Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2007)
New faces join staff of Heppner schools 'Bessie W etzell N ew sp ap c Lib»'a; : U niversity o f Oregon Euuene, OR 97403 Heppner Elementary School started off the new year with a new prineipal. Matt Combe took over the reigns from Jack Thompson to head the school. Combe and his fam ily moved to Heppner from Pendleton where he has lived for the past five years. Before coming to Heppner, Combe was the prineipal at the alternative school in lr- rigon for the last four years. He has worked for 11 years School district ratifies MCEA, OSEA contracts VOL. 126 NO. 37 10 Pages The Morrow County School District Board Mon day night ratified contracts with the Morrow County Education Association and the Oregon School Em ployees Association. Both contracts had been ratified by the two employee groups on August 30. MCSD’s two-year contract with MCEA called for an increase in insurance premiums paid by the dis trict from $786 to $890 per teacher per month during the first year of the contract and from $890 to $940 in the second year. The district will also pay six percent of the teachers’ salaries into the Public Employees Retire ment System for the second year of the contract. In addition, the dis trict w ill provide a longevity stipend to the teachers who opt to stay with the district beyond 10 years. There will be no in crease in teachers’ salaries during the two-year period with the exception of step increases already in place. The district w ill also pay PERS for those eligible OSEA employees for the second year of their three- year contract. The district- paid portion of OSEA em ployees’ insurance will go from $810 per month per employee to $890 in year one. In year two the district- paid portion will go to $940 and in year three to $965. Leave time for classified employees went from 10- plus days of annual leave to two days of personal leave and three days of family illness leave with the ex ception of maintenance and custodial staff leave, which will remain the same Steps will be given to those classified employ ees eligible to move and this year a one-time stipend will be given to those on Step 15 Wednesday, September 12, 2007 as of June 30 of this year. There w ill be no change to the classified employees' salary schedule this year. Also at the meet ing, MCSD Superinten dent Mark Burrows told the board that the district’s em phasis on curriculum paid off w ith each school in the district meeting the state's “average yearly progress’’ criteria with the exception of Irrigon High School. Bur rows congratulated the staff at Riverside High School, which improved from not having met the criteria last year. Burrows said only 43 percent of schools met the AYP. “Kudos for a job well done,’’ he said. In other business, the board: -heard a report from Burrows and Kristen Mar shall and Dale Boyd from the Heppner Ranger Dis trict on a new program for high school seniors through the Umatilla National For est Service and the school district. Burrows said that Heppner District Ranger Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Tom Mafera received a grant which would fund a week- long “Fire and Fuels Career Orientation Camp” for up to 16 high school seniors. The career orientation camp is free of charge and offers workshops on fire ecology and natural resource man agement. Students selected for the opportunity will learn about a range of pro grams and degrees offered by a variety of colleges and universities. They will also learn about agency job pros pects and get assistance in applying for future agency jobs. The camp will be held at the Tupper Work Center, 35 miles from Heppner, October 2 1 -26. Seniors must apply for this opportunity. -approved changes to the district's Community Education Committees poli cies. -received the fol lowing budget com m it tee recom m endations: Nancy Vander Does nom inated N icole Mahoney to the budget committee and Barney Lindsay nomi- in the education system, in cluding seven years teaching alternative education and four years as principal with the Morrow County School District at the alternative school in Irrigon. Combe received his degree from Eastern Oregon University. Combe moved to Heppner with his w ife, Kami, and his children Mad ison, who is in first grade, and Kaden, who is three years old and in preschool. The Combes are expecting their third child, a girl, in November. Combe says he is “excited to be here and is ex cited about the opportunity to live in Heppner and meet the people.” W endy C an n in joined Heppner High School this year as the new junior high math teacher. She also w orks half a day at HES as the P.E. teacher. Cannin grew up in Pilot Rock and graduat ed from Pilot Rock High School but jokingly asks that the residents of Heppner "don’t hold it against her.” This is Cannin's first teaching job but she has been a substitute for the last year. She received her degree in elementary educa tion from