EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
Wednesday, September 16,2009
SCHOOL DISTRICT
CITY COUNCIL
ter o f kittens in the engine
of a vehicle he had parked
in his garage, and w hen he
started the engine he did not
know they were there.
The sheriff in atten
dance at Monday’s council
meeting said they can catch
the cats, but determining
the owners is another thing.
He said someone had also
been releasing the captured
cats on Union Street before
they could be relocated. The
council did not take any
action but said they would
study the matter for later
consideration.
City has over S31,000 in
late and unpaid w ater and
sewer bills
In other business
at the council meeting, the
council voted to become
more aggressive in collect
ing overdue water and sew
er bills. The city at one time
had over $30,000 in unpaid
water and sewer bills and
Monday the council gave
authorization to turn over
about $ 10,000 in 18 unpaid
disconnected accounts to a
collection agency
T here is another
$20,000 in late bills where
58 customers are still con
nected to the city and are
receiving water and sewer
services. The breakdow n is
$1,943 in 0-30 days over
due, $ 1,804 in over 30 days,
$ 1,576 in over 60 days, and
$15,538 in over 90 days
overdue water and sewer
bills. The city has worked
about payment agreements
w ith five o f the 58 still
connected accounts and
will be working on making
payment agreements with
the others without shutting
off services.
M ayor w arns of windmill
backlash
H e p p n e r M ayor
Les P austian said there
may be a backlash com
ing against the windmills
m oving into the Willow
Creek Valley. "Some people
are upset w ith the idea
of w indmills circling our
town,” Paustian said. "You
can’t tell people w hat they
can or can’t do with their
property, but this is going
to be something coming up
to deal with,” he said.
Bikes in the creek
The sheriff deputy
reported that there have
been several instances of
bikes being found in Wil
low Creek and that the de
partment has fished several
out. One councilm em ber
said she saw another one
Sunday while walking. The
deputy said he would try
and get that one out also.
He said the department had
a "collection” of unclaimed
bikes that parents have not
come to claim.
New utility billing clerk
hired
It was announced
that Staci Osmin was hired
as the new utility billing
clerk. There were 10 who
applied for the position.
MISSING FISHERMAN
members from the Morrow
County S h eriff’s Office,
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office, Sherman County
S heriff’s Office, Gilliam
County S h eriff’s Office,
B o ard m an A m b u lan c e ,
B oardm an Fire D e p a rt
ment, Columbia River In
ter-Tribal Fisheries, Yakima
Nation, Warm Springs Fire
and Safety, Warm Springs
Police Department, Warm
Springs Natural Resourc
es, and U.S. Coast Guard
helicopter from A storia.
Boats from M orrow CO
SO (2), Sherman CO SO
(1), Umatilla CO SO (1),
Columbia River Intertribal
Fisheries (2), and Columbia
Basin Dive Rescue from
Tri-Cities responded with
two boats.
Searching contin
ued until dark without suc
cess in finding the missing
men.
On Tuesday, Sep
tem ber 15, at 7 a.m. the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office Command Post was
reactivated and searching
w as resumed.
Approximately 50
people are involved in the
search for the missing men
on w ater as well as the
shoreline.
As o f press tim e
on Tuesday, the search was
still ongoing.
Sheriffs Report
mah County Circuit Court
w arrant for DUI1 and a
Hermiston Police Depart
ment warrant for Contempt
of Court and lodged at UCJ
with $21,000 bail.
-M CSO received
report of shots fired in Ir-
rigon. A deputy responded,
but was unable to locate
anything.
-M CSO received
request for extra patrol in
Lexington for subjects rid
ing four-wheelers on the
street.
-MCSO cited
Dustin Dale Roilis, 28. for
Driving While Suspended-
violation.
-MCSO cited Nick
Lawrence Harrison, 20, for
driving 81 mph in a 55 mph
zone.
-M CSO received
report o f a boy in Heppner
who was chased by a dog
and fell and hit his head.
-M CSO received
report of a possible Yellow
Pages scam in Heppner.
-M CSO received
report o f a brown, short-
haired dog lying in a ditch
in Heppner that did not look
very good and his hair was
falling out. The dog was put
in the city kennel.
-M CSO received
report that a man and his
wife were going through
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office reports han
dling the following busi
ness:
Ju n e 24: Morrow
County Sheriff's Office re
ceived report from a deputy
that he made contact with
a group o f juveniles. They
had an adult with them.
