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City council member Cindi Doherty inspects a new fire truck delivered to the Heppner Fire
Department on Saturday. The truck was driven down from Yakima on the final leg of its trip to
Heppner. “It looks good,” said Fire Chief Rusty Estes who, along with numerous members of the
fire department, was also on hand to check out the new equipment. -Photo by David Sykes
VOL. 131
NO . 16 8 Pages
Wednesday, April 18,2012
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner prom court rules
the night
Stone resigns as principal,
Combe named successor
Heppner to change to K-12 principal
By Andrea Di Salvo
Elementary, says the fam for the moment.
H eppner Jr./S r. ily decided on the move in
“ Looking at the
High School Princi
order to be closer to student enrollment and the
pal Daye Stone will
family in southwest balancing o f responsibili
be stepping down
Oregon.
ties district-w ide, w e’ve
at the end of this
“The com made administrative reduc
school year. Current
munity support here tions and teacher reductions
Heppner Elementa
in Eastern Oregon is and counselor reductions...
ry School Principal
second to none, and it’s what we’ve been doing
M att Com be has
that will be missed,” to balance our budget,”
been named the new Dave Stone
says Stone’s email. Dirksen says.
K-12 principal for
“At this point, we
He adds that it was
Heppner schools, according have lots of ques
never the plan to lay
to Morrow County School tions that are not
off anyone from the
D istrict Superintendent answered, but we
school district, but
Dirk Dirksen.
are trusting that
MCSD has been
A ccording to an God will set the
looking at contin
email sent out by Stone, he sights on our next
gencies for down
has accepted a job as prin steps and chapter
sizing as people
cipal at Hidden Valley High of life.”
retired or left the
School in Grants Pass, OR.
As for the Matt Combe
district.
He
will
start
that
position
in
move
to
one
prin
“ It was a
Heppner High School’s prom took place last Saturday, April 14, at the Elk’s in Heppner. On this
hypothetical situation...if
year’s prom court were (back L-R) Mayci Garrett, Natalie Rauch, Queen Carrie Haguewood, August of this year. Stone, cipal for both Hep
Stephanie Shulyer, Cassie Day, (front L-R) Seth Palmer, Andrew Bara, King Justin Pranger, whose wife, Michelle, is the pner schools, Dirksen says -See HEPPNER PRINCIPAL/
Drew Brannon and Jake Bowles. -Contributedphoto
music director at Heppner that is the long-term plan
PAGE FIVE
Ballot measures
for May election
Along with con
tested races for a couple of
county positions, voters in
south Morrow County will
find several local or county
measures on their ballots in
May. Measures range from
the extension of a school
district levy to the amend
ment of Lexington’s town
charter, giving voters plenty
to think about as they fill
out their ballots.
B allot m easures
are as follows:
For Morrow
County School District,
25-62 Morrow County
School District Renewal
o f Local Option Serial
Levy.
Q uestion: S h a ll
School D istrict levy SI
per $1000 assessed value
each year fo r fiv e years
beginning 2012-13 fo r op
erations and programs?
This measure may cause
property taxes to increase
more than 3 percent.
S um m ary: T his
measure, if passed, would
simply continue for an ad
ditional 5 years the exist
ing levy o f $1 per $1000
assessed value. For ex
ample, it is estimated that
if this measure passes, the
owner of a home assessed
at $ 100,000 would pay ap
proximately $100 per year
for five years only.
This measure au
thorizes the district to levy
a property tax in the amount
of $560,000 each year for
five years beginning with
Í
the fiscal year of 2012-13.
The funding would offset
declining revenues from
state funding.
The School District
will use the funds received
to pay for expenses related
to educational programs
such as to buy materials and
textbooks, to maintain the
current level o f programs
with associated staff, and to
maintain class sizes at lev
els considered appropriate
for proper education.
The estimated tax
costs for this measure is
an estim ate only based
upon the best information
available from the county
assessor at the time of the
estimate.
Vote yes or no.
For lone Library
District, 25-63 Permanent
Tax Rate Limit
Question Shall the
district be authorized to
impose $.25 per $1,000 o f
assessed value as a perma
nent rate limit beginning
2012-13?
S u m m a ry : The
lone Library D istrict is
newly formed in November
2011 with the intent to take
over operations of the lone
Public Library. For over
50 years, the lone Public
Library has been run by the
lone Topic Club through
fund raisers and donations.
The lone Library District
will use the revenue gener
ated from the permanent
-See BALLOT MEA
SURES/PAGE FIVE
School levy on the Wyden holds
May ballot
Morrow town hall
M orrow County
voters will see a Morrow
County School D istrict
renew al serial levy on
their ballots, which will be
mailed to registered voters
on April 27. This levy is a
continuation of the previous
school district levy that has
expired.
If approved, the
ballot measure will levy
$1 per $1,000 assessed
value for five years for
school district operations
and programs. The owner
of a $100,000 home would
pay $ 100 per year for five
years.
The levy would
raise $560,000 a year in
property taxes for five years,
beginning this 2012-13 fis
cal year.
According to the
school district, the funds
w ould offset declining
school revenues from the
state. The district says the
funds will be used to buy
materials and textbooks,
maintain the current level
of programs and maintain
class sizes conducive to
learning.
Sen. Ron Wyden (I.) takes center stage while Morrow County
Judge Terry Tallman looks on during Wyden's 622“* town hall
meeting at Riverside Jr./Sr.High School in Boardman. Wyden
addressed 60 students from Irrigon, Boardman and Heppner,
along with 20 adults, during the town hall last Thursday. He
made the stop during a trip of Eastern Oregon that included
several town hall meetings and a tour of the ZeaChem biore
-Maintains the of finery in Boardman. -Contributedphoto
County surveyor...
who, what, why?
Among the con
tested races during the up
coming election is the run
for Morrow County Sur
veyor. It may be a difficult
decision for some, since
the behind-the-scenes posi
tion, while affecting many
county residents, may not
be understood by more than
a handful.
In som e “ hom e
rule” counties, like Uma
tilla County, the surveyor
is an appointed position. In
others, like Morrow Coun
ty, the county surveyor is
an elected official. That
leaves voters wondering.
“So what, exactly, does a
county surveyor do?”
Among other
things, the county survey-
or:
ficial survey records of the
county;
-Maintains the of
ficial survey monuments of
the county; and
-Reviews and ap
Z e a C h e m I nc. gallon-per-year biorefinery
proves survey records for w elcom ed U.S. Senator
-See WYDEN IN BOARD-
-See COUNTY SURVEYOR/ Ron Wyden to its 250,000
MAN/PAGE THREE
Wyden tours
Boardman plant
PAGE FIVE
10% discount
F
?
on Market
A n im a l F e e d ^ ^ ™ g | |
f t S u p p lie s
JJ
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed A Seed
242 W. Linden Way,'Heppnsr « 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG m«ln offlc«|
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