Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2010)
Tea Party group hands out ‘pink slips’ Bv David Sykes The Willow Creek Tea Party Patriots opened a store front office on Main Street in Heppner last week, and handed out "pink slips” for politicians, along with buttons bearing the slogan "Enough is Enough”. The pink slips are VOL. 129 NO. 1 8 Pages Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon NOAA issues monthly climate summary for Heppner pink cards addressed to congressmen and senators which say: “You work for us and you took an oath to serve and represent the Constitution of the United States of America and its People. And we do not want: Government Health Care, Cap and Trade, Ex cessive government spend ing. If you vote for or sup port any of these, your real pink slip will be issued in the next election.” There was also a space for people to add comments. The cards were then signed by members of the public and put in the mail to various elected officials. For a small donation a per son could get a button and three stamped pink slips to send in. There were boxes for each elected national representative in which the public could place their cards for mailing. The group had the office open most o f the m orning. “ We gave out over 75 buttons,” said Tea Party member Dick Sar gent. “ I thought it went very well and it also gave us the opportunity to meet People fill out pink slips at the Willow Creek Tea Party open house last Wednesday in Heppner. The pink slips were then mailed to elected politicians. Photo by DttviJ Sykes with people and talk about the issues. Our goal is to inform the public on the is sues so they can make w ise choices,” Sargent added. The Tea Party is a local non-partisan group promoting limited govern ment, fiscal responsibility, freedom of opportunity and free enterprise. The group says the pink slip campaign is one way for the average citizen to let congress and the senate know of their concern over the direction of the country. The group is also planning an informational public meeting Jan. 17 on Cap and Trade. The meeting will be held at the Heppner elem entary school gym starting at 2 p.m. Walla Walla Attorney Jeff Bur khart, an expert on Cap and Trade, will put on the program. The meeting is free (donations will be accept ed), and the public is invited to attend to leant what Cap and Trade is and how it will affect energy prices and other aspects of their lives in the future. Columbia Basin announces 3% rate hike C olum bia Basin E lectric C o-op has an nounced a three percent across the board rate in crease beginning January 1, 2010, M anager Jerry Healy said in a letter to members. Healy said the in crease was necessary be cause of a $ 198,000 whole sale rate increase from Bonneville Power Admin- istration, which supplies electricity to the co-op. He said the increase to cus tomers was also necessary because “in addition to the BPA increase your electric cooperative has incurred a number of significant cost increases over the last three years.” H e a ly sa id a l though the co-op has been “very vigilant” to control cost it is unable to absorb the BPA rate increase and still “operate your coopera tive in a financially prudent manner.” The rate increase will affect all rate classes including residential, irriga tion, commercial, primary service and lighting, the letter said. Morrow SWCD, Morrow County Livestock Growers to hold joint program According to pre liminary data received by NOAA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, tem peratures at Heppner av eraged much colder than normal during the month of December. The average tem perature was 28.0 degrees which was 6.4 degrees be low normal. High tempera tures averaged 35.3 degrees, which was 6.7 degrees be low normal. The highest was 56 degrees on the 22nd. Low temperatures averaged 20.6 degrees, which was 6.1 degrees below normal. The lowest was 1 degree, on the 8th. There were 27 days with the low temperature below 32 degrees. There were 15 days when the high temperature stayed below 32 degrees. P recipitation to taled 1.21 inches during December, which was 0.12 inches below normal. M easurable p re cipitation -at least .01 inch- was received on 9 days with the heaviest, 0.30 inches reported on the 16th. P re c ip ita tio n in 2009 totaled 10.58 inches, which is 2.93 inches below normal. Since October, the w ater year precipitation at Heppner has been 3.14 inches, which is 0.65 inches below normal. Snowfall totaled 4.1 inches with at least one inch of snow reported on three days. The heaviest snowfall was 1.6 inches reported on the 30th. The greatest depth of snow on the ground was two inches on the 30th. The outlook for January from NOAA’s Cli mate Prediction C enter calls for above normal tem peratures and below normal precipitation. Normal highs for Heppner during January are 42.3 degrees and normal lows are 26.3 degrees. The 30 year normal precipita tion is 1.46 inches. The Na t i o n a l Weather Service is an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra tion, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department. HHS Drama Department to perform “Bye Bye Birdie” The Heppner High School Drama Department