I a 1 1 a 1 11111 1 11 1 * a a M
Right of way dispute surfaces at
council meeting
11111 1 1 1 1
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
By David Sykes
Whether a Heppner
man can use part of a city
right of way to park his RV
and also have a small build
ing on was subject of some
discussion at M onday’s
Heppner city council meet
ing. Following the meeting,
50 «?
HEPPNER
azette
imes
¥
VOL, 130
NO. 24
10 Pages
Wednesday, June 15,2011
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
council members went over
and looked at the disputed
site.
In contention is
w hether Dan M cBride,
who lives with his wife in
an RV on property he owns
on the comer of Kirk and
August Street, can use part
of the Kirk Street road ease
ment, which is 40 feet wide,
to park an RV and have a
small, movable building.
He also stores some mate
rial within the easement.
McBride says he doesn’t
see a problem, and that
fire trucks and adjoining
property owners still have
plenty of room to use the
existing street to access
their property.
“I just don’t see
what the big deal is,” says
M cBride, whose father
owned a body shop on the
property for many years.
“ We have improved the
property,” he says, pointing
to a garden he and his wife
have planted. They have
also knocked down weeds
on the city property to keep
it looking better.
M c B rid e , w ho
moved back to Heppner
after living in Irrigon for
Dan McBride is trying to resolve a dispute with the city over
his use of a city right of w ay along Kirk St. in Heppner. Here
he stands in the middle of Kirk and to his right is the area he
has an KY parked on and a small wooden movable storage
building. -Photo by David Sykes
some time, told the coun-
cil Monday the issue has
caused him to feel that “I
have come back home and
I feel that 1 am not welcome
here.”
The issue o f the
property line came up when
a property owner next to
the lot McBride owns, and
on which his RV home is
located, had his property
surveyed to divide it into
two parcels in preparation
for putting it on the market.
At that time, the survey
revealed that McBride was
using the city right of way.
“Nobody has com
plained,” McBride says.
“The only one who has
com plained is DeM ayo
(city manager David De-
Mayo).” An obviously frus
trated M cBride told the
council he has called the
city attorney several time
to try to resolve the issue,
but has not had his phone
calls returned.
DeMayo says he
isn’t trying to be the bad
guy, and isn’t necessary
against McBride using the
property, he just wants the
council to approve the us
age.
See CITY COUNCIL/
PAGE SIX
Tom Shear retires after School board approves slight meal cost increase,
long teaching career
new position, approves sexuality course policy
By April Sykes
Throughout
his long career, Tom
Shear has had the rare
and fortunate ability
to bring together his
two loves, art and
horticulture.
“ I ’ve been
fortunate that I ’ve
h ad tw o p r o f e s
sions and th e y ’ve
both been extremely
enjoyable. It’s been
good,” said Shear,
who retired this year Tom Shear
from teaching at lone
Schools.
in lone and half time in
Shear was bom and Heppner. When lone sepa
raised in Eugene, graduat rated from the M orrow
ing from high school there County Schools, he ended
in 1964 and continuing on up staying there, where he
to college at the Univer has taught art, shop and
sity of Oregon at Eugene, horticulture. Shear says that
where he received a degree plans are now to convert the
in art, with an emphasis on art/shop facility at lone to
graphic arts, drawing and an ag-science building.
painting, and art education
Shear, who says
in 1968.
only that he is “of retire
“1 always enjoyed ment age,” added that he
art. It was just a natural was “pleasantly surprised”
choice,” he said. “But 1 w ith a recent party held for
haven’t had time to do that him in lone. He received
recently.” He said that at the a gift certificate for the
time he graduated from col Bandon Dunes golf club,
lege there were a lot of art a hobby he enjoys in addi
ed jobs, something which tion to fishing, gardening,
has changed as of late.
woodworking and build
He s ta r te d h is ing. “It will be nice to have
teaching career in 1969 in some tim e” to do these
Heppner, where he taught things, he says, but other
art for around 10 years. than that, he has no special
Then he changed profes plans for retirement.
sions, returning to Eugene
Shear has a grown
to go into the retail nursery daughter who lives in Herm-
and greenhouse business.
iston and a son who lives in
In the mid 1990s Washougal, WA. He and his
he came back to Morrow partner, Sherron Woodside.
County, relocating to lone live in lone.
and teaching art half time
By April Sykes
The Morrow Coun
ty School Board Monday
night in Lexington voted to
raise school lunch prices by
10 cents. The current cost of
$2 for elementary lunches
and $2.25 for high school
lunches will rise to $2.10
and $2.35 this fall.
D is tr ic t C h ie f
Financial O fficer Andy
Fletcher told the board that
the federal government is
requiring school districts
to eventually charge lunch
patrons the same amount
of reimbursement that the
federal government gives
the schools, so the rise in
prices is mandated. He said
that the Morrow County
School District currently
receives $2.74 per lunch in
federal reimbursement for
free and reduced lunches.
The more free and reduced
lunches the district serves,
the more the district re
ceives in reimbursements,
he added.
Fletcher said that
the district has been losing
money in the food service
program for many years and
is working to try to get the
program to become more
efficient and to eventually
break even. “It’s not paying
for itself,” he said.
He said that the
district has to either serve
more meals or reduce costs.
He said that the district has
looked at closing campuses
to increase the number of
meals served, out-sourcing
food services, combining
Former Heppner resident, two
others die in plane crash
Reprinted from World o f
Rodeo
Longtime Colum
bia River Circuit cowboy
Ned Kayser, former Miss
Rodeo Oregon Janice Healy
Davis and Gerald Hunter,
74, the pilot of a Bellanca
single engine aircraft died
in a crash around midnight
on June 11 in a remote area
south of Ukiah, Ore., in the
Blue Mountains.