-MCSO arrested a
female subject on a Morrow
County warrant for Failure
to Appear. She was lodged
at U m atilla C ounty Jail
with $6,000 bail. She was
also arrested on a Multno
-Continued on Pane TEN
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thanks
to those who
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littlest passengers.
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Resource Center and Safe Kids Oregon would like to thank the specially-trained
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in acknowledging .he following
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Transportation Safety — O D O T
nizations, but subsequently
learned that one vaccination
may be sufficient.
Burrows said that
Julie Ashbeck, the district’s
human resources director,
has been d e sig n a ted as
the district’s H1N1 coor
dinator. He said that when
attendance dips below 90
percent, then school secre
taries will begin contacting
parents to determ ine the
nature of their child’s ill
ness. If absenteeism hits
30 percent, the health de
partment will be consulted
and school closure will be
evaluated.
While student at
tendance has been stressed,
in the event of an outbreak,
the d istric t’s attendance
policy may be suspended.
A.C. H oughton E lem en
tary School Principal John
Sebastian also suggested
that the state be notified
and urged to back off on
attendance requirem ents.
Attendance influences each
school’s state report card.
He said that recent research
indicates that people who
have contracted swine flu
may be contagious for as
long as a week. Symptoms
include fever, respiratory
illness, nausea and other
flu-like symptoms. River
side High School Principal
Dirk Dirksen said that his
facility will be using fever
as a guideline in determin
ing which children should
be sent home.
Also at the m eet
ing, the board ratified the
teach ers’ contract which
had been ratified earlier by
the Morrow County Educa
tion Association. Because
o f the current state funding
situation and budget con
straints, teachers agreed to
forgo a raise for the one-
year contract.
The new contract
in clu d e d the fo llo w in g
changes or additions:
-w o rd in g w hich
would allow for removal
o f a student who poses a
threat o f imminent harm to
a teacher or other students.
-a provision that
school principals meet with
teachers at the beginning o f
the year to discuss build
ing disciplinary standards
and procedures and school
district policies relating to
threats o f violence, assaults,
or other dangerous student
behaviors.
-clarification that
a day is considered eight
hours and a half-day four
hours.
-a provision that the
superintendent will notify
the employee via e-mail,
phone or mail if authoriza
tion to access the personnel
file is requested.
-an increase in the
district’s obligation toward
the teachers’ insurance pre
miums from $940 to $982
per employee per month.
-a provision that if
the teacher is on approved
leave, the cost o f the third
day will be borne by the
district.
-a provision that
payment for teacher course-
work made between June
1-June 30 for summer term
will be recognized as being
in the new fiscal year.
-a provision that if
the district closes its schools
for lack of funds for seven
or fewer days, the district’s
contribution to employee
health insurance benefits
will not be altered. If it is
necessary to close schools
for more than seven days,
the district’s monthly con
tribution will be pro-rated
based on the num ber o f
days worked in the month.
The district will notify the
teachers’ union before an
nouncing the closure. The
w ording o f th is a rticle ,
prior to addition, stated
that if the district closes its
school because of a lack of
funds, no m em ber o f the
bargaining unit shall be
entitled to any wage, salary
or fringe benefits provided
in this agreement while the
schools are closed.
T he b o a rd a ls o
heard a p resen tatio n on
the “Tooth Taxi” program,
w hich w ill provide free
dental care to students at
A .C . H oug h to n and Ir-
rigon Elementary schools.
Marilyn Post, a teacher at
ACH and past president of
the Morrow County Educa
tion Association, said that
the program has targeted
uninsured students w ho
are eligible for free and
reduced lunches. She said
that the Tooth Taxi van
will be at ACH for four
days and will provide an
initial screening and then
treatment, if required, at no
cost to the child’s family.
"We’re making a small dent
in a very large problem,”
commented Jim Jobes, with
Oregon Education Associa
tion Choice Trust. He said
the program was endorsed
by the OEA. Post said that
they were hoping to expand
the p rogram to in clu d e
Boardman schools.
In other business,
the board:
-heard a school im
provement report from Bur
rows and Phyllis Danielson,
assistant superintendent.
-h e a rd a re p o rt
from Sebastian on a draft of
revised elementary school
report cards. The cards will
now include the students’
benchmark scores and in
dicate whether the student
has passed his benchmarks.
Sebastian said he was tired
of making the difficult call
to parents o f children who
had been receiving A’s and
B’s but who had not passed
their benchmarks.
