School district drops art programs at
Heppner and Irrigon due to budget cuts
Bessie V* el/v"
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
School Board, at their Mon
day night meeting at Windy
River Elem entary School
in Boardman, voted unani
mously to eliminate the art
programs at Heppner High
School and Irrigon High
School "as forced by budget
constraints.”
"Financially, these
are not ordinary tim e s,”
Eugene. OK ^
VOL. 128
NO. 15
8 Pages
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Social gaming ordinance requires back
ground check and fingerprinting
By David Sykes
An ordinance un
der consideration by the
city o f Heppner would re
quire bar owners, bartend
ers and others to have a
police background check,
be fingerprinted and the
establishments pay a yearly
$100 licensing fee before
wagering card games could
be played on the premises.
The council did not vote on
the ordinance, but instead
tabled the issue for further
study until next m onth's
meeting. A full text o f the
proposed ordinance can be
read at www.heppner.net/
gaming.
A ccording to City
Attorney Ann Spicer, all wa
gering card games in public
establishments in Heppner
have been illegal since 1991,
with the games only allowed
if the city has an ordinance
governing them, which Hep
pner does not.
Nancy Gochnauer,
owner of BucknunTs Tav
ern in Heppner, started the
ordinance process w hen she
asked the city if it was legal
to hold card games in her
tavern. The city has since
announced that w agering
card gam es that may be
going on around town are
illegal.
The proposed o r
dinance would require fin
gerprints o f the "ow ners,
officers, principal managing
employees, and all employ
ees who are involved in con
ducting the game activities
or operating the game prem
ises o f the applicant. Where
the perm it applicant is a
nonprofit membership orga
nization, 'principal manag
ing em ployee' shall mean
the chief elected official of
the organization and any
other elected officials whose
authority extends to the su
pervision or management of
permitted social games,” the
ordinance reads.
For th e E lk s it
would be the Exalted Ruler
as well as others who will be
managing the club while the
games were going on.
S h e r if f 's D ep u ty
John Bowles, who is also
a city council member, said
violation o f the gaming or
dinance would be a Class A
Misdemeanor, like a DUI,
and that the local police
would go into esta b lish
ments to check compliance
of the ordinance.
The establishments
where the card games are
held would also have to pay
a $100 annual fee as well as
the cost of the fingerprinting
and background checks.
Some council mem
bers
asked
that the ordi
Hanna Green, 4. enjoys a visit with the Faster bunny at the annual
Elks Easter Egg Hunt at City Park. Hannah is the daughter of nance be tabled until it could
David and Candy Green of Heppner. Photo by David Sykes
receive fu rth er study to
Easter bunny makes his
annual visit to Heppner
-continued on page 3
HEEL SWEEPS $12
The Nichols heel sweep is a revolutionary design that allows
both sweeping and chiseling to be done simultaneously. This
combination results in breaking up the hardpan to encourage
better root penetration and absorption of moisture.
HS-18B
M o r r o w C o u n ty G r a in G r o w e r s
I
said Superintendent Mark
Burrows, who told the board
that proposed reductions in
the state school fund were
worse than expected. He
said that the state financial
situation will return school
funding to 2001 levels and
w ill reduce the M orrow
County School D istrict’s
budget by around one and a
half million, rather than the
$800,000 loss previously
anticipated.
Burrow s said unless
the upcom ing th ree-year
serial levy is passed by dis
trict voters, the district w ill
be forced to cut five days
from the school year next
year and will seek a freeze
in employees’ wages. "One
and a half million is a lot,”
said Burrows.
In other business, the
district adopted a pre-Labor
Day start for the 2009-10
school year. Teachers will
begin on August 24, 2009,
with students starting on
August 31. Christmas break
is scheduled to begin Friday,
December 18, with school
resuming on Monday, Janu
ary 4, 2010. The last day
of school for students will
be Wednesday, June 9, and
the last day for teachers on
Friday, June 10. Staff w as
overwhelmingly in favor of
this option.
In other business at
the meeting, the board:
-heard a report from
Burrows on how the district
adapted to the road work in
progress near Heppner El
ementary School in regards
to busing students to and
from the school.. Burrows
especially gave his appre
ciation to Burke O'Brien for
his "can-do attitude” and to
the Morrow County Road
crew for making modifica
tions to facilitate the busing.
The buses were taken out
through the overflow park
ing area and a bridge was
built across Hinton Creek to
get the buses on their routes.
Burrows also credited Mid
Columbia Bus, the neigh
bors who allow ed access
through their property and
Heppner city manager Da
vid DeMayo for facilitating
the process.
