Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2009)
St. Patrick’s Celebration faces cutbacks without new funding '¿'"'"■'■'••m.... Hihiill B t'N SIC WeUeii N U ni\ vrsit>o7, # VOL. 128 >1 r\ e-('>R 974 0 3 n NO. 7 8 Pages Wednesday, February 18, 2009 By David Sykes If the St. Patrick’s Day C e le b ra tio n cannot com e up w ith additional funding, it may have to cut back on some activ ities and scale down the size o f the celeb ratio n , St. P atrick ’s Chairman Sheryll Bates told the Heppner Gazette-Times this week. “Most people don’t realize it, but the St. Pat ric k ’s C elebration is not connected to the Chamber of Commerce,” says Bates, who is also executive direc tor of the chamber. The cel ebration is put on by a stand alone group o f volunteers. The City o f Heppner takes care of their money but does not contribute funds to the celebration. The Chamber o f Commerce is used for organization o f the festivi ties. The funding to put on the celebration comes from many d ifferen t so u rces; however there has been an average $5,000 shortfall in the past several years. For in sta n ce th is year the total budget will spend $19,250, but there is revenue o f only $14,050 coming in. The shortfall is made up from cash carry over from prev ious years, a carryover that will disap pear this year and leave the celebration with only about $200 in the bank. "W e n e e d so m e fundraising or we will have to cut back,” Bates says. She is not happy about it, but that is the reality she must deal with. “We have been count ing our pennies and watch ing what we spend,” she adds. Bates did not say what Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon events or serv ices would have to be curtailed, but said the committee would have sold on eBay for $1,997. to decide that. In addition McKin "We will have a cel nis w as ordered to undergo ebration next year, it just a psychiatric evaluation and attend a gambling addiction program. Rick S. Smith, 51, D efen se atto rn e y Brent Smith said his cli o f Heppner was found de ent would suffer additional ceased at the scene o f a hardship from the convic single vehicle crash near tion. “ His teach in g c e r Heppner on Saturday, Feb tificate will be pulled and ruary 14. The Morrow County he will be suspended from Sheriff's Office received a teaching,” Smith said. "He report o f a single vehicle has resigned from the school district and it will be a long crash around 9:05 p.m. that time before he works for a school again,” Smith told the judge. Teacher sentenced in book thefts By David Sykes Former teacher and Heppner High School boy’s basketball coach Forrest McKinnis plead guilty last week to stealing 43 books from the classroom and sell ing them on eBay. McKinnis plead guilty to one count o f first-degree theft and two counts o f first-degree of ficial misconduct. T he th e ft c h arg e was reduced under the plea agreement from a Class A felony to a Class C misde meanor and Judge Daniel Hill sentenced M cKinnis to 180 days in jail, but sus- pended 150 days in favor o f 30 days electronic surveil lance. Hill also sentenced M cK innis to 24 m onths probation and 40 hours o f community service. He was also fined $ 1,000 with $500 suspended. Also under the plea ag reem en t, the 43 three counts o f official misconduct were reduced to two, and for those M cK innis received 360 days in jail suspended w ith 24 months probation to run concurrently. McKinnis was fined a total of $ 1,878 in fees, assessments and judg ments. Earlier he had repaid the district $2,600, the retail value o f the books which he o f the investigation, MCSO became aware that Quast had additional devices that he had hidden in his young er sister's bedroom at his m other's home. Sgt. Ray- bum, accompanied by bomb technician Dennis Wagner, went to the residence and found three devices in a bedroom closet. The Bom b Squad removed all o f the devices and they will be destroyed at a safe location. Daniel Vernon Quast was lodged at the Umatilla may be smaller that it has been in the past," she said o f rumors around tow n that the celebration may end this year. In the past, major fund raisers such as an auc tion and casino night have prov ided funding, and the com m ittee does plan on holding casino night again this year, but Bates doesn't know if it will make up the gap. "We receive $6,500 from the recreation district and that funds the entertain ment,” she says, "but there are lots o f expenses not cov ered that need to be funded in order to draw the crowds and put on the same