Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2012)
EIGHT- Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 31,2012 lone recognizes perfect attendance lo n e C o m m u n ity School has announced that the following students re ceived awards for perfect attendance for the month of October, 2012: Chloe Burke, Liam Heideman. Martin Men doza. Mason Orem. Corey Rice. Katie Spivey, Dy lan C hristian , K arensa Jones, Cameron Proud- foot, Lewkus Burright. Car- son Eynetich, Alexandria Gurinko, Madison Orem, Bryce Rollins, Daralynn Teeman, Morgan Alldritt, Blake Carter. Emily Eh- rmantraut, Hailey Heide man. Mazie Hill. Faviola Juarez Alvarez, Haylie Pe terson, Kayla Rodriguez, Tom Rudolf, Julianna Tee- man, Katelyn Thompson, Anthony Villegas, Mancar meli Aguilar, Larysa Bur- right, Cameron Crum, Eva Martin, Abigayle Pringle, Ola Rietmann, Jordan Rol- lis, Wyatt Aleksa. Madison Alldritt, Shaun Epperson, Jake Heideman. Matt Orem, Jill Rudolf, Paul lay lor. Ty ler Carter. Payton Miller, Renee Peterson, Syd Ste fani and Susanna Teeman. Attendance awards for grades seven through 12 were also given to the fol- lowing students, each of which had two absences or less for the first quarter: JD A leksa, Andrew Ames, Maggie Flynn, Wy att McNary, Austin Morter, Nicole N avarrete, Day- shawn Neal, Morgan Orem, Roman Sheena Rodriguez, Emily Taylor. Hector Agui lar, Pedro Bolanos, Tatum Clark, Dan Doherty, Karsen Dumler, Tristan Estabrook. Iiannah Flynn, Yaniva Gar cia, Colton Hollis, Ashley Medina, Hannah Padberg, Babali Peterson, Breawna Teeman, Jorge Aguilar, Jes sie Flynn, Rachel Holland, Jason Juarez, Tre Neal. Ann Rietmann, Joshua Stillman, Brendan Thompson, Cassi dy Braun. Joe Doherty, Lau ren Garrett, Adara Hasbell, Dan Holtz, Brandon Peck, Oskar Peterson, Miranda Taylor. Bailey Haguewood, , Jaqueline Juarez, Larissa Steinlicht. Tyrell Barnett, Julianne Carlson, Tim Em- mel, , Francisco Ramirez and Alisha Taylor. lone students show responsibility County Court news The Morrow County Court met in Heppner on Oct. 24 with Judge Tallman and Commissioners Grieb and Rea in attendance. The City and Citizen Comment period for lone/ Lexington was opened; Dee Birch from the town of Lexington provided photos for the court's review of the town’s new city hall and fire station. She also reported that the old city hall/fire sta tion has been tom down and the site is being cleaned up so a park with picnic tables and restrooms can be pro vided for the citizens. Lex ington now has a website; it is www.lexingtonoregon. com. The council minutes and meeting calendar are some of the items that will be posted. The court review ed and approved the minutes for Oct. 17. The court also reviewed and approved 4-H and FFA premiums, payroll payables, S'11 quarter SUTA, Nov. 6 election postage, garnishm ent refund and the account payables in the amount of $76,200.09. This was after pulling a $64,260 invoice for jail beds and $44,998 for a marine patrol vehicle. The court then re viewed the projected Gen eral Fund cash balance activity for the week of Oct. 22 thru Oct. 28, 2012. The remaining cash balance was $ 114,046.52. The projected G eneral Fund expenses for the next week and the projected tax turnover will leave a balance of approxi mately $22,046.52. Emergency M anage m ent M onthly U pdate: UndersherifT Steve Myren stated that the com m u nities are all working on their Emergency O pera tions Plans (EOP) and that he is continuing to refine the county's EOP. The court then went out and viewed the replacement Marine Patrol boat. Assessor/Taxation Re port: Assessor Greg Sweek informed the court that the City of Irrigon’s property tax bills are up about 20 percent due to a sewer sys tem bond that was passed in 2004. but this w ill be the first year the city requested the amount be included on the property tax state ments. Sweek informed the court that the estimated assessed value o f $1.413 billion provided in April 2012 was a little low and the actual value came in at $1.572 billion. One of the larger companies that was eligible for Enterprise Zone status failed to file for their exemption, so that ac counted for a large portion of the difference. County Counsel Re p o rt: Mr. Swinburnson stated that he is continuing to work on the resolution regarding the ownership of Cain Lane. C o m m issio n er R e port: Judge Tallman stated that he had attended a meet ing at the OSU Experiment Station regarding the giant cane (Arundo Donax) that PGE is experimenting with to burn at the Coal Fired Plant. It appears the state is proposing some rules that would make it impossible to grow enough stock to serve the plant. There will be additional meetings re garding the newly-proposed rules, and Judge Tallman will plan on attending