Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2011)
Town and Country Awards winners announced The H ep p n er C ham ber o f Com m erce Town and Country Com m unity A w ards ev en t, spbnsored by CenturyLink, was held in the pavilion at the M orrow C ounty Fairgrounds on Thursday, January 13. This y e a r’s theme was “Heppner - A little town, where big hearts abound... in every direc tion.” This year the follow- Bessie UnlVerS0R Eugene OR 9°403 * HEPPNER imes VOL. 130 NO. 3 8 Pages Wednesday, January 19,2011 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon School district names Dirksen proposed superintendent successor, Mendoza, assistant T h e M o r r o w where he worked at Virgie Junior/Senior High School C o u n ty S choo l B oard R o b in so n E le m e n ta ry vice-principal, on a software v o te d on Ja n u a ry 11, School. M endoza, who program that he created to u p o n S u p e r in te n d e n t has around 10 years o f improve student attendance e x p e r ie n c e and discipline by M ark B u rro w s’ as a school tracking attendance recommendation, administrator, and re fe rra ls , to h ire c u rre n t p ro v id in g quick has created R iv e rsid e H igh a p a re n t r e s p o n s e s to School Principal meeting incidents, resulting Dirk D irksen as program for in i m p r o v e d s u p e rin te n d e n t, Spanish- c o m m u n ic a tio n replacing Burrows with parents and who has announced Dirk Dirksen s p e a k i n g George fa m ilie s at Mendoza teachers. Matz also his retirement at the R iv e r s i d e . created a program end of the school to display school- year. The board plans to He has said that schedule a series of public supporting the d istrict’s related in form ation on meetings throughout the teachers and increasing digital screens at IJSHS. district prior to finalizing p a r tn e r s h ip s b e tw e e n Matz said that the new businesses and families, system has “ b a sic a lly Dirksen’s hire. The board, also upon with the desire to offer eliminated tardiness.” The board Burrow’s recommendation, equitable and consistent approved the hiring o f education for all students, su b se q u e n tly re le a se d c o p y rig h t, tra d e m a rk current R iverside High are goals for him. At the m eeting, and patent interest in the Assistant Principal George M en d o za as a s s is ta n t Heppner Elementary School software Matz created. A l s o at t h e superintendent, replacing teachers Molly Rill and Phyllis Danielson, who is Sherry Matteson reported meeting, Doreen Enz and on ‘Parents for Parents’, the Jan Stroeber, representing also retiring. Dirksen has been group that they created to the U n ited M eth o d ist at Riverside for 30 years assist parents and students. Church and “C hristm as and has been principal for They had earlier organized a Is”, a Heppner community the past eight years. He has health fair at the school and musical Christmas program, indicated that he is pleased also a health jobs fair and presented $750 to Heppner with the district’s direction plan to hold an additional music teachers Joe Lindsay and plans to continue in one later during this school and M ichelle Stone to e n h an c e th e H ep p n er the path Burrows has taken year. The b o ard also with the district. Mendoza came to viewed a presentation by -See M.C. SCHOOL DIS- TRICT/Page EIGHT the district from Pasco, WA, M atthew M atz, Irrigon Morrow County School District announces meetings for superintendent candidate A fter review ing superintendent ap plica tions last week the Mor row County School Board announced they were con sidering promoting Dirk Dirksen, Riverside princi pal, to the superintendent position. They directed cur rent superintendent, Mark Burrows, who is retiring June 30,2011 to set up pub lic meetings for Dirksen to address patrons and receive their input. Burrow s reports the meetings will occur as follows: -Tuesday, February 1,6 p.m. - Irrigon Elemen- Heppner G-T Trophy Corner tary School library -Thursday, Febru ary 3, 6 p.m. - Heppner Elementary School library (Dirksen will also be pres ent at Heppner Chamber meeting at noon at City Hall) -Monday, Febru ary 14, 6:15 p.m. - Windy River Elementary library. Title & ELL Family Night Out to be held Interested in tast ing free international des serts? Heppner Elemen tary School’s Title and ELL Family Night Out will be an evening of cooking dem onstrations, samples, and recipes. Dean Antonucci, Dora Collins, and Alvin Liu will demonstrate their cooking expertise on Sun day, January 23, at 4:30 in the Heppner Elementary School cafeteria. For more informa tion, contact Mary Ann Amber Fritz »hot this »pike * 3 (there'» a kicker off the hack Elguezabal or Mary Hague- side) during the »econd season elk hunt of 2010. -Contributed wood at 541 -676-9128. Photo ing awards were given out: Youth Recognition, Brett Harrison; Business of the Year, The Stable of Youth; Woman of the Year, San dy Matthews; Man of the Year, Ken Grieb; Lifetime Achievement, Larry Lind say; and Citizen-Educator of the Year, Beth Dicken son. The 2010 Youth Recognition Award recipi ent is Brett Ha r r i s on. Harrison, a senior at H e p p n e r Hi g h S chool, is involved wi t h s t u Brett dent coun Harrison cil, National Honor Society, Spanish Club, 4-H, sports, youth 'group, and FFA. He has also received numerous Student of the Month awards. He has also helped with hang ing Christmas lights down town, cutting firewood for those in need, helping to run the annual Veteran’s Day Celebration, organized homecoming and FFA week activities, Mustang Mop- Up, helping with numerous canned food drives, and even help glean sweet com in a field in Maryland for local food shelters. All in all, he has logged more than 400 hours o f community services. This year’s Busi ness of the Year is The Sta ble ofYouth. Opening ap proximately five years ago, the goal of the busi- n e s s wa s to provide a place the Bobbette youth of the Lovgren community to go and feel safe. The