Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2009)
City considers social gambling ordinance By David Sykes fM iifi..l.liillllllll||l|llljl Bessie Wetzel I Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 The city o f Hepp- ner is discussing a social gam bling ordinance that would regulate card games, and possibly other games o f chance, at local taverns and bars. At its March 9 meet ing city attorney Anne Spicer went over dift'erent ways the o rd in an ce m ight control games such as black jack, loo and poker. The ordinance would require dealers to get back- ground checks and the es tablishment be licensed to host the games. "The estab lishment has to be licensed and must have background checks on anyone who is involved with (running) the game,” Spicer told the coun- cil. She said enforcem ent could be through the justice court and there would be an annual license renewal. She said private clubs such as the Elks would be under the same license procedure. "Right now it is illegal to do card g a m e s,” S p icer said. “You can only legally do private games at homes. That is a state statute.” Ever since the state lottery came in the rules have changed. Establishments can’t put up the money, pay the dealers or take a profit from the game, Spicer said. Q u e s tio n s w e re raised by the council w heth er the ordinance would ap ply to dice and even board games such as those used w ith sp o rtin g ev en ts. If a card game in a tavern requires the deal to shift around the table, the coun cil w anted to know if each person would be required to have a background check. S h e riff’s D eputy Randy Rayburn, who was attending the meeting, said he would get back to the council on the exact cost of background checks. The council is look ing at the ordinance at the re quest o f Nancy Gochnauer, owner o f Bucknum’s Tavern in H eppner, who w ished to know what games were allowed. The council took no action at its meeting, but agreed to have Spicer come back later with a proposed ordinance. In other business the council agreed to re-sign a contract with the M or row County Sheriff’s De partment to provide police coverage in the city. The contract is the same as last year except the cost will go up $12,884 per year to $176,376. The co u n cil also heard in the sheriff’s report that the seatbelt blitz was very active in Heppner for February. There was a total o f 29 traffic stops w ith 23 verbal w arnings and six citations. One vehicle was impounded. D ep u ties also re sponded to Pioneer Memo rial Hospital for an intoxi cated subject who ran out o f the emergency room w ith an IV still attached. It was reported that the subject might have consumed some brake fluid. The subject later returned to the hospital tor treatment. The council heard in the city m anager’s re port that the city has been aw arded $5,000 in grant money from the Ford Fam ily Foundation to be used to ward the gravel parking lot and utilities to be installed in the proposed restrooms at Hager Park. Transportation improvement project starts in Heppner VOL. 128 NO. 11 8 Pages Wednesday, March 18, 2009 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon lo n e School D istrict to m ake over $183,000 in budget cuts; offers early retirem ent packages The Oregon Depart ment o f T ran sp o rtatio n 's contractor Knife River Con struction o f Bend, Oregon, has begun work on a $2.17 million highway project that will repair the Court Street B ridge, rebuild sections o f Court Street / Oregon Highway 74 in town and construct sidewalk and bike lanes improvements in the area. The project includes $1.018 million in federal stim ulus dollars that will be used to resurface 19.5 miles of OR 74 with a chip seal from Heppner to mile point 66. T rav elers w ill experience minor delays in town throughout the sum mer months and are adv ised to use alternate routes if available. During the chip seal w ork that w ill take place later this year, motor ists can expect single lane travel with flaggers and pilot cars, plus loose rock on the roadway. "We realize this proj ect will create some incon veniences for travelers and local residence, but the end result will be a smoother, safer transportation system for cars, bicycles and pedes trians," said ODOT Public Inform ation O fficer Tom Strandberg. A separate chip seal - a p p o in te d T im Holtz and Tucker Rice to The lo n e S chool the budget committee. Board, at their regular meet -approved architec ing Monday night, voted to tural design plans for the authorize