-heard a finance re
port from Burrows who said
that the district will be okay
financially this year, be
cause the district based its
budget on a 5.6 million state
funding level. He noted two
tax increases enacted by the
last legislature that could
impact school funding.
H ouse B ill 3405
will increase the C-corpo-
ration minimum tax from
$10 to between $150 for
businesses earning less than
$500,000 and $100,000 for
businesses earning m ore
than $250 m illion. Busi
nesses filing as partnerships
would also pay a $ 150 entity
tax; domestic corporations
would pay a $ 100 filing fee
with the secretary o f state,
while foreign corporations
w ould pay a $275 filing
fee. Businesses would also
pay new corporate income
tax rates o f 7.9 percent, up
from the current 6.6 percent
level. The rate would fall
to 7.6 percent during tax
years 2011 and 2012. The
measure would raise $261
m illion over the 2009-11
biennium and $762 million
between 2009-2015.
H ouse Bill 2649
will raise taxes on indi
vidual filers earning more
than $125,000 and jo in t
filers earning m ore than
$250,000. The move will
raise $582 million over the
next two years and $ 1.2 bil
lion over the next six years.
However, the legislature
and governor did not refer
the tax increases to the
voters, and signatures are
currently being collected to
place both these two new
tax increases on the ballot
for voter approval.
-ap p ro v ed re s ig
nations for: Laurie Ellis,
Irrigon Junior/Senior High
School educational assis
tant; Alma Perez, Morrow
Education Center English
Language Learner ed as
sistant; Lorena Cardenas,
R iverside Ju n io r/S e n io r
H igh School special ed
one-on-one assistant; Nish
McNamee, IJSHS depart
ment secretary.
-approved employ
ment for: Barbara Phillips,
three-quarter time ACH ed
assistant; Misty Bellamy,
.60 tim e assistant cook/
food service clerical and .40
time RHS ed assistant; Joy
Hearn, IJSHS ed assistant,
replacing Laurie Ellis; Judy
Woody, RHS ed assistant;
Ida Alfaro, RHS special ed
one-on-one assistant.
-a p p ro v e d e x tra
duty contracts for: Mindy
W ilson, H eppner Junior
High head volleyball coach:
Chad Doherty, HJH head
football coach; Jason Dun-
ten, IJSH assistant football
coach; Randal Olsen, RJH
half-time assistant football
coach; Tom Grimes, RJH
half-time assistant football
coach; Laura Combs, IJSH
assistant volleyball coach;
Joy Hearn, IJH head vol
leyball coach and assistant
basketball coach.
-approved the fol
lowing attendance varianc
es: a renewal for a MCSD
student to attend Stanfield
High School; two Umatilla
High School students to at
tend Irrigon High School;
three students from Hermis
ton School District to attend
MCSD.
-re sc in d e d p rio r
policies and approved new
policies on special ed pro
cedural safeguards, evalua
tion procedures and free ap
propriate public education,
all mandatory policies.
-ap p ro v e d b oard
Chair Barney Lindsay as
the Oregon School Board
Association candidate for
Region 2.
-heard the follow
ing announcements: OSBA
convention, November 12-
15, Portland; OSBA fall
regional meeting, October
29, Blue M ountain Com
munity College, 6 p.m.
development of ongoing and
upcoming projects to improve
the quality o f life in Iraq.
Determined to observe and
engage, Major DeMayo made
numerous visits into the hos
tile environment of Maysan
even though the province was
considered a High to Extreme
threat area.
His willingness to
carry out his mission dem
onstrated his dedication and
courageous attitude to get
the job done regardless o f
the danger. His hard work
and resourcefulness directly
impacted the success of each
project he was involved with,
providing a significant impact
to the mission of the Coali
tion Forces in Iraq. Through
his/her distinctive accom
plishments Major DeMayo
reflected great credit upon
himself, the Multi-National
Force-lraq, the United States
(Army/Navy/Air Force/Ma-
rine Corps), and the Depart
ment of Defense.
DEMAYO
his personal efforts in devel
oping, organizing and con
ducting a course in “Compre
hensive Land Use Planning”
for senior provincial officials.
These efforts will impact
the M aysan province for
decades to come. An effec
tive communicator, Major
DeMayo personally liaised
with the Director Generals,
Directors of Provincial Re
construction Development
Council, Provincial Council
and the Provincial Governor
to assist them of them in the
For more information, including a list of child safety seat checkup events around the state,
c o lli- 8 0 0 - 7 7 2 - 1 3 1 5 or visit us online at w w w .c h ild s a fe ty s e a t.o rg .
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