TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, July 13,2005
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Letten to the Editor
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letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under "Card of
Thanks" at a cost of $10.)
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County's H om e-O w ned W eekly N ew spaper
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. Oregon.
Office at 188 W Willow Street Telephone (541) 676-9228 Fax (541) 676-9211 E-
matl: editorWrapidserve net or davidd* heppner net Website: www heppncr.net. Post
master send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Tunes, P.O. Box 337, Heppner.
Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $25 in Morrow County; $19 senior rate (in Morrow
County only; 62 years or older); $31 elsewhere; $26 student subscriptions.
David S y k e s....................................................................................................Publisher
Katie Foster......................................................................................................... Editor
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require three w eeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date m ust be
specified if required).
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meet new s guidelines. Fam ilies w ishing to include information not included in the guidelines
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DA’s Report
Morrow
County D istrict A ttorney
David C. Allen has released
the following report:
Stacey Lee
Jessen, 36, was convicted of
one count of Strangulation,
a Class A Misdemeanor, and
was sentenced to 180 days
in jail and 24 months of
bench probation. He was
ordered to pay $626 in fines,
fees and assessments, and
c o m p lete 140 hours o f
community service. He was
ordered to have no offensive
physical contact with the
victim, enroll and complete
an a n g er m anagem ent
p ro g ram , subm it to an
alcohol evaluation, enter into
and successfully complete an
approved certified alcohol
tre atm en t program and
submit a written apology to
the victim.
Vemon Shad
Jeffreys, 37, was convicted
of one count of Contempt of
C o u rt/P u n itiv e ,
an
Unclassified Misdemeanor,
and was sentenced to jail for
30 days, required to pay
$626, and 24 months' bench
probation. He was ordered
to have no offensive physical
contact with the victim.
G a r a y
Emestor Raynundo Torrez,
19, was convicted of one
count o f D elivery of
M arijuana one ounce-No
Pay, a Class A Misdemeanor
and was sentenced to jail for
180 days, suspension of
d riv e r’s license for six
months, and is required to
pay $626 in fines, fees and
assessments. Defendant shall
not use or possess any illegal
drugs or narcotics, and shall
notify the probation officer
of any prescriptions given by
doctor, not possess any
n a rc o tics p arap h ern alia,
including smoking devices,
not associate with any person
known to use, sell or possess
illegal drugs or narcotics, not
frequent places where illegal
drugs are kept, used or sold,
submit to random monitored
drug testin g , obtain a
substance abuse evaluation
and complete 40 hours of
community service.
Artisan Village
quilt show seek
entrants
A rtisan V illa g e ’s
fourth annual outdoor quilt
show will be Sunday, July
31, from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Q uilts are needed. Those
planning to bring quilts in
should do so from July 10-
24. Quilts will be accepted
Friday, July 29, but Artisan
Village reminds entrants that
it is easiest to make a nice
display if q u ilts are not
brought in at the last minute.
No quilts will be accepted
for the judged competition
category after July 24 when
the shop closes.
Q u ilte rs are also
reminded that, like the last
three years, there will be
three categories to enter
quilts: Display Only - the
largest category; For Sale;
and For C o m p etitio n
Judged.
Also remember any
quilt 50 years old or older
may be put in the quilt shows
more than once and Artisan
Village encourages entrants
to do so.
“All old quilts, new
quilts, big quilts, little quilts,
funky qu ilts, trad itio n al
quilts, quilted wearables,
baby quilts and granny quilts
will be accepted.
Quilt artist, Laura
E stes
of
O dessa,
Washington, will be a special
guest at the show. She has
been an avid quilter since the
early 1980s and owns her
own quilt design pattern
business and line of quilting
stencils.
Interested persons
will be able to take mini
“make and take” classes at
the show. The cost will be $4
and includes the class and a
small kit that can be made
during the approxim ately
one hour class.
G-T NEWS
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-
CO U LD IT B E ...
K .T ....
T U R N IN G 70?!?!? j
Please join us for a
Writer mislead, misquoted
To the Editor and the
Residents of the Town of by the c o u n cil, but her
a ctio n s, o u tsid e o f and
Lexington:
Re: The m eeting
referred to by the letter to the
editor as ‘T o set the record
s tra ig h t” in last w e ek ’s
paper.
It appears that the
w riter has again mislead,
m isquoted and provided
false info rm atio n to the
c itiz en s o f the Town of
Lexington. This meeting was
an executive session for an
em ployee
ev alu atio n .
