Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2004)
Eric Schonbachler returns hom e from Iraq Eric Schonbachler, son o f G ary and D onna Schonbachler of Heppner, has returned home after 11 months in Iraq. Glad to be back home, Schonbachler is enjoying the last week o f his 30-day leave before heading back to Ft. Bragg, N.C. O nce back at Ft. Bragg, Schonbachler, a 1“ Lieutenant in the Army, will take command o f a scout platoon, which he will train for about eight to nine months. After that he said he doesn’t know if and where they will be deployed. Schonbachler said that early liv ing conditions in Iraq were not good and the soldiers went from tents in Kuwait and dirt ditches once they arrived in Iraq, to beat- up compounds in Baghdad, where just having a roof over their heads was something to be grateful for. The conditions have improved over the last five months, heating and air- conditioning were brought in and safety was relatively achieved, he said. W hile in Iraq Schonbachler had quite a bit o f interaction with the Iraqi p eo p le, m ost o f whom showed great support for the work being done. Now that the initial takeover has been completed, Schonbachler said the goal has been to stabilize Bo33le Setzell U of 0 Newspaper t, i b : o.ry Eugens» OR 9 7403 VOL. 123 NO. 8 10 Pages Wednesday, February 25,2004 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon McCabe charged with 221 counts of embezzlement Sonja Rae McCabe, 40, o f Fleppner, was arrested Sunday, Feb. 22 at her home in Heppner on two counts o f Aggravated Theft, 48 counts o f Theft in the First Degree, 90 courfts o f Theft in the Second Degree, 25 counts of Forgery in the First Degree and 56 counts o f Official M isc o n d u c t a fte r being in d icted Feb. 20 by the Morrow County Grand Jury. It is alleged that McCabe embezzled over $100,000 from four Morrow County organizations. At her arraignment on Feb. 23, M cC abe w as re le ase d on her own recognizance and received a co n tin u an ce on her plea declaration. A hearing will be held on March 11 in which she will enter a plea. For the past tw o weeks, M cCabe has been living in Redmond with her sister and working in her company as a receptionist. As part o f the release agreement, McCabe is being released to her sister and will return to Redmond. McCabe is not allow ed to deal with any accounts or funds except her own and may not receive money for any volunteer or government institutions. She is also to keep the co u rt appraised of her whereabouts and to immediately notify the court when she is no longer employed. McCabe must also rem ain on h er cu rre n t medications for depression and anxiety and maintain contact with a mental health counselor. She is also to maintain weekly contact with her attorney. The ch arg es stem from allegations McCabe stole funds and forged checks from the H eppn er C em etery M aintenance District, the Heppner Rural Fire Protection District, the Willow Creek C o u n try C lub and the Heppner Junior/Senior High Booster Club from 2000 until June o f 2003. McCabe was an elected director o f the H ep p n er C em etery M aintenance D istrict and performed the bookkeeping functions for all four entities. M orrow C ounty District Attorney David C. Allen said, “These crimes have had an enormous impact on the community o f Heppner. Mrs. McCabe’s actions were a distressing breach o f the small-town trust Heppner c itiz e n s p laced in M rs. McCabe.” The 6 6 -p ag e indictment alleges a pattern of conduct with all four victims that included forging checks and making unauthorized withdrawals from government funds and volunteer donations. Allen went on to say this was a complex and time consuming case to prepare. “There has been considerable public interest in this case. 1 know people were anxious to see something happen. With 221 counts filed, it took some extra time to piece together all o f the various transactions. I am satisfied the charges we filed today can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” Blakes Ranch residents fight for postal service B lakes R anch residents, who have been trying to get mail delivery extended to their mountain community for over a year, are meeting little success for their efforts. Richard and Evelyn Ramso live at Blakes year round and have been leading the efforts to get mail delivery to the development. So far the R a m so s’ e ffo rts have g e n erate d 18 correspondences, a petition drive and a visit to the area by post office officials to inspect the B lakes R anch road. Federal representative Greg Walden and Senator Smith have also become involved. At issue is whether the rural route drive will leave the paved highway four miles from Blakes and travel the gravel road to deliver mail at a “cluster” of mail boxes at the entrance to Blakes Ranch. Post office officials say the road is not in good enough condition, or maintained well enough, to be safe for mail delivery. The postal service offered to put a cluster of mail boxes on the paved highway at the Blakes turnoff. The decision was made by Post Office District Manager Dallas K eck, and M anger Post Office Operations David Ellis both of Portland. Ellis visited the Blakes Ranch area to inspect the road April 28 o f last year, and in a letter to M orrow C ounty Judge Terry Tallman (who also wrote letters asking the service be e x ten d e d ) said his in sp ec tio n re v e ale d the following: 1. The highway from the last delivery point on the route to the turn-off road is an excellent road suitable for the delivery of mail. I have no oppo sitio n to the extension of the route to this point. 