Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2013)
r T N c - p a p e - Utaary Courthouse renovations begin The Morrow County Courthouse in Heppner is in the early stages o f its face ‘lift.’ After careful evaluation by engineers, it was determined that the bell tower of the courthouse has deteriorated and needs to be repaired in the near future. The original bid was Eugene. HEPPNER imes VOL. 132 N 0 . 27 8 Pages Wednesday, July 3, 2013 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Summer school program gives kids academic boost By Andrea Di Salvo Students recently got a boost in their academ ics thanks to the summer school programs at Hep pner schools. The program s have been in operation for sever al years at Heppner schools; this year they ran fr,om 8-11 a.m. June 19-27 at both Heppner Elementary School and Heppner Jr./Sr. High School. Reasons for summer school attendance ranged from credit retriev al—making up necessary classes that were failed or missed for some reason—to a little extra tutoring to meet rigorous state benchmarks or prepare for the next grade level. According to Heppner principal Matt Combe, par ticipation in summer school for a helicopter to lift the bell tower but, after care ful review, the helicopter companies were concerned that the structure .would disintegrate in the prop wash.” A second bid was released for a crane to lift the bell tower. Northwest Crane Ser vice was the successful bidder for the crane op eration, with a bid amount of $13,720 for lifting the bell tower and replacing the bell tower. They will bring in a 225-ton crane, which will be set up in the lower parking lot behind the courthouse. The target date for the actual lift will be during the week of July 22-26. A more specific date will be selected in the next week, subject to weather. Preliminary work has begun in the clock tower. The clock is being dis mantled and removed. Resi dents may notice in the near future that the bell will not be striking on the hour. Preparations of the pad in the lower parking lot will begin, still allowing for ac cess to the courthouse for those with DMV Disabled Parking Permits. The estimated cost to hire a crane and remove the clock tower, prepare for the crane, repair the clock tower, and then replace the bell tower is over $300,000 and will require closing the courthouse for at least one The long-anticipated lift that will begin the renovation of the Morrow County Courthouse clock tower (pictured in detail below ) is scheduled for the middle of this month, with a date to be release later. -Contributedphotos day for the lift and one day for the replacement. The dome, which is es timated to weigh over 7,000 pounds, will be lifted by crane and placed on a trailer and will be taken off-site for renovations. The courthouse bell, which weighs over 3,000 pounds, will be removed in a second ‘lift’ and taken off-site for renovations as well. After renovations are complete, the process will be reversed. While it will be nec essary to close the court house for the safety of the employees, the public and the contractor, the closures will be kept to a minimum in order to provide services to the public. Safety zones will be es tablished around the court house and will be enforced. The public is encouraged to watch the process from a safe distance. There are many places in town that will provide a good view o f the action while also being outside of the safety zones. As updates becom e available, they will be pro vided in the Heppner Ga zette-Times, on the Morrow County website at http:// morrowcountyoregon.com/ clock-tower-updates/, and on the new ‘Morrow Coun ty Clock Tower Renovation’ Facebook page. M orrow C ounty assessor announces retirem ent HF.S teacher Melissa Coiner,'a main coordinator for the sum mer school program at the elementary school, tutors a pair of first-graders during this year’s session. Photo by Andrea Di Salvo was not an open invitation ta—that is, different strands to all students, but was of learning in different sub- based on need. School staff -See SUMMER SCHOOL/ PAGE FIVE looked at certain strand da- G-T closed for Fourth of July The Gazette-Times of- day, July 4, in observance everyone a happy and safe fice will be closed on Thurs- o f the holiday. We wish Independence Day lone Red, White & Blues 2013i Wednesday, July 3 Golf Tournament— Willow Creek Country Club...9 a.m. Topic Club Book Sale— lone Legion H all...9 a.m.-6 p.m. Blast Zone Paintball—Stefani Lot (concessions on site)... 10 a.m.