Heppner Gazette-Times Heppner Oregon Wednesday February 13. 2002 - THREE
C ardinal B ooster club
discusses projects
By Jeri McElligott
lone Cardinal Booster Club,
at their Feb. 4 meeting, approved
the purchase of a 12 x 12' projec
tion screen, primarily to be used
at graduation. The student body
and booster club will each pay half
the total cost of S540.
Kyle Palmateer, Tyler Brown
and Kelly Thompson were present
to represent the middle school
boys’ basketball team. They re
quested help funding their upcom
ing basketball tournam ent in
LaGrande on Feb. 23-24. The
club voted to give them $250 to
help with registration and other
expenses.
Track coach Del LaRue
brought a sample track warm-up
suit. They are available to the
public for $32 for the hooded jack
et and $24 for the pants. Differ
ent Cardinal logos are available.
Shilo Svetich had samples of
shirts available with an embroi
dered Cardinal logo. Members
agreed to order one dozen
sweatshirts, half in youth sizes, to
sell. Adult sizes will be $35, and
youth sizes $30. The shirts will be
available at the Bank of Eastern
Oregon. Hats are also available
for $20 each.
The club will pay $25 each
for the football all-star ads in the
all-star program. Adam McCabe,
Brad Bumght, and Adam Neiffer
will play in the June game.
The Donkey Basketball game
will be Thursday, March 14, at 7
p.m. The firemen will be asked
to participate. The contest will
feature the firemen/faculty ver
sus the high school students. It
was agreed to sell bottled water,
popcorn and candy for conces
sions. Students will be asked to
be vendors during the game.
The club will consider pur
chasing weights for the condition
ing room. Dale Holland will be
asked to report their needs at the
next meeting.
Cardinal Booster Club will
have a special meeting Tuesday,
Feb. 19, if the boys’ or girls’ teams
go to state. Otherwise, the regu
lar meeting will be Monday,
March 4, at 7 p.m. at the high
school library.
T IE TACS
ANY OCCASION
Peterson's
Heppner
Jewelers,
676-9200
Court hears CSEPP update
by Doris Brosnan
At the Feb. 6 meeting of the
Morrow County Commissioners,
Em ergency
M anagem ent
director, Casey Beard, updated
the C ourt on the CSEPP
programs, including a web-based
response plan, the possibility of
another, limited, drill in April to
help prepare for the full exercise
in May, the need for a better
county-wide paging system and
computer-aided dispatching.
Morrow County Behav ioral
Health director, Kelly Sager,
shared with the Court data from
a community survey and noted
that aw areness
o f that
departm ent and
services
continues to be an issue to
address. C om m issioner Dan
Brosnan suggested contacting a
consultant to analyze the survey
results. Sager also reported being
in conversation with Grant County
about services there. He said that
the T-l line has increased speed
significantly and reported a
consultant’s recommendation for
upgrading the d ep artm en t’s
computers and software. The
Court approved the upgrades.
Sager also discussed the
d ep artm en t’s
accounts
receivable, w hich the audit
showed have increased over the
last few years. He explained some
o f the reasons for that and
successful steps taken to bring
those figures down.
The C ourt and Sager
review ed existing and draft
policies for tuition reimbursement
for higher education, discussed
several issues and agreed to
continue discussion at the next
meeting.
Executive secretary, Andrea
Denton, provided the Court the
OSHA log for year 2001 and
went over statistics for the last
nine years. She also provided a
copy of the estimate to add ports
to the Gilliam and Bisbee Building,
for connecting the Veterans and
Special Transportation offices fax
machine. The Court agreed that
no money is now available but that
the item should be budgeted in the
next budget.
The C ourt noted that
retirement meetings with McGee
Financial will occur on Tuesday,
Feb. 26. They announced that
budget committee meetings have
been scheduled for April 10, 11
and 12. Denton w ill set up
preceding m eetings with
department heads for the last two
weeks in March.
T he Future
o f O ur C om m u n ity
Nothing really ever
stays the same.
Things get better or they get
worse. Things grow or
they get smaller.
Communities are no exception.
The life o f a community is
determined by the activities o f
the people who live there.
■ V
What we do today
w ill decide the future.
When w e shop and invest
locally w e are making it
possible to have the continued
service o f local merchants
in the future.
m
Shop locally
whenever you can.
