Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2009)
lone School Board gives preliminary go-ahead for gym bleacher project Bessie « t l /c By April Sykes Health Dept, begins H1N1 school vaccinations for bids on the project. Board member Bink Ramos abstained from voting on the issue. The lo n e H igh School gym floor instal lation has been completed and its current bleachers no longer lit w ith the enlarged gym floor, so the board opted to replace rather than rework the bleachers. The flooring had to be replaced following a storm which caused rain seeped through the uncom pleted roof and destroyed it. The board opted to in crease the size of the floor at that time, which made a bleacher redo of some sort a necessity. The board also de cided to proceed with some second tier projects that had not been completed previ ously with bond measure monies. T he b o a rd r e marked on lone School’s “o u tsta n d in g " ranking in the state school report cards, but expressed some concern with the school’s writing scores. They di rected Superintendent Karl Ostheller to research the results in order to find out if the writing scores were in error, a reporting glitch or something the district needs to address further. The board agreed to The Morrow County Health Department has been moving into the schools to begin administering the HIN1 or “Swine Flu" vaccines. So far 618 doses have been given in the schools. Below are the totals given out so far and the proposed schedule in the next two weeks. Heppner, lone and Lexington ‘plans’ presented to public The lone School Board Monday night gave the go-ahead to move the gym bleacher project up to priority one and advertise Eugene, w VOL. 128 NO. 46 10 Pages Wednesday, November 18. 2009 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon By David Sykes SCH O O L DATE SC H O O L POP. # D O S E S G IV E N lone School Dist. 11/12/2009 165 99 Heppner Elementary 11/12/2009 196 95 AC Houghton Sam Boardman 1113 2009 11/13/2009 265 324 195 186 Irrigon Elementary 11/18/2009 198 Morrow Ed. Center 11 18 2009 70 Windy River 1118 2009 218 Heppner High 11 23/2009 224 Irrigon High 11/24/2009 336 Riverside High 11/24/2009 428 TOTAL 2424 575 The Health Department has also gone into the Head Start programs in Irrig- on and 2 in Boardman where a total of 43 injections were given. The lone Preschool and Heppner Daycare have attended the H 1N 1 clinics in their local schools. After the schools are finished the Health Department plans to begin hold ing regular clinics and giv ing out the vaccine to the high risk portions of the general public. Following is the high risk population that will begin receiving the vaccine after the schools are completed. -Pregnant women -Household members and caregivers of infants less than 6 months of age. -Anyone 6 months through 24 years of age. -Persons age 25-64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of complications from influenza. -Healthcare workers and law enforcement. “We are receiving vaccine one week at a time, and are subject to the allocations the state parcels out." Morrow County Public Health Director Sheree Smith told the Heppner Gazette-Times Monday. Smith said that the Health Department would be returning to the different schools the week before Christmas break to give the required second doses to children nine years and younger. Hoffert bags big bull in Heppner Unit fl proceed on the school's five year charter renewal and will hold a public hearing at the district’s December board meeting. The charter will expire in January. In other business, the board: -heard a presenta tion from Michael Lasher with the Umatilla-Morrow Educational Serv ice District about a possible merger be tween the Umatilla-Morrow ESD and the Union Baker ESD. The lone district con tracts with UMESD for educational and support services. Lasher told the board that the state legis lature is urging reduction o f the number o f ESDs and UMESD is consider ing proactive measures. He said that a merger would bring both advantages and disadvantages, including a $250,000 to $450.000 defi cit on the part of the Union Baker ESD. Lasher said that “much of the $250,000 to $450,000 would disap pear”, primarily in reduc tion o f services and the elimination of duplication in staffing. -pointed out that the school’s website is not current and directed ESD to update it. -heard from board member Lisa Rietmann who advised that the district do a "much better job" of getting items in the news papers. -received the fol low ing financial update: the district received $121.609 in basic school support and $4.692 in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds from the Oregon Department of Education in October; some special revenue funds are overspent-the federal REAP Fund, the food serv ice fund, the pool fund, extracur ricular fund, miscellaneous fund and IDEA fund. Ac cording to the report all funds will either be reim bursed or have transfers to cover the deficit balances. The miscellaneous fund w ill receive Science Grant monies. - le a r n e d from Lasher that school funding for the current school year will be sufficient with ad ditional financial support from "Stimulus Funds" and state “Rainy Day Funds," but he cautioned that next year's funding projection is not so rosy. "Next year is likely to be worse." he said. "Let’s not think about that," retorted board Chair Joe McElligott. Lasher re minded the board that the ESD is also affected by state school funding cuts. i See ¡ONE SC HOOL DIS TRICTPage SEVEN Newly completed strategic plan provides vision to communities in the Willow Creek Valiev By David Sykes A new Strategic Plan, laying out the aspira tions and concerns for the communities of Heppner, Lexington and lone, has been completed and was presented to the public Monday night. Some of the goals for Heppner include: in creasing the am ount of rental housing, retaining and developing small busi nesses, retaining medical services, promoting tour ism, maintaining programs and quality of education in the schools, expanding use of the public library, maintaining and upgrad ing the city water system, streets, etc., and planning for a population of 1,600 people. The Heppner goals also focused on quality of life issues such as provid ing “diverse, wholesome and fun recreational ac tivities, and maintaining a neat, clean and attrac tive community. The plan goes on to list other goals to pay for the ideas, but is instead used more as a road map and vision for the fu ture. It can also be used as an aid in procuring grants •See STRATEGIC PLAN Page SEVEN such as maintaining strong law enforcement, support for seniors and youth and training and recruiting new community leaders. The plan does not provide answers on how Mustangs to play in state quarterfinal game Jordan Hatfield intercepts a pass in Saturday \ game against Monroe. The Mustangs defeated Monroe 33-0. Heppner w ill play their next game on Saturday, November 21. against Kennedy in Mount Angel. -Photo by Sandi Matthew* Body found in Irrigon field On Thursday, No vember 12, the Morrow County Sheriff's Office discovered the body of 29 year old Eric Chairez San chez of Hermiston in a field east of Irrigon. A utopsy resu lts tion w here the deceased was found are consistent w ith the death being the results of hypothermia." The Morrow Coun ty Sheriff's is still investi gating. will not be complete until toxicology reports are re turned to the State Medical Examiner. According to the Morrow County Sheriff's Office, "The condition of the deceased, the weather, his clothing, and the loca Gazette-Times to close for Thanksgiv ing The Heppner Gazette-Times will be closed on November 26 and 27 in obser vance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The office will re-open on Monday, November 30. at 9 a.m. A L L NEWS AND ADV ERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Tyler Hoffert. IK. of Hernmton shot this hull on October 2‘> around Brush Creek in the Hep pner Unit. After graduating from Hcrniiston High School, he plans to join the Marines and will attend boot camp in August 2010. He is the son of Sandra Bice and Steve Hoffert of Hcrniiston, and the grandson of (>lcn and Joyce Ward of Heppner. Contributed Photo The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see pictures o f your trophy animals from this hunting season. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos, or email them to editor@rapidserve. net. 1 We will be closed for Thanksgiving at all locations November 26,27, and 28 < Have a happy holiday! M o r r o w C o u n ty G r a in G r o w e r s Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396 For f»rm equipment Tlilt our w»b site ai I WWW race« n«t