Superintendent/ new school remodeling proj Principal Karl O sth eller ect as presented. to make cuts in the 2009- -accepted the 2009- 10 school budget by over 10 school calendar Option $183,000 in response to a 1, which calls for staff in- projected funding shortfall. service from August 25-27; Current recommen a pre-Labor Day school start datio n s are to elim in ate on Monday, August 31; a one teaching position at two-week Christmas break $60,000; one classified aide from December 21 -January position at $25,000 and oth 1, w ith school resum ing er items as follows: technol Road work has begun on Court Street. -Photo Andrew Sykes Monday, Jan. 4; the last stu ogy hardware-$40,000; high dent day on Tuesday, June 8, school math textbook adop project will extend an addi through all work areas. Our w ith the last staff work day tio n ^ 12,000; student field tional 17 miles on OR 74 to contractors and crews are falling between June 8-10, trips-$7,000; high school Nye Junction and resurface w orking to create better and depending on scheduled general education, other several sections o f US 395 safer roads for you.” staff work/in-service days. tuition, textbooks instruc betw een Pilot Rock and T rav elers are e n Ostheller said that his staff tional service-$8,000; staff Fox. couraged to visit TripCheck. preferred Option 1. professional development- “ It is going to be com on the Web for current Option 2 called for $4,000; staff professional a very busy construction highw ay co n d itio n s and s ta ff in-service S ep tem growth-$6,000; educational season with over 60 high construction information, or ber 1-3; a post-Labor Day m edia-library books and way work zones throughout call 511 or 800-977-ODOT school start on September periodicals-$4,000; super eastern Oregon,” Strandberg for an automated road con 8; a two-week Christm as intendent tuition reimburse said. “ Please be patient and ditions report. break from Dec., 2 1-Jan. 1; m e n t ^ , 500; board member drive w ith extra caution and school ending on June out-of-district travel-$3,000; 16, w ith the last staff work transfer custodial services License suspensions in effect for ticketed M IPs day from June 16-18. from the Educational Service Option 3 called for District to Ione-$8,000; drop According to Judge Charlotte Gray o f the Heppner Justice Court, by Oregon staff in-service Aug. 26, 27 state law' anyone who is issued an MIP will be subject to a one year driver's license extra duty contracts, such as and 31; a pre-Labor Day suspension. Read-n-Play, SMART, TAG school start W ednesday, coordinator, concessions- Sept. 2 with a week and $6,900. h a lf o f C hristm as break The proposal would from Dec. 23-Jan. 1, the last student day on June 8, with the last staff w ork day from June 8-10. -received the fo l lowing administrative report from Ostheller: student en rollment is at 164 with 70 in kindergarten through grade five, 29 in grades six-eight and 64 in grades nine-12; the architectural firm presented a preliminary drawing o f the addition to the elementary building; the budget process has been begun with reduc tions o f $180.000 recom mended; the septic system was pumped, since it had been four years since the last pumping; student sports are Conner Brosnan follow, in hi, family', foot,tep, a, a leprechaun- underway with 27 students Bv April Sykes still preserve $5,000 for on-line learning opportuni ties (books and tuition) and $11,500 for staff pro fes sional growth. The board also voted to offer a $10,000 early retirement bonus for up to two teachers as a way to cut costs, since hiring new teachers is less expensive than retaining long-tim e te ac h e rs. The board set March 3 1 as the deadline to enroll in the early retirement option. The board received a report from Ostheller con cerning a rash o f th efts from student lockers and bags, m ostly small items such as pencils, hair ties and socks, he said, but also some cash and several Apple iPods. He said that someone came forward to identify the perpetrator and the school has been working with the Morrow' County S h eriff’s Office in connection with the thefts. He a lso re p o rte d som e discip lin ary issues involving disagreem ents and minor altercations, one at the high school and two at the elementary school. In other business, the board: Leprechaun-in-training in-training. M ore St. Patrick', Celebration picture, can he found on Page FOl'R. -Photo by Andrew Sykes -Continued on Page FIVE ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. t
