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nSpaPer Library
Eugene, OR 97403
City gets $3 million for streets, sidewalks
and new “Lovers Lane” foot bridge
Money is state funds and not part o f Federal stimulus
By David Sykes
The city of Heppner will
receive $3 million from the
State of Oregon for seven
projects ranging from side
walks and streets to a new
VOL. 128
NO. 31
10 Pages
Wednesday, August 12,2009
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Barney Lindsay elected school board chair
Irrigon High may become 3A school
By April Sykes
Barney L indsay
was elected Morrow Coun
ty School Board Chair at
a meeting held Monday
night at the district offices
in Lexington.
Lindsay and Thad
Killingbeck were sworn
in as newly elected mem
bers and Dan Daltoso was
elected vice-chair.
M orrow C ounty
School District Superin
tendent Mark Burrows told
the board that the Oregon
School Athletic Associa
tion will move Irrigon High
School to 3A classification
from 2 A, effective 2010. He
said that the district is con
cerned about the proposed
move as the newly formed
Irrigon High School, which
is now in the same clas
sification as Heppner High
School., will have to com
pete with much larger, es
tablished schools, such as
Riverside High School,
Nyssa and John Day. “It
would be really a tough
thing competitively,” said
Burrows. He added that
economics is also a consid
eration, saying that it could
cost the district “a bundle
of cash” for transportation
and other costs. The criteria
for classification placement
is student enrollment with
the bar set at 220 students
for 3A. Burrows said that
IHS currently has only 180
students and the district
plans to petition OSAA to
reconsider the proposed
change. If IHS is reclassi
fied it would be effective
from 2010 to 2014.
Burrows also told
the board that Windy River
Elem entary School has
not met its Average Yearly
Progress goals for the sec
ond year in a row. He said
that the school did not meet
its goals in two subgroups,
English Language Learn
ers and Special Education.
Since WRE did not meet its
goals for the second year,
the school will now have
to undergo a comprehen
sive improvement planning
process and will have to
notify parents of WRE stu
dents that they can choose
to send their children to a
school that performs high
er at the expense of the
district. If WRE parents
so choose, they could opt
to have their children at
tend another school in the
district, such as Heppner
Elementary or Irrigon El
ementary and the district
must pay for transportation.
WRE is comprised of fifth
and sixth-grade students.
Because WRE did not meet
its AYP, the district is now
eligible for grant monies
to assist the improvement
process.
At the same time,
Burrows said that he is
proud o f Morrow Coun
ty Schools and expressed
regret that two small ar
eas prevented WRE from
achieving its AYP goals.
“It’s a shame with the fed
eral government, if you
mess up in one little area,
it doesn’t give you credit
for all the gains,” said Bur
rows.
H e p p n e r H ig h
School P rincipal Daye
Stone said he is looking
forward to the new pro
ficiency-based system at
HHS this fall. In May, Stone
said that the school will
change from seven to eight
periods per day and from a
curriculum based on “seat
time” to proficiency, where
students will be tested to de
termine their proficiency in
a subject before they will be
able to move on to a higher
level. He said that while
at first there were some
“misnomers” about the new
program, he had visited
with “movers and shakers”
in the community to help
disseminate the information
about the changes and the
questions have died down.
“It’s an exciting time pe
riod,” said Stone.
Also at the meet
ing, the board approved
the canvas of the Commu
nity Education Committee
election results. Burrows
said that no one filed for
the Com m unity Educa
tion Committee positions
in any community and the
board is exploring elimi
nating the committees. The
board decided to seek legal
counsel toward that process
and directed Burrows to
write letters to the write-in
candidates to that effect.
“The CECs are no longer
useful,” said board member
Bill Kuhn. Burrows said
that there have not been
active CECs for the last
three years and noted that
serving on a CEC is no lon
ger relevant. He suggested
that interested citizens par
ticipate in booster clubs
and site councils. He added
that the election process is
also expensive for the dis
trict, amounting to around
$1,000 per election. CEC
write-in candidates who
were approved, receiving at
least two votes each, were
Deanne Irving, Irrigon, Kent
Hansen, Marcy Rodelo and
Sheila Corpus, all Board-
man, and Marcia Kemp,
Heppner-Lexington.
In other business,
the board:
-Continued on Page SIX
Man drowns at Boardman Marina Park
According to the
Boardman Police Depart
ment, on Sunday, August 9,
at approximately 2:30 p.m.,
a 21 year old man drowned
while swim m ing at the
Boardman Marina Park.
Witnesses reported
the man had swum across
the swim area and was
swimming back to the op
posite shore when he began
struggling in the water. A
friend on shore attempted to
rescue the struggling man,
but was unable to do so. A
Boardman Police officer
arrived on scene and, with
the help of several citizens,
dove into the water and was
able to retrieve the man
from about six or seven feet
of water.
A m bulance and
fire crews from Boardman,
along with the undersheriflf
from the Morrow County
S heriff’s Office, arrived
on scene and attempted to
revive the man. Their ef
forts were unsuccessful due
to the amount of time the
man had been under water.
