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
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