The Children Are Our Future
Bank of
HOM ETOW N C O M M lJN ITY SPIRIT
IIOMETOWN COMMl INITY PRIDE
Member
FDIC
Judge Terry Tallman reported
on a meeting in Boardman with
Bill Scott of the Oregon Economic
and Community Development
Department. Discussed were
Oregon
non-agncultural
employment compared to the
national average, transportation
equipm ent,
high-tech
manufacturing, the capital-goods
recession and promotion and
business retention.
The Court acknowledged the
present county counsel’s notice
that he will be leaving in a year
and they began discussion, to be
continued, of how to contract for
that service after his leaving.
M orrow County Public
Health director, Laura McElligott,
asked the Court for advocacy
efforts for the “Babies First” and
perinatal programs, cut by the
State Emergency Board as of
Monday, April 1. She explained
the revenue results and the risks
to other aspects of the health
management program this would
cause.
She
asked
the
commissioners to contact the
legislators.
M orrow County Public
Works director, Burke O’Brien,
reported that at a Department of
Aviation meeting of the previous
week he learned that the county
would be allowed to use grant
money for an all-weather landing
system at the airport. He noted
that the Lexington airport is the
only small airport in Oregon with
a GPS approach. The county will
be required to invest about 10
percent of the total cost of the
system, O ’Brien said.
A dditionally, O ’Brien
reported that he is arranging for
em ploym ent o f three OYCC
w orkers for two months at
Cutsforth Park. He discussed
briefly the status of the Boardman
city bridge across the railroad
track, which needs replacing.
O ’Brien and the Rodeo
Committee have discussed the
plans for additional parking at the
grounds, with a meeting for more
discussion planned for Feb. 12.
Commissioner John Wenholz
presented a petition from property
owners in West Glen requesting
work in their subdivision.
The public works crew,
O ’Brien reported, finished ditch
and culvert work on Bunker Hill
Lane. They plowed and sanded
Willow Creek, North Fork of
Willow Creek and Sunflower Flat
roads. They cleaned and extended
a culvert on Upper Rhea Creek
Road and built up shoulders on
Liberty School Road. Weed
mowing has occurred on Willow
Creek, U pper Rhea Creek,
Pleasant View, Rand, Wilson,
Kunze and Olson roads, on
Depot, Miller and Root lanes, and
Usage, Second, Seventh, Third,
Fourth and Eighth streets.
Other actions of the Court
include the following:
- approval of permits for the
installation of lines for the fiber
optic T-1 project for the Morrow
County School District, and of an
overhead line on Pleasant View
by Umatilla Electric;
- approval of purchasing a
replacement computer for the
public works department;
- approval o f a personal
property tax cancellation;
- approval of a resolution
supporting the candidacy o f
Um atilla Com m issioner Bill
H ansell for the N ational
Association of County Officers
second vice president;
appointm ent
of
Commissioner Wenholz as the
authorized signature for special
transportation
federal
certifications and assurances;
- agreem ent to schedule
Court on Feb. 20 to finish by noon
in order to meet with Senator Ron
Wyden in the afternoon with a
plan to speak to him about the
chemical depot, SB 1608, salvage
timber usage for the co-gen plant,
the Bombing Range Road
easem ent and the racetrack
roadway;
- approval of an amendment
to the grant agreement with DEQ
for funding for monitoring of
environmental permitting of the
chemical demilitarization facility.
Daniel Jepsen places second in state
speech contest
Daniel Jepsen (left) is congratulated b\ the Voice of Democracy
State Chairm an Chris Christenson
Daniel Jepsen. a junior at Heppner High School, placed second
and won a $750 cash scholarship award at the Oregon state finals of
the VFW Voice of Democracy State Speech Contest in Newport this
past weekend.
Daniel, w ho represented District 8, w hich includes Umatilla and
Morrow counties, w as one of 16 district w inners w ho competed for
state awards. The top five finishers were asked to give their speeches
at a banquet to those who were gathered in Newport for the VFW
convention. The theme of this year’s speeches was “ Reaching Out
To America’s Future." This is the 55th year that the Veterans of Foreign
Wars and its Ladies Auxiliary have sponsored the event.
