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.
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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
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