Mental facility changes location
Property; acquired across from Lakeview Heights
....
Library
Bessie Wet zeli Newspaper
University of Oregon
Eugene. O R 97403
By David Sykes
A proposed 6,200
square foot, eight-bed se­
cure residential mental facil­
ity for Heppner has changed
locations from a site above
Rock Street on the east side
o f town, to a 15 acre parcel
across the highw ay from
Lakeview Heights on the
Willow Creek Highway.
The parcel is ow ned
by Larry Angell o f Tygh
Lakeview
Heights
I hc mental facility planned for Heppner svili now be located across from Lakeview Heights
VOL. 128
NO. 5
10 Pages
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
School superintendent testifies
at McKinnis pre-trial
on, for four years and that he
By David Sykes
M o rro w C o u n ty held no “ill will” toward him
School Superintendent Mark as a result o f the theft. Bur­
row also said the
B urrow s testified
M orrow C ounty
last Thursday at the
School Board had
pre-trial conference
for former teacher
met in executive
F o rrest M cK in n ­
session to discuss
is, who is charged
the arrest and the
*
w ith first degree
board held a con­
theft, a felony, and
sensus that McK­
43 co u n ts o f o f ­
innis should not
ficial m isconduct
be criminally pros­
for stealing 43 text Forrest
ecuted, and that
books and selling M cKinnis
the repayment and
them on e-bay.
civil compromise
were acceptable.
Burrows
Under cross exam­
was called to the stand by
M cK innis’ attorney Brent in ation M orrow C ounty
Smith and asked if money District Attorney Elizabeth
for the books had been re­ Ballard asked Burrows if it
paid. B urrow s said that would surprise him that she
McKinnis had paid the dis­ had called several members
trict back $2,600, the retail o f the board to verify, and
had been told by the board
value o f the books.
T he d e fe n s e had members they would not be
asked Circuit Court Judge satisfied with a civil com­
Daniel Hill that the criminal prom ise. “ Yes it w ould,”
charges against McKinnis Burrows said. He said the
be dropped in favor o f a discussion was held in ex­
civil compromise satisfied ecutive session so there was
by repayment o f the stolen no vote on the issue, but that
it would be reflected in the
books.
Burrows said that he m inutes o f the executive
had worked with McKinnis, session meeting.
who was teacher o f the year
B allard also said
in 2006 and worked in Irrig- Burrows' opinion o f whether
\L'i
McKinnis should face civil
co m p ro m ise or crim inal
charges was not relevant
because the taxpayers o f
the Morrow County School
D istrict were the victim s
and not B urrow s or the
school board. The people
o f Morrow County deserve
justice," Ballard said. “ Mr.
McKinnis was a role model
to 110 at risk youth in al­
ternative school. He was
2006 teacher o f the year.
This (reducing the charges)
would show children Mr.
McKinnis does not have to
be accountable and they do,”
she added.
Sm ith also asked
that the 43 counts o f official
misconduct be reduced to
two since M cK innis had
rem oved books from the
school building on only two
occasions. Ballard argued
against the reduction say­
ing “this defendant made 43
conscious decisions to take
taxpayer books to sell."
Judge Hill said he
would rule on the request to
reduce charges in a couple
o f weeks and that in the
meantime “ I ask that the
parties work it out amongst
themselves.”
Sheriff’s deputies bust big IVI IP party near Heppner
I n f o r m a tio n r e ­
ceived from in tercep ted
text messages and word of
mouth led Morrow County
S h e riff’s D eputies to the
Social Ridge area near Hep­
pner where they discovered
a MIPparty on Friday, Janu­
ary 30. MCSO issued 27
citations in connection with
the party.
According to MCSO,
deputies were patrolling the
area when they located a
number o f vehicles parked
near the intersection o f So­
cial Ridge Rd. and Clarks
Canyon Rd. Investigation at
that location led to multiple
citations and the location of
the MIP party.
M CSO cited four
people w ith furnishing alco-
hoi to a minor: Malcolm A.
Stanton, Jr., 24, Lexington;
Jake W. VanDoom, 19, Lex­
ington; Aaron P. Henshaw,
21, Heppner; and Rebecca
S chiller, 20, Echo. O ne,
Trevor S. Prow, 20, Salem,
was cited for possession
o f less than one ounce o f
marijuana.
MCSO cited the fol­
lowing for MIP: Rosa L.
Panouro, 18, P endleton;
Shaun E. Hascall, 18, Pilot
Rock; Robert McMorris, 19,
Salem; Katie M. Britt. 20,
Heppner; Brandon C. Da­
vis, 20, Heppner; Samuel F.
King, 18, Heppner; Robert
H. Smith III, 19, Heppner;
Trevor S. Prow, 20, Salem;
Matthew S. Allen, 19, Pilot
Rock; Jason W. Wainwright,
19, H eppner; B raden L.
Britt, 18, Heppner; Justin
K. Gregory, 19, Portland;
Latosha Bowles, 18, Port­
land; C olton J. H anson,
20, Heppner; Matthew M.
Mulcare, 19, Pilot Rock; Re­
becca L. Schiller, 20, Echo;
B rittany N. D eD ios, 20,
Pilot Rock; Edgar Ramirez,
18. Pendleton; and Icy Roe,
18. Pilot Rock.
A16-year-old male,
Heppner. and a 17-year-old
fem ale from Pilot Rock
w ere also cited for MIP
and a 15-year-old female,
Pendleton, was cited for no­
operator's license.