-dark Talent Show— lone City Park...6 p.m. Music by Frank Carlson—lone City Park...Following Thursday, July 4 Fireman’s Breakfast— lone Fire Hall...7 a.m.-lO a.m. 5k Walk/Run— Lady Cardinal Basketball/Wounded Warrior project, $10 fee...7 a.m. 2013 Craft Fair—lone Legion Hall...9 a.m.-6 p.m. Food Vendors, Information Booths/Raffle Tickets— lone City Park Park Entertainment by Local Artists Blues Cruise Car Show— lone City Park... 10:30 a.m. Fish Pond, Frog Jump, Bike Raffle— lone Fire Hall/City Park... 11 a.m. Altar Society Pie Sale— lone Fire Hall... 11 a.m. Red, White & Blues Parade—Grand Marshals Jim & Monica Swanson... 1 p.m. Park Activities Begin... 1 p.m. Ken Turner Memorial Horseshoe Tournament—Horseshoe Pits Petting Zoo— lone City Park Blast Zone Paintball—Stefani Lot (concessions on site)... 10 a.m.-dark American Legion Bingo— lone Legion H all...2 p.m. Music by Corey Peterson— On Stage...after parade until 3 p.m. Blues Bands—On Stage/Ione Amphitheater...3-10 p.m. Hi Fi Mojo...3-4:15 p.m. Billy D and the Hoodoos...4:45-6p.m. Tommy Tutone...6:30-8p.m. The Sonny Hess & Vicki Stevens Band. .8:30-10p.m. Legion Auxiliary Baskets (silent auction @ lone Deli)...4:30 p.m. Boat Trip Auction—On Stage/Ione Amphitheater. ..6:15 p.m. Raffle Drawings—On Stage/Ione Amphitheater.. .6:30 p.m. Fireworks Display...dusk (about 10 p.m.) Friday, July 5 Whispering Pines Equestrian Patriot Trail Ride—Three miles north ofOHV Park... Sign-up begins at 10 a.m. for three-day event lone’s Fourth of July celebration is sponsored in part by Morrow County U ni-' fied Recreation District. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. y At the June 26 meet ing of the Morrow County Court, Greg Sweek, county assessor and tax collec tor, announced that he has decided to retire effective September 3 of this year. He said it was “ ...a bittersw eet moment for me. 1 am very much look ing forward to retirement, but 1 am going to miss those people I have worked closely with.” Greg has worked in the assessor’s office since July 11, 1977 and was ap pointed as assessor in 1979. There have been many lows the decision by an changes in the assessor’s other long-term assessor’s office since then. office employee, The assessor’s of B ecky D oherty, fice and the tax col who has announced lector’s office were her retirement. merged in 2001 as With the pros a cost-saving mea pect of losing two sure. Technology people with a great also has changed deal of knowledge dramatically dur Greg Sweek about assessment ing G reg’s tenure and tax, the court with the county; there have moved forward with ap been several hardware and pointing a replacement as softw are im provem ents sessor, Mike Gorman. Mike over the years, each with has worked in the asses their own challenges. sor’s office since August Greg’s retirement fol- o f 2002. lone School District receives $118,000 in local grants By April Sykes The lone School Board learned at their June 25 regular meeting that the dis trict has received $ 118,000 in local grants. lone School Principal Jerry Archer announced that the district received $1 18,000 from ICABO (lone Community Agri- Business Organization) and the lone Education Founda tion to fund projects and increased programs at the lone School. lone Education, through ICABO, gave the district $49,000 for 80 iPads to be used by virtually all the students at the school. The lone Education Foundation grant, through ICABO, paid for the iPads, at $479 each, along with Otterbox Defender Series at $90 each, Lightspeed at $20 each and apps at $1,880. According to Archer, the purchase of 80 iPads would expand the program to include each middle- school student, as well as high-school students, and would allow a lab in each elementary school class room. The breakdown would include 16 to go with the 16 the district is already using with seniors for the projected 32 ninth-graders; 36 to go with the six they already have for grades six-eight; 22 to go with -See /ONE SCHOOL GRANTS/PAGE EIGHT Heppner remembers Three local ladies traveled to New York last week and placed a rock at the Tree or Life (above), the only surviving tree of the 9/11 attack, at Ground Zero. The rock will remain there for a short period and then he place in the museum currently being built at (¡round Zero. Contributed photo 30% ÔfN. all in stock./) ITAWNMOWER SALE! behind MTD Mowers ALL Models 10% OFF Bedding / V " p la n ts "P la n te rs "C o lo r bowls M orrow County Grain Growers Green Feed A S eed ^ ^ _ <2 4 2 J j V A J n d e r ^ / a ^ ( e £ £ n * ^ ^ 7 6 ^ 4 2 ^ iJ989^22^MCGG^Tialr^>fflc«^^B j i i
