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HEPPNER
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Brianna Peterson, Heppner, passes out treats (luring the Great Green Parade on Saturday.
Peterson, an employee of the Bank of Eastern Oregon, said this is the first year she worked
on the bank’s float. The bank took first place in the float division. - Photo by April Sykes
Fantastic sheep, local support
key to bringing dog trial
enthusiasts to Heppner each year
By Patty Nance
VOL. 132
N O . 12
8 Pages
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Work starting on Barratt Blvd project
By David Sykes
A Washington con
struction company has start
ed work on the
$1.4 million Bar
ratt Blvd project
in Heppner, the
city council was
told last week.
To avoid the
extra crowds and
traffic, Tapani Inc.
of Battleground,
waited until after
St. Patrick’s Day
to start the work,
but is now prepar
ing to start tear
ing out old road
and re p la c in g
with new street,
sidewalk, curbs,
and in one place
a stairway from
Barratt past the
Nazarene Church
on Gilmore, up to
the hospital.
The project
is expected to be
completed by July
4, a spokesman
for the company
told the Gazette.
There will be 12
people working
on the project and
equipment w ill include doz
ers, excavators and wheel
loaders, he added.
In other construction
news Heppner City Man
a g e r Kim
C u ts fo rth
t o l d th e
council
the Sperry
Street relo
cation proj
ect has been
pushed
back from
May to Au
gust when it
will be put
out to bid.
"The proj
ect will be
starting this
fall as op
posed to this
su m m e r,”
C u ts fo rth
to l d th e
council at
its monthly
meeting last
week.
T h e
Sperry
Street proj
ect will see
the street
re lo c a te d
a f te r th e
bridge over
Willow Creek was closed
and it was determined to
be more feasible to reroute
the street than put in a new
bridge.
Cutsforth also told the
council that the sidewalks
on Riverside were almost
com plete and the curbs
were scheduled to be done
last week, and that the city
received the go-ahead from
ODOT (Oregon Dept, of
Transportation) to proceed
with the easement and put in
the Lover’s Lane Bridge.
She also announced
that John Anderson and
Patti Allstott had agreed to
serve on the city planning
commission. "They will
both be a great addition,”
she said. The council voted
unanimously to appoint the
two. In addition Cutsforth
pointed out successful prop
erty cleanups around town
and thanked the Morrow
County Sheriff’s Depart
ment for its cooperation in
working with landowners to
clean up their properties.
In other council busi
ness Judy Buschke o f the
Heppner Housing Author
ity, which runs the St. Pat
rick’s Senior Center and
apartments, said they cur
rently have two vacancies.
-Continued on PAGE
EIGHT
Over 13,000 CRP acres in Morrow
County set to retire in September
Oregon Farm Service
Agency (FSA) State Ex
ecutive Director Lynn Voigt
announced recently that the
Oregon FSA will conduct
a four-week Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP)
general sign-up beginning
May 20 and ending on
June 14.
“It continues to be our
goal to ensure that we use
CRP to address our most
critical resource issues,”
said Voigt. “In 2012, many
states experienced the worst
drought in 60 years. CRP
protected environmentally-
sensitive lands from wash
ing or blowing away. It
gave ranchers extra grazing
land when they needed it. I
expect there will be strong
competition to enroll or re
enroll acres into CRP, so I
urge Oregon’s producers
G-T Trophy Corner
Dick Paris, Heppner, caught this 24 1/2 inch lung steelhead on
the Wallowa River last week. He was fishing with his grandson,
Terry Reynolds, who resides in Milton-Freewater. -Contributed
photo
I
to maximize their environ
mental benefits and make
sure their offers are cost-
effective.”
In addition to erosion
control, CRP provides sig
nificant water-quality bene
fits including reduced nutri
ents and sediment loadings
and adverse consequences
associated with floods as
well as expanded and en
hanced wildlife habitat.
Currently, about
543,542 acres are enrolled
in CRP in Oregon. In Mor
row C ounty, there are
114,672 acres enrolled in
CRP and 13,211 are set to
expire in September. State
wide, contracts on 56,219
acres are set to expire.
