Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2003)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 10, 2003 The Official Newspaper o f the City o f Heppner and the County of Morrow Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES 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) 676-9228. Fax (541) 676- 9211. E-mail: gtta'heppner net or gtiu rapidserve.net. Web site: www.heppner net Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P O. Box 337, Heppner. Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $24 in Morrow County; $18 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 62 years or older); $30 elsewhere. David S y k e s................................................................................................. Publisher Katie W all................................................................ ........................................ Editor News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at S p m. For Advertising advertising deadline is M onday at 5 p m Cost for a display ad is $4 75 per column inch Cost for classified ad is 5 0 * per word Cost for Card of Thanks is $7 up to 100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $5.35 per column inch For Public/Legal Notices public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p m. Dates for publi cation must be specified Affidavits must be required at the time of subm ission Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required) On the HEPPNER WEBSITE: www.heppner.net • Start or C hange a Subscription • P lace a C la ssified A d • Submit a N e w s Story • V iew Real Estate for Sale • City Council & Planning Minutes • Local Businesses • County Park • Willow Creek Park Reservations • Free Digital Postcards • Senior Housing • and more! CHAMBER CHATTER By Claudia Hughes, Exec. Dir W hen writing this article each week, foremost in my m ind is always the C ham ber’s mission statement... “A non profit organization dedicated to creating a positive environment where business, community and people thrive.” The Chamber is “ s ta f f ’ for the businesses and organizations that belong, alw ays w orking to serve their best interests and those o f H eppner to the best o f its ability. W e’re about people and community. Recently, my mother, sister and I w ent for breakfast at the new W alla W alla A irport. A s w e drove away, we noticed a young man walking, weighed down with backpacks and duffle bags. Having observed him disembarking from the plane, w e stopped to ask if he needed a ride. It w as 96 degrees with no shade in any direction. He was a W hitm an College student from Palo Alto, California. Four miles later, as we delivered him to the north hall, he was very grateful. It w as no problem . H e w as som eone’s son and grandson. I w ish we had said, “ Just pay it forw ard.” H ave you seen “ Pay It F orw ard”? D uring a rare moment o f television watching, I saw this movie. The message: rather than trying to pay back someone who has helped you, you pay forward. Kleenex is required. It’s about human beings and how w e treat one another. A n d th a t b rin g s m e to the issu e o f T h e Ten C om m andm ents in public view. Realizing I have to be very careful here and m ake it clear this is my ow n opinion, I have some questions to ask. In this free country we live in, within a world that shrinks every day, w ouldn’t it m ake sense to learn and be aw are o f the parallels and the com m on good o f a variety o f religions rather than have some or all removed from the public eye? H ow does one learn or m ake choices if they aren’t allowed to view these choices or be exposed to them ? W hy would anyone waste millions o f dollars to rem ove one set o f rules for living? It w ould seem the theory is “ out o f sight, out o f m ind.” T here’s plenty o f unhealthy information put in front o f us daily; w hy not an equal dose o f healthy options? We learn m ore about people and the w orld through exam ple and by listening to different opinions and ideas. D oesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out treating others as you w ish to be treated is paying it forward. This m ight m ake for som e interesting letters to the editor and this might also put me over the edge with this column privilege, so back to star gazing, and marketing, and planning for scarecrow contests and