TWO • Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Letters to the Editor
Heppner
G A Z E T T E -T IM E S
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
Published weekly and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at
Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879 Periodical postage paid at
Heppner, Ore-gon. Office at 147 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-
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in Morrow County; $18 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 62 years or
older), $30 elsewhere.
David Sykes.......................................................................................... Publisher
ka ,le Wal1
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Diners gathered to m eet the
m ural artist
Mills also introduced
Fine dining, art, and
heritage brought together
thirty-eight people at John’s
Place on Tuesday, April 22.
The evening was an
opportunity to “ M eet the
Artist” who is working on the
second m ural on the
agricultural collection building
and to hear more about the
next stage o f the project.
R obert W alton, w ith the
assistance of his wife, Robin,
is now bringing to life on the
building his interpretation of
Main Street Heppner and has
agreed to create the next
mural, the one that will depict
the sheep industry of Morrow
County.
Complimentary hors
d ’oeuvres by C h e f John
Gochnauer included lamb
kabobs watched over by a
round and wooly centerpiece.
The no-host dinner featured
three majn selections that
w&ild have delighted many
sheephetders who faced Jong,
m ostly isolated, sum m er
months: salmon, beef, and
chicken. The talk among the
d iners often focused on
yesteryear and their families’
experiences in the sheep
industry.
Betty Mills welcomed
the guests, introduced the
Waltons, and drew everyone’s
attention to the pencil sketch
of Mr. Walton’s vision for the
next mural. As planned, it will
provide a continuation of the
Main Street mural, into the
interpretative countryside that
will feature landmark buildings
o f some o f the early sheep
ranches in the area. With the
addition of this next part of the
mural, the completed project,
comprising 60,000 square
feet, will be the largest single
artist mural in the United
States.
Order
Magnetic Door Signs
HERE
Heppner Gazette-Times
m em bers o f the M orrow
C ounty A rt G uild, the
organization that spearheaded
the Heppner Mural Project by
promoting the original mural,
on the north end o f the same
building. She introduced the
m em bers o f the M ural
C o m m ittee, the group
dedicated to m oving the
project forw ard to includes the
depiction of the sheep industry
and then the logging and cattle
enterprises.
Mills explained the
Mural Committee’s plan to
gather, through interv iews over
the next sev eral w eeks,
informative and entertaining
stories from many o f the
din n er g u ests and o th er
individuals with ties to the
sheep industry. The resulting
collection o f anecdotes and
historical data will become
handouts at the kiosk next to
the murals. Louis Carlson
added that he and his helper,
Doris Brosnan, were hoping
for human-interest stories,
rather than “dry facts that have
appeared in news account
already.”
O ne g u est and
frequent visitor to Heppner
from her home in Washington,
Doris Schaffer entertained her
table with colorful stories and
promised to continue her
reminiscing after the dinner.
Schaffer’s mother was Anne
Hynd, and Schaffer was raised
in the atmosphere of the Hynd
Brothers’ sheep operation.
Before the evening
ended. Mills encouraged the
guests to contribute their
stories as well as their financial
support of the next mural. She
also reminded everyone of the
“Piece of Heritage” program
through which a donation o f
$10-p a id a t Klamath First —
will finance the painting of one
square foot of the mural. “The
names of all contributors to the
murals will appear on a bronze
plaque at the kiosk,” Mills
informed the diners.
Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must be signed. The G azette-Tim es w ill not
publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone num ber on all
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thanks will be placed in the classifieds under ‘ C ard o f Thanks ‘ at a cost o f $ 7.)
Yes, Crippen, you belong in the
North... Alaska
To the Editor:
W hen the School
District Office was first located
in Lexington, it was done so
each town in the county would
have some sort o f ties to the
district. Now it seems as this
is not necessary; anyhow this
is what the school board
seems to be thinking. When the
district office first opened, the
building was kept in good
repair and was taken care of,
now it seems to be a junkyard.
When 1 last toured the building
in February or March o f2003,
the upstairs was filled with
empty boxes and other stuff
being stored there. Mr. Renfro
was there giving some of the
citizens of Lexington a tour of
the building and was trying to
impress them on how good the
building was, but he also said
it was not good enough for him
and Dr. Crippen.
What will the cost be
to move the district office to
Irrigon? What will the cost be
to rem odel the school in
Irrigon twice? Once when the
offices move in and then again
when they move out; so that
building can be used for what
it was voted and bonded for.
If that building is not needed,
as the school that it was to be;
did the School B oard
members commit fraud on the
bond issues or what would it
be called?