-approved a reso
lution accepting- and ap
propriating $3,650 for a
supplem ental grant from
the Department o f Educa
tion for instruction and staff
developm ent at Riverside
High School in the A d
vanced Placement Incentive
Program.
-approved release of
two students to the Umatilla
School District.
-a p p ro v e d a tte n
dance variances for one
student from the Herrn-
iston School D istrict to
A.C. Houghton Elementary
School in Irrigon.
-approved renewal
o f atte n d an c e v arian ces
for one student to attend
Hermiston School District
from MCSD and one student
to attend Hermiston High
School w ith su b seq u en t
board discussion on the cri
teria for granting variances.
Burrows told the board that
the policy has been for the
convenience o f the students
and parents and w hen cours
es are not available within
the Morrow County School
District. "Times are hard
and we want to preserve
the ADM (the way the state
calculates enrollment and
reimburses the school for
each student attending), said
Burrows. The board plans to
discuss the policy further.
-approved a leave of
absence for Mary Koertje
for the rem ainder o f the
school year.
-approved the fol
lowing employment action:
resignations retirements for
Jean Strange. Heppner High
School PE and art teacher;
Kathy Simonis, Riverside
High School language arts
teacher; Cody Booth. Ir
rigon High School Span
ish language arts teacher;
Helen Walty. RHS assistant
custodian.
-approved the fol
lowing extra duty contracts:
David Boor. Riverside Ju
nior High School head foot
ball coach; Kyle C arpen
ter. RHS assistant football
coach.
-accepted S500 do
nations each to ACH, Irri
gon Elementary School and
IHS from the Washington
Defense Group at the De
pot.
-heard a mathemat
ics textbook adoption report
from Erin Stocker. How
ever, the tex tb o o k s will
not be purchased this year
because o f the anticipated
budget cuts.
-heard a presentation
from Windy River Elemen
tary staff on "parent par
ties” which create a bridge
between the parents and the
classroom.
-le a rn e d that the
Umatilla-Morrow ESDwill
be required by the state leg
islature to combine w ith the
Union ESI) by July 1,2010.
The board was assured that
there will be "no service
disruptions.”
-approved a resolu
tion for budget transfers as
follows: $500 from technol
ogy instruction to support
services; $1,200 from drug
and alcohol prevention to
support serv ices.
-heard the follow ing
announcem ents: the first
budget committee meeting
will be held Monday, May
4, at the district office at 7
p.m.; the next board meeting
will be held Monday, May
11, at Irrigon High School;
election day is Tuesday,
May 19; the last day for
seniors is Friday. May 29;
the math contest will be
held this Thursday at 6 p.m.
at Riverside High School;
the dedication for the new
baseball, softball and Little
League field at Irrigon at 10
a.m. Saturday.
-held an executive
session for the purposes of
d iscu ssin g em ploym ent,
negotiations and legal mat
ters.
Wrangler Riding Club
raffling off bench
W rangler Riding C lub charter member Howard Bryant puts his
brand on the bench the club is raffling for their only fund raiser
while technology education teacher Dave Fowler and student Dev in
Robinson look on. The bench is on display at Les Schwab lire
( enter. The bench was made by Wood on Wood of Heppner and
branded with W rangler Club member's brands and stained In Bill
Gentry. Tickets are available at Les Schwab or from a VV rangier
member for $5 each or six for $25. The bench will be raffled on
the last W rangler I’ layday on May 3. Contributed Photo
9th annual TV shoot to be held in lone
The 9th annual TV
shoot w ill be held in lone on
Saturday, April 25, at Frank
and Joe Halvorsen's farm.
The fee is $20 per
person, per shot. Registra
tion will be from 8:30-9:30
a.m. An all you can eat lunch
w ill be available. The cost is
$6 for adults and $3.50 for
children 10 and under.
Prizes will include
$100 for hitting the target
at 1,000 yards. There will
be three classes and prizes
for all three classes: Class
#1 - elk and deer rifle; Class
#2 - heavy target or bench
guns; and Class #3 - open
site 600 yards.
Allison Carey Gun-
works o f Portland will be
in charge o f the free clay
pigeons for the kids.
Bill B resh ears o f
B&B Barbecue o f Gresham
will be serving tri-tip sand
w iches, brats, hot dogs.
baked beans, and potato
salad.
For more informa
tion or to help sponsor this
event and get your name on
the reader board, call Fanna
Padberg at 422-7276.
The Halvorsen farm
is located at 64686 H al
vorsen Lane in lone.
All proceeds will be
used for children's games,
prizes, and the lone Fourth
of July Celebration.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
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