U of O VOL. 120 NO. 43 10 Pages Committee says: tear down old buildings w f» î. V ~ ■**« J a 1 • ! • r» » w Cossi» > . , , -.r» V l.i fJ i'î ; • , Ü»t T » V ‘-‘ l u ry SI •' i J -* Wednesday, October 24,2001 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Teachers bring variety of experiences Heppner High School has three new teachers this year, each bringing a wide range of life experiences to the job. Jason Palmer, 32, is originally from Heppner, graduating from Heppner High School in 1997. He received a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1991 and then began working in Portland as a structural engineer for a skylight manufacturing company. Palmer returned to Morrow County and worked at a variety of different jobs, including building log cabins and working as a farm hand. He also worked for TREO Ranches for several years before returning to school at Eastern Oregon University. He taught at Riverside High School last year while he completed his education via the Internet and evening classes. This year he transferred within the district to take a position at Heppner High School, teaching chemistry, physics, astronomy and eighth-grade science. Right now, his students are working on constructing catapults. "I try to get away from textbooks as much as possible," says Palmer. "I like to teach discovery." Palmer's parents are Roger and Shirley Palmer, Eight Mile. His sister is Sandra Van Liew and his brother is Larry Palmer. He and his wife, Jennifer, were maimed in June of \ 2000. Palmer enjoys hunting and fishing, coin collecting and computers and is "getting into astronomy." Luke Casady, 27, was bom in Klamath Falls, but moved to Kenya with his missionary parents when he was nine years old. He attended school at an American school in Kenya, the Kijabe boarding school, from 1983-1993. He returned to the U.S. for a year in 1987 and, after graduation from high school, returned again to attend Oregon State University at Corvallis. He graduated from OSU in 1997 with a degree in math. After graduation, he returned to Africa, where he taught math at an African school at Lesotho. After four months there. South Africa invaded Lesotho and he was forced to leave. He was evacuated to Tanzania. He returned to the states in February of 1999 and began working for Hewlett Packard as a technical writer. Last year he taught school at Monument. He and his wife, Callyn, whom he met at a math class at OSU, married in 1999. They have a son, Maikol (pronounced Michael), a year and a half. Casady says that growing up in Kenya "seemed normal." Jason Palmer His parents lived in an area called Kitui, a semi-arid desert region with "basically nothing." He attended boarding school around three hours away from his parents' home. School was in session year-round and students attended school three months at a time and then had a month off. In Kenya, Casady's father taught at a Bible school and also provided an extension of the program, traveling to students who were weren't able to attend the school. His mother worked at an orphanage, teaching elementary children, and was also the librarian at the Bible school. Casady says while many people in Kenya speak English, everyone there spoke Swahili, a language that he learned during his stay. In his ministry, his father also learned to speak the tribal language of the deep bush. While in Kenya, Casady says he and his two brothers made a lot of African as well as American friends. "Coming back to the states was hard," said Casady. "It Kathleen Spinks was a different culture." He says "basically anything outdoors," that life in Africa is a lot more including snow boarding, friendship and family oriented, mountain biking and archery with less focus on materialism and much slower paced. "Their hunting. He is also currently idea of time is completely working toward his master's different," he says. After his return to the degree in education over the U.S., while attending OSU Internet through Western Oregon Casady developed a love of rock University. climbing and mountain climbing At Heppner High School While his love for climbing was Casady teaches integrated I, II honed in the Cascades, he got his and III and Web design. first taste of climbing when he Kathleen Spinks. 53. is climbed to the high camp at Mt. originally from Bend. She grew Kenya at age 10 and in 1999 he up in Portland and went to high climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. This school in Seattle. She attended last summer Casady climbed six college at Mt. Angel College, mountains-Mt. Shasta, Mt. Hood, receiving a degree in elementary Mt Ramer, Mt. Adams, the education. North Sister and Three Finger She taught for four years Jack. Casady says he loves continued page 2 The Heppner-Lexington Advisory Committee, at their meeting Wednesday night, October 17, recommended demolishing both the Heppner Junior High School building and old gym and asked architects to "explore" the cost of a double gym floor for the new facility. The group had earlier recommended that the old junior high building be tom down to make room for a new gym- cafetena-music room-auditorium facility, but at that time they recommended that the old gym be left to provide another practice gym for students. The group, given the task of recommending a plan for construction of the new building, heard concerns Wednesday that there would be no school district monies to repair, heat or update the aging facilities if they were left standing. They also feared that there would be no monies earmarked for demolition of the old gym if it became necessary in the future. "It’s the district's intent to abandon the gym," said Nan Hall, with Heery International, project manager hired by the district. "I don't think the district envisioned maintaining that building." "Are we really sure we want to leave the old gym standing or do we want to deal with it now and build the best facility we can," said David Allstott, Heppner, a member of the audience. "I don't want to have to turn around and deal with it 10 years from now." Several of those in attendance at the meeting suggested that demolishing the old gym could also provide additional room for parking. Ron Barber with Barber Barrett Turner Architects, architect for the bond project, showed the audience two different plans for the proposed campus. In one plan, Stansbury Street, the road between the current elementary school building and the new facility at the site of the old junior high building, would be vacated. In this plan the road would be rerouted to the other side of the old junior high building (between the new facility and the old gym site. This plan would include a play area with trees on Stansbury Street between the elementary building and the new facility. Parking would be located between the new street and the new facility. A bus loading area would be located below the new facility. Concerns had earlier been raised about student safety at Stansbury Street. Additional concerns were voiced Wednesday night that if the street were rerouted, children would still be crossing a dangerous area, but the