Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2008)
Court Street reconstruction project set to begin next year 11 ■ 1 1 1 1 111 11 111 1 11 111 • 1 A major road proj ect to straighten and widen Court Street is set to begin in 2009. Substandard roadway alignment, poor pavement condition, and pedestrian safety are problems that w ill be fixed with the project. The section o f the Heppner H ighw ay travels through a residential area, a school zone, and the local County fairgrounds in Heppner. In the plans, side walks and parking will be replaced or extended on the 11 1 • 11 1 1 1 Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 HEPPNER imes VOL. 127 NO. 13 8 Pages Wednesday, March 26,2008 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon National Guard Chinook visits Heppner students and community members H ep p n er w as the destination o f a CH-47D Chinook H elicopter from P e n d le to n on T u e sd a y March 18. The Ju n io r H igh/ High School students were able to watch in admiration as the large helicopter flew swiftly overhead and then circled back to complete an awe inspiring landing. The blades and the power it pro duced as it landed pushed against the students and locals as they watched. A fter the engines wound down and the blades slowed to a stop the Flight Engineers, SGT Scott Sweet and SGT R obert Dowell were quick to open the air craft so the excited students could enter the aircraft. E ven th o u g h the weather was cool and rainy, that did not deter members o f the community and stu dents from coming up and having a walk through the infamous Chinook. The crew members o f the Chinook slowed the west and north or left side o f the highw ay from begin ning to end. If construct- able some sidewalk w ill be salvaged in specific areas. Current elevated sidewalks on the east side o f Court Street will be replaced in the first two blocks from the connection of Hager Street at the co u rth o u se to the nearest Barratt Boulevard connection. Retaining walls will be built in these two blocks to allow the w idening o f the roadway and installa tion o f new sidew alks at the top o f the retaining walls. These sidewalks will have hand railing installed for safety and be re-connected to the current paths leading to houses along this area. Temporary easements from residents will be needed to build the retaining walls, sid e w a lk s, and c o n n e c tions. Parking along the west side o f the street w ill c o n tin u e to be allo w ed where possible. Parking will continue to be provided in the area o f the fairgrounds where available adjacent to the highway, to be used dur ing events held at the com munity football field and fair grounds. The wide turn around area across from the fairgrounds will continue to be used as an occasional parking area. The w estern most approach to the fairgrounds will be improved to continue reasonable access to the fair grounds at this location. This connection to the highway will need to be moved to the east to improve the sight distance for traffic in proximity to the corner. The w estern approach to the fairgrounds is restricting and major impacts would be the result. The east approach will need m inor changes mostly by altering the exist ing fence and gateway to im- This sharp curve by Heppner Elementary School will be straightened out as part of the Court Street Project. -Photo by Autumn Morgan X*STP-SO-SOS2(018) OF PROJECT STA. 33.00 i'MP 4«..52)' H .l-rirm ; I p r e tti, v )r .■ V This map shows the beginning and ending points for the Court Street Project. prove the radius for trucks. This has been identified and discussed with County Fair officials who are planning to make this modification on their own. Access and drainage solutions in this area will be developed in cooperation with the Mor row' County fair board. A school crossing w ill be b u ilt w ith signs and a Hashing beacon to encourage a safer area for pedestrians. Drainage will be addressed in the area of the project from Stansburry Street east to the project limits. Two d rain ag e fa cility locations have been identified on the County Fair property, one at the west end near the highway and the new location o f the West access and one near the east access street. R em oval and re placement o f the existing cyclone fence along the fairgrounds is in connection with the County Fair and it is likely that the new fence will not be in place during the 2009 Fair. This fence is currently used for control o f patrons during fair and football games. The special provisions w ill need to iden tify a no w ork period during the Morrow County Fair and Rodeo. Additional right of way w ill need to be a c quired for the project. Fee acquisition and temporary easement w ill be needed for construction. There are 20 different properties that w ill need temporary easement. The cost o f the proj ect is 82,500.000. lone students tour National Guard Chinook A Chinook helicopter from Pendleton landed at HHS last Tuesday. Students were able to tour the helicopter and as the soldiers questions. blades and opened the doors to allow for inform ative tours and close up views o f the cockpit, belly, and military who came in on the helicopter. T he s o ld ie rs that supported this educational event by answering ques tions about the capabilities o f the aircraft and an general questions about the military were: Chief Warrant Officer 4 Doug Walker (Test Pilot), Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tony Easter Bunny makes annual visit to Heppner Addison Pace, 3, of Wilsons ¡lie spent some time with the F.aster Bunny this past Saturday at the Faster F.gg Hunt sponsored hv the Heppner Elks Lodge. Addison is the son of C’hrisy Schultz of Wilsonville. He is the grandson of Re ese and Linda Schultz of Heppner and the great-grandson of Mable Heath. -Photo by David Sykes M inkler (CH -47D Pilot), Sergeant First Class David McCurry (Readiness NCO), Staff Sergeant Albert Smith (Training NCO), Specialist Michael Burton (Logistical Operations), Specialist An drina Taylor (Avionics Re- pairer/Logistical Support) and Staff Sergeant Daniel A g en b ro ad (R e c ru itin g / Retention NCO). The stu d en ts and community members were inform ed about what the aircraft and the soldier’s ac complish locally in the state o f Oregon when they are not deployed for operations overseas. Fighting forest fires, delivering relief supplies to flood victims and rescuing loss or stranded individuals throughout the state are just a few o f the peace time mis sions of the Pendleton based aviation units o f the Oregon Army National Guard. The Oregon Army N ational G uard Aviation Support Facility in Pendle ton will be hosting an open house on April 16, 2008 tour times will be: 9 a.m.-l I a.m., 11 a.m.-l p.m., and 1 p.m.-3 p.m. All are welcome to come and see for themselves what a wonder it is to have such freedom. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. 1 I Third Grade Dami) Doherty grins while seated in a Chinook Helicopter while classmate, Hanna Flynn, peaks around. Seth Thompson gets help out of the Chinook Helicopter that landed on the lone Schools football field on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday morn ing, March 18, a Chi nook helicopter from the Pendleton National Guard Station landed on the high school football field at lone Schools. Students were Members of the kindergarten class at lone get their picture allowed to tour the heli taken in front of a Chinook Helicopter and with Sgt. Greg Cor- copter and visit w ith the taherria. soldiers. GREEN FEED MARCH MADNESS SPECIAL! At Green Peed & Seed: M ake a B asket and Sa ve M oney on £a cy P u rch ase! falte i Basket... 2 % OFF E A C H B A S K E T M AD E Save $$$! (5 Shots per CustomerJ M orrow C ounty d ra in (¡rowers C reen F eed & S eed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
