Memorial Day Courthouse Centennial celebration
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This photo was taken in front of the jail annex not long after completion of the courthouse in the early 1900's.
Those pictured are Gertrude Crawford (Parker), Clyde Brock, and Lenna Brock.
VOL. 121
NO. 20
14 Pages
Wednesday, May 15,2002
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
“Road to Oklahoma” goes to highest bidder
M orrow
County
Courthouse will celebrate its 100lh
birthday on Monday, May 27.
A ndrea Denton and other
community members are planning
an extra-special birthday party.
On May 27,1902, ground
was broken on the courthouse and
that groundbreaking ceremony
will be reenacted during the
Centennial celebration at 2 p.m.
on Memorial Day.
“We wanted to let the
public know what we are doing
and invite them to come celebrate
with us,” said Denton, the
coordinator of the event.
The ceremony will begin
with a “ground-breaking” by
county officials dressed in period
costume. Next, there will be a
time for guests to share their
connection to the courthouse.
Some guests who were invited to
the
cerem ony
include
descendants o f architects,
contractors, and officials and
former Morrow County officials.
“We would like to invite people
from the community to come and
tell stories.. .anyone connected to
the Courthouse should come and
share their connection”, said
Denton.
A time to share birthday
cake and refreshments will be
next,
follow ed
by
the
announcem ent o f the model
contest winners. There will be
awards presented to different age
groups and classes.
“ The
deadline to have the entries in has
been extended,” said Denton, “we
are accepting entries until May 21
and any medium is acceptable.”
Some ideas may include, painting,
stitching, drawing, and food art.
Entries should be turned in to
Andrea Denton at the courthouse.
The courthouse will then
be open for tours by officials
dressed in period costume. The
day will end with a bus trip out to
the quarry site on the Osmin
property. This is the land where
the blue basalt for the courthouse
was quarried.
Sheriff deputies begin patrolling Heppner
Road to Oklahoma" is the Queen size quilt that will be auctioned off at the lone United Church of Christ's quilt
auction on Saturday, June I, at 2 p.m.
The quilt, which is Queen size, was made by (1-r) Helen Heideman, Uoa Heideman-Henderson, Yvonne
Morter, Austin Morter, Judy Rea, and Debbie Morgan.
School Board abolishes election zones
The M orrow County
School Board voted 5-2 Monday
to immediately abolish zones for
election o f the seven board
members. From now on, the
seven school board members will
be elected at large. Board Chair
Julie Weikel and board members
Burke O'Brien, John Rietmann,
John Renfro and Larry Mills
voted in favor of the proposal.
Board members Pat McNamee
and Gary Frederickson voted
against the change.
“I see a lot of positive
things about at large elections. It
would eliminate the boundary
issues,” said Mills, who made the
motion for the change. “The most
compelling is the whole issue of
provincialism.” Mills said it was
hard not to feel that as a board
m em ber you represent a
particular school or community
and the change would give board
members a chance to “look at the
whole picture.” “You’ll find that
every com m unity w ill be
represented,” added Mills.
“It’s important that, first
o f all the system has worked
these past 10 years,” countered
Gary Frederickson. “ I think
there’s a reason we have zones.
I’m concerned that if we changed
the system we would have a lot
o f problems. I d on't see any
reason to change it and I’d like to
put this (issue) to bed.”
Five board members will
be elected at large in the next
election in May of 2003-Mills,
Heppner, who was appointed
from zone 4; O'Brien, who was
appointed from zone 6, Rietmann.
lone, who was elected from zone
3; McNamee, Irrigon, zone 5; and
Frederickson. Boardman, from
zone I. In May of 2005 O ’Brien
will be up for election again, as
will be Weikel, Boardman. and
Renfro, Lexington.
Baccalaureate and graduation
ceremonies planned
The H eppner High
School baccalaureate service will
be held Tuesday, May 21, at St.
Patrick's Catholic Church at 7
p.m. The HHS graduation
ceremony takes place Saturday,
May 25 at 2 p.m.
lo n e ’s baccalaureate
service will be at St. William's at
7 p.m. on May 22 and the
graduation ceremony takes place
Friday, May 24, at 7 p.m.
E lectio n b allots
due M ay 21
Voters have until 8 p.m.
on Tuesday, May 21, to turn in
their ballots to one of several drop
sites in the area.
D rop
s ite s
h av e
extended hours on election day
and include, the Morrow County
C ourthouse: 7 a.m .-8 p.m .;
Lexington Road Department: 8
a.m .-8 p.m .; lone branch o f
Bank o f Eastern Oregon: 8 a.m.-
4 p .m .; M o rro w C o u n ty
B ehavioral H ealth office in
Boardman: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; and
the Irrigon Annex building: 8
a.m.-8 p.m.