The plane encoun
tered a violent thunderstorm
not long after taking off
from The Dalles Munici
pal Airport in Dallesport,
Wash., but the exact cir
cumstances of the crash are
unknown, pending an FAA
investigation.
Kayser, 53, and Da
vis, 51, were on their way to
the College National Finals
Rodeo in Casper, Wyo.,
where Kayser’s daughter,
Kelly, is competing as a
member of the University
of Nevada-Las Vegas team
and two of Davis’ nieces are
also competing.
The Oregon Civil
Air Patrol launched a team
of five search planes early
Sunday morning to look for
the missing aircraft.
One of the search
planes had a possible sight
ing Sunday morning around
9:15 in a mountainous area
of southern Umatilla Coun
ty
Umatilla County
spokesperson Jodi Florence
said deputies confirmed
the wreckage was that of
the missing aircraft. Emer
gency officials reached the
site early in the afternoon of
June 13 and confirmed there
were three fatalities.
The crash site is 13
miles southeast of Ukiah,
which is about 50 miles
south of Pendleton. Several
roads are closed in the area
surrounding the crash site,
Florence said.
K ay ser and his
brother, Nate, were both tie
down ropers in the Colum
bia River Circuit for many
years in the 1990s, each
qualifying for the Dodge
Colum bia River C ircuit
Finals. K ayser’s cousin.
See PLANE CRASH
KILLS THREE/PAGE
kitchens, transporting meals
and other cost-cutting mea
sures, but because o f the
complexity of food service
mandates and nutritional
requirements, the problem
will require further study.
“It’s more complicated than
consolidating kitchens,”
said Fletcher.
He said that some
food service personnel are
retiring, which will result
in a reduction in staffing
as new personnel are not
expected to be hired. “Our
food service employees are
put on the front lines once
again,” said Fletcher.
Fletcher said that
due to a decline in stu
dents, not as many meals
are being served in Heppner
schools.
T he b o a rd a p
proved funding for a new
district position, a “student
achievement coordinator,”
proposed by incoming su
perintendent Dirk Dirksen.
This position would entail
working with at-risk kids
and their parents to increase
school attendance and aca
demic success and also
applying for grants, which
would most likely be during
the summer months.
Dirksen said that
he realizes that is a difficult
year to add a position, but
added, “There are some
kids who are falling through
the cracks.” Heppner High
School Principal Day Stone
echoed this sentiment, say
ing that in Heppner there
are four-to-five kids not
attending school regularly,
“roaming the streets,” who
may be helped by contact
that this position could
provide.
“If it comes to a
dollar figure, every kid
we can get back in school
means more money for the
schools,” said Dirksen. He
said that many of the title
programs have a portion
of funds earmarked for pa
rental involvement, which
could be used to help fund
this position. He said that
the person hired to fill this
position would fall some
where “between a police
officer and a parent liaison
working with the schools.”
He said that the hiree would
be extremely busy during
the school year and would
most likely emphasize grant
writing during the sum
mer.
Dirksen said that
the $60,000 a year posi
tion would not require a
four-year college degree,
but rather only a two-year
degree. Employment would
be for 260 days a year, com
pared to 225 working days a
year for administrators and
169 for teachers.
Board member Bill
Kuhn questioned whether
the job should be paid at
$60,000 per year and instead
favored spending more
along the line of $40,000;
however, the position had
already been advertised.
Board Chair Barney Lind
say joked that the position
would require someone that
“walked on water.”
“This is more than
a full-time job for one per
son,” responded Dirksen,
“ so that walk on w ater
aspect is there.”
Retiring assistant
superintendent Phyllis Dan
ielson remarked that the
program would put the
district more in a “proactive
mode, rather than a reactive
mode” of waiting until a
kid drops out. The program
was approved on a one-year
basis on the condition that
the board receives regular
reports.
Also at the meet
ing, the board approved
a mandated “age appro
priate” human sexuality
course, which includes in
struction on AIDS/HIV,
sexually transmitted dis
eases and health education.
The school district policy
says that parents of minor
children will be notified
in adv ance of any human
sexuality or AIDS/HIV
district instruction. It also
allows parents to opt out of
the program._____________
According to the
district, the course:
-“promotes absti
nence for school age youth
and mutually monogamous
relationships with an unin
fected partner for adults”;
-“allays those fears
concerning HIV that are
scientifically groundless”;
-“is balanced and
medically accurate”;
-“ p ro v id es b a l
anced and accurate infor
mation on risks and ben
efits of contraception and
other disease reduction
measures”;
-“discusses respon
sible sexual behaviors and
hygienic practices”;
-“stresses high-risk
behaviors such as the shar
ing of needles in tattooing
and body piercing and sy
ringes for injecting drugs
and steroids”;
- “ d isc u sse s the
characteristics of the emo
tional, physical and psycho
logical aspects of a health
relationship and the benefits
of delaying pregnancy be
yond the adolescent years
as a means to better ensure
a healthy future for parents
and their children”;
-“stresses that HIV/
STDs and Hepatitis B/C can
be serious possible hazards
of sexual contact”;
-“provides students
with inform ation about
Oregon laws that address
young people’s rights and
responsibilities relating to
childbearing and parent
ing”;
-“advises students
of consequences of having
sexual relations with per
sons younger than 18 years
of age to whom they are not
married”;
-“encourages fam
ily communication”, and
- encourages hon
esty, respect and responsi
bility and cautions against
unwanted physical or verbal
sexual advances and harm
ing or exploiting another
See SCHOOL BOARD/
PAGE EIGHT
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