Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2012)
Ghosts and ghouls, oh my! 11 1 1 1 ■ 1 ■ 111 ...... 11 1 • • 11 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 I Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper Libran. University of Oregon Lugene. OR l>7403 A happy scarecrow sit oblivious to the scutiny it gets from a dubious ghost on Main Street in Heppner. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo -More pictures on PAGE TEN County hears concerns about Bombing Range VOL. 131 N 0 .4 2 10 Pages Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Liu joins Heppner mayoral race Alvin J. Liu has joined the race for Heppner City Mayor, running as a write- in candidate. Liu is running against Joe Perry for the position soon to be vacated by Mayor Les Paustian. Liu was bom in Taiwan but first came to Heppner in 1996; he has been a full-time Heppner resident since 2001. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in arts and multimedia from Eastern Oregon University. He has served as student ambassador for EOU, past board member and current member o f the Heppner Cham ber o f Commerce, m em ber o f the O regon Community Foundation, vision and new initiatives and community ambassador for growth. If a person is for the Ford Family Foun without vision, he or she dation. He and his wife, is most likely not going to Lynda Liu, also op act in favor of posi erate businesses in tive mindset. When Heppner. challenges occur, Liu say s he the answer tends to believes the great be ‘Oh well, it’s not est problem facing my problem.’ Heppner is lack of “We must reen vision and initia Alvin J. Liu ergize the positive tive. emotion of the rea “Most people would son why we choose to live say the biggest challenge here and to call Heppner for Heppner is employment, home,” Liu adds. “We, as specifically family-wage citizens of this community, jobs,” says Liu. “I agree; do have responsibilities for however, I believe the core its sustainability and future issue is, rather, the lack of growth.” Husband, wife team turns neglect to investment Couple s hard work and attention to costs turns rundown Heppner home into nice rental unit By David Sykes Find a g o od-priced home in need o f repair, throw in a lot of hard work and a reasonable amount o f money and, to Val and Charlotte Skvortsov, you have not only a good rental unit, but also a solid addi tion to their investment and retirem ent strategy. The couple recently added to that portfolio by rehabbing an older double-wide mo bile home in Heppner. The couple bought a bank repossessed 1975 dou ble-wide mobile home at 233 Linden Way in Heppner with the plan of remodel ing the dilapidated two bedroom, two bath home and then renting it out for income. The couple’s plan was to make a nice rental unit people would want to live in, but also control costs so the investment paid off financially. “We think it is part of a good investment strategy to purchase a real asset,” says Charlotte, who plans out the home purchases and jobs, while her husband Val does much of the remodel ing work. “Val and I work to gether as a team. He is not afraid to work,” says Char lotte of her husband, who will tackle almost any job, but also knows when to call in the pros. For instance, when the couple put up the sheetrock, they did all the hanging and taping, but then hired a local contractor to come in and apply the texture. “He had the tools and we thought that would just work out better,” says Char lotte. Contractors also did some other small jobs dur ing the remodel process but, overall, “ We did it ourselves,” she says. To make it pay, “You have to do everything you can yourself, but also know your limits,” she says. T his in clu d ed new kitchen and bath, new cab inets and laminate floor ing, and new interior doors throughout the house. They did not have to replace the windows, as the home already had new double- paned windows installed. O u tsid e, they com pletely redid the yard, in cluding $180 for sod (“We only needed $ 150 of that so we gave the rest away to the neighbors,” said Charlotte), -See NEGLECT TO INVEST- MENT/PAGE TEN Increased Navy restrictions could lower revenue fo r landowners, county The Morrow County Court met in Boardman on Oct. 10 with Judge Tallman and Commissioners Grieb and Rea in attendance. The City and Citizen Comment period for Irrigon was opened, with no one in attendance. Later in the meeting, Jerry Breazeale, Irrigon City Manager, re quested the county’s co operation and support of a grant request for a Source Water Protection Project G rant. The project will conduct well tests on ap proxim ately 20 wells in the UGB area o f Irrigon. A November meeting will be held to help inform the residents how they can help improve water qual ity issues. The city will reimburse the county with grant funds for staff time to conduct research and develop mailing lists. The court reviewed and approved the September retirement taxes and the account payables in the amount o f $ 113,062.52. The court also reviewed the General Fund cash bal ance activity for the week of Oct. 8 through Oct. 14, 2012. The remaining cash balance was $273,552.32, which is $ 131,917.81 ahead of the same point last year. The projected General Fund expenses for the next week will leave a balance o f approxim ately $75,000. There was a discussion regarding the possibility of a short-term inter-fund loan from Finley Buttes Li cense Fee Fund to the Gen eral Fund. Finance Director Rick Worden w ill prepare a resolution for the loan to be considered at next week’s meeting. New Business: Jerry Rietmann discussed is sues regarding the Navy Bombing Range and how the Navy’s new plans are impacting wind projects in the area. Rietmann stated that in 2008 they met with the Navy regarding where the Navy would allow tur bine development. It now appears they have leased approximately 8,000 acres in an area where the Navy now wants to restrict devel opment. This action could reduce payments to local -See COUNTY COURT NEWS/PAGE FOUR Local boys headed for big-time with podcast By Andrea Di Salvo Aaron “Dogbite” Har ris and friends will hold a CD release party for their compilation album, “Live from the Trailer: Volume I” this Saturday, Oct. 27. at 9 p.m. at Bucknum’s Tavern in Heppner. rhe release of an album is a big accomplishment for any musician, but “Live from the Trailer” is only part of the story’ for this up- and-coming musician. Harris, 28, and his part- ner-in crime, Jody “Black Water" Maddem, also 28, are long-time best friends and both Heppner boys. Their fame has been spread ing far beyond the Heppner city limits, though; they're now gamering attention at the national level. Much of that attention comes from their podcast— an internet-based, down- Aaron “ Dogbite” Harris (left) and Jody Maddern (right) are the voices behind the increasinglv-popular podcast. Dog Water Radio. The duo will host a release party fora CD based on the show this Saturday at Bucknum's. -Contributedphoto loadable radio program— Dog Water Radio. “ It’s simply all DIY and fly-by-the-seat-of-our- pants; the playlist is the part that takes us the longest out o f everything,” says Harris. Above left: Val and Charlotte Skvortsov outside their newly-remodeled rental unit in Heppner. Above right: The home on Linden Way before the remodeling project. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. I landowners by $1 million and would also result in a loss to the county’s tax base. Rietmann estimates the Navy’s actions could result in a 20 percent to 30 percent reduction in their project. Craig Reeder presented information regarding the economics of the Columbia Basin’s irrigated agricul ture. Reeder provided a map showing that in the last 20 years, Washington has added 48,000 acres of irrigated agriculture while Oregon has only added 10,500 acres of irrigated ag riculture. Reeder provided the following income infor mation. 125 acres of sweet com with a field value of $120,000 then through the processing to a retail value of $3.2 million dollars, 125 acres of carrots with a field value of $475,000 to a retail value of $8.6 million and 125 acres of potatoes with a field value of $750,000 to a retail value of $24.5 million dollars. This information shows the region’s potential « “There is also no script; whatever comes into my head comes right out, usu- ally with no filter on it,” adds Maddem. The two of them also -See PODC ASTFAME/PAGE FIVE
