Local woman, church making a difference at home and overseas
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University ol Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
VOL. 126
NO. 16
10 Pages
Wednesday, April 18,2007
About 20 years ago,
a small church was started in
Heppner where the pastor
began
taking
people
o v erseas to share bible
studies and the Word ot God
to other countries. Since
then, that small church is still
small but is making a world
of difference in the countries
they visit and the people they
minister to.
Linda Liu is the
current head p asto r o f
Elohim
C o v en an t
in
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner Council tables request to support county
road levy; takes no action on street closure request,
nuisance cat ordinance
E d ito r’s Note: The
fo llo w in g a rtic le was
inadvertently cut o ff in last
w e e k ’s e d itio n o f the
Heppner Gazette-Times.
The Heppner City
Council "Monday took no
action on a request by Burke
O 'B rie n o f the M orrow
County Road Department
that the city publicly support
a proposed $10 million road
levy to be on the ballot next
month.
O 'B rien has been
visiting all the city councils
in the county asking for
support of the levy, and told
the Heppner council the city
would receive $36,384 per
year for five years if the levy
is approved. Under state law
each city in the county would
receive a portion of the levy
for use on city roads.
C ounty
roads
scheduled for repairs if the
levy passes are: 2.5 miles of
Ella Road. 6 miles of Ione-
Boardman road. 3.8 miles of
Juniper Canyon Road. 1.3
miles of Kunze road. .52
miles of Miller Road. 4.9
miles of Depot Lane and 6.7
miles of Sand Hollow.
O ’Brien said the
road repairs are necessary
for commerce and safety
reasons, pointing out that
trucks use many of the roads
and commuters and school
buses also use the roads. He
also answered questions
from the council about the
distribution of road money
between north and south
Morrow County, saying the
road committee works hard
Morrow County Public Works Director Burke O'Brien talks to
Heppner City Council Monday night, April 9. about proposed
road levy.
to balancer the road funds
spent evenly between north
and south. In response to
questions, he also answered
why more roads are not
being returned to gravel
instead of being repaired,
saying the county has
returned 50 miles of roads
back to gravel, but that the
roads scheduled for repairs
are necessary to the farm
economy, commuting and
school busses.
Also urging the
council to support the levy
was Ken Turner, a farmer
who lives on Sand Hollow.
Turner said Sand Hollow is
badly d e terio rated and
unsafe. ‘We haven't got a
road out there," he said. "It's
hazardous and I'm going to
plead with you people to
support this because we need
to pass this levy and get these
roads fixed."
In the end the
council agreed to table the
county request
In other business the
council heard from Heppner
Elementary Principal Jack
Thompson who asked the
council to once again
consider closing Stansbury
Street for safety reasons.
Stansbury runs between the
two elem en tary school
buildings and Thompson is
concerned that a child is
going to get hit by a car
there. He asked the council
to allow him to meet with
city manager Dave DeMayo
and discuss the option of
closing Stansbury and
ex ten d in g Elder around
behind the school and
connect to Court Street by
the tennis courts.
The council told
Thompson the city had no
money to build a new' road,
however Thompson said it
may be possible to have
O regon D epartm ent of
Transportation may foot
most of the cost. Court
-Continued on page two
Don’t Forget!
The last day to register to vote is
Tuesday, April 24, by 5 p.m.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
approximately 20 members.
This is the church that
Catherine Sims joined when
she moved to Heppner.
As a teenager.
Catherine went to Mexico
two years in a row with her
church. It was after those
trips that she decided that
after finishing school she
wanted to be a missionary
doctor for 10 years in a
foreign country. Now she is
a m issionary, minus the
doctor part.
After high school,
Catherine w ent on to college
and got a jo b . and her
m issionary plans were
temporarily put on hold.
About 13 years ago. she felt
God's calling to move to
Heppner where she found
Elohim Covenant and began
her missionary work.
Catherine has been
to B elize, Taiw an. The
Philippines, Mexico and
Uganda but the church as a
whole has ministered in
approximately 17 countries
such as Taiwan. Hong Kong.
Zimbabwe. Ecuador. Russia,
and Inland China.
After witnessing the
conditions that people deal
with in the foreign countries
she has traveled to,
Catherine believes everyone
should be involved in some
type of missions trip as a
teenager so they can truly be
thankful for what they have.
According to Catherine,
these trips “make you more
Catherine Sims displays some of the handmade items brought
hack from various countries Elohim Covenant has sent mission
aries to.
