Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2012)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 14,2012 - FIVE Snowpack levels Arbuckle Club goes Local wrestler wins All American honors vary across Oregon to Cloud Cap Many areas still below normal Though still below average for this time o f year, Oregon’s snowpack improved slightly across the state during February according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Snow Survey team. The latest information on Oregon’s snowpack and streamflow forecasts can be found in the Water Supply Outlook Report released by the USDA NRCS. As o f M arch 1, snowpack conditions ranged from 54 percent in southern Oregon to 92 percent of av erage in the northern part of the state; February 1 snow pack levels ranged from 52 to 87 across the state. The first three weeks o f Febru ary were abnormally dry for Oregon but a widespread storm system brought sig nificant snowfall to the Pa cific Northwest during the last week of the month. In fact, leap day alone picked up more than 10 percent of the month’s precipita tion at most of NRCS’s 70 automated snow telemetry sites. “While California and Nevada have extreme ly low snowpack levels compared to normal, the Washington snowpack has fared very well and is near to above normal,” said Me- lissa Webb, NRCS Hy drologist with the Oregon Snow Survey team. “So, Oregon is the transition between them, and there is considerable variability in snowpack conditions. In general, the snowpack improves as you move from south to north across the state. Currently, snowpacks are well below normal in the southern region, while Thirteen members of the Arbuckle Nordic Club spent last weekend at the historic Cloud Cap Inn on the northeast side of Mt. Hood. Cloud Cap was built in 1889. The Hood River levels are closer to normal Crag Rats maintain Cloud Cap as a Search & Rescue and mountain activities center under lease with the United States near the Washington bor Forest Service. Back (L-R): David Fowler, Fred Fowler, der.” Ryan Lacey, Luke Fowler, P hil___ , Charles Fowler, Jeff A cross O regon, Edmundson, Bryce Fowler and Nic Lacey. Front (L-R): Janel streamflows are expected Lacey, Andrew Lacey, John Edmundson and Brandon Wurtz. to be at or below normal for this coming summer. Fore casts in the southeastern basins remain significantly lower than the basins in the northern and western parts of the state. “Generally speak ing, 80 to 95 percent of the maximum snowpack is normally on the ground by March 1 in Oregon’s moun tains,” said Webb. “While there is still time for the snowpack to improve this winter, it is looking more likely that many Oregon water users may experience below-normal streamflow conditions this summer. In some basins, however, healthy reservoir storage levels might provide a buf fer for the below average snowmelt runoff.” M easurements in Oregon for the March re port were collected from 70 automated snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) sites, 42 m an u ally -m easu red snow courses and 26 aerial markers. The NRCS Snow Survey is the federal pro gram that measures snow and provides streamflow forecasts and snowpack data for communities, water managers and recreational- ists across the West. Water and snowpack information for all SNOTEL sites na tionwide are available on the Snow Survey Web site in a variety of formats. The reports are updated every 15 minutes and are avail able on the NRCS website at www.or.nrcs.usda.gov/ snow/. -Contributed photo Boardman sets city project priorities At its M arch 6 m eeting, the Boardm an City Council made side walks their number-one pri ority for the next two fiscal years. They have allocated $10,000 each year for the next two fiscal years to fin ish all the areas within the city without sidewalks. The city currently has regulations that require sidewalks to be installed when a new project is built in the city. Approximately 13,000 feet of sidewalk are needed to finish the areas that are undeveloped or on properties that were devel oped before city regulations required sidewalks. The city will be working with property owners to com plete these projects by the end of 2014. Other priorities in clude the paving of Olson Road, installing electric along NE Front Street for a future farmer’s market and the paving of NE Columbia Avenue. In other city busi ness, the council heard a presentation from Morrow County School Superinten dant Dirk Dirksen regard ing the school’s budget reduction for the next two or three years and the need to renew the serial levy in May. The city also heard an update from Kim Travis of the Oregon Solutions Team on ideas the team has come up with to promote the de velopment o f Boardman. One idea the team has is to offer gap-financing for developers o f new home construction in Boardman. Another idea is to encour age business growth by offering incentives. The next m e et ing of the Boardman City Council will be Tuesday, March 20, at Boardman City Hall at 7 p.m. No chamber lunch meeting this week Due to p rep ara tions for the 30th annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration, there will be no Chamber of Commerce meeting Thurs day, March 15. The next meeting of the Heppner Chamber of Commerce will be held Thursday, March 22, at noon at All Saints Episcopal Phone Discounts Available to CenturyLink Customers The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier within its service area for universal service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local service rates for residential voice lines are $8.75 to $13.43 per month and business services are $16.01 to $27.25 per month. Specific rates will be provided upon request. Church in Heppner. Speakers will Dirk Dirksen and Daye Stone, who will give an update re garding the Morrow County School D istrict budget. They will also share infor mation about wind farm technology education op portunities. P articip an ts are asked to RS VP for chamber lunch meetings the Wednes day before. B rian Lem m on, wrestling for Southern Or egon University, earned All American honors, plac ing fourth in the nation at 165 pounds at the NAIA national wrestling cham pionships in Des Moines, Iowa March 1-3. The SOU Raiders brought home the second-place team trophy. Lemmon is the son of Mark and A laina Lemmon o f Lexington and has been an assistant coach at Heppner High School. Lemmon’s road to the All American podium has been an obstacle course o f deterrents. He began wrestling in college in the Pac-10 at Portland State University. His