Earlier this year. Daniel w on the local VFW Post »»4184 competition
and a $50 sav ings bond. He w ent on to w in the District 8 competition
and $100 in cash. He then had his speech professionally recoiled at
KOHU Radio Station in Hermiston and the tape w as sent in to compete
in the statewide competition. The state w inners were actually chosen
in January' based on their recorded speeches. How ever, since none of
the students knew who had been picked, they all had to be prepared to
give their speeches if they were announced as one of the five winners
at the Feb. 2 banquet.
The Oregon frst place winner w as Aubry Seibert, a senior from
Oregon City. She won S1.000 in cash and a four-day trip to Washington.
D.C. Her tape will advance to the national competition to compete for
a share of over $125.000 in scholarship funds. The third through fifth
place winners were from Klamath Falls. Moser and Enterprise,
respectively.
According to the Voice of Democracy State Contest Chairman,
A.B. “Chris” Christenson, hundreds of students competed in Oregon's
competition this year. A Brookings High School teacher was given
special recognition for entering 98 students in the event.
The district winners were provided lodging with their parents at
the Shilo Inn and the finalists were treated to a day of activities in the
Newport area, including a visit to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and a
neighboring lighthouse.
Daniel and other local and district contestants, including Shelly
Rietmann and Paula Spicerkuhn of Heppner. will be honored at a dinner
at the Hermiston VFW on Sunday, Feb. 17.
Following is Daniel’s speech
Reaching Out To America’s Future
by Daniel Jepsen
Two hundred, twenty-five years ago. a small group of patriots,
each with a vision of freedom, united under one revolutionary' document,
and within it this was proclaimed. “We hold these truths to be self
evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Upon these words our founding
fathers brought forth our great nation; and no nation has ever stood so
strong, or true as ours.
Though none of the men who signed that declaration in 1776 could
see the future, they knew that whatever happened, these truths were
essential to the future of America. Anything but a government based
upon the self-rule of the people and the w ord of God was destined to
fail. Eleven years later, and with these ideals in mind, our forefathers
came together again, this time to form our constitution and eventually,
the statutes that our country has leaned on for over 200 years: The
Bill of Rights.
These men were reaching out to America's future, ensuring that
those truths and freedoms endowed to us by God would remain alive
for many generations. Today, our duty to America's future is to see
that these rights not only stay alive, but also thrive in the years to
come.
The time we live in is unlike any other. Our nation has become
increasingly diverse, and our ways of life are changing with each
technological breakthrough and scientific discovery. Cloning and genetic
medicine have become reality. Our leaders now grapple w ith how we
should approach such promising, yet controversial issues. Minority
populations are expanding rapidly, and people continue to move from
rural areas to urban ones.
September 11 has also hurled us into a new page of history: one in
which our security has been wounded, and leadership is challenged to
meet this new enemy of freedom and democracy.
America, this great country we live in, has truly undergone sweeping
changes since its founding. It reminds me of the house that I live in. If
you were to look at our house today, you would see a large, country
home, equipped with vinyl siding, a metal roof, new windows, oil heat
and much more. This was not always so. Our house was not always
insulated, and didn't even get electric service until 1948 For many
years it had wooden siding, and it’s now on its third roof. Despite
these changes, the foundation and framework of this house are still
the same as they were 87 years ago, when it was new.
The same is true with America. Its appearance has changed much
but its foundation remains the same. No terrorist can touch it. or any
man deny it. Our circumstances will continue to change, and if we
build on the foundation already set in place for us. we will remain a
great nation for years to come.
To reach out to America’s future, we can do what our forefathers
did so long ago. by ensuring that our foundation and framework stays
alive and strong. These principles of our foundation are justice, unity',
representation, honesty, basic and equal rights, the family, religious
liberty, and common sense; and tying these all together are a
government ruled by the common citizen, and guided by the will of
God.
My generation can do its part in reaching out to America's future
by living and defending our heritage in our daily lives. In defending our
freedom on every level by refusing corruption, exercising those rights
endowed to us, and by striving to meet the standards that have been
set down, my generation can preserve this nation for our children To
move away from this establishment of principles and not live by them,
or to corrupt them in the name of the latest ideas, special interest,
bureaucracy, or greater government power will be as detrimental to
We Print
this nation. Just as this house I live in would collapse if its foundation
were to be removed, so would our nation
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With a firm grip on the foundation of this nation, w e are able to
Heppner Gazette-Timei i reach out to the future of this land. This land we call home A land 1
676-9228
am proud to call my own. A land called “America."