Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2005)
School district receives nearly $500 thousand more than anticipated from state school fund Bessie Wetzell Newspaper University o f Oregon F.ugene. OR 97403 V an HEPPNER imes VOL. 124 NO. 27 8 Pages Wednesday, July 6,2005 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon The Morrow County School Board learned, at a m eetin g that had been rescheduled to June 28 due to lack of quorum, that the school district has received $ 4 5 7 ,5 3 0 m ore than anticipated from the state school fund. The amount was based on the number of students attending Morrow County Schools. According to business manager/deputy clerk, Rhonda Lorenz, the district has already caught up in student numbers following the secession of lone. Lorenz also reported that the district will save $814,000 by refinancing the district’s 2001 construction bond over the life of the bond (2028). Savings during the first year amount to around $36,000-$37,000, she said. Also at the meeting, C raig M iles was elected board c h air and B arney Lindsay, board vice chair. N ew ly -elec te d board member Nancy Vander Does was sworn in, as were board members Lindsay, Bill Kuhn and Berto Hernandez. S u p e rin te n d e n t Mark Burrows reported that adding four new classrooms at Windy River Elementary School w ould cost approxim ately $449,000. The district is not planning to have the classrooms open until 2006-07 lo n e Celebrates the Red, W hite and Blue Fourth of July weekend Burrows also said that the W est E xtension Irrigation has laid pipe to Irrigon Elementary School and that the Port of Morrow has ag reed to pro v id e manpower to dig a 1,600- foot trench for the Irrigon E lem en tary sew er connection. Burrows said that thanks to the Port, the cost of the project has “gone down substantially.” He said the Port has offered to put in a septic tank if the sewer is not yet connected. In other business, the board: -learn ed th at the Boardman urban renewal plan was not approved. The plan would have cost the district and other taxing entities a loss of tax revenue. -will split fees with the city o f Irrigon for a report on recommendations as to what to do with the old Irrigon City Hall. -heard a junior high school acc o u n ta b ility p resen ta tio n from administrator Dirk Dirksen w hich w ould require sum m er school and rem ediation for students who have not passed one to three core classes and would require those students to repeat a grade if they do not pass the sum m er school class. It would also require students to repeat a grade if they do not pass four core classes. -approved the first reading for an honors diploma policy which would req u ire 26 c red its w ith honors courses and a 3.25 m inim um grade point average until June, 2007; and a 3.5 minimum grade point average or a 3.25 gpa with an 1100 SAT or 23 ACT score after June 2007. -ap p ro v ed a resolution which supports a change in the w ay the O regon School B oards A sso ciatio n co n d u cts elections to a mail-in ballot. -accep ted the following resignations: John Renfro, board chairm an, position #2; Stacy Schaefer, A.C. Houghton Elementary School second grade teacher; Lacey DeLange, ACH first grade teacher; Crista Beaty, ACH special e d u catio n o n e-o n -o n e a ssistan t; M aria Aguiar, Irrigon Elementary School half-time English as a second language teacher and half tim e special ed ucation teacher, Nomie Stout, IES food service clerical a ssistan t; Tom Shear, Heppner High School art teacher; Brooke Spencer, Sam Boardman Elementary fourth grade teacher; Debbie R oyer, W indy R iver E lem entary T itle One teacher; Brandi Orem, SBE elementary school teacher; K rissy W aite, SBE ESL teach er; Lori M onaco, Irrigon Junior/Senior High School health teacher; Jack W alty, R iv ersid e High School assistant custodian. - a p p r o v e d p ro m o tio n s for: C onnie Rodriguez from two-hour assistant cook to three-hour food serv ice clerical assistant/four-hour assistant cook; Ellen H endergart, from Irrigon Elem entary School fu ll-tim e Title 1 assistant to halt-time Title I assistan t and half-tim e library tech. - a p p r o v e d employment for: Michelle Kinley, ACH second grade teacher; Tara Thomas, ACH special ed teacher; Tonya Pomeroy, ACH third grade teacher; Jim Keyes, IES sixth grade teacher; Lara Rowe, IES half-tim e special ed teacher and half-time ESL teacher; David Westenskow, IJSHS language arts teacher; D anica H arjo, SBE first grade teach er; E lizab et Flores, SBE kindergarten teacher: Brian Jones, WRE Fifth grade teacher; Brandi LaLande, SBE kindergarten teacher; Jennifer Barthoude, SBE fourth grade teacher; N icole Fox, SBE ESL teacher; Eric Keller, IJSH continued page three Sagers visit family in Africa Chuck Nelson of the lone Fourth of July “Blues Cruise” Classic Car Show, drives his Mercedes in the parade Monday. The car was part of a new category called “work in progress”. For more pictures of the lone Fourth of July celebration please turn to page 5. Mediterranean Sage found in Morrow County For the second time in as many weeks a new noxious w eed has been reported and documented in Morrow County. Last week leafy spurge was reported for the First time in Morrow County. This week the new invader is M editerranean Sage. It is also on the “A” list of noxious w eeds in Morrow County and should be controlled wherever it is found. Mediterranean Sage is an aggressive ornamental plant n ative to the Mediterranean or northern A frica. It is an arom atic biennial, growing 2 to 3 feet tall. In the first season it develops a rosette of large grayish wooly leaves. In the second season the plant will pro d u ce m u lti-b ra n ch e d stems of white or blue-green wooly leaves. Flowers are yellowish-white and are 7z” to 1" long. One plant may produce thousands of seeds and spread as the mature plant forms a tumbleweed. P a stu re s, m eadow s, rangeland and other open areas are all good targets for M ed iterran e a n Sage to invade. Several methods of control may be considered when dealing with this weed. After the plant flowers but before it produces seed it can be cut down and bagged. M ow ing is not recommended because the plant will continue to grow over subsequent years until it can successfully produce Harley and Bertha Sager display African art and dress they brought back from their trip to Rwanda. Their son Kelly and his wife Laura and children are on a church mission there. Harley gave a program at the Heppner Chamber of Com merce last Fiesday about the trip. “People in the United States don't know how good they have it.” Harley said on the hard ships the pair witnessed. Harley showed pictures and told about their travels around Rwanda seed. p lease rep o rt them to Chem ical controls M orrow C ounty Weed will also take care of this Control at 989-9502. plant and some biological controls have been used on larger infestations in other areas. Should you find any S tarting T u e sd a y , J u ly 5th: M ed iterran ean Sage or M o n d a y th ro u g h Friday, 7 a.m .-6 p.m . suspicious looking plants - MCGG HARVEST HOURS - a n d S atu rd a y, 7 a.m .-5 p.m . ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. r v Morrow County Grain Growers L e x in g t o n 9 8 9 - 8 2 2 1 * 1 -8 0 0 -4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 For farm equipment, vied our web site at ww w.m cgg.net V»
