Sentenced to 90 days in county jail
M cCabe pleads guilty to 4 counts theft
B333ie uCtzeil
U o£ O We»3p®;>er Library
E u g e n s , UR 9 7 4 J 3
VOL. 123
NO. 21
14 Pages
Wednesday, May 26,2004
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Health District discusses levy options
The Morrow County
H ealth D istric t B oard,
plagued with a continuing
shortfall of funds, discussed
putting a levy before the
voters in the N ovem ber
electio n at their regular
Heppner
citizens
tackle feral
cat issue
3
Concerned citizens
M argaret F laherty and
M elissa Jo M onaco have
been dialoging with other
concerned citizens who are
feeding feral and abandoned
cats in the Heppner area.
In searching for a
solution, Flaherty contacted
The P ioneer H um ane
Society of Pendleton, who
has ran the Oregon Neuter
Mobile, to see if bringing the
mobile to Heppner would be
feasible. However, due to
high costs, $1000 dow n
payment plus $800 a day, it
was determined to not be a
viable solution.
F laherty
and
Monaco also contacted City
M anager Jerry Breazeale
regarding steps that could be
taken in a d d ressin g the
situ atio n . He said that
citizens could address the
p olice
com m ission
regarding their concerns.
The
P olice
C om m ission
w ill
be
meeting this Thursday, May
27, at 8 a.m. at City Hall.
A nyone in te re sted in
discussing humane solutions
to this issue are asked to
attend.
A nother avenue
being taken in the feral cat
situ atio n is ad o p tio n .
A nyone in te re sted in
adopting kittens may contact
Monaco at 676-8013.
meeting Monday night in
Heppner.
The board instructed
MCHD CEO Victor Vander
Does to meet with Morrow
C ounty A ssesso r Greg
Sweek to determine the tax
rate required to generate an
a d d itio n al $2 5 0 ,0 0 0 to
$300,000 yearly for the
d istric t. The board also
deliberated whether to put
up a three, four or five year
levy.
The d istric t lost
$338,112 this past year and
$28,621 in April, despite
continued efforts to cut costs
and the closure of Pioneer
M emorial Nursing Home
which was hoped to help
staunch the loss.
The board also
d iscu ssed ch an g in g the
d is tric t’s
em ployee
insurance package from
$200 deductible to a higher
deductible, perhaps as much
as $ 1,000, because of recent
notice of a steep increase,
over 20 percent, in insurance
costs. The change must be
approved by the employees’
union.
Also at the meeting
M orrow C ounty S h e riff
Verlin D enton and M.C.
Sergeant Jeanine D illey,
continued page 2
Old coal chute filled in
The
sen ten cin g
hearing took approximately
two hours. McCabe s mental
health treatment provider,
p sy ch o lo g ist Dr. Terrel
Templeman ot Pendleton,
testified that he believed that
McCabe was suicidal and
feared that a jail sentence
w ould ex acerb ate her
condition and recommended
ag ain st im posing a ja il
sentence upon her.
A llen com m ented
lhat Heppner was a trusting
com m unity and M cCabe
had betrayed that trust.
Representatives of
three ot the victim s also
made statem ents. At the
sentencing hearing, it was
learned M cCabe stole in
excess ot $80,000 from the
f ° ur victim s. D uring the
proceedings, McCabe was
asked by Judge Kelly where
all the stolen money went.
She replied it was primarily
spent on children’s school,
after school a c tiv itie s.
clothes, etc... She indicated
sbe w ished she had
something to show for the
stolen money but does not.
M cCabe tearfully read a
p rep ared statem en t ot
apology to the court, saying
she was ashamed of her
actions and sorry for the hurt
and embarrassment she had
caused her family and the
community. (See letter to the
editor, page 2.)
While the defendant
was charged in a 221-count
in d ictm en t, A llen said,
‘‘There were actually 120
separate criminal acts here.
S om etim es
a
sin g le
occurrence was charged as
several crimes. For instance,
one check may have resulted
oae count of theft, one
count of forgery and one
count
of
o fficial
misconduct."
Under the terms of
the plea agreement, McCabe
had agreed she would serve
at least 60 days of jail. The
State recom m ended she
serve 180 days in jail. In
deciding to impose the 90-
d ay j ad sentence, Judge
Kelly indicated the jail was
being imposed because the
citizens of Morrow County
d eserv ed
to
see
a
punishment imposed. She
was then transported to the
Umatilla County Jail. She
had requested that she be
allowed to attend the eighth-
grade graduation of her son
that weekend, but the judge
ordered McCabe to be taken
into custody immediately.
McCabe’s attorney.
D ennis Hachler, told the
court that she was a devoted
mother to her four children
and had done m uch
v o lu n teerin g
for her
community and reiterated
that she was very ashamed
of her actions. McCabe has
been living in the Redmond
area, w orking for her
brother-in-law, who operates
an electrical contracting
business, who testified that
she was a good worker and
vital to his business. He said
that a long imprisonment
w ould je o p ard ize her
position with his business.
Kit
G eorge,
Heppner, representing the
H eppner
C em etery
Maintenance District, told
the Gazette-Times following
the trial that M cC ab e’s
sentence “is probably fair
based on the sentencing
guidelines, as our board
understands, but the district
still came out a loser because
vve could not recover all of
our losses.”