sophomore year, he suffered a potential career-ending knee injury. He battled back to prepare for his junior year, only to be struck down by the cancellation o f the PSU wrestling program. Not ready to give up on the sport, Lemmon entered college open tour naments without a team, coach or workout partner. He paid his own entry fees and travel costs. Competing against other wrestlers from junior college to Division I programs, he won a cham pionship and runner-up medals at two of Oregon’s largest college wrestling tournaments. That performance caught the eye of the SOU coaching staff, which of fered him an opportunity to return to wrestling with the Raiders. Before he could even complete his transfer, he suffered another poten tial career-ending injury, this time to his neck. Ini tially, he was told he needed fusion surgery that would almost certainly end his days on the mat. He opted to pursue a newer devel opment in disc treatment, artificial replacement. After surgery, he was not allowed to even walk briskly for weeks and couldn't jog for six months. His once chiseled wrestler’s physique became soft. His weight ballooned to more than forty pounds above his competition weight. During his rehabil itation period, another cou ple of life-altering events occurred. He married an other student and a year later they had a son. While undoubtedly w onderful, such things often cause the student athlete to reset priorities and change goals. However, with the love of wrestling still burning and the support o f an under standing spouse, Lemmon finished his and his wife’s transfer to SOU and re entered the practice room. In S e p te m b e r , at nearly 220 pounds, he worked out with the heavy weights as he was the sec ond heaviest person in the room. He worked his way down the weight line to begin the season compet ing at 174 in November. By the end of December he weighed in at 165 pounds. In his season pre view, SOU Coach Mike Ritchie made the prediction that “Lemmon was going to surprise some people.” He e n te re d the season unranked and an unknown commodity, not having wrestled in actual competition for nearly two years. That all changed as he defeated the NAIA number-one and number- nine ranked wrestlers in one week, scoring critical team points that helped SOU win two intra-regional duals on their way to their 42nd con secutive winning season. Lem m on’s w res tling comeback culminated at the NAIA national cham pionships as he engraved his name in the record book as an All American. He won his first two matches easily by fall and major decision, but dropped to the consolation bracket after the quarterfinals o f the 32- man bracket. He faced the elimination round o f the tournament the same way he faced the elimination rounds of life; he went on the offensive. He won the next three matches by a combined score of 32-2. St. Patrick’s pageant this Thursday The Heppner performance of “From Cenacle to Calvary.” a St. Patrick’s Day pageant by Father Gerry Condon, will take place this Thursday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. The dessert theater performance will be at St. Patrick’s parish hall, 525 Gale St., in Heppner. Free-will offerings will be accepted, with the proceeds going to Helping Hearts, a program that helps those in need pay their electric bills. You are invited to the E. George Kofiler Farewell Retirement Reception CenturyLink offers Lifeline service to customers who meet eligibility requirements. The federal Lifeline program is undergoing some changes in 2012, but customers may be eligible if they participate in certain federal or state assistance programs or have a household annual gross income at or below 135% of the federal poverty level. Lifeline is available for only one wireline or wireless telephone per household. Lifeline is not transferable and documentation of eligibility is required to enroll. Qualifying residents of American Indian and Alaskan Native tribal lands may be eligible for additional discounts. Lifeline eligible subscribers may also qualify for reliable home high-speed Internet service up to 1 5Mbps for $9.95* per month for the first 12 months of service. Further details are available at centurylink.com/intemetbasics. If you live in a CenturyLink service area, please call 1 -800-201-4099 or visit centurylink.com/lifelinc with questions or to request an application for the Lifeline program. 'O a t u r y U i k l a t e r a l Baste* P ro fr s m - Residential customers only who qualify based on meeting income level or program participation eligibility requirements, and requires remaining eligible for the entire offer period. First bill will include charges for the first fill I month o f service billed in advance, prorated charges for service from the date o f installation to bill date, and one-tim e charges and fees described above Qualifying customers may keep this program for a maximum o f 60 months after service activation provided customer still qualifies during that time Listed High-Speed Internet rate o f S9 95/mo. applies for first 12 months o f service (after which the rale revert* to $ 14 95/mo. for the next 48 months of servitek and requires a 12 -month term agreement Customer must either lease a m odem router from CenturyLink for an additional monthly charge or purchase a modem, router from Century!-ink for a one-time charge, and a one time High-Speed Internet activation fee applies A one-tim e professional installation charge (if selected by customer) and a one-time shipping and handling fee applies to custom er’s modenvrouter G eneral Services not available everywhere CenturyLink may change or cancel service* or substitute similar services at its sole discretion without notice. Offer, plans, and stated rates are subject to change and may vary by service area Deposit may be required. Additional restrictions apply T erm s and Condition* All products and services listed are governed by tariffs, terms o f service, or term s and conditions posted at centurytink com T ate s, Fees, and S urcharge* Applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges include a earner Universal Service charge, earner cost recovery surcharges, state and local fees that vary by area and certain in-state surcharges Cost recovery fees are not taxes or government-required charges for use Taxes, fees, and surcharges apply based on standard monthly, not promotional, rates CenturyLink - BEO Heppner Branch Lobby Thursday, March 29, 2012 2:00 p.m. ~ 4:00 p.m. Cake, coffee, and punch (TCease join us in wishing Cjeorge the very 6est! Bank of