A cco rd in g to law, any
business, conducted at these
sessio n s, is co n sid ered
private unless consented for
release by the employee or
by the entire council. The
w rite r o f the letter, did
indeed, help the recorder
with the report and she was
told to clarify the statement
regarding “Nothing Being
Done” , how ever she also
told the recorder that it was
her responsibility to sign the
rep o rt, thus p lacin g the
recorder in the position of
v oicing an o p in io n and
providing false information.
Reports of this kind should
address the subject only and
should not editorialize (state
an o p in io n ). T hat was
w rong, as it m ade the
recorder responsible for the
entire report, and absolved
the
w rite r
of
any
responsibility. As for firing
the recorder, that was not
even a c o n sid e ra tio n ,
however there has been a
L ex in g to n
re c o rd er
terminated in the past for
voiding her own opinion and
not that of the Council
And now for the rest
of the story:
The writer speaks of
a Safe D rin k in g W ater
Revolving Loan that she has
pu rsu ed and d e sires to
o b tain . T he Tow n o f
Lexington currently has two
(2) outstanding water loans:
one that was taken out in the
late 1970s and one that has
a b alan ce o f alm ost
$100,000. Both these loans
are charging a higher rate of
in terest than w hat any
savings is earning.
She also talks about
a survey that she sent out to
123 m eter num bers. She
stated that she received a 35
percent return . How can
that be true when there are
quite a few residents who did
not receive and probably
were not even sent a survey
form? She states that she was
told by the Secretary of State
that her survey was okay, but
yet a phone call to the same
office stated that surveys are
to be sent to all residents and
not to just a sample, and that
they should not be
identifiable on return. Her
survey forms were noted
with the residents m eter
numbers.
She speaks o f an
action that was not approved
without the knowledge or
consent of the council, has
resulted in an extra expense
of thousands of dollars for
the tow n and p ro b ab ly
c re ate d a lia b ility o f
thousands more. She has
consistently made contacts
and agreements with others
w ithout consulting other
council members.
She speaks o f no
engineer. That statement is
also untrue, as it has been
addressed several times over
the years. But, unfortunately
som e o f them are not
interested in Lexington. Wal-
Mart only certifies a small
number of engineers, and
Lexington has had more than
their share.
A local farmer has
stated that he is willing to let
the town drill on his property
for water, That, too, she has
refused to consider, because
it is not part of her plan. The
town was awarded $27,000
to find a new water source,
but that money had to be
used to pay off one of her
“screw ups” and to put up a
fence. Another farmer had
indicated that he was willing
to donate land to the town,
but when she and a former
city employee proceeded to
remove his equipment from
his property and than told
him that he had better get a
lawyer, he decided to charge
the town $ 10,000. The town
still does not have clear title
to the land.
There are several
elderly residents and even
som e young fam ilies in
Lexington who are having a
hard tim e m aking th eir
m oney stretch. Some o f
them are doing w ith o u t
medications, and possibly
adequate food in order to do
so. They are having
problems paying for their
water now. What would it be
like if an additional loan was
taken out? The current loans
need to be spent down and
paid off before any further
ones are obtained. If not,
Lexington will not survive.
The w riter o f the
prior letter should get her
head out of the sand, and
take a look at the real world,
instead o f the one o f her
fantasy. If she would work
with the rest of the council,
instead of thinking that she
is the expert on everything
and that everything needs to
be done only her way, much
co u ld be acco m p lish ed .
W hat w ill be her next
project? Perhaps a local
option tax to finance her
“screws ups” or maybe a
privilege tax for the honor of
living in Lexington.
A very concerned
c itiz e n , tax p ay e r and
homeowner,
(s) Bob Taylor
Lexington
D O N T MISS
OUR ANNUAL
70th Birthday
Celebration
Kenny Turner
No Gifts Please
J
To the Editor:
To whom it may concern:
As a newly returned
resident to Heppner and a
graduate of Heppner High
School, I was dismayed to
discover, on the election
ballot in May of this year,
that no one was running for
any of the six positions on
the H eppner Com m unity
E d u catio n C om m ittee.
A lth o u g h I have little
experience (none) in public
serv ice I told m y self,
“Enthusiastic help is better
then none, right?” I filed to
run, attended and spoke at
the candidates’ forum, and
was duly elected. A long
time friend and classmate at
HHS, Jim Cason, ran as a
write in candidate and was
also elected. As of July 1, the
start of the new term, we are
the
only
co m m ittee
members.