If the ballot is to be
mailed, a voter must mail it
Monday, as ballots postmarked
for Tuesday, but received later
than the 8 p.m. deadline, will not
be counted.
Seat belt blitz will
take place
The Morrow County Sheriff
Department is now providing
police coverage for the city of
Heppner on an “as needed basis”
until a formal agreement for
com plete coverage can be
worked out; it was announced at
Monday’s city council meeting.
Mike Sweek is no longer
working as a police officer for the
city, which leaves only Police
C h ief M erle Cow ett for
coverage. And Cowett is due to
retire at the end of June.
As a cost saving measure the
city has been in negotiations with
the sheriff to provide complete
police coverage for Heppner,
however, those negotiations are
not expected to be completed until
July, which could have left the
city with little police coverage.
City Manager Jerry Breazeale
said as a public safety measure
the exact schedule of the Sheriff's
coverage is not being given out.
but it is being provided when
needed.
Deputy Rory Bolter, who lives
in Heppner. was introduced to the
council as one of the deputies that
will be patrolling Heppner under
the present agreement until the
end of June.
In related police business the
city council voted to donate 20 to
25 uniforms to the city of Amity.
The uniforms will no longer be
needed and the city of Amity is
having tight budget problems,
chief Cowett said.
In other business the council
discussed a proposal to raise city
sewer rates from the current
$26.90 per month to $30 per
month. Because o f recent
extensive needed repairs to the
city sew er plant the fund is
extremely low and increased
revenue is need for future
maintenance projects. Public
Works Director Craig Canham
told the council. The increase in
fees would be applied to the 680
hookups in town. Canham added
LAND O' LAKES Dog & Cat Food
Sal« good through May 18th
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Breazeale said the property,
which as purchased for $30.000
for the library/city hall project,
would generate a total of $508 in
tax revenue for various taxing
districts (including $256 to the
city) each year if owned by a
private individual.
In addition it was pointed out
that renting the building for $200
per month would bring in $2400
to the city. The owners o f
W histling Wings were in
attendance at the meeting and
indicated they would be w illing tv
install a restroom in the building,
but would like to have at least a
one year lease on the property.
They also said they would be
interested in purchasing the
property.
Curt and Mindy Christiansen,
owners of Whistling Wings, said
their current building, located at
388 N. main in Heppner, was just
not big enough to do the type of
taxidermy he is getting into. Curt
said for larger type animals he
needs the additional room.
The council voted to have the
city attorney draw up a one year
lease with a year option for the
property.
In other business:
- The city heard that it has been
awarded a $17,600 grant for
development o f the new park
being developed on the old Unocal
property in Heppner.
- Okayed use of the main city
park
for
an “extended
singspirational event” on June 21.
The event will include music and
an overnight prayer vigil. Monica
Hunter, whose husband Craig is
minister at the United Methodist
Church in Heppner made the
request. Monica also announced
that she and her husband are
moving to take over pastonng the
Methodist church in Joseph. The
couple will be leaving on July 1.
-Heard from Heppner resident
Tom Sly who urged the council to
continued page two
There will be a seat belt
blitz in Heppner May 17-26.
Heppner still has the highest seat
belt compliance with 97%. The
H eppner Police D epartm ent
encourages citizens to try for
100%. Seat belts can save lives.
ALL NEW S AND A D V E R T ISE M E N T DEADLINE:
that compared to other cities in
the area, Heppner has “very
cheap water rates”. The council
agreed to study the proposed
increase.
In other business the city
discussed a proposal to raise
Columbia Basin Electric Co-ops
franchise fee from 2 to 5 percent
per year. The franchise fee is the
amount CBEC collects from rate
payers in Heppner and then gives
to the city.
Co-op general manager Jerry
Healy was in attendance at the
meeting and told the council if that
rate were raised the co-op
planned to indicate the amount
paid for the fee on its electric bills.
In the past the franchise fee has
been included in user's total bills
and then passed on to the city.
Healy estim ated that the
increased fee could generate an
additional $25,918 in revenue for
the city, depending on the severity
of the winter and other factors
that would affect electrical usage.
Last year Colum bia Basin
collected $17,279 for the city
under the 2 percent franchise
agreement. The agreement is
renewed every five years. All
cities within Columbia Basin
Electric’s service area currently
have franchise fees.
In other action the city is
considering leasing a building
purchased earlier for the now
abandoned city hall/library
project. W histling Wings
Taxidermy has expressed interest
in leasing the building, located
behind the post office, for $200
per month.
At an earlier council meeting
City Manager Breazeale had
been instructed to prepare a report
on selling the building and
property to get it back on the tax
roles. Breazeale explained
Monday that the property may be
needed for off street parking
depending on w hat remodeling is
done w ith the current city hall.
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4 0 # H igh P r o te in
and 2 0 # Cat F ood
$ 1 3 .5 9
$ 1 4 .5 9
$ 7 .9 9
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Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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