Town and C ountry and on and on. Oh, and by the way, there are 6,000 acres with trails at M orrow C o u n ty ’s O H V Park, not 6,000 m iles o f trails. Writing a column minutes before the deadline isn’t always the best bet. Keep an eye on your Cham ber Exec. S he’s getting older, but not necessarily wiser. Next week Senator David Nelson will be addressing the Cham ber during the noon meeting at John’s Place. Come hear what he has to say about the longest session in Oregon’s legislative history. Thought for the w eek: “The early bird m ay get the w orm , but the second m ouse gets the cheese in the trap.” City council continued from page one M.C. School lyisttict continued from page 1 it can w ith the m oney it will have available. In other water issues, the council heard from several citizens w ho asked w hy their com m ercial rates are so high. J e r r y H o llo m a n , lo c a l barbershop ow ner and real estate broker, said he thought the $17.50 per m onth extra ch arg e on b u sin e sse s w as “unfair” . “T he base rate for comm ercial is three tim es the residential,” H ollom an said. “ It’s getting pretty expensive to live in Heppner, O regon,” he added. “ It cost m e $58 a m onth for w ater and sew er and all I have is a toilet and tw o sinks,” H ollom an said about his business rates. The council also voted to forgive a $645 water bill to th e W illo w C re e k L ittle L e a g u e. T h e c o u n c il h a d earlier agreed to give the Little League 400,000 gallons per year to w ater its three fields. H ow ever, the Little League said it has a leak in its irrigation system on one o f the fields on R iv e r s id e a n d h a d lo s t 740,000 gallons in July. The Little League should only have used 50,000 during that time, according to D oug H olland w h o w a s a t th e m e e tin g representing the Little League. Holland said the water is now sh u t o f f to th e fie ld a n d volunteers are trying to find the break in the pipe. be from th e D .O . N e lso n Road north to the river. In other business, the board: - le a r n e d th a t th e district will not have to file a s u p p le m e n ta l b u d g e t to rec e iv e a d d itio n a l m o n ies expected as a result o f the increase in the O regon State School Fund approved by the legislature. Dr. C rippen said the additional taxes approved by the leg isla tu re m ay be challenged and the district could be required to pay the additional m onies back. He said that he intends that “a lot” o f the additional m onies be used for the E n g lish -as-a- second-language programs in B o a r d m a n a n d I r r ig o n schools. -asked Dr. Crippen to clarify the difference between the new ly hired director o f p ro g ra m s a n d th e fo rm e r a s s is ta n t s u p e r in te n d e n t position that w as elim inated because o f budget constraints. Crippen said that the director o f programs is not an assistant superintendent, is not a year- ro u n d p o s itio n a n d is n ot funded to the extent o f the a s s is ta n t s u p e r in te n d e n t position. He said that the program director will have an office in north Morrow County because he will work primarily with the district’s principals and programs in the north end. The board also asked Dr. Crippen, “ Is not the B oardm an office y o u r s a te llite o f fic e a n d L e x in g to n y o u r p rin c ip a l office?” “O k a y ,. . replied Crippen, who added, “As time goes on I anticipate spending m ore tim e in B oardm an and Irrigon.” T he board earlier voted to allow Dr. Crippen to m ove his office to the north end, but later re v e rse d its d e c is io n w h e n it w a s determ ined that the district w o u ld not save m oney by m oving from its Lexington location. Dr. Crippen maintains that he belongs in the north end where the majority o f students are. He has also purchased a hom e in Boardman. -h eard a co m p lain t voiced by C olum bia B asin Electric C oop m anager Jerry H ealy that dam age to farm m a c h in e ry d u e to a low - h a n g in g w ire at th e lo n e S c h o o l c o n s tr u c tio n w a s a tt r ib u t e d to n e g lig e n t w orkm anship on b e h a lf o f C o lu m b ia B a s in . H e a ly m aintained that the incident was not caused by C olum bia B a s in E le c tr ic C o o p ’s negligence and added that he had “no intention” o f turning the in s u r a n c e c la im