Bear shot outside Heppner
By Andrea Di Salvo
Anyone who thought
they saw a bear in the out
skirts of Heppner on Sun
day doesn't need to have
their eyes checked. A young
black bear did wander close
to the city limits over the
weekend.
Steve Cherry o f the
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VOL. 131
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24 10 Pages
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Council leaves pit bulls
on dangerous animal list
Wants owners to register with city
By David Sykes
said there are pit bulls in his
The H ep p n er C ity neighborhood that worry
Council Monday decided him. “I came home one day
to leave pit bulls on the list and the dog made a run at
of dangerous animals in the my wife.”
city, and urged the dog own
He said one o f dogs
ers to come in and register has killed another dog in
with the city.
the neighborhood, and that
To own a pit bull in he is concerned about the
Heppner, owners are re safety of young people, say
quired to post a $100 fee ing “There are kids going
and prove they have at least by my place on their way to
$100,000 in liability insur school all the time.”
ance in order to keep the
“Their instinct is to be
dogs. Normal dog fees are a killer or a fighter and it
$7 for each neutered pet and only takes one time to kill
$ 15 for unneutered, with no or hurt a child,” said Jackie
insurance requirement.
Allstott in urging the coun
At last month’s meet cil to keep the dogs on the
ing, the council discussed dangerous list.
removing the dog breed
“If you watch the Port
from the dangerous animal land news, you know there
list; however, at Monday’s have been problems (with
June meeting, the council pit b u lls),” M ayor Les
heard testimony from citi Paustian said. “ We have
zens and talked more about been lucky.”
the proposal, then decided
Sheryll and Dale Bates,
to leave the dangerous ani who live on Cannon St.,
mal ordinance unchanged. repeated a story that She
“ We are concerned ryll had told the council
about pit bulls,” Heppner last month about a pit bull
resident Clyde Allstott told in their neighborhood. A
the council. Allstott, who pit bull owned by people
lives on North Court St., across the street from their
G-T Trophy Corner
Local men hook humdinger
o f a halibut
Local men Bill Boyd and M a rk Wunderlich with the 112-pound
halibut they landed off Hippa Island during a trip to the Queen
Charlotte Islands in Canada. The men were staying on a sea
going lodge built on a barge. They caught the fish, the biggest
for their group, on Wednesday, June 1, west of Vancouver.
W underlich said he felt something tug on his line, and then
heard that Boyd also had hooked something; it turned out
they had both hooked the same halibut. When the fish clime
out of the water, it had three hooks and two lines in it; the fish
afe both of the men's hooks. Boyd also caught a 36-pound ling
cod during the trip. -Contributedphoto
house (who have since
moved away) had chased
a young person down the
street in front of their house
until the person had to jump
their fence to get away from
the dog.
“ If that had been a
younger child that could
not get over the fence it is
no telling what could have
happened,” Sheryll said.
“That dog had no rea
son to attack," added Dale.
Sheriff’s deputy John
Bowles, who is a member
of the city council, said his
department had to shoot
two pit bulls that had been
killing sheep last year.
“Once they got a taste
o f that blood, they went
from animal to animal,”
he said.
One councilmember,
Cody High, said he did not
believe that pit bulls are
naturally vicious, saying it
is the owners, and the dog’s
training, that causes the bad
behavior and violence.
Councilmember Judy
B u sch k e, w ho at last
month’s meeting told how
her relatives owned five
o f the dogs and had no
problems, said since last
month there was an incident
with the pit bulls involving
children, and her relatives
have since gotten rid of all
the dogs.
High also said the high
er registration fee of $100
is causing owners not to
come in and register their
dogs, so the city does not
really know how many, or
where, pit bulls are located
in Heppner. He suggested
lowering the fee so more
people will come in and
register.
If they cannot afford
to pay the fees and buy the
insurance, then they should
not be allowed to own the
dogs, one audience member
said.
In other business at the
meeting the council;
-reviewed a list of sev
en candidates for the soon-
to-be-vacated city manager
position. Dave DeMayo has
announced his retirement
and plans on leaving in Au
gust. DeMayo reported to
the council that he has been
doing background and other
checks on the narrowed-
down list o f candidates.
