbs and Amy Fulkerson trv their hand at roping. tell that they (the Heppner kids) are Western. They're really Western families. There's a little difference in the way they dress. A lot of them wear jeans and people in the city wear nice pants and shirts." Janelle Davis. 14. also commented that it was nice to meet Heppner kids, but it was also nice to get to know many Centennial kids she didn't know before "School's a lot smaller and a lot less crowded," said Janelle. "At home you have to elbow your w av through." She found she did miss her parents and "bugging mv little brother." In Heppner Janelle stayed with the Michael and Robin Jones and their tamilv In Portland she lives with her parents. Lee. who works tor Stanley Hydraulic, and l ammv. who works for a business called Canterbury I ane, and brother Eric. 11. At home she enjov s playing soccer. basketball, reading and Bible quizzing Chelsie Morrison. 14. of (iresham. went along on a trip to the In-Cities with her host family Kathv and Rusty Britt and family of I exington "Tn-Cities was really fun." says Chelsie "I liked the R&W Drive In. too." " rhere's not anything much to do here," adds Chelsie "We go downtown, hang out at the house and play basketball in the yard." "I'm not really homesick." adds Chelsie."but I kind of miss my parents." At home Chelsie lives with her parents. Dexter, who works with computer parts and Mikell. who works in human resources at Pope and Talbot, and 10-year-old brother. Dexter. Jr Chelsie notices the difference in clothing styles between the two towns. "Here guys kind of wear flannel shirts and cowboy boots At Centennial we wear shirts sometimes and nice clothes, like capris and sandals. Here they just wear jeans.” " I he teachers are stricter here and can keep their eyes on you." said Chelsie. "At Centennial, if you stand out as a troublemaker, then they know you. It's more laid back at Centennial." Rick Craft. 14 of Boring, got a sampling of activities in the Heppner area with his hosts. Bob and Pam Worden and family. Craft went bowling at Shamrock Lancs, "went out to eat a couple times, went to the (Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo) coronation dance and went to Murray's a couple times " "It's a lot less crowded and stuff than in Portland or continued page 2