The School Board
should publish a letter showing
the savings that would take
place if the District Office is
moved. They should also
inform the public on why we
can afford what appear to be
personal desires on their
behalf, but we are short of
funds when it comes to the
benefit of our children.
Mr. Renfro what is
your explanation for voting
jobs out o f the south end o f
Morrow County? We need
more jobs, not less. Perhaps
you would be interested in
leading Dr. Crippen to the
North.
(s) John Edwards
Lexington
Convince, don’t kill
To the Editor:
Okay, I was mistak
en; it’s not my last comment
on war.
Wars and killing are
caused, in large part, by the
total breakdown of reasonable
communication skills.
Both Presidents Bush
tried to promote the idea of
legalized assassination. If we,
as humans, really must be that
“down and dirty”, then there
is truly very little hope for so
cial progress. We haven’t
learned anything, except how
to play more war games on
computers, including those
rascally aliens that nobody
knows about. Or is that an
other diversion tactic to cover
up manmade spacecraft re
search? But that’s old hat; it’s
been said before, so why
bother thinking about it? After
all, it could be a lie, or maybe
the truth that nobody knows.
I’ve mentioned “as
sassination” without too much
mind-bending thought. That
idea could be set aside and re
placed with “legalized kidnap
ping”. Under those circum
stances, the Bin Ladens and
Husseins of the world could be
su rro u n d ed by 10,000
screaming American-Iraqis
who could convince them, in
their own language, that their
attitude is doing nothing more
than getting people dead.
“Kidnapping” was, at
the very least, tolerated by the
legal system back in the late
’70s and early ’80s, back
when parents had to literally
kidnap their kids from those
“severely” radical religious
groups.
How many readers
remember Jim Jones? A quick
recap: Jonestown, Guyana,
South A m erica, Nov. 18,
1978. Jones, a cult leader who
confiscated passports, along
with millions of dollars from his
followers under threats o f
blackmail, beatings and death,
installed himself as “Ruler”.
The media, after being notified
by d e fe c to rs, w ent to
Jonestown to investigate. By
Jones’ orders, U.S. Represen
tative Leo Ryan and four oth
ers were killed when leaving
to board a plane with 14 oth
er defectors. Jones ordered a
pre-rehearsed suicide plan of
cyanide-laced punch. Total
dead: 913, including 276 chil
dren.
Having been raised as
a free-thinking American citi
zen, I have to ask myself, is
there much o f a difference be
tween Bin Laden, Hussein,
Bush and Blair, when the only
alternative they can think of is
killing? Killing, the ultimate in
radical behavior.
Convince. Don’t kill,
(s) Phillip L. Kight
Heppner
Justice Court
report
G ary B. R ea, 33,
lone, VBR 76/55, fine $77.
n
BARNEYUNDSAY
M ORROW COUNTY
SC H O O L B O A R D
Graduate of Morrow County School District, BMCC, University of Idaho
Taught in Morrow and Umatilla County Schools
Previous Morrow County School Board Member
Currently serving on Board of Directors for MCGG
and Morrow County Soil and Water Conservation District
PARENT FARMER TAXPAYER
EXPERIENCED
DEDICATED
DEPENDABLE
HONEST
Paid for by Committee to Elect BARNEY LINDSAY - Ann Murray, Trea.%.
I
DA’s report
Leobardo Rodriguez-
Hernandez was convicted of
A ssu a lt-4 , a C lass-A
m isd e m ea n o r
and
H a rassm en t, a C lass-B
m isd em ean o r. He was
sentenced to 185 suspended
days in jail, two years bench
p ro b a tio n , 80 hours o f
community service and $ 1124
in fines.
Rolland Picthall pled
guilty to Harassment, a Class-
B misdemeanor. Picthall was
sentenced to 90 suspended
days in ja il, 40 hours o f
community service, 18 months
bench probation, completion
o f a d o m e stic v io la tio n
package and battery impact
panel to be administered by an
approved provider in the
Portland area and $368 in
fines.
secession fever continued from page 1
Morrow County, 1 propose
that this Board allow the
withdrawal of the area within
the lim its o f the C ity o f
Boardman from the District on
the following conditions:
1. A ll w ith d raw n
property would continue to be
taxed at the same rate as all
other property in the District
at a rate n ecessary to
discharge present long term
debt. Exact num bers are
beyond this proposal but for
example, it appears that long
term debt payments require
$250,000 per year and total
assessed value of the County
is about $ 1 billion. That means
a tax rate o f about $.25 is
required to retire the long term
debt. While long-term debt is
not by way o f a general
obligation bond levy, making
the continued taxation o f the
withdrawn area as simple as
in the case o f the proposed
withdrawal o f the lone area
from Morrow County School
District, the same effect could
be ach iev ed th ro u g h an
intergovernmental agreement.