these meetings. Commissioner Rea reported on the latest meeting for the Umatilla Governor declares rural health day lone Community School recognized students in kindergarten through sixth grade who did an outstanding job showing re sponsibility during the month of October. Students awarded were Martin Mendoza-kindergarten, Karensa Jones-first grade, Bryce Rollins-second grade, Gary Walls-third grade, Eva Martin-fourth grade, Elaina Ehrmantraut-fifth grade and Susanna Teeman-sixth grade. -Contributedphoto HES shows Colt pride On Thursday, Nov. 1, students and staff at Heppner Elementary donned their Colt shirts to show their Colt pride. Once again, HES has received an outstanding rating on the Oregon state report card. The students are holding signs that boast: “ HES is outstanding again...and again...and again." That is surely the case, as HES has received the highest ranking seven times. -Contributed photo G overnor John Kit- zhaber has declared Thurs day, Nov. 15, Rural Health Day. His declaration is part of a national movement to celebrate the role of health care services in rural areas. The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) created National Rural Health Day as a way to showcase rural America; increase aware ness of rural health-related issues; and promote the efforts of NOSORH, State Offices of Rural Health and others in addressing those issues. Approximately 62 mil lion people—nearly one in five Americans— live in rural and frontier communi ties throughout the United States. “These small towns, farming villages and fron tier areas are fueled by the creative energy of ordinary citizens who historically have been willing to step forward and take risks in order to provide a wealth of products and resources for the rest of the country. They also continue to be places where everyone know s each other, listens to/re- spects each other and works together for the greater good,” notes NOSORH Director Teryl Eisinger. Unfortunately, these communities face unique healthcare concerns: a lack o f healthcare providers; accessibility issues, particu larly in terms of transporta tion and technology; and affordability issues as the result of larger percentages of un-/underinsured citizens and greater out-of-pocket health costs. Meanwhile, rural hospitals and health systems face declining re imbursement rates and dis proportionate funding lev els that make it challenging to meet the physical, social and economic needs of their communities. The Morrow County Health District works di rectly with the Oregon State Office of Rural Health to address the challenges it face and to receive support in our mission of providing excellence in healthcare,” says a MCHD represen tative. “ We’re proud to provide a wide variety of services and we sincerely appreciate the support we receive from the residents o f Morrow County. Please join us in celebrating Rural Health Day.” BEO shows spooky spirit Free Facebook workshop planned Bank of EO's Heppner employees gathered for their annual group photo in celebration of Halloween. Orange and black was the dress code for the day for most, and tellers dolled up in their finest witch costumes. The loan processors took the liberty of dressing like their supervisor. Senior VP/Senior Loan Officer John Qualls, while the real John Qualls surprised everyone with his bright green money costume, dubbing himself “Big Money Daddy.” -Contributedphoto Hie lone Public Library will host a free workshop on “Facebook Basics—Getting Started” on Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the library. Heidi Nelson will lead the class. Class members should bring a laptop, iPad or tablet device if they have one. The class is intended for beginning, reluctant or non-users of Facebook with the aim of increasing their comfort level with this trend in social media. Topics covered in the f session include: signing up, logging in, finding friends, how to post and share, commenting and sharing photos, messaging, control ling what appears in your news feed and terminology. There will also be time for questions and answers. Space is limited; inter ested patrons must RSVP by either contacting Anne Morter at amorter@hughes. net or 541-422-7429, or getting their name on the list at the lone Library. Basin Water Commission, stating that the original test project has now been com pleted and the commission needs to make a decision as to who should operate the system. There was also a lengthy discussion as to whether the commission should contribute $20,000 to the Oregon Solutions that has been working on water issues in the basin. It was decided to not contribute until the commission knew how the funds were going to be spent. Rea also stated that the U m atilla Com missioners would