MCSO said that the
investigation into the in­
cident is still ongoing and
more citations are possible.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
Valley who has apparently
reached an agreement with
the developers o f the site on
sale conditions.
The change o f lo­
cation for the facility was
necessitated by a disagree­
ment with the previous site’s
landowner and the city of
Heppner over who would
pay for a portion o f water
line to the proposed new
development.
The new location
is located outside the city
limits and according to Rod
Estes, a regional residential
development specialist w ith
Lifeways, a nonprofit cor­
poration that will develop
the mental facility, is a good
location, especially since the
facility is considering add­
ing “horse therapy” or horse
riding for the residents, to
the facility.
Talks between Kyle
Robinson, owner of the first
property, and the city o f
Heppner broke down when
the two could not agree on
who would pay $30,000 to
have water lines extended
to the edge o f Robinson's
property.
In a m eetin g last
week between Robinson,
Mayor Les Paustian, Estes
and others, to try and ham­
m er out the d ifferen ces,
Paustian said city ordinance
would not allow' the city to
pay the cost o f extending
utilities to a new develop­
ment. Robinson said former
interim city manager Steve
Bogart had told him the city
would help w ith those costs.
Robinson said absorbing the
extra $30,000 in estimated
costs would cause him to
lose money on the project
and that he alread y had
$10,000 in engineering and
other fees wrapped up in the
project. Robinson also said
the city was unable to tell
him exactly where the city
water mains were located,
and ended up giving him
three d ifferen t locations
w here he w ould be co n ­
necting.
With the city and
Robinson unable to come to
agreement Lifeways began
looking at the alternate site,
and Tuesday wrapped up the
last details to obtaining the
property.
Adding to the pres­
sure was a deadline to either
have an agreement in hand
within two weeks, or lose
all funding for the facility,
Estes said. “We need to have
a letter o f understanding or
something in two weeks or
the funding goes away,” he
said on Monday before the
second site was secured.
The secure mental
facility has been in the plan­
ning stages since last sum­
mer, w hen it w as the subject
o f public meetings and ap­
proval by the Heppner C ity
Council.
R esid en tial tre a t­
ment facilities are used to
house and treat mentally ill
persons convicted o f crimes
and found "guilty except
for insanity," and commu­
nity leaders wanted to make
sure the city would accept
such a facility before mov­
ing forward on planning.
Later a joint meeting of the
city and county planning
com m issions was held to
approve the necessary land
partitions.
Developers say the
facility w ill give an econom­
ic' boost to the area pro\ iding
15 to 20 full time positions
paying $30,000 to $65,000
in wages. The annual operat­
ing budget would be around
$960.000 and construction
costs o f the facility would
be $1.2 million. In addition,
most supplies for the facility
w ould be purchased locally,
including food, medications,
transportation and general
supplies.
As an a d d itio n a l
benefit Estes said that as part
of the project a two-bed cri­
sis respite unite will be part
the facility. This unit will be
open to local people experi­
encing a mental health crisis
-Continued on Page POL R
15 teams to participate in BEO Invitational
Wrestling Tournament this weekend
Beginning this Friday, approxi­
mately 150-200 fans will descend on
Heppner for Bank o f Eastern O regon’s
Invitational Wrestling Tournament on Sat­
urday, February 7. This is the first full-on
bracketed varsity wrestling tournament to
be held in Heppner.
Fifteen teams, includ­
ing Heppner, will have approx­
imately 173 wrestlers compet­
ing in the all day event. Wres­
tlers w ill begin their weigh-ins
at 8 a.m. with matches begin­
ning at 10 a.m.
There will be an ex­
panded c o n c e ssio n s stand
throughout the day. Heppner Mustang
wrestling t-shirts, as well as tournament
t-shirts, will be available for purchase
during the tournam ent. Proceeds from
the sale of the t-shirts will go to Heppner
High School.
The entrance fee is $4 for adults
and $3 for children.
The Chamber o f Commerce will be
providing a map o f local businesses and
restaurants that will be handed out w ith the
programs.
Schools that will be participating
in the tournam ent include:
Adrian, Joseph, Pine Eagle,
Imbler, Umatilla. Baker. Ir-
rigon. Crane, Colton. Elgin.
Enterprise, Riverside, Union,
and Wallowa.
As o f T uesday, the
Northwestern Hotel is com­
pletely booked for the week­
end and there are very few RY
slots available for fans that w ill be coming
into town for the tournament. If anyone has
spaces for RVs to park, or RVs or homes that
they are w illing to rent out for the weekend,
contact Sheryll Bates at the 1 leppner Cham­
ber o f Commerce at 676-5536.
The community in\ ited to attend.
Town of Lexington names new mayor
The Lexington Town
Council \ oted to name Sam­
uel Martin as the new city
mayor. Martin will finish
ser\ ing out a two year term
that was begun by Valerie
Doherty who died in De-
cember. The term will end
in 2010.
M artin 's a p p o in t­
ment to mayor leaves an
open vacancy on the town
co u n cil. All o f the new
council members will vote
to appoint a new councilor
to fill the position.
T he new mayor and
city councilors were sworn
into office at a ceremony
at Lexington City Hall on
Tuesday, January 27.
OPEN HOUSE
Saturday, February 1
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NAPA TOOL & FILTER SALE
P ris e s
February 9th -20th
BBQ Lunch 1 1 :3 0
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M orrow
C o u n t y G r a in G r o w e r s
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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