2. At the same time as
the area o f B oardm an
withdraws from the District, a
petition for formation o f a
B oardm an H ealth C are
District would be filed. Both
the District’s request to allow
the withdrawal and the petition
for formation of the new district
would be addressed to the
Morrow County Court. The
two should be contingent upon
the granting of the other.
3. The two requests
might be acted upon effective
July 1,2003, to coincide with
the beginning o f usual fiscal
years. That date would be too
late to effect the District’s tax
levy for 2003-04 on the
w ith d raw n a rea, so by
intergovernmental agreement
the District should agree to
refund to the new district the
balance o f taxes collected
from the area withdrawn. For
example, the District’s tax rate
is about $.60 per thousand,
less the $.25 for long term
debt service, m aking the
transfer to the new district
about $.35 per thousand times
the e stim ated v alu e o f
withdrawn area (estimated to
be $255,596,500 or a tax
amount of $89,458.77)
4. The new district
could not be created by the
County Court with a tax rate,
so would have to ask its voters
for a new tax rate, perhaps at
the e a rlie st e lec tio n in
September, 2003, or at the
Primary election in 2004.1f the
new district is unable to
establish a permanent tax rate
by the last date to do so, it
would agree to reannex to the
District and again be subject
to the District lull tax rate for
2004-05.
5.
U pon
establishm ent o f the new
district’s tax rate, the District
would transfer the Boardman
Clinic building and land to the
new district and the Boardman
Ambulance service (land,
building, ambulances and
equipment) to the Boardman
Rural Fire District.
6. The District would
cancel its contract with the
Boardman Health Care Center
effective July 1,2003, and the
new d istric t w ould be
responsible for contracting
with Dr. Boss or otherwise
providing clinic services in the
City o f Boardman. The new
d is tric t w o u ld also be
responsible for operation of
the Boardman Ambulance
service during 2003-04.
7. The B oardm an
representative on the District’s
Board would resign effective
July 1,2003, and the District
Board would appoint a new
director from the remaining
area of the District.
U sing
the
a p p ro x im ate
num bers
mentioned herein, the District
would benefit considerably by
this proposal. All property in
the County would continue to
be taxed at the same rate to
discharge present long term
debt, including property within
the City o f Boardman. The
District would no longer be
responsible for maintaining
clinic services in Boardman
nor for providing ambulance
services. The savings for those
two services (estimated in
excess of $80,000) could help
considerably in providing
health care services elsewhere
in the County.
As to the C ity o f
Boardman, obviously a higher
tax rate will be required to
provide the same services at
the same cost as is now the
case. In the w o rst case
scenario, if the voters fail to
approve a satisfactory tax
rate, the w ithdraw n area
would be reannexed to the
District, but without a contract
with Dr. Boss and without a
Boardman representative on
the District’s Board.
Bank elects board
chairm an, vice chairm an
The Bank of Eastern
Oregon Board o f Directors
elected Gary Neal to serve as
board chairm an and Ned
C lark to serv e as vice
chairman for
the next year.
Neal
is the General
M anager o f
the Port o f
Morrow and
has served on
the
bank
board since
Ned Clark
1999. N eal
also serves on several state
and national trade group
panels.
Neal and his wife,
Kathy, a realtor in Boardman,
have two grown children.
Clark has been on
board since 1992. He is both
o w n er and m an ag er o f
Horseshoe Hereford Ranch
Inc., a century ranch in South
Morrow County. Clark also is
a director on the U nited
Heritage Insurance Board.
Clark and his wife,
Kathy, an insurance agent,
have four grown children.
The Bank o f Eastern
O regon is a
s t a t e
c h a rte re d ,
c o m m u n ity
bank w ith
asse ts
of
$78,000,000.
Branches are
lo cated in
G illiam and
Morrow
C ounties in Gary Neal
Boardm an, Irrigon, lone,
H eppner, A rlin g to n and
Condon.
W e Print Business
Cards
H eppner G a z e tte -T im e s
Garden Club to hold Plant
Exchange plants are
Exchange
ap p reciated , but are not
The annual Heppner
Garden Club Plant Exchange
will be held Saturday, May 3,
from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The
Exchange will be held at St.
Patrick’s Senior Center in
Heppner.
required. It is asked that you
please put plants in plastic
bags, boxes or containers.
The Heppner Master
G ard en ers w ill also be
available for a question and
answer session.
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