Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
VOL. 132
NO. 7 10 Pages
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
City again discussing Heritage
Park Indian sculpture
Some are pushing for a Umatilla Indian theme; others say
stick with Heppner s Irish heritage
By David Sykes
placing an Indian sculpture
The city of Heppner is in one of its parks, and once
once again talking about again some are saying an
Irish-type statue would be
more accurate and appro
priate.
At a January meeting
of the city parks committee,
several Heppner residents
submitted several “options”
for a statue at the park,
which is located near the
farm museum and already
has a windmill and several
antique farm equipment
pieces displayed there.
Former City Manager
Dave DeMayo is the main
proponent o f the Indian
statue idea, telling the com
mission he would volunteer
to work with the Umatilla
Indian Tribes “at his own
expense” to develop and
locate a statue there.
The parks meeting drew
a response from Heppner
resident Tom Wolff, who
urged the city not to place
an Indian-themed statue in
the park.
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
“Heppner and the Wil-
School district to change
headquarters
There is disagreement about what type of sculpture or statue
should be placed at the above location in Heritage Park in
Heppner. -Photo by David Sykes
low Creek Valley have a the turn o f the century,”
long and deep heritage of Wolff wrote in a letter to
Irish culture and sheep in- -See CITY COUNCIL/PAGE
fluence, dating from before
s ix
Baily Bennett
wins state award
School board votes to close Lexington district offices, move to
Heppner Elementary building
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
School Board voted Mon
day night to close down
the school district office in
Lexington and move the
district operations to Hep
pner Elementary School.
“The move has been
precipitated by an eroding
budget, plus an effort to re
duce expenditures through
the district,” said a district
news release. “Heppner
Elem entary School was
selected based on the avail
ability of space with little
to no renovations being
necessary. The district has
completed an evaluation of
Lexington's response:
February 11, 2013
To: Superintendent Dirksen and Members o f the
Morrow County School Board
From: The Lexington Town Council
In lieu of being at the school board meeting, as
our council meeting is the same night, these thoughts
will have to do in writing. Mr. Dirksen called to in
form the council that the school district offices will
indeed be moved to Heppner Elementary School.
Our question: what is the plan for the old buildings
left in Lexington?
It is our understanding that when the school was
taken from Lexington that there would be a presence
of the school district in each community and the dis
trict office was that for Lexington. Most citizens un
derstand that things change and buildings don’t last
forever. However, leaving buildings boarded up, to
deteriorate even more, without a plan for the building
or property doesn’t sound like a presence the district
would want to leave in the community either. When
the town made the choice to build a new fire hall,
it was with the understanding that the old building
would be demolished and the land made into a park
or seeded to grass or whatever would make the prop
erty a nice site. The council believes that the same
should be true o f the school district.
If you choose to abandon the buildings, then a
plan for the demolition and maybe a kiosk giving the
history of the site should be in place or perhaps a plan
to sell the property to someone who would renovate
and/or develop the property. Just making another
“Brownfield” for the community doesn’t seem to be
a wise option for the school district or the town.
We would appreciate hearing about your plan for
the property.
necessary maintenance on
the District Office building
and has decided money
will be better spent in the
classroom with teachers
and aides who work directly
with students,” continued
the release.
Superintendent Dirk
Dirksen said it was esti
mated that renovating the
building would cost in the
neighborhood of a million
dollars, while closing the
building would save an es
timated $40,000-$50,000 a
year. He said the fate of the
building has not yet been
decided, with options in
cluding selling the building,
donating it or demolishing
it. “The building will con
tinue to be monitored and
the gym will be utilized
by individuals for activi
ties. The district plans to
continue to work with the
community to ensure all
interests in the building and
community are met,” said
the release.
The district had histori
cally said that they would
maintain a presence in the
L ex in g to n com m unity,
something that the district
says it still desires. (See
sidebar.) The board agreed
to send a letter to the city of
Lexington.
The superintendent’s
office will be moved to the
“old Title room” at the end
of the hall on the top floor
at Heppner Elementary;
the executive secretary’s/
personnel director’s office
will be established in HES’
previous counselor’s office;
and the rest of the business
office will be located in a
previous classroom, said
Business Manager Andy
Fletcher.
Also that evening. Dirk-
sen’s performance review
-See SCHOOL DISTRICT/
PAGE SEVEN
The Morrow County School District plans on closing its of
fices in the former Lexington school. The offices will be relo
cated to Heppner Elementary; plans for the Lexington build
ing are unknown. -Photo by David Sykes
Mustang Senior Baily Bennett winds up for the pitch during an
HHS softball game last year. Bennett was initially chosen as a
finalist for the Oregon Sports Awards Prep Athlete award based
on her softball performance. - Photo by Sandy Matthews
Heppner High School
senior Baily Bennett was
named Prep Athlete of the
Year at the 61s' Oregon
Sports Awards, held Sun
day, Feb. 10, in the Stanford
Theater at the Tiger Woods
Center at N ik e’s World
Headquarters in Washing
ton County.
Bennett was nam ed
Johnny C arpenter Prep
Athlete of the Year. Class
4A-1A female, for her per
formance playing softball
for HHS. The award was
named for Johnny C ar
penter, a pioneer sports
broadcaster for KOIN from
1937 until his retirement in
1969. He helped found the
Oregon Sports Writers and
Sportscasters Association.
The award went to the out
standing male and female
Oregon 4A/3 A/2A/1A high
school athletes in the year
2012, selected from the
finalists in the individual
sport Prep A thletes cat
egories.
In winning the award,
Bennett stood alongside not
only her high-school peers
from across the state, but
also rubbed shoulders with
athletes like Ashton Eaton
and Megan Rapinoe, Olym
pic gold-medal winners that
took home the Harry Glick-
man Professional Athlete of
the Year Awards.
The O regon S ports
A w ards, p re s e n te d by
Nike, were hosted by ESPN
SportsCenter anchor and
University of Oregon alum
Neil Everett. A recorded
version o f the webcast is
available on www.oregon-
live.com and www.oregon-
sportsawards.com.
District exceeds statewide Wyden schedules Morrow
County town hall
graduation rate
According to the Or
egon Department of Educa
tion, Morrow County is do
ing slightly better than the
state average when it comes
to graduation rates.
The Oregon D epart
ment of Education released
a report on Jan. 31 focused
on high school dropout
and graduation rates state
wide for the 2011-2012
school year. According to
the report. Morrow County
School District has a four-
year cohort graduation rate
of 76.33 percent, a five-year
I
cohort graduation rate of
78.70 percent and a dropout
rate of 3.36 percent. This
is compared to the Oregon
four-year cohort graduation
rate of 68.4 percent, five-
year cohort graduation rate
of 72.4 percent, and dropout
rate of 3.4 percent.
Morrow County School
District is pleased that it
exceeded the statew ide
average; however, district
representatives say they are
also aware and concerned
that the district does not
have 100 percent o f stu
dents graduating on time.
“Our plan is to improve
our ability to identify all
students that are not on
track to graduate and work
with them in meaningful
ways that will encourage
them to complete their high
school diploma in four or
five years,” said Super
intendent Dirk Dirksen.
“When students have poor
attendance, stop coming to
school, fail courses and fall
behind in credits, or choose
Oregon Senator Ron
Wyden will hold his an-
nual town hall in Mor-
row County at 4:30 p.m.
on Sunday, Feb. 17. The
meeting will be held in the
Wyden has been hold-
Riverfront Room of the Port ing town halls in every
of Morrow, 2 Marine Drive, Oregon county every year
Boardman.
since 1996.
-See DISTRICT GRAD
RATES/PAGE EIGHT
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