area would no longer be in sight of the elementary office. "That street (Stansbury) has been there forever and has there ever been one kid hit?" commented Allstott. Several teachers responded that they had witnessed near misses, however. Concerns were also raised about the degree of incline of the new road required to intersect with the street. The Heppner City Council had earlier said that they did not want the road vacated because it would cut off emergency access. Rerouting the road would also add considerably to the cost of the project. "I'd rather see more money put into building rather than street," said committee member Mike Armato. "If you put that street there, there will be a split campus 10 years from now," added Cyde Estes, Heppner. a member of the audience. The second plan would modify the street between the elementary school and the new would be large enough for 600 folding chairs. The Heppner-Lexington Advisory Committee will hold a work meeting on November 7 at Heppner High School. Surveying of the Heppner Elementary building site is also scheduled to be completed that day. A facility meeting is planned with the architects on Monday, November 19, at Heppner Elementary. The architects expect to have received the survey report and completed a schematic design of the proposed facility by November 27. facility to slow traffic and increase safety, but would not call for street rerouting. This plan would call for parking parallel to Court Street and a drive-through area between the new gym and the old gym site. Both plans are available for viewing at Heppner Elementary School. Barber estimated that building a double gym, rather than a single gym would cost an additional $250,000-5300,000. He also told the audience that his firm estimates that the gym-cafeteria-auditorium facility County court meets By Doris Brosnan At the Morrow County Court session on Oct. 17, public works director Burke O'Brien reported the completion of fog sealing, some hand patching on Frontage Road and painting for Gilliam County. The crew has been sweeping the fog-sealed roads in preparation for paint striping and have been grading on Morter Lane, Keith Rea, Dry Fork, Dalzell, Ritter #2104, Penland Lake #2103, Morphine Springs and Sunflower Flat roads. They have also been organizing the sign inventory and repainng cattle guards on Board Creek, Road Canyon and Tupper roads. O'Brien reported on a highway meeting he and County Judge Terry Tallman attended, at which ODOT encouraged five counties to form an advisory committee on transportation. Morrow and Baker counties were approved for such a committee, with the understanding that the counties will continue working toward a five-county group that will include Umatilla, Wallowa, and Union counties. The court approved a permit for CenturyTel on Tom Camp Road #562 and approved a plat of River Ridge Estates. They discussed with planning director Tamra Mabbott the building permits for the dairies. They read a letter from the shenffs office concerning the need for a speed limit on Kunze, Washington, and Columbia roads. They had no objection to a request from a citizen for a sign to 1-84 at the end of Main Street in Boardman. The court recessed for the first public reading of the updated and amended zoning and subdivision ordinance and they scheduled a work session for Wednesday, Oct. 31. Prayer for Peace planned An afternoon of prayer for peace will be held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Heppner from noon till 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28. At 5 p.m., there will be Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. "During the afternoon there will be times for scriptural readings, prayer petitions, hymns and times of silent meditative prayer for each person to follow their own form of spirituality," said Father Gerry Condon. Everyone is welcome to participate. Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday Daylight Savings Time will end this Sunday, October 28. People are reminded to "fall back" and turn their clocks back an hour before going to bed Saturday night. Everyone is also reminded to be especially watchful of children in the early evening hours and on Halloween, Wednesday, October 31. Men injured when tree falls on tent Museum open Halloween night; closed for season Two elk hunters were injured near the Madison Butte Lookout at Bottle Springs around 10 p.m. Monday when high The Morrow County winds caused a 26-30-inch tree to Museum in Heppner will be open fall on the tent in which they were sleeping. Halloween night, Wednesday, One man suffered leg October 31, for an open house injuries and the other suffered and "treats." back injuries. This will be the Both men were museum’s last night of the transported to Pioneer Memorial season; it will be closed until Hospital and then the man with March 1. back injuries was life-flighted to There is no admission Oregon Health Sciences charge. Hours are 1-8:30 p.m. University in Portland. Two other men in the tent were not injured. The men were from the Eugene and Oregon City areas. Heppner Fire Chief By Debbie Harper Rusty Estes said that two rescue Morrow County Sheriffs office received a call about a white powdery vehicles and an ambulance substance found in a bathroom at responded to the remote site. He a rest area on 1-84 in Morrow County said that because of the distance, bad road conditions and the on Oct. 17. The Morrow County Sheriffs seventy of the men's condition, it office responded to secure the scene. took the responders about an The Hermiston Haz-mat team also hour to get to the accident site responded, retrieving the substance and over an hour and a half to and decontaminating the restroom. return. At press time the substance had not been identified. Morrow C ounty C ommumcations Sergeant Jeanine Dilley gave the following guidelines for what to do Ashley Ropp. a 19-year- if you do encounter a suspicious old Lexington woman seriously substance: Don't touch or smell the substance. injured in an auto accident Stay where you are and call for October 14, was expected to assistance. Containing the spread return home Wednesday. October of a possible contaminant is the 24. important issue. If you've already Ropp, 19, suffered a touched the object, put it in a plastic broken neck, a concussion and bag, if possible, wash youi hands broken bones in her arm and thoroughly with soap and water and femur as a result of the accident. have someone else call for help. She underwent surgery to repair For immediate assistance, call those injuries and a "halo" type 9-1-1. For further information, brace was placed on her to contact the Morrow County' Shenffs stabilize her neck. She is office at 676-5317 or the Pendleton reported to be up and walking FBI office at 276-1433. White powder found at rest area Young accident victim returns home A N T IF R E E Z E SA F E % G a llo n s: 4 99/g a llo n B u lk : 4 19/g a llo n ( 5 g a l l o n m in im u m , y o u r c o n t a i n e r ) Sale good through Nov. / Oth Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 i i« im w e m nn w nt •• n m xgan