There were originally 30
-See CITY COUNCIUPAGE
EIGHT
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW) got
a call from a local citizen,
who spotted the bear in a
tree. The bear was on the
hill just past the turnoff to
Willow Creek Reservoir
at that point, but had ap
parently been wandering
around residences and dis
playing no fear of humans
or human activity.
One of residents who
spotted the bear was Tonya
Jones. Jones said her hus
band, Lowell, and their son
were in their garage when
they happened to glance
out the window. The bear
was directly behind their
house but on other side of
highway.
“Who would ever guess
we’d see a black bear al
most in our back yard?”
said Jones, who added that
grandkids visiting from out
of town were also thrilled to
see the bear. “It was really
quite exciting.”
Jones said a truck com
ing down the road from the
direction of the reservoir
also spotted the bear and
stopped. That apparently
startled the bear, which took
off in the direction of the
Gibbs residence, where that
family had a chance to see
it as it wandered through
their pasture.
“It was exciting to see
a bear down here,” said Sue
Gibbs.
The truck belonged to
the Bennett family, who
were the ones who called
Steve Cherry.
Above; A black bear (circled) was spotted near the outskirts
of Heppner, on the hill just past the turnoff to Willow Creek
Reservoir. -Photo by Kate Day Below: At one point, the bear
on the outskirts of Heppner took to a tree before coming down
and continuing to wander around residences. -Photo by Misty
Bennett
“It was shocking, for
sure,” Misty Bennett said.
Cherry was out of town
at the time, but said he in
structed them to try to keep
the bear in the tree while he
made calls and gathered the
appropriate people to take
care of it.
Rather than staying in
the tree, Cherry said, the
bear came down.
“Instead of doing what
a bear would normally do
(run away), it continued
to wander around the resi
dences and didn’t seem
scared of anybody.”
-See BEAR SHOT IN HEP-
PNER/PAGE SEVEN
Local man gives advice
on workplace stress
Effective leadership can help
By David Sykes
Stress in the workplace
costs businesses more $200
billion a year, as well as one
million people absent from
work on any given day,
a local man who teaches
classes on the subject told
the Heppner Chamber of
Commerce.
Carmelo Di Salvo, Hep
pner, who teaches business
communications classes for
the University of Phoenix,
said management can have
a big effect in causing or
alleviating stress in the
workplace.
Di Salvo said aggres
sive m anagement style,
lack of support, aversive
behavior and poor rela
tionships at work are all
sources of job stress, and
that 80 percent of workers
report feeling stressed on
the job. He added that some
employees believe that their
opinions at work do not
matter, their feelings have
not been heard and that their
Business management expert Carmelo Di Salvo addressed
the Heppner Chamber of Commerce about workplace stress.
-Photo by David Sykes
heart attack and stroke. Di
Salvo said. Fourteen per
cent o f workers say they
have felt like striking a
coworker in the past year,
with nine percent actually
committing an assault or
-See WORK STRESS/PAGE
THREE
ideas are discounted, all
leading to increased stress
levels.
Increased stress levels
can cause physical prob
lems such as high blood
pressure, clogging of arter
ies, increased cholesterol
and an increased risk of
School board honors
state softball champs
Bv April Sykes
The Morrow County
School Board and admin
istration recognized the
Heppner Mustangs’ state
softball championship with
a reception at the board
meeting at the district office
Monday.
The board also recog
nized administrators John
Sebastian, who is retiring
as A.C. Houghton Elemen
tary principal, and Heppner
High School Principal Daye
Stone, who is leaving the
sistant; Eric Lougee, Mor
row Education Center ed
assistant; retirement-Gary
Hunt, Irrigon Junior-Senior
High School; extra duty-
Madison Rosenbalm, Hep
pner Junior High School
assistant volleyball coach;
Breena Tolar. Irrigon Junior
High School assistant girls'
and boys’ basketball coach;
Rick Drake, transfer from
Riverside High School mu-
-See SCHOOL BOARD
HONORS TEAM/PAGE
FIVE
district for another position
in southern Oregon. Stone
visibly choked up when
speaking about his experi
ence in Heppner.
Also at the meeting the
board took care of numer
ous housekeeping tasks as
follows:
-approved em p lo y
ment action as follows:
resignations-Joe Lindsay,
half-time music teacher at
Heppner High School; Jer
emy LaFramboise. Windy
River Elementary ed as
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