level o f celebration.” "We are looking for fund raising ideas and vol unteers to do the work to keep our celebration going,” says Bates, adding that they also accept donations. This year’s celebra tion will be March 12-15 and will be the 27th annual. Heppner man dies in crash Three pipe bombs seized, man charged The Morrow County Sheriff's Office has arrested a 19 year old Irrigon man, Daniel V. Quast, in connec tion with manufacturing a pipe bomb. S e rg e a n t R andy Rayburn with the Morrow' County Sheriff's Office was in the process investigating a civil issue when he was shown a possible pipe bomb in a vehicle at the Irrigon Mobile Court on February 11. The vehicle was oper ated by Quast, o f Irrigon. During the course The 27-year-old Heppner St. Patrick’s Celebration may have to say goodbye to some aetiv ities oi events if additional sources of revenue are not found. -Photo b\ David Svkes County Jail on the follow ing charges: three counts of possession o f a destructive dev ice, a class C felony, and three counts o f illegal manu facturing o f a destructive device, a class C felony. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office reminds ev eryone that manufacturing a destructive device is both illegal and dangerous. Two years ago, another M or row County man was killed w hen the pipe bomb he was working on detonated unex pectedly. Colt basketball teams show off their skills day. A passing m otorist found the vehicle near mile post 8 on W illow Creek Road. An investigation by the Morrow County Sher iff's Office determined that Smith's 1998 Toyota pickup was northbound on W il low Creek Road when the vehicle left the road and entered the soft gravel on the shoulder o f the road. The vehicle then returned to the pav ement, crossed to the op posite side o f the road where it rolled at least twice. The incident is still under investigation. Valby Lutheran to formally install Anderson as pastor V a lb y L u th e ra n Church will be holding a special worship service on Sunday, February 22, at 3 p.m. to formally install Rev. Katy Anderson as their pastor. Members of the community are cordially in vited to join lo cal clergy, luther- an pastors from aro u n d E a stern Oregon, former pastors o f Valby, and current m em bers o f the congregation in celebrating this event. Bishop Dave Brauer- Rieke o f the Oregon Synod o f the Evangelical Lutheran C hurch in A m erica will preside. The serv ice will be followed by a reception. Pastor Anderson has been serv ing the members o f Valby on a half-time ba sis since October 2007, the first six months as an intern and then con tinuing informally until her ordination at Peace Lutheran Church in Pendleton on D ecem ber 20, 2008. The serv ice o f installation for malizes her role as pastor o f Valby, follow ing in a long line o f faithful pastors who hav e serv ed this congregation since it was founded in 1886. Katy is the fourth generation o f Lutheran pas tors in her family. She came into the m inistry after a career as a family law para- legal and mediator, working for more than 20 years w ith her husband, attorney Bruce A nderson, in La Grande. She continues to serve the C ircu it C ourts o f Union and Wallowa Counties as a court-connected custody and parenting time mediator during the portion of each week she spends at the fam ily home in La Grande. Valby L u t h e r a n C hurch w orships w eekly on Sunday mornings at 9 am. Several opportunities for Bible study are av ailable during the week. For more information or for directions to the church, you can reach Pastor Anderson any day o f the week at her Lexington phone number: 989-8174. lowe’s community fundraiser linripr t o hp H p IH Howe's Community Fundraiser Dinner will be held at the Elks Lodge on Thurs day, February 26, from 5-8 p.m. A spaghetti dinner will be served. Raffle tickets for a print by Sandra Haynes will be available for purchase. Anyone interested in bringing a dessert is asked to contact the Chamber at 676- 5536 or Shelli Britt at 676-5489. Al the MCGG GREEN FEED STORE in H eppner: W IN T E R C L O T H IN G S A L E Players in the Colt basketball program showed off the skills they have learned, playing games during halftime of the Mustang games on Friday. -Plwln by Sotuh Matthew s ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. In su lated Bibs and C overalls • F lan n el S h irts W inter Pac B oots • W inter Insulated G loves • S to ck in g Caps M orrow County Grain G rowers Green F eed & S eed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
