Morrow County School District approves
2011-12 school calendar
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Calls fo r pre-Labor Day start, two week Christmas break
Monday night in
Boardm an, the M orrow
County School Board voted
for Option A for the 2011-
12 school calendar.
Option A, which
HC-BBN'E'R
was preferred by a large
majority o f district em­
ployees, calls for a pre-
Labor Day start of school
and two weeks vacation at
Christmas. With this option,
teachers will begin school
on August 22, students on
August 29. The last school
day before a tw o-w eek
Christmas break is Decem­
ber 15. Students’ last day
of school is Thursday, June
7; secondary teachers end
Friday, June 8 and elemen­
tary teachers end Monday,
June 11.
Also at the meet­
ing, held at Riverside High
School, the board welcomed
newly-hired RHS Principal,
Robert Elizondo. Elizondo
has most recently been prin­
cipal on special assignment
at Chiawana High School in
Pasco, WA, and has eight
years of administrative ex­
perience. Elizondo replaces
former RHS Principal Dirk
Dirksen, who is assum ­
ing the Morrow County
superintendent’s position.
Dirksen replaces current
superintendent, Mark Bur­
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon rows, who is retiring at the
end of this school year.
Elizondo, who is
bilingual, has a bachelor’s
degree in sociology from
Central Washington Uni­
versity at Ellensburg, WA,
and received a m aster’s
degree in education and his
administrator’s certificate
from Heritage University,
Toppenish, WA.
Burrows a n ­
nounced that the district
has hired Marie Shimer for
the RHS assistant principal
position. Shimer, who has
been a teacher at Nyssa for
the past nine years, replaces
former RHS assistant prin­
cipal George M endoza.
Mendoza, who has been
named assistant superin­
tendent, replaces current
assistant superintendent,
Phyllis Danielson, who is
also retiring at the end of
the school year.
Shimer has a mas­
ter’s degree in content area-
literacy, and received her
administrator’s certificate
See SCHOOL DISTRICT
CALENDAR APPROVED/
PAGE8
Fire damages Heppner home
azette
VOL. 130
NO. 14 8 Pages
Wednesday, April 13,2011
City to boost monthly water & sewer
fees $5.25 over next two years
Time to stop playing “catch up ” with sewer fund,
says utility commission member
Heppner city resi­
dents will see an increase
in their monthly water and
sewer bills by $3.25 starting
July 1, 2011, and another
increase of $2 per month
beginning July 1,2012, the
Heppner City Council ruled
Monday night. The increase
is to cover increased costs
in operating the city’s waste
w ater treatm ent system
documented in a recently
com pleted en g in eerin g
study.
The city brings in
about $200,000 per year in
sewer fees and the system
costs $229,000 to operate.
According to city manager
Dave DeMayo, the city has
been using cash carry for­
ward funds to cover the
shortfall, which, he says, is
putting the city “financially
at risk.” A recently complet­
ed waste water treatment
study by the city’s engineer­
ing firm Anderson Perry
confirmed the shortfall.
The Heppner util­
ity commission agreed and
voted at its last meeting to
endorse the rate increase.
Tom Wolff of the utility
commission was on hand
at the council meeting, and,
although he did not agree
that the city was running as
steep a deficit in the sewer
fund as claimed, he did
endorse the rate increase.
“It was the commission’s
idea that the rate was nec­
essary overall,” Wolff said.
“However I thought labor
rates were applied (in the
budget) to the sewer fund to
make it look like it was run­
ning a deficit,” he told the
council. But Wolff said the
rate increase was necessary
so the city was “not con­
tinually playing catch up”
with the sewer fund. “The
commission looked closely
at the Anderson Perry report
and this will keep us caught
up,” he said.
Council member
Cody High thought the city
should hold off raising rates
until it was done with its the
budget. “I would like for
us to do our budget first,”
he told the other council
members. “We ended up
with a $2,600 increase in
the sewer fund. I am sure
See CITY TO RAISE
WATER/SEWER FEES/
PAGE 8
\
n
A fire caused extensive damage to the home of Heppner resi­
dent Sam Hornbeck last Friday evening. -Photo by Breyana
Hynes
Former Heppner insurance
agent’s license revoked
The Oregon De­
p artm en t o f C onsum er
and B usiness Services
(ODCBS) revoked Brenda
Sherrell’s individual insur­
ance producer license on
March 30, 2011. Sherrell’s
license was revoked due to
charges o f misappropria­
tion of funds and failure to
timely deposit premiums.
At one time, Sherrell oper­
ated the Heppner branch of
Farmers Insurance Group.
