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Eugene, OR y ' MU
VOL. 133
On to semifinals
NO. 39 8 Pages Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Local teen becom es ‘heavy
hitter' on hunting show
Heppner teen Cassi O'Brien Hahn, pictured here in ASAT
camo she donned for the hunt, was recently featured on an
episode of Heavy Hitters Outdoors. The episode will air early
in 2015. - Photo by Jacob Richmond
Bv A ndrea Di Salvo
Cassi is the the daugh
Most people wouldn’t ter o f K risti O ’Brien o f
think o f a 14-year-old girl Heppner and Ty Hahn o f
as a heavy hitter, but Cassi Redmond, OR, and grand
O ’Brien Hahn o f Heppner daughter o f G inger O ’ Brien
recently got the chance to o f H e p p n e r and B u rk e
prove those people wrong. O ’Brien. She received her
15 m inutes o f fam e— or
maybe a little more— when
she was picked to appear on
Heavy H itters O utdoors.
The NBC back-to-basics
hunting show dropped in on
the area last month to film
a doe-hunting episode on
the Harris ranch near Hep
pner. Barbara Harris, who is
friends with Cassie’s moth
er, immediately thought of
the Heppner High School
freshman as a perfect fit for
the opportunity.
“Cassi reminds me so
much of my granddaughter.
Cassi had the personality
and the go get ‘em that a lot
o f young ladies don’t have,
to go out there and do that,”
said Harris.
The Harrises donated
their own ODFW Land-
owner Preference tags to
Ross Cutsforth (#56) throws himself into the fray while Caden Hedman (#18) blocks another
Cobra during the quarterfinals game last weekend. Cutsforth logged sit tackles on the night,
while Hedman contributed three tackles to the win. Photo by Sandra Putman
-See "Cold, snow don t slow Mustangs "/PAGE FIVE
Cassi and to a young wom
an from Portland who was
also filmed for the show.
“There’s not too often
are there young w om en
who are so fascinated by
that. This year when we
tied it in with Heavy Hitters
and they wanted to go with
first-time hunters. 1 thought,
what a great opportunity to
go out with a trained pro
fessional (hunter) and get
rewarded for her efforts as
a female.”
C assi w as laid-back
w h e n a sk e d a b o u t th e
ch an ce to do the show ,
but those who know her
say hunting is one o f her
passions; hunting runs in
her family, and she goes
-See TEEN HEA VY HITTER/
PAGE THREE
City water & sewer set to increase Jan. 1
Automatic yearly increases proposed
By David Sykes
The city o f H eppner
is looking to increase both
water and sewer rates be
g inning Jan. 1, the city
council was told last Mon
day night. Under the pro
posed rate increase, water
would go up between $2
and $2.50 per month, and
sew er rate s w ould also
increase by $2 to $2.50 a
month, City Manager Kim
Cutsforth told the council.
Cutsforth said the pro
posal will first go to the
city u tility co m m issio n
this Thursday for approval
before com ing back for
council vote next month.
Also under the proposed
plan the base usage o f 2,000
gallons per month would be
increased to 2,500 gallons.
“Residents that use up
to 2,500 gallons will see
a decrease in their bill,”
Cutsforth said.
A lso u n d e r c o n s id
e ra tio n is a re q u e s t by
Cutsforth that the city be
allow ed to raise both its
water and sewer rates au
to m a tic a lly ev ery year,
without council approval.
The amount o f the increase
would be tied to the Port
land Consumer Price Index
(CPI). The CPI is an infla
tion m easurem ent often
used by g o v e rn m e n t to
increase wages and fees.
In 2013 there was an
increase in the CPI by 2.5
percent. As an example, un
der the city’s proposed new
rule it would have meant an
automatic increase o f $ 1.22
per month.
The city said the au
to m atic in crease w ould
not apply to the additional
$ 17.50 the city charges each
business in town for water
usage each month.
At an Oct. 16 city util
ity com m ission m eeting
Cutsforth said city auditors
had recommended the city
raise water and sewer rates
by a total o f $ 10 per month.
Pratt regarding the property
I am very pleased with She said the city engineers.
loss and damage caused to the court's ruling today,” Anderson and Perry, had
the home.
said N elson. “ The court also recommended a rate
considered the evi
When given an
-See WATER, SEWER TO
dence and testimo
opportunity to make
GO UP/PAGE THREE
a statement, defen
ny from the state,
and came to a fair
dant Joseph Kindle
told the court that he
amount for restitu
did not agree with
tion. The defendant
th e fig u re s from Joseph Kindle c la im e d th a t the
Safeco Insurance,
am ount requested
and did not b elieve the was too high, but the state
home or property was worth had pages upon pages o f
as much as Pratt testified docum entation from the
it was.
victim and insurance com
Kindle failed to provide pany to su b stan tiate the
any evidence to substantiate
-See ARSONIST TO PAY
his belief.
RESTITUTION/PA GE
Arsonist ordered to pay nearly
$123,000 in restitution
On Thursday, Nov. 11,
Judge Daniel Hill ordered
Joseph Edward Kindle, 34,
to pay $122,259.59 in res
titution to Safeco Insurance
and the Stillman family for
dam age he caused after
setting fire to a home in
Heppner.
The ruling came after a
contested hearing between
M orrow C ounty D istrict
Attorney Justin Nelson and
Defense Attorney Robert
Klahn. During the hearing,
the state presented evidence
from Safeco Insurance Rep
re se n ta tiv e C h risto p h e r
Town & Country
nominations still
being accepted
H ave you filled out
y o u r c o m m u n ity aw ard
nom ination for H eppner
C ham ber o f C om m erce’s
annual Town & Country
Community Awards?
Nominations are open
until Monday, Dec. 1, for
Heppner’s Town & Coun
try C om m unity Awards.
Anyone who hasn’t done
so still has time to nominate
a community member for
Woman o f the Year. Man
o f the Year, Business o f
the Year, C itizen-E duca
tor o f the Year, Lifetim e
A chievem ent and Youth
Award. Nomination forms
are available at the cham
ber office, Bank o f Eastern
Oregon, Kuhn Law Office,
Community Bank and the
post office.
The forms need to be
completed and turned into
the Kuhn law or chamber
offices no later than Mon
day, Dec. 1. To get a form
sent electronically, contact
the chamber office at 676-
5536 and leave an email
address, or email the cham
ber at heppnerchamber@
centurytel.net
The theme for this year
will be “Hooray for Hep
pner and All That Jazz.”
The event will be held at
the Morrow County Fair
grounds. Catering will be
provided by Cornerstone
Gallery. Town & Country
meal tickets, $20, can be
purchased starting Friday,
Jan. 2, at Heppner chamber.
Bank o f Eastern Oregon,
M urray’s Drug and Com
munity Bank.
I t’s all about Christmas
Getting ready for Heppner s
Christmas festivities
Thanksgiving may still
be a week away, but it’s not
too early to begin thinking
about C hristm as in H ep
pner, says Sheryll Bates o f
the Heppner C ham ber o f
Commerce.
Next Monday, Nov. 24.
will be the day to start col
lecting Rewards Cards for
local purchases. A nyone
