Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 2012)
Environmentalists testify against Boardman coal terminal lliliiliiililiillliiiiillilinll Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 By David Sykes Groups of environmen talists from Hood River, La Grande and The Dalles showed up last Tuesday at a public meeting in Board- man to protest the building HEPPNER 5 (K * azette .V unes of a coal terminal at the Port of Morrow that would ship coal from mines in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming down the Colum bia River to Asia. The meeting was held by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to hear comments on the proposed terminal, which would eventually handle up to 8.8 million tons of coal per year and mean jobs, tax money and money for schools in Mor row County. The environmentalists claim the project will pol lute the water and air, and want the DEQ to expand its authority to regulate the coal shipping project. Rep resentatives from Friends o f the Columbia Gorge and Oregon Rural Action bused in supporters to tes tify against the proposed facility, which would be built by Ambre Energy, an Australian-based company with U.S. subsidiaries. The public meeting was held in a large meet- Environmental activists against the proposed Port of Morrow coal terminal pass out red shirts to their members during a pub lic meeting last week in Boardman. -Photo by David Sykes ing room at the Port and dance. People in favor of -See COAL TERMINAL/ was filled to capacity with PACE SIX about 280 people in atten- Local veteran presented Exiting council members with awards display honored at open house VOL. 131 NO 49 8 Pages The outgoing mayor and city council members for the City of Heppner were honored at an open house on Monday, Dec. 10, at Heppner City Hall. The current members will hand over the reigns to the newly-elected mayor and councilors at the end of the year. Les Paustian, 74, is wrapping up his sixth and final year as Heppner's mayor. A long-time resi dent of Heppner, Paustian and his wife, Jan, moved here from Baker County in 1974 when he took a job at Kinzua Mill. Their daugh ter, Debbie, is a familiar face at the Bank of Eastern Oregon. Paustian says his edu cation includes, “A lot of degrees of hard knocks,” as well as some college education. He was also on the Heppner City Council for some time prior to his stint as mayor. Paustian said his great est challenge as mayor was Wednesday, December 12, 2012 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Local Veteran Billy Adams of Heppner was presented with a display of all his military awards last week by retired U.S. Army Col. Chris Brown. In making the presenta tion, Brown said he wished to honor Adams for his military service. “I’ve come to know Billy and become friends with him after I left ac tive military duty, thus we have never served togeth er in service. In fact, we served in different wars and times—his was Korea, Exiting council members (L-R) Cody High, Cindi Doherty, mine Vietnam—1 was a U.S. Keith Lewis and Les Paustian display the plaques they received Army officer and he was an honoring their terms of service with the City of Heppner on USMC enlisted NCO—but Monday. -Photo by David Sykes “Just keeping things on an even keel.” The best part, he says, was working with the people. To the incoming mayor and councilors, he has this to say: “Carry on. I think we’ve got everything in place as far as projects go ing, so they just need to see those through.” Cindi Doherty, 55, has been on the council for 10 years, starting as a coun cilor mid-term in 2002. Originally from lone, she moved to Heppner in 1975. She and husband Mike have three children, Chad, Adam and Kylie, and two grand children. Doherty said the big gest and most challenging issues she faced while on C elebrate H eppner Christmas will be held at the Morrow County Fair grounds Thursday, Dec. 20, at 6 p.m. The evening will feature gifts, raffles and penny boards, as well as the return of the notorious Scrooge. Pictures with the man in the red suit—Santa Claus— will take place from 6-7 p.m. with photographer Alita Nelson. Also at 6 p.m., a din ner o f ham with honey pineapple glaze, creamy mashed potatoes, Christ one thing we shared in commitment to our nation common even from differ- -See VETUONORED/PACE ent age generations was a TWO School district discusses 2013-14 budget By April Sykes The proposed state edu cation budget was a topic of concern at the Morrow County School District -See COUNCIL M EM BERS/ meeting held Monday at the PACE FIVE Morrow Education Center Celebrate Heppner Christmas Dec. 20 Retired U.S. Army Col. Chris Brown, left, presents USMC Veteran Bill Adams w ith a shadow box of all Adams' medals and aw ards. -Photo by David Sykes in Irrigon. The MCSD budget will be based on the final state education budget, which at the current time is expected to be between $6.15 billion and $6.4 billion. MCSD Superintendent Dirk Dirk- sen said that at least a $6.3 billion figure is needed for districts to “be held harmless.” Evaluation and -See MCSD BUDCET/PACE SIX Pastors invited to submit Christmas messages Businesses individuals also invited to send in Christmas greetings mas Jell-O salad, dinner , rolls, Christmas cookies and warm apple cider will be catered by Alvin Liu of The Heppner Ga Cornerstone Gallery for $7 zette-Times will publish per person. Bucknum’s will a Christmas edition next cater a no-host bar. week, on Dec. 19. Reward Card drawings The Gazette-Times will begin at 7 p.m. invites area pastors to sub mit Christmas messages to be published in the Dec. 19 edition. The deadline is Fri day, Dec. 14, at 5 p.m. Mes sages can be dropped off at the Gazette office, emailed to editor@rapidserve.net, or faxed to 541-676-9211. Any businesses or individuals who would like to have a Christmas greet ing in the Dec. 19 Gazette should call 676-9228 or email megan@rapidserve. net by Friday, Dec. 14, at 5 p.m. City considers locking Hager G-T closed for Christmas, Park restrooms at night By David Sykes The H eppner C ity Council Monday discussed locking restrooms at Hager Park each night because of theft and vandalism. It has been reported that someone is breaking the holders to steal the toilet paper from the restrooms. Apparently, there has not been a similar problem at the other city park. After some discussion, the council did not act on the request. Council mem ber Cody High said the city should hold off on locking restrooms and try and find a better solution, includ ing citizen involvement in keeping an eye on the park, and asking the police to make more patrols in the area. The thefts and vandal ism are apparently happen ing during the night. In other business, it was reported that the new side walk ordinance governing use of city sidewalks for sales and events is almost ready for adoption. City Manager Kim Cutsforth said she took a draft copy to several Main Street busi nesses, which made several small changes. The ordi nance will be published for public review and then presented to the council at its January meeting. Cutsforth also reported she is applying for a grant from The Wildhorse Foun dation for money to build a partition in city hall. The city received a low bid last month of $13,308 from JD New Year’s The Gazette-Times will be closed Monday, Dec. 24 and Tuesday, Dec. 25, for the Christmas holi day. The news and ad dead line for the Dec. 26 edition will be Friday, Dec. 21 at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will resume Wednesday, Dec. 26. The Gazette-Times will also be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, for New Year’s Day. The news and ad deadline for the Jan. 2 edition will be Friday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will resume Wednesday, Jan 2. We wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas season. h • D H 1 Ì -See CITY COUNCIL/PAGE EIG H T ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. UP TO 40% OFF M o rro w C o u n ty G rain G ro w e rs Laxlngton 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396 r*r rum equipment. rtdt tur w»t> «n« at www acajwt \