o v e r to C B E C ’s insurance carrier. He further stated that upon earlier a d v ic e h e h a d r e c e iv e d , irre g a rd le s s o f th e la te s t incident, CBEC will not do any more work on the “custom er’s s id e o f th e m e te r ” a n d custom ers will be advised to hire a licensed electrician. Healy pointed out that CBEC had donated m any hours o f labor to schools and other organizations, including school football field lights, flag poles, b a ttin g c a g e s a n d o th e r projects. “The only reason the football field lights w ork at R iv ersid e (h ig h sch o o l) is because we volunteered,” said H ealy. H ealy said that the in cident giv es C B E C “the opportunity to step back from sc h o o l p r o je c ts .” M C S D B o a rd m em ber Pat M cNamee thanked CBEC for the work they had done for the school district. -voted against taking out an earthquake policy for d is tr ic t b u ild in g s , c itin g expensive prem ium s and low risk. -approved striking the r e f e r e n c e to lo n e fro m policies concerning temporary and standing com m ittees and a d d in g L e x in g to n to th e Jake Brakes and clean up property at 425 W ater S tre e t in H ep p n er. S e v e ra l n e ig h b o rs o f th e property were at the m eeting com plaining o f accum ulated debris and other m atter that needed to be rem oved. The city authorized up to $3,500 to get the property cleaned up, and that the city would file liens ag ain st the p ro p erty to be reim bursed for the cost. Flood plain The city manager gave a report on his efforts to have the flood plain in H eppner re d u c e d . T h e flo o d p la in d eterm in es w ho m ust buy flo o d in su ra n c e , an d also places building restrictions on certain kinds o f construction and remodeling in the parts o f the city. B reazeale has been working with FEM A (Federal E m e rg e n c y M a n a g e m e n t A gency) w ho determ ines the flood plains size, for quite some time to have new studies done and the m aps re-drawn. FEM A has said it doesn’t have money for the new studies and maps. The project w ould cost $ 5 0 ,0 0 0 to b e d o n e , o r $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 i f lo n e a n d Lexington were also covered. Breazeale said he m ay be able to get som e grant m oney for the project and pay to have it re m a p p e d , o r go b a c k to FEM A and point out “w here they screw ed up” and m aybe get the study done within two years. If the city cam e up with the $50,000 itself the study and m aps could be done in an estim ated six m onths. There are 170 buildings in the flood plain in Heppner, and $27,000 in a n n u al flood in su ran ce payments is paid according to ju st one insurance agent who was surveyed in Heppner. T he council heard a com plaint from Joe M iller o f H e p p n e r a b o u t a re c e n tly enacted jak e brake ban in the city limits o f Heppner. M iller said banning the jake (exhaust) brakes w as unsafe for trucks coming into town. The council explained that the problem was mostly log trucks coming into Other business town early in the morning, and The council authorized agreed that the ban w ould not the city manager to try and find be enforced during the day. grant m oney to fund a $9,600 Property clean up plan to decide how to remodel The council authorized city hall. d ep u ty R andy R ayburn to A g re e d to p ro v id e bring in a clean up crew from materials worth $4,807 for the the corrections departm ent burying o f fiber optic cable u n d e r H e r ita g e P a r k in Heppner. WVSC to hold shower Willow Valley Service Club will be holding a personal care item s for w om en and c h ild r e n s h o w e r f o r th e Domestic Violence Services at their meeting, Thursday, Sept. 18, a t J o h n ’s P la c e , in Heppner, from 12-1 p.m. T erri C rib b s, W est End Supervisor, will explain the s e r v ic e s o f f e r e d , s h a re illustrations, and accept the personal care items. C ribbs is a native o f H e r m is to n a n d h a s fo u r children and one grandchild. H er fam ily and travel are her main interests. I te m s s h o u ld be bro u g h t to the m eetin g or d r o p p e d o f f a t C a r o ly n W illey’s hom e by Sept. 17. E v ery o n e is w e lc o m e d at th is n o -h o st luncheon. Order M agnetic Door Signs HERE Heppner Gazette-Tim es PMH receives new volunteer m oving into