Eastern Oregon University. While her de gree is not in mathematics, Cannin is working to get the extra endorsements for a certificate. Cannin moved from Pendleton with her husband, J.J. and she has two ehil- Hunting party has success ALL NEWS AND ADV ERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Wendy Cannin Rrandi Sweeney dren, Noah who is three, and Thaiden who is one. She also has a stepdaughter, Jaydn who is two. Cannin says she is “very excited to be in Heppner.” A new face in the front office of HES is that of Brandi Sweeney. She took over the position v acated by Elaine Miller. Sweeney has worked for the past two years as a one-on-one aide at the el ementary school. She began her new position on August 1 . Sweeney has lived in Heppner for the past 16 years. She is married to Corey and has two sons, Kane and Jorden, both stu dents at HES. lon e C om m u n i ty School also has a new teacher. Stefanie Spivey is teaching second grade. Her interview will be featured in next week’s edition of the Heppner Gazette-Times. City puts garbage service on notice The Heppner City Council voted unanimously Monday to give Heppner Garbage 20 days to “totally comply" w ith its franchise agreement or lose the franchise. The garbage company operates within the city under a contract that spells out how the business will be operated. Monday sev eral council members said they didn't want to take the drastic measure, but were frustrated in dealing with David Green, owner of Hep pner Garbage. In a letter to Green dated August 23 city manager David De Mayo said “The mechanical breakdown of your garbage truck during the period of August 6-15, 2007, generated a number of complaints from the public as garbage was accumulat ing w ith no immediate rem edy to correct the problem. This situation has brought to a head several major violations of your franchise with the city of -Conlinued on page two agreement Heppner.” De Mayo also said that Green was recently issued a citation in April because of a truck full of garbage parked in the city limits for period of time, and that the city has received many complaints about service in the past which Heppner Garbage has made no effort to rectify. He said the city was forced to pay Hermis- ton Sanitary $1,641 to pick up trash in the city while Green’s trucks were broken down; money the city has so far not been reimbursed. Specifically the city is Dale Pearson (left) of Portland had a good day Sunday, when he bagged this nice six-point elk near Heppner. With Pearson is M ike K(nv* of Damascus (right) and Mike's son Jacob, cen.'er. I he hunting party was headed hack out Mon day afternoon saying they had seen and called in other elk in their hunting area. M att Combe took over the position of principal at Heppner Elementary School. , jf j > If I? ™ jJP B l ' , Waste that was illegally dum ped at recycling center in H e p p n er is hauled o ff by city crew. C itations w ill be issued accord ing to public works director. O n ly recycle m aterial should be left at the m etal con tainers (rig h t). considering terminating the franchise for the three fol lowing reasons: 1. Failure to provide a regular w eekly schedule to the city and your custom ers of w hen garbage will be picked up. 2. Failure to notify the city of unforeseen breakdowns and a backup plan for any delay of greater that 24 hour duration. 3. Delinquency of fran chise payment to the city by at least one quarterly payment. Monday the council said if Heppner Garbage did not “totally comply” with the franchise it would terminate the franchise and negotiate an agreement with another company. “We are all behind Dave (Green), but he has been given ample time. He has had difficult times,” said Mayor Les Paustian. “He goes over and above his duties,” said council member Judy Buschke, “and I hate that this has come to this.” In other business the coun cil heard from Public Works Director Brian I larmon vv ho said that people have been illegally dumping garbage at the recycling station on Riverside in Heppner. I he city has had to haul off’loads of garbage left on the ground around the recycling bins. Tuesday 1 larmon said “sev - eral" people would be cited for dumping there. The new traffic dev ices installed at the Heppner Elementary School were also discussed. The city has been grappling vv ith ways to make the crossing between the two school buildings on Stansbury Street for some time. “It looks great." com mented one council mem ber. The council also heard that the St. Patrick senior center elev ator is now work- ing. There had been multiple continued page 9 Bugs-B-G one Removes dead hut's in 60 seconds or less. Can also be used os a complete vehicle wash, it in washer fluid. 16 oz. T rig g e r S p ra y ■ S A L E $ 5 .9 9 G a llo n C o n c e n tr a te - S A L E $ 3 4 .9 9 8 oz. W in d s h ie ld C o n c e n tr a te - S A L E $ 3 .9 9 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 rqnlpmrnt. xnstt our Wfb stti *1 www mrg* nut