The man was pronounced
deceased at the scene.
A relative o f the
deceased reported the man
had suffered from muscle
cramping in the past while
swimming and nothing in
the water of the swim area
was found to have contrib
uted to the drowning.
The man was iden
tified as Juan Florez-Perea
of Mexico. Florez-Perea had
been staying with family in
Boardman while working
during the harvest.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
t
footbridge over Willow
Creek, it was announced
at Monday night’s council
meeting.
Council members learned
of the unexpected money
when City Manager Dave
De Mayo explained how he
had been contacted by state
Representative Greg Smith
in May about money that
had become available for
projects after another city
had turned it down.
De Mayo said Smith
called him on May 11 late
in the afternoon, and said
the money was available
if the city could come up
w ith a list of projects within
two and one half hours. De
Mayo said he consulted
with Heppner High School
Principal Daye Stone and
then came up with seven
projects to spend the nearly
$3 million in state funds.
The list includes in pri
oritized order:
l.A rebuildofBarratt Blvd
including a complete re
construction from the sub
grade up, including curbs,
gutters, and a drainage sys
tem and sidewalks ($1.48
million). 2. Completion
of Riverside Ave. consist
ing of installing curbs and
gutters, installing sidewalk
along the south east side
and completing the instal
lation of the storm drainage
system (cost: $512,000). 3.
Replacement and repair of
“Lover’s Lane” pedestrian
bridge crossing Willow
Creek behind the Bowl
ing Alley, including re
placement of superstructure
and sidewalk approaches
(cost: $149,570). 4. Hep
pner Elementary School
sidewalk renovation in
cluding repair and replace
of existing retaining wall
and replacement of the
sidewalk and replacing 300
ft of safety rail ($119,220).
5. Install sidewalks to and
from Heppner High School
starting at the junction of
Gale and Water Streets up
Water Street to Willow
View Drive at the High
School and then to the Junc
tion of Spruce and Morgan
Streets, about 3,300 feet,
and then on to the intersec-
Some of the projects slated for Heppner include new
sidewalks up to the High School on Water St. (top),
replace foot bridge behind Bow ling Alley (inset),
and new sidewalk on Elementary School lower field.
tion of Morgan Street and nate we got this money,”
Riverside, another 1,100 Mayor Les Paustian told
feet ($477,760). 6. New the council. “A lot of other
sidewalks on Hager, Cow cities did not get anything."
ins and Gilmore streets, This is not local tax money,
approximately 4,000 feet. he added.
($100,000). 7. Stabilize an
The money came from
alleyway hill slope failure HB2001 which is all state
on Hill Street using drain money and not part of the
age, geotextiles (permeable federal stimulus program.
fabrics which, when used in “Heppner put in for federal
association with soil, have stimulus dollars and was
the ability to separate, filter, denied, De Mayo told the
reinforce, protect, or drain) council.
and gabions (cages, cylin
In order to get the funds
ders, or boxes filled with the city will have to provide
soil or sand) ($100,000).
the engineering for the
“We feel we are fortu
continued page 10
Temple snags Amateur Calf Roping saddle
By Autumn Morgan
After 21 years of
com peting for the Mor
row County Jackpot Ro
deo Amateur Calf Roping
saddle, Dick Temple has fi
nally taken it home. Temple
rode his daughter Kristal’s,
horse, Sunny, who had
only been out of the barrier
two times in the last four
years..
T e m p le b e g a n
teaching himself calf roping
when he was 19 and he still
loves roping even though
he doesn’t get a chance to
do it much. Today he ropes
calves with just reins at
tached to the halter because
the mare “really loves to
rope calves, even though 1
had a little trouble w ith her
at the rodeo.”
This year, he had
some extra help getting
ready for the rodeo. Kyle,
Devin and Garrett Robin
son “helped me practice
the five times I practiced
this summer,” said Temple.
In between the go-arounds
Kyle helped him tie another
rope in case he missed the
first loop. They had to rig
the second loop so Temple
could throw the first on
Dick Temple works on w restling his calf to the ground during
the Amateur Calf Roping competition at the Morrow Counts
Jackpot Rodeo on Sunday, August 9. More Morross Counts
Fair and Rodeo pictures can he found on Page FIN E -Photo
by Sandy Matthews
Round-Up 13 years in a
row.
Temple has won a
jackpot or two in his life but
now "know s that saddle ex
ists because 1 have touched
it. I still don't know if elk
and jackalope exist, but 1
think the jackalope do be
cause I have seen the does."
said Temple. “This is my
21” year competing for the
saddle. 1 will miss compet
ing for it next year. I figure
every roper in the arena w as
a better roper than 1 am but
I got lucky this year.”
the ground and pick up the
second loop without being
bucked off.
Temple graduated
from veterinary school in
1970 and moved to the area
in 1986. “Karen and I came
here looking for a place to
raise a family and this has
been a wonderful commu
nity," he said.
Temple also does
some team roping w ith his
brothers, Daryl and Brian,
once or twice a year. He
has placed at the Wild Cow
Milking in the Pendleton
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