A c c o r d i n g to
ODCBS, in exchange for
no continuing investiga­
tion or enforcement, Sher­
rell agreed not to apply
for any license authorized
by ORS Chapter 744. She
also agreed not to have
equity interest in, be an
officer or director of, or be
employed by or contracted
with any person that is is­
sued a license authorized
by ORS Chapter 744. The
action came as a result of
Sherrell’s alleged behav­
ior while an employee of
Farmers Insurance Group
in 2008 and 2009.
According to the
ODCBS, on January 12,
2009 Farmers Insurance
Group “terminated Sher-
r e ll’s appointm ent ‘for
embezzlement of monies
belonging to Farmers.’”
From Oct ober
17, 2008 to January 12,
2009, Sherrell received 79
cash insurance payments
from 67 persons, a total of
$ 11,901.97. The premiums
were for insurance to be
provided by Farmers, but
Sherrell deposited the pay­
ments into her insurance
premium trust account at
Columbia River Bank and
did not give the payments
to Farmers.
From October
17, 2008 to December 19,
2008, Sherrell also received
84 cash insurance payments
from 75 persons for premi­
ums totaling $12,322.66.
These payments were also
for insurance to be provided
by Farmers. According to
the ODCBS, Sherrell did
not deposit the payments
into her trust account. She
issued 21 checks, totaling
$12,322.46, drawn on her
trust account, and deposited
See LICENSE REVOKED/
PAGE 4
Lepper arraigned on 28 counts of
Doherty named Eastern Oregon
sexual abuse
On April 8 Lon­
nie L. Lepper, 69, was ar­
raigned on 28 counts of
Sexual Abuse in the First
Degree.
M orrow County
Sheriff’s Office received
a call on April 6 from a
mother in Irrigon stating
that her two daughters,
both under the age of 12,
had been touched inap­
propriately by her mother’s
fiancé. The sheriff’s office
dispatched a deputy to Ir­
rigon to contact the mother
and a criminal investigation
was initiated.
According to the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office, the suspect called
the MCSO on the morn­
ing o f April 7 and made
statements concerning the
allegations involving the
two young girls.
S e rg e a n t Ma r k
Pratt arranged to meet the
suspect at the Irrigon Jus­
tice Center, where he was
interviewed concerning the
allegation o f sexual abuse.
Lepper was consequently
arrested on 60 counts of
Criminal Sexual Abuse in
the First Degree involving
the two girls. The suspect
was transported to the Uma­
tilla County Jail and lodged
on the 60 counts of First
Degree Sexual Abuse, a
class B felony, with a total
bail set at $3 million.
At the arraignment,
the state requested that the
court set bail at $ 1.5 million
based upon the charges.
Judge Temple set bail at
$200,000. A preliminary
hearing date has been set
for a later date.
Heppner Little League season opens
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Tim Jaca with Hag, along with Kevin Smith, open the little
league season with ceremonies held Saturday at George
Waterlund Field in Heppner. Madison Coombe sang the
National Anthem to get another season underway. Long time
Heppner Mustang baseball coach and little league supporter
Rick Johnston threw out the first pitch of the season. -Photos
by David Sykes
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ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
AWWA operator of the year
Chad Doherty o f
Heppner was named the
operator of the year by the
Eastern Oregon Wastewater
Association (AWWA). The
award was in recognition
for Doherty’s “Outstand­
ing Dedication and Service
to the City of Heppner,”
for his work as operator
of the City of Heppner’s
wastewater treatment plant.
The award was made at the
29th annual AWWA meet­
ing March 27 in Pendleton.
Doherty was presented with
a plaque at Monday’s city
council meeting.
“It’s a big deal,”
Heppner Public Works Di­
rector Brian Harmon said
when presenting the award
to Doherty. “Running an old
trickling filter plant built in
1953 and keeping it operat-
Brian Harmon (right) presents City employee Chad Doherty
with a certificate of recognition for his work w ith the Heppner
waste water treatment facility. -Photo by David Sykes
ing is an accomplishment,” city council. ‘Chad does a
Harmon told the Heppner good job.”
Pastors invited to subm it E aster m essages
Area pastors are invited to submit Easter messages for the April 20 edition of the
Heppner Gazette-Times. Deadline to submit articles is 5 p.m. Monday, April 18. Arti­
cle may be dropped off, faxed to 541-676-9211 or emailed to editor@rapidserve.net.
AT MCGG GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
^ L awn thatcher & rototiller for rent ^
Garden Seeds • Onion Sets
r*w Seed Potatoes • Vegetable Starts
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
^ 4 £ J £ f ^ in d e i^ W a ^ |T ( e £ £ n « ^ ii6 7 6 ^ 4 2 2 |^9M ^22^M C O <^T«ijM >fric*^<_ i_