“I feel good,” Judy
B arber,
H eppner,
commented to the Gazette
co ncerning the H eppner
R u ra l Fire P ro tectio n
District. “1 think our DA did
a good job representing the
community. I feel bad for
Sonja, but 1 think now she
can heal. It’s an ugly thing
for everyone in v o lv ed .”
“ It's as good as we can
e x p e c t,” co n cu rred Don
B ennett, also w ith the
HRFD .
K elw ayne
H aguew ood
read
a
statem en t rep resen tin g
HFRD
during
the
proceedings,
“I've known Sonja
my whole life,” Heppner
Fire Chief Rusty Estes said
to the G-T. “It’s a lose-lose
for
the
com m unity.
Everyone loses, no one
wins.”
“I m satisfied, said
Cindy Doherty, representing
the Heppner Junior/Senior
High School Booster Club,
“I think it’s a sad day.”
IUCC to host 42nd annual Auction and BBQ
An old chute used years ago to load coal under the Masonic
Lodge on Main Street in Heppner was filled in this week.
The cem ent on the sidewalk on W illow Street next to
Gardner’s Men’s store, which is located on the bottom floor
of the lodge, was cracking and opening up a large hole in
the sidewalk. It was becoming a danger to pedestrians so
the cement was cut out and the hole filled with rock and
gravel. A new sidewalk was poured on Tuesday, and pictured
above working on the project are left to right- Merlin
Hughes, Al Riney and Gene Orwick.
WE WILL BE CLOSED
M on d ay, M a y 31st fo r M em o rial D ay
H ave A Safe A n d H a p p y H o lld a y l
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-6221 • 1 -800-452-7396
1
Sonja Rae McCabe,
40, of Heppner. plead guilty
to four counts of Theft in the
F irst D egree (C lass C
felony) and one count of
Official Misconduct (Class
A misdemeanor) on Friday,
May 21, at the M orrow
C ounty C o u rth o u se in
Heppner.
W asco
C ounty
Circuit Court Judge John V.
Kelly sentenced McCabe to
90 days in the U m atilla
County Jail with no early
release, w ork release or
electronic monitoring. Upon
release from custody.
McCabe will be placed on
24 m onths o f supervised
probation with a condition
that she continue her mental
health treatment and take all
prescribed medications for
her recurrent depression and
general anxiety disorder,
McCabe was further ordered
to perform 240 hours o f
com m unity service and
make $4,000 restitution to
the only un-bonded victim,
the Heppner Senior/Junior
High B ooster Club. The
rem aining three victim s
have made bond claims to
cover m ost o f their lost
funds. “Under the terms of
the bond claims made by the
v ictim s, any re stitu tio n
ordered by the court would
have gone to the bond
companies,” said Morrow
County D istrict Attorney
David C. Allen.
The p leas w ere
entered as part of a plea
agreement. The four theft
convictions represent one
for each of the four victims
named in the indictment,
The ch arg es stem from
allegations McCabe stole
funds and forged checks
from the Heppner Cemetery
M aintenance District, the
H eppner
R ural
Fire
P ro tectio n D istric t, the
Willow Creek Country Club
and the H eppner Junior/
Senior High Booster Club
from 2000 until June o f
2003. M cC abe was an
e lected d ire c to r o f the
H eppner
C em etery
M aintenance D istrict and
performed the bookkeeping
fu n ctio n s for all four
victims.
For farm equipment, »lilt our web lit* at www mcgg.Mt
I
The 42nd annual lone
U nited C hurch of C hrist
Auction and Barbecue will
be held Friday, June 5 in
lone at the Willows Grange
Hall. The them e for the
auction is: Fun. Faith and
Fellowship. John and Kerry
Rietmann are the co-chairs
this year.
Spotlighted at the
auction is a quilt pieced by
Yvonne Morter and quilted
by H elen H eidem ann of
lone. It will be auctioned at
2 p.m.
Everyone is invited
to come and join in the fun
day filled w ith C ountry
Store brow sing com plete
w ith baked food item s,
handm ade
and
craft
products, as well as New to
You- books, videos, games
and toys for kids, sewing
and craft needs and many
other items in the Country
Store. The Store opens for
browsing at 9 a.m. and the
bell rings for sales to begin
at 10 a.m.
There will also be
the wonderful Pit-Cooked
Beef B arbecue dinner at
12:30 p.m. Prices remain the
Yvonne Morter (left) and Helen Heidemann (right) display the
quilt to be auctioned at the IUCC Auction and BBQ on June 5.
same as the last several
years- $6 for adults, $3 for
youth 6-12 years and pre
school age children eat free.
The women of the church
are back in the kitchen this
year cooking up a wonderful
array of dinner item s to
tempt your palate.
The outside auction
begins at 10:30 a.m. and will
feature many bargains from
gift certificates from area
businesses to used furniture,
farm chem icals, antiques
and
c o lle ctib les.
A
sw im m ing pool and the
beautiful handmade quilt
will also be auctioned. Ken
Grieb, auctioneer will be
calling the sale again this
year.
There’s something
for everyone at this sale.
Come early to check out
those wonderful bargains
and check o v er the
merchandise loaded on the
trucks ready for bidding.
You'll find this a fun day to
greet old friends and find a
few new ones.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
r