A fter talking to a
number of members of the
district school board, I was
better informed but no more
p leased ; the H CEC had
seldom met in the previous
year, at least w ith the
minimum of four members
needed for a quorum. The
Boardman/Irrigon
C o m m ittee
m em bers
a p p aren tly had no such
p ro b lem s
atten d in g
m eetings; the citizens of
those communities must care
more about the state of their
schools than those of us in
the
South
End. An
embarrassing situation, to
say the least.
C urrently, we are
ex tre m ely lucky in the
quality, enthusiasm , and
approachability of our board
members and particularly
our district superintendent,
Mark Burrows, and his staff.
By all accounts they have
done a great job of working
within a limited budget and
still delivering the services
they are mandated by the
state to provide.
But this is no time
for complacency; there are
c u rre n t p ro g ram s and
ongoing issues that require
v ig o ro u s and d ilig e n t
attention of the part of the
com m unity. We need to
evaluate the effectiveness of
state and federally mandated
testing programs. We need
to begin actively lobbying
state le g isla to rs fin d a
permanent solution to the
on g o in g school funding
c risis. We need m ore
im a g in a tio n and p u b lic
participation in academic
program s, not ju st sports
programs. We must continue
to push for more and better
arts and vocational programs
at Heppner High School.
As stated in the
policy manual, the purpose
of the CECs is to “provide
input and advice to the board
o f directors through their
principals concerning the
d is tric t’s sc h o o ls.” T his
includes but is not limited to
c u rric u la , program s and
facilities; the committee is
also encouraged to solicit
and present the views of the
community at large on issues
related to the schools.
Please do your part
to help our schools: let us
(the members of the HCEC)
know w hat you think o f
school operations and what
issues you would like us to
concentrate on.
Better yet, join the
com m ittee. We still need
four members and at least
one alternate in order to
en su re th at we have a
quorum at each meeting. For
more information, contact
me at the number below or
call Julie A shbeck at the
District Office: 989-8202,
extension 2010.
(s) Pat Struthers
Heppner
Job hirings not fai
To the Editor:
Approximately three
weeks ago I applied for a job
watering flowers with the
City of Heppner. The job
closed the 30th o f June.
When I didn’t hear anything
about it from the City of
Heppner, I realized that it
had been given to someone
else.
Y esterday I was
in fo rm ed th at (a local
te en a g e r) got the jo b . I
would like to know why it
went to someone who really
d id n ’t need it, instead of
som eone who did. Were
politics involved?
I also applied for the
park host p o sitio n at
Cutsforth Park. 1 don’t know
who received that position,
but whoever it was, wasn’t
interviewed for it. I know I
wasn’t. How can the county
know w ho is the b est
qualified for the job without
interviews being conducted?
I don’t feel that’s fair or even
wise.
My husband and I
are struggling to make ends
m eet. He is on a fix ed
incom e, and c an ’t afford
health insurance, or to go to
a dentist which is urgently
needed.
(s) B. Lisa Cutsforth Carter
Heppner
Camille Murray earns degree
C am ille M urray,
daughter of Matt and Mary
Murray, graduated from La
Quinta, Ca., High School
June 16. She completed the
s c h o o l’s
In te rn a tio n a l
B ac c ala u re a te P rogram
graduation with a 4.6 grade
point.
She has been invited
to atten d C am b rid g e
University in London for a
month this summer and to
spend an additional month in
Paris to experience their
culture. She will be attending
L in field
C o lleg e
at
M cM inville, Oregon, this
fall.
Local man
receives treatment
W ord has been
re c eiv e d th a t H ep p n er
resident Gary Richards is
currently receiving cancer
tre a tm e n t at St. M ary
Medical Center. Letters and
cards may be sent to Gary
Richards, St. Mary Medical
Center; c/o Herring Guest
H ouse; P.O. Box 1477;
W alla W alla, WA 99362;
phone 1-800-452-3320 ext.
2882.
Sister One
and Sister Two
I
No matter how old I get i
for
When: July 23,2005
Where:
Heppner Elks Lodge
Time:
Cocktails 6:30 p.m.
Lite Dinner 7:30 p.m
Help our schools; participate in ed
committee
I’ll never be as old as you!'
^ Muiuuj'j D äuj
217 North Main • Heppner
Phone 676-915« • Floral 676-9426
Serving Heppner. Lexington A lone
i
HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!! I
Thanks For Everything! I
Love, |
Baby Brother Bobby j