Stable, owned by Bobbette Lovgren is currently located in the old bowling alley. The res taurant not only serves customers but helps pro vide meals for grieving families or those who have been down on their luck. Along with bowling, there are many other activities for youth and children to enjoy. “In these difficult economic times, (Bobbette) has remained dedicated to the children of our commu nity, knowing financially it will only be a break even endeavor on its best day,” said Sheryll Bates. “Still, she feels God wants her to provide this safe environ ment and she has shown great faith and dedication to keep pressing on.” This year’s Woman of the Year is Sandy Mat thews. Born and raised in Heppner, Matthews is famous for her desserts and taking pictures at every imag inable event H e p p n e r Sandy has to offer. Matthews “She has to hold the record for most pictures taken in Hepp ner,” stated Kim Cutsforth. “It would be easier to list things she may not have taken a picture of. I can’t imagine a person in town that has not been touched by one of her photos.” The 2010 Man of the Year is Ken Grieb. In addition to _________ being a Mor row County Commis sioner, Grieb donates his time as an auctioneer for various Ken Grieb projects and fundraiser. He also volunteers his time with many programs includ ing the HEROES Reading Program, Parent Teacher Club, Booster Club, and Colt Youth Sports. This year’s Life time Achievement Award was presented to Larry Lindsay. At 23 he took over the family ranch and over the years developed a cus tom feedlot that holds 5,000 head of cattle. Over the years Lindsay has been a Mor row County Grain Grow e rs b oa r d member and Far m Bureau sec retary, the S t. P a t - ric k ’s Par ish Council member and Larry l o n g - t i me Lindsay parish high school cat echism teacher, St. Patrick’s Day Parade grand marshal, and a prior Cattleman of the Year. He currently is a member of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, Oregon Wheat Growers, Knights of Columbus, and Morrow County Cham ber of Commerce. He also served as Port Commis sioner for the Port of Mor row for over 44 years. Lind say has been honored by the Oregon Historical Society for preserving a portion o f the Oregon Trail that runs through the feedlot. In 1975 he sponsored over 40 members of a Vietnamese family that escaped Saigon by providing jobs, housing and English classes. The 2010 Citizen- Educator of the Year is Beth Dickenson. She was hired six y e a r s ago and since then has worked to resurrect the FFA/AG program at H e p p n e r Hi g h Beth School. Dickenson Since com ing to HHS, Dickenson has revived the land lab and started an FFA alumni association. Since taking over the FFA pro gram, Heppner FFA now has a 35 percent member ship total within the student body. Dickenson also makes sure her students have ac cess to service learning and is involved with the Cham ber of Commerce, Elks, and Garden Club. Speaker indicted on sex charges Morrow in the Third Degree, and Furnishing Sex Co u n t y Di st r i ct Attorney Justin W. ually Explicit Mate rial to a Child. The N elson on T ues charges span from day announced the December 1, 2010 indictment and ar to D ecem ber 13, raignment of James 2010 and involve Wayne Speaker, 29, four separate vic from Hermiston on James tims. charges of Sexual Wayne Speaker Speaker Abuse in the First was arraigned on Degree, Rape in the Third Degree, Sexual Abuse the indictment on January 18, 2011 by Judge Eva Temple. The court kept bail at $150,000. The courts set a release hearing for January 21 at the Morrow County Circuit Court. The case is being investigated by the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office. Anyone with information should call the sheriff’s of fice at 541-676-6317. City puts $2 sewer increase on hold By David Sykes The city of Hepp ner has decided not to move forward with a planned sewer rate increase “for the time being”, City Manager Dave DeMayo told the city council last Monday night. DeMayo did not give a reason for withdraw ing a planned $2 per month increase, even though the city utilities commission had earlier voted in favor of the increase at its Dec. 16 meeting. The commission was told monthly sewer fees were not covering the cost of operating the sewer system. DeMayo told the utility com m ission that although the sewer plant is now operating more ef ficiently because o f im provements, the sewer fund was still facing a $3,500 shortfall by mid-year. He said if the rate increase were to bring in excess funds they would be put into a reserve account. In details handed out at the city council meeting last week, DeMayo said income from sewer fees so far this fiscal year is $ 100,000 with expenses of $ 120,000, for a deficit of $20,000, w hich he said was made up from cash carryover funds. Mayor Les Paus- tian said the city can con tinue with the deficit, and not raise fees, “but if funds have to be borrowed in the future (to operate the sewer system), this w ill add to the debt and, with interest, the amount will double by the time it is paid off." Council members Joanne Burleson and John Bowles agreed with the mayor, saying the rates should be raised. At the utility com mission meeting, Bowles said he recommended the rates be raised by $2 per month now, and then pos sibly again in two years by 25 cents if necessary. In other business at the January meeting the council: -Signed a one-year extension o f a lease w ith Tim Dickenson of Dicken son Chiropractic for office space in the back part of the city hall building. Terms of the lease are $450 per month. - Received the fol lowing police report from the sh eriff departm ent. -See CITY COUNCIL/ Page FOUR G R E E N F E E D & SEED IN H E P P N E R : C old w ea th er clothing •Insulated Coveralls •Jackets ALL WINTER PAC BOOTS 15% OFF Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed _ 2 4 2 J2 M jn d er^ W a^ Jteg g n j^ ^ 7 6 ^ 9 4 2 ^ B989^22U^MCG^maM^ffice^M