like to invite the Morrow County Commissioners to attend a m eeting with Yakima County Commissioners to discuss water usage from the Columbia River. Various correspondenc es and upcoming meeting notices were reviewed and discussed. The Morrow County Court met in Heppner on Oct. 31 with Judge Tallman and Commissioners Grieb and Rea in attendance. The C ity and C iti zen Comment period was opened, with no one in at tendance. The court reviewed and approved the minutes for Oct. 24. Planning Department Update: Planning Director Carla McLane informed the court that more research will need to be conducted regarding the code enforce ment issue in the Heppner area. McLane then pro vided information on the Administrative Draft for the Environmental Assessment (EA) that is being prepared for the Carty Lateral proj ect. The court learned that they have been appointed as a Special Advisory Group (SAG) for several energy projects (power generation and transmission projects) that are being processed through the Oregon Dept, o f Energy. McLane will provide the court with the entire list of projects at the next court meeting. The draft Environmen tal Impact Statement for the navy bombing range, which will allow the use of the range by the Oregon National Guard, was dis cussed. Public Works Di rector Burke O’Brien pro vided a letter regarding the potential impacts to county roads, which he would like to see incorporated into the county’s comments. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding some of the other negative impacts that could affect future development both on and off the Bomb ing Range property. The court conducted the follow ing business: Reviewed and signed a let ter of support for the Ambre Energy (Coyote Island Ter minal Application #49123), a letter requesting Oregon State University to fund the 4-H Program in Morrow County and a letter to the Navy requesting an exten sion o f 30 days to com ment on the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility Boardman Draft Environ mental Impact Statement. Various correspondenc es and upcoming meeting notices were reviewed and discussed. rhis information is pro- vided by Com m issioner Leann Rea; anyone who would like to receive Coun ty Court minutes, contact Karen Wolff at 541-676- 5620. CITY WASTEWATER -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE amount does not in clude maintenance or moni toring costs. It was also determined that, because the irrigation program is as heavily monitored by the DEQ as any other waste- water program, this irriga tion program could require modifications or even be disallowed after some time and major investment. “For these reasons, the city will not be pursuing this option and will be re focusing on an ammonia- reduction plant,” said a city spokesperson. “It is a disappointment that there were so many obstacles, and the city appreciates the effort put forth from our local farmers.” SWCD to meet SWCD closed Monday for holiday The Morrow SWCD will hold a regular board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Ag Service Center conference room. Agenda items include m inutes o f the O ctober 2012 meeting, treasurer’s report, staff reports, grants update, partnership reports, Accounts Receivable status. director elections update, a 2013 puncturevine proposal and a USDA lease discus sion. There will be time for public comments. All meetings o f Mor row SWCD are open to the public. O ur offices w ill be closed Monday, Nov. 12, in observance of Veteran's Day. Financial aid info night planned A financial aid night will be held in the Heppner High School library on Nov. 14 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for parents of students wanting to learn about financial aid for their students. A representative of Blue Mountain Community Col lege will be there to cover the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). All senior and junior parents along with their students are encouraged to attend. Irrigon, DEQ to discuss groundwater On Nov. 8 at 6 p.m., the Oregon D epartm ent of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will host a meeting to talk about groundwater in the Irrigon area. The meeting on Nov. 8 will focus on providing information on groundwa ter and how it responds to local land uses. DEQ rep resentatives will be talking about how groundw ater gets in the ground, how it moves, and how it can get contaminated. This meeting is likely to be of interest to anyone who has a well they use for household use, crops, maintaining livestock and septic systems for waste- water disposal. The meeting will be held at Stokes Landing C om m unity and Senior Center, 195 NW Opal Place, Irrigon, OR. Call Sheree Stuart at 503-229-5413 for more information. I