the V olunteer coordinator Coordinator position. P io n e e r M e m o ria l H ospice announced Sept. 1 that the volunteer position o f V o lu n te e r C o o r d in a to r ch an g ed from C aro ly n M. W illey to Cyde M arie Estes. Estes is a native o f H eppner, m arried to Rusty with tw o sons, Chad and Eric Skroch. H er hobbies include v o lu n te e r w o rk , g o lf a n d especially family. She started em ploym ent at the M orrow C ounty A ssessm ent and Tax Office in 1986 and since 1990 has been the Lead Appraiser. Estes com pleted the V olunteer H ospice T raining C o u rse , the H ealin g A fter Loss C ourse and served as a T eacher-in-T raining before W e Print Business Cards < 10 * 11 * Whisper-soft Advantage Camo Shirts $ 4395 Whisper-soft Advantage Camo Pants T $ 5195 S Gardner'* Men’s Wear Heppner G azette-Tim es 193 N. Main Street • Heppner 676-9228 Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m. ( 541 ) 676-9218 • 800 - 304-8442 F O R Y O U R P A ST Y O U R PRESENT & Y O U R FUTURE Klfiree S ton e Collection/ Peterson's H epprw r Jewelers. \ r e f e r e n c e s to H e p p n e r committees. -ap p o in ted L isanne Currin and Keith Lewis, both H e p p n e r , to th e b u d g e t committee. -heard a request from M arily n Post, tea c h e r and M orrow C ounty E ducation A ssociation president-elect, that the school district reinstate FFA in som e form; - le a rn e d fro m D r. C rippen that as a result o f c o m p la in ts fro m Irr ig o n re s id e n ts , th e d is tric t h as arranged for school activity bus drivers to rem ain at drop o ff points until students have been picked up. Dr. C rippen sa id th a t th e stu d e n ts are d ro p p ed o f f at H u w e ’s in Irrigon and Sentry M arket in Boardm an because o f access to a phone. H e added that many students have cell phones and are able to call ahead for rides. “ I t’s not as large a problem as w e thought,” he said. - a p p o in te d Ron A nthony, C olum bia M iddle School principal, as principal for the Irrigon high school when it is slated to open in the fall o f 2005. - tr ie d o u t a n e w sound system to determ ine w hether to purchase one to facilitate hearing at meetings. - a p p o in te d K en M atlack to oversee setting up a com m ittee for nam ing the Irrigon high school. - p o s tp o n e d a d e c is io n on a llo w in g th e children o f a family living in the M o rro w C o u n ty S c h o o l District to attend school in the lone D istrict until O ctober, hopefully after a boundary d e c is io n is m a d e b y th e Umatilla-M orrow ESD. -approved a request for an attendance variance for a ch ild liv in g in th e Sam Boardman Elementary School a tte n d a n c e a re a to a tte n d school in Arlington. - a c c e p t e d resignations from: Nic Budge, Riverside High School music teacher and assistant football c o a c h ; B e rtie V an D y k e , C o lu m b ia M id d le S ch o o l special education one-on-one a s s i s ta n t ; J a s o n H a n n a , H e p p n e r J u n io r H ig h basketball coach and Heppner High School assistant football coach. - a p p r o v e d em ploym ent for: Jill H arris, A .C . H oughton E lem entary and Sam B o a rd m a n * Elementary counselor; Britnie W in te r s , W in d y R iv e r E le m e n ta r y s ix th g r a d e teacher; G retchen K irchner, R H S E SL assistant; C heri Cook, W RE, Title I assistant; G erald Sm ith, RHS assistant custodian; Jennifer Stafford, W R E Title I assistant; Leah W agg, C M S assistant cook; Guadalupe Rodriguez, Irrigon E lem entary Title I assistant; H elen Walty, RH S assistant custodian; M ila Inm an, IES a s s is ta n t c u s to d ia n ; S a ra B urroughs, C M S special ed one-on-one assistant; W endy M cPherson, AC H special ed o n e -o n -o n e a ssista n t; and Tiffany Rill, SB E special ed assistant. -approved attendance variances for a student in the H erm iston School District to a tte n d S a m B o a r d m a n Elem entary and tw o students to attend school in M C SD from the H erm iston School District. -ap p ro v e d a r e s o lu tio n to a c c e p t a n d a p p ro p ria te u n a n tic ip a te d revenues. - le a r n e d th a t a ll employee collective bargaining contracts will expire this year. -se t a g o a l s e ttin g m eeting at 3 p.m . M onday, O ctober 13, at R H S, prior to the next regular board meeting set for 7:30 p.m.
