Voters to decide on county road fix-up
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Voters will decide
the fate of a $ 10 million road
levy when ballots are mailed
out by the county clerk this
Friday. The county is asking
for money to repair badly
deteriorated roads located
throughout the county.
A ccording
to
Oregon law $ 1.635.9676 of
the $10 million will go to
the five cities in the county
for use on city roads.
Boardman w ill receive
$237,247 per year for five
years, Heppner $36,383,
I ih r
d°
HEPPNER
lone $8,834,
Irrigon
$37,692 and Lexington $7,
034.
The
rem aining
$8,364,033 will be used to
make repairs to the
following roads over a five
year period: Ella Road 2.5
m iles, Ione-Boardman 6
miles. Juniper Canyon Rd
3.8 miles, Kunze Rd. 1.3
miles. Miller Road .52 miles
Depot Lane 4.9 miles and
Sand Hollow Rd. 6.7 miles.
The ballots must be
returned to the clerk by May
15. and would fall under the
Oregon double majority law
where a majority o f
registered voters (over 50
percent) would have to cast
ballots, and a majority of
those voters say yes. for the
levy to be approved.
Drop off locations
for ballots are available at the
county clerks web site at
h t t p : / /
imes
VOL. 126
NO. 17
10 Pages
Wednesday, April 25,2007
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Too many players on the field
I H
T h is p u p p y ca u se d q u ite a hit o f e n te r ta in m e n t a t S a tu rd a y 's M u sta n g so ftb a ll g am e,
c irc lin g all th e g irls on th e Held. It to o k a r o u n d five m in u te s fo r th e g irls to c o r n e r th e p u p
b efo re th e g am e co u ld c o n tin u e on. -Photo by Sandy M atthew \
A fun way for schools to earn extra money
wwwnxxrowcountyoregc xia mV
clerk/ballot-dropoff.pdf. and
will also be included in the
mail out ballots.
To further explain
the work to be done Public
Works Director Burke
O’Brien has said in the past:
"Over the past several years
we have managed to
maintain and improve
several roads throughout the
County by following our
Transportation System Plan
for road work. We have done
this working within our
available budget revenues
and with guidance from the
Morrow Country Road
Committee.
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V oters will d e rid e if co u n ty ro ad s like th is on e g et a fix up.
This committee is
comprised of members from
throughout the County. We
have managed to do a good
job of keeping the majority
of our paved road system in
good condition. We have
accessed dollars through the
State for projects such as
chip seal work and overlays
on several roads.
In the Irrigon area
we w ill complete the last of
the roads there w ith chip seal
work this year, with the
exception of Depot Lane.
Depot Lane is beyond
preservation work and is in
need
of
major
reconstruction. We see this
road as significan t to
residents of the Irrigon area.
-Continued on page tw it
Bill would allow larger race
facility at Boardman
Without passage of a
bill now in the Oregon Sen
ate, a proposed speedway
for north Morrow County
will not be able to attract
NASCAR type races, an at
torney for the tract develop
ers told the Heppner Cham
ber of Commerce last week.
David Allen, former
district attorney for Morrow
County who is now working
for Pacific NW Speedway,
told the chamber that the
developers want to expand
the project since it was first
proposed several years ago
to include a marina on the
river, a golf course, hotels
and condos.
Allen said under the
original plan the race track
would sit vacant most of the
time, and developers have
realized this is not an eco
nomically feasible idea .De
velopers now want to put in
more “destination” type fa
cilities that will keep attract
people year round.
He said the newly
configured facility represents
an investment possibility of
$500 million and in addition
to the marina and golf course
would include a four mile
road course that would be
part private and part public.
He said private individuals
and companies could rent
two miles of the track for
private racing. There would
also be a lake to accommo
date water sports.
A bill currently be
fore the Oregon Senate in
troduced bv Greg Smith and
David Nelson would amend
the original bill passed for
the raceway to allow the
change to more of a destina
tion type facility.
Allen said the state
o f W ashington recently
turned down a proposal to
spend $250 million of tax
money to build a NASCAR
style track. No tax money is
proposed for the Boardman
facility, however, Allen said
if the amended zoning bill
-
Continued on page ten
MS Walk well attended
P ic tu re d a re K U M A ra d io p a r tn e r s , H H S P rin c ip a l D ay e S to n e. Troy M o rg a n . A u tu m n
M o rg a n , a n d L eA n n W rig h t a c c e p tin g th e ir w in n in g s ch e ck fro m th e O re g o n L o tte ry .
Heppner
High
School was recently chosen
to participate in Scratch-it
for Schools, an Oregon Lot
tery promotional program.
Each year, randomly select
ed Oregon public schools
gather for Oregon Lottery
Scratch-it for Schools
events. Teams of eight adults
- four from the school, four
from TV and radio - spend
five fast and furious minutes
scratching Oregon Lottery
Scratch-its for their schools.
When the time is up. the
teams keep all the cash priz
es they’ve uncovered. This
year HHS was paired up
with media partner KUMA
radio. Together the team
won $1,248 for the school.
This amount was the second
highest amount overall.
Scratch-it
for
Schools program began in
1996 with over $723,000
having been awarded to par
ticipating public schools.
W ith their winnings, schools
have purchased digital cam
eras. books, field trips, as
sem bly programs, play
ground equipment, comput
er hardware and software,
and many other things. HHS
is planning to use the mon
ey they won to purchase a
document camera and mul
timedia projector.
For more informa
tion about this event visit
www.scratchitforschools.oig.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE;
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
.f
The supporters of the
MS Walk beat the rain and
enjoyed one more year of
coming together with a vision
to find a cure for MS. On
Saturday, April 2 1,75 people
walked down Heppner's
main street to finish a 3-mile
or 6-mile trek. They brought
with them not only their
pledges but also their love for
those who have MS.
Teams
and
individuals from Hermiston,
Pendleton. Eugene, Heppner.
Lexington and lone turned in
pledges equaling $8.(XX) w ith
more donations coming in
daily. “It was great to see
good friends from past walks,
make new friends and share
in a common goal,” said walk
co-chair. Merilee McDowell.
“Sharing the chairmanship
with Joan Basile and having
a wonderful committee was
I
D anielle an d M erilee M cD ow ell p re se n t TVIer R o b in so n w ith ;i
p riz e u fiei H e p p n e r's MS W alk on S a tu rd a y , A p ril 21.
one of the reasons the w alk
was so successful. I am so
proud of everyone who w as
involved in making this
another successful year. It
takes many people to put
som ething
like
this
together.”
This year Peterson's
Jew elers. Cornerstone
Gallery & Gift Shop. Bank
o f EO, Hair I Am. Les
Schwab, Heppner Family
Foods. Murray Drugs
donated gift certificates,
- C ontinued on page three
At th e MCGG GREEN FEED STORE In H e p p n e r:
TROY-BILT LAWNMOWER
21” -- 6.5 hp -- rear bagging
O nly $ 1 9 9 " !
M o r r o w C o u n t y G rain G ro w ers Green Feed & S e e d
242 W. Linden Way. Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (M C G G main office)
I