Environmentalists testify
against Boardman coal terminal
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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
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azette
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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
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