CRP is a voluntary pro
gram available to agricul
tural producers to help them
safeguard environmentally-
sensitive land. Producers
enrolled in CRP plant long
term, resource-conserving
covers to improve the qual
ity of water, control soil
erosion and enhance wild
life habitat.
Cold, biting
winds and ornery
sheep coupled
with intense, de
term ined dogs
and strident com
mands like “walk
up” and “away to
the right” were
the norm last
w eekend when
c h a m p io n sh ip
dogs took on the
sheep from Ce
cil.
All part of the action
at the United States Bor
der Collie Handlers Assn.
(USBCA) Sheep Dog Trials
held just north of Heppner
last weekend.
Handlers and owners
from throughout the North
west and beyond brought
their border collies in hopes
of adding to point totals that
could earn them a berth at
the national championships
in Virginia later this year.
Why H eppner? For
owner, handler, trainer Di
anne Deal of Greenleaf, ID.,
the answer is simple: It’s all
about the sheep.
“It’s the Krebs’ sheep,”
she said. “These are year
ling range ewes and they
have never been run in a
group of less than 1,000.
They take these sheep and
break them into groups of
five. They are just wonder
ful sheep.” Deal said she
has been coming to the
Heppner trials for 10 or 12
years.
She said they have the
from the top of the hill to
the gates. “It was fantastic,”
she said.
Mohney credits Brian
Thompson for making the
event so special. “He do
nates the land, the hay and
the setup for the sheep and
the All-Around High Point
Award,” she said. “That and
the Krebs sheep were just
fantastic.”
Local 4-H group, the
Bamyarders, helped at the
pen, separating the ewes
into lots of five. Mohney
said the group helps each
year to help raise funds for
their club. “You just have
the greatest support there in
Heppner,” she said.
This year’s overall win
ner was Scott Glen and
his dog “Don” from New
Dayton, Alberta, Canada.
Glen also won top points
on Sunday.
Saturday’s top point
earner was Lora Withmell
and her dog “Bella” from
Salem.
opportunity to compete at
Sonoma, CA. but choose to
come to Heppner.
Although there were
dogs of all ages at the trials.
Deal said it takes dogs five
or six years to become a
top herder. They reach their
prime, she explained, be
tween ages five and nine.
Along with the com
petitions, Deal also trains
border collies and a few
kelpies. “Border collies can
go the distance. They move
stock with their eyes. They
are such control freaks -
kind of like us,” she said.
Karen Mohney, event
organizer, said the event
registration is filled quickly
for the Heppner event. “We
had 82 signed up for each
day,” she said. “But we
were only able to to run
50 dogs.” Mohney said a
lottery is held by registra
tion date.
A new field was used
for this year's competition.
The course was 320 yards
Churches will provide food baskets
Seven area churches
have joined efforts to pro
vide a gift of food to local
families who could use a
little help during the long
month of March, especially
those with children to feed
over Spring Break.
March 24, from 2-4 pm (or
as long as supplies last).
Delivery is available for
those unable to pick up a
box. For delivery, call the
Shared Ministry office at
541-676-9970 and leave a
detailed message.
Anyone in need is wel
come, no questions asked.
Food boxes will again be
distributed outside All
Saints Episcopal Church
(comer of Church & Gale
in Heppner) this Sunday,
No charges filed in alleged diaper incident
No charges will be filed
following an alleged inci
dent, concerning the use of
diapers in a classroom at
Sam Boardman Elementary
School in Boardman.
According to a press
release from the Morrow
County School Dist., there
have recently been some
allegations against a district
employee regarding con
duct towards students in the
classroom. The employee
in question was placed on
leave when the allegations
surfaced, and an investiga
tion was completed by law
enforcement and district
officials. In late February,
Morrow County District At
torney Justin Nelson deter
mined that criminal charges
would not be pursued. Ac
cording to the press release,
the district addressed the
issue with the employee and
the teacher returned to work
on March 18.
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