Catherine Sims is shown with some of the locals during a trip
to Uganda. When visitors leave, it is traditional for the host to
give them a live chicken, no matter how poor the family may
be. The day the group left, they received eight chickens. It is
considered an insult to refuse the gift.
grateful and give you a
b igger
sense
of
responsibility."
The
work
the
missionaries do includes
holding seminars to teach
pastors, feeding people, and
building churches. Catherine
says that when people hear
that missionary visitors have
arrived, they will walk for
miles to hear the Gospel,
They will sit through storms
-Continued on page three
lone pool fund faces shortfall
The lone School
Board learned at their
regular meeting Monday
night that the lone Pool fund
faces a $13,250 shortfall.
The board will see a
resolution at the May or June
meeting to transfer funds
from the general fund to
cover the shortfall and recent
needed improvements to the
pool.
The board will also
receive a resolution to adjust
the Title 1 fund plus REAP
Flex which has a $4,468
shortfall and the federal
REAP Flex account which
has a $4,205 shortfall
Collections ending
March 31 included $23,177
in property tax receipts, $48
in forest fees and $28,000
from the Morrow County
Unified Recreation District
for the extra-curricular fund.
A dditional money was
transferred from the general
fund to the C om m unity
Involvement Fund to cover
expenditures through June
30.
S u p e rin ten d e n t/
Principal Bryn Browning
shared with the board
proposed budget additions
and changes since the April
9 budget m eeting. A
reduction in Title 1 funds will
create a need for an
additional $10,000 to be
transferred back into the
general fund to cover one
elementary instructional aide
position. The district will
receive an additional
$10,000 payment from the
Willow Creek Park District
to operate the pool. Receipts
for pay-to-play and contest
adm ission
were
also
recorded balancing the
2006-07 extra-curricular
fund.
Also at the meeting,
the board:
-learned that the
Morrow County Unified
Recreation District funding
has ch anged slightly.
A ccording
to
Superintendent/Principal
Bryn B row ning, “The
agreement w ill not longer be
to fund e x tra c u rric u la r/
community activities, but
rather for the rec district to
lease our facilities and allow
them to be used for
extracurricular/community
a ctiv itie s." “O ur data."
added Browning, "shows
that the lease could cost up
to $123,900 in building use
fees; however the rec district
is providing $84,000 of that
a amount."
-learned that the
district has renewed the
intergovernmental
agreement with the city of
lone for $8,000 to mow the
irrigated grassy areas.
-learned that the
m iddle school held its
science fair wi t h board
members Joe McElligott and
Gregg Rietmann as judges.
The elementary and high
school also created classes.
"The hatching chicks were
once again a bit hit." said
Browning.
-learned that lone
students. Tiana Camarillo,
Teonna Vandever, Brenna
Rietmann, Mickey Raible,
Sarah Stillman and Alex
Carlson w ill compete at the
OSAA
state
speech
tournament April 19-21 in
Monmouth.
-learned
that
stu d en t-led con feren ces
were held for grades four-
eight and parent-teacher
conferences were held for
kindergarten through third
grades and nine through 12.
E ig h ty -tw o co n ferences
were held for the middle
school and high school
grades and 53 were held for
the elem en tary school.
Karen Holland organized
translators for S p a n is h
speaking families.
-learned that the Site
C ouncil met April 9 to
review the high school credit
policy, hear an update on
TESA. the online testing
program which has been
term inated because of a
breakdown in negotiations
betw een
the
Oregon
Department of Education
and the testing company, and
discuss
the
2007-08
proposed budget reductions.
-learned
that
enrollment as of April 9 was
147
stu d en ts-5 9
in
kindergarten through fifth
grade; 38 in grades six
through eight; and 50 in
grades nine through 12.
-learned than English
classes are starting at lone
Community School in Karen
H o llan d 's classro o m on
April 24. May I. 8 and 15.
from 4-5:30 p.m.
-learned
that
National Library Week is
April 15-21 and all parents
and community members are
invited to stop by the school
library during the month of
April.
-learned that the
lone Chapter of the National
Honor Society will host its
second annual Youth Track
Meet on Sunday, April 29,
at 2 p.m. at the school.
Children from birth to fifth
grade may participate in
events including the tennis
ball throw, standing broad
jump. 100m dash. 50m dash
and 25m dash. Donations
will be accepted, with all
proceeds going to the
Creative Care Preschool in
lone.
-Continued on page two
TMS 15 - 40 \ Quick Lift
55 gal. drums \ 55 gal. drums
$460
\ $445
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
•
1-800-452-7396 for l » m
equipment. m u
our w*b l i t !
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