will be performing “Bye Bye Birdie” in the spring and, for the first time, au ditions will be open to the public. “I have seen some of the talent of this town in various events over the years and I hope the com munity will come forward and participate in our pro duction,” stated Jodi Chapa, drama coach. There will be 14-19 adult actor positions avail able and additional posi tions will be available for chorus members. There is also a position for a young boy actor. The total cast is 34-plus actors. A meeting for any one interested in the play, either by acting, scenery, props, costuming, or stage crew will be held at the Heppner High School caf- eteria/stage on January 13 at 7 p.m. Any interested The Morrow' Soil & Water Conservation District and Morrow County Live stock Growers will hold their 23rd annual joint pro gram celebrating Town and Country in Morrow County on Thursday, January 14, at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, 560 Jones St., in Heppner beginning at 1 p.m. Steve Cherry, Ore gon Department of Fish and Wildlife District Wildlife Biologist will kick off the afternoon with information on two programs in the Heppner Wildlife Manage ment Unit (WMU). The Mule Deer Initiative (MDI) is a statewide project aimed at identifying and address ing limiting factors of mule deer populations in five des ignated WMUs in Oregon- Heppner, Murderers Creek, Maury, Warner, and Steens Mountain. The second pro- gram-State Acres For wild life Enhancement (SAFE), is a specialized Conser vation Reserve Program (CRP) sign-up for cropland or expiring CRP. USDA Farm Service Agency will .handle sign-up paperwork; beneficial cover require ments will be provided by ODFW. All 5,500 available acres in the state are in the Heppner Unit. Heppner FFA mem bers will report on their re cent travels to Indianapolis for the 2009 National FFA Convention and current activities. Tony Malmberg is a third-generation rancher and has been an inspiration to those who care for the land through his published articles and speeches. Tony and wife, Andrea, owned and operated Twin Creek Ranch, south o f Lander, Wyoming for 31 years, one of the first ranch-recreation program s w here guests participate in the real ranch experience. Tony has been a practitioner o f H olistic Management for over 20 years and has been to Af rica and Argentina study ing brittle environments in other parts of the world to better manage resources in the western United States. He attributes his successes to making decisions toward his holistic goal. The M alm bergs sold their Wyoming ranch in 2009 and used the Ho listic D ecision Maki ng Framework in selecting northeastern Oregon and youth actors should at tend the meeting with their parent/guardian. lone and home-schooled students are also welcome to participate. A detailed schedule of re hearsals and performances will be handed out at the meeting. For more informa tion, or if you are inter ested but unable to attend M.C. Health Department announces the meeting, contact Jodi The Morrow Coun Gilliam Bisbee Building Chapa at 541-676-8022 or ty Health Department an conference room (8:30-12 541-676-8161. nounces its schedule for flu & 1-7), H INI will be avail able clinics: Town and Country Awards event to be held Jan. 14 J a n u a r y 11 - January 7 - Free H1N1, Irrigon Senior Cen- Seasonal Flu, Heppner- The Heppner Chamber of Commerce Tow n and Country Community Aw ards event, sponsored by CenturyLink, will be held in the Pavilion at the Morrow County Fairgrounds on Thursday, January 14. This year's theme is “Honor Our past. Celebrate the Future.” A no-host social hour will begin at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Catering will be provided by “Pudding on the Ritz”. Tickets will be $20 and can be purchased at Bank of Eastern Oregon, Com i munity Bank, Chamber of Commerce, Heppner TV, and Murray Drugs. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: M O N D A Y S AT 5 :0 0 P.M . now ranch in Union County Oregon. They plan to grow out grass finished beef from NE Oregon producers for Portland area restaurants. Tony will share his experiences of improving the ecosystem process, in creasing stocking rates and improving profitability w ith holistic management. Shawn Lee with Ray Brothers Seed, the smallest alfalfa seed com pany in the U.S. will de scribe the benefits of us ing Forage Kochia for the control of annual grasses, i ncl udi ng M edusahead rye. Shawn and co-owner Israel Ray both grew up raising hay and livestock. They have criss-crossed the western U.S. for 25 years selling seed and talking to thousands o f farmers and ranchers which gives them a unique grasp o f the realities facing today’s producers. Wade F o s t e r from Congressman Greg Walden's office w ill present legislative updates. Jay Gibbs. USDA NRCS will give a brief up date on life after CRP. The public is in vited to attend. flu clinic schedule ter (11-1 p.m.) January 11 - Free Seasonal Flu Boardman Health Department office (9-12:30 «& 1-7), H1N1 will be available All Calkins Parts Now On Sale OFF 1 0 % U n t a i« . 20« M o rro w C o u n ty G rain G row ers Le xington 989-8221 * 1 -8 0 0 4 5 2 -7 3 9 6 f » r i n » i w t « ita >i m i q w.