2. On the road to the “Ranch”, I did not see any po sted speed lim it signage. It would be my assumption that the speed limit reverts to the Oregon State basic rule. For this road, that could be very dangerous. 3. T his road has both stretches that are very w ide and in good condition and areas that are very narrow with q u e s t i o n a b l e maintenance. Some parts go down to a single lane o f traffic and require passing on the shoulder of the road. 4. It would be a stretch to call the roadbed in many locations a gravel road. Due to wear and tear, many locations have little continued page 4 ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. V Children of St. Patrick's Catholic Parish display welcome home sign they made for returning soldier Erie Schonbachler. see story on page 2 the country and bring in sew age sy stem s, w ater, e le c tric ity , sch o o ls and government. Another part of life in Iraq th at m ade it m ore bearable was all the support from back home in the form o f mail. Once the troops reached Baghdad they finally began receiving mail from home on a weekly basis. S ch o n b ach ler said he appreciated the mail he got from friends and those he didn't even know. “The mail keeps the guys attached to home,” he said. On ending the c o n v ersa tio n w ith Schonbachler, he said he Eric Schonbachler with his mom, Donna. wanted to remind people that, “Even though they may not agree [with the war], it’s not the troops’ decision to go and we need to rem em ber to continue to support our boys.” City looks at land swap and bank building purchase The H eppner City Council last Tuesday voted to continue investigating the p u rch ase o f the form er Klamath First Bank building for use as a city hall. The city is also negotiating with the H ep p n er G a ze tte -T im es new spaper for a possible property trade involving the present city hall and the G azette pro p erty . If completed the Gazette w ould own, and occupy the present city hall building. The fire department, which is located next to the new spaper, would then have room for expansion. The city would move to the Klamath First building. D oes, p re sid e n t o f the H eppner C h am b er o f Commerce, and Nancy Snider a local m ain street businessperson both spoke in favor of the project saying it was important city government present a positive face to the public. David Sykes owner and publisher of the Heppner Gazette and president of the W illow C reek Valley E conom ic D evelopm ent Group also spoke in favor. “We are not asking you to be fiscally irresponsible,” Sykes told the city council. “We are just saying that we think you should move forward with taking a good look at this No decision has been made, and the city council asked for more costs and figures, and the relative values o f the Heppner Gazette and city hall buildings, before moving forw ard. The city has been considering remodeling its present building and only recently began to look at buying the former Klamath First Building from the Bank o f Eastern Oregon as one alternative. The Bank o f Eastern Oregon is asking $325,000 for the building. Support for the city move w as voiced by several community leaders at the city council meeting. Victor Vander continued page 4 Bryn Browning named lone school district superintendent Bryn Browning, 28, an administrative intern in the 22,000-student Vancouver, WA School District, has been nam ed su p e rin te n d e n t/ principal o f the lone School District. She has worked as an intern, teacher, and reading sp ec ia list at H azel Dell E lem en tary School in Vancouver for the past six years. Most recently, she has been called upon to fill in as principal at three different V ancouver e lem en tary schools. While this will be her first superintendency, she is no stra n g e r to school administration. In fact, she w ill be a fourth generation school superintendent. Her great- great-uncle Charles Tellier was superintendent o f schools in Emmitsburg, Iowa. Her g ra n d fa th e r, G eorge Murdock, was superintendent in the Toledo, WA Public Schools. Her father, George Murdock, is superintendent of t h e Umatilla- M o rro w ESD and acting sp iiljilit of both the l o n e D is tric t and the M o rro w County Bryn Browning School District. Her mother, Donna M urdock, is a teacher in M ilton-Freew ater. She was one o f four finalists chosen from the 18 candidates w ho applied for the lone position. One o f the finalists later withdrew to become superintendent in Fossil. Browning w ill officially begin her duties on July I, although she plans to spend time in the lone District prior to that time. B row ning was a unanii nous choice of the Board fo llo w in g the in terv iew process. Dr. Dennis Ray, p resid en t o f N o rth w est Leadership A ssociates in Spokane, worked with the Board to co o rd in ate the interview s and the final selection decision. Browning w ill becom e the first permanent superintendent of the lone School District, which was officially formed in July of 2003. The new su p erin ten d e n t/p rin cip a l received a masters’ degree from W ashington State University/Vancouver in May o f 2003. She is also completing her administrative credentials through WSU and plans to begin a doctoral program through Lewis and C lark. She receiv ed her b a c h e lo rs ’ d eg ree in elementary education from liastem Washington University continued page 4 ALL DANNER BOOTS Sale End» March 6th Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm » q u ip m m t. «hit our w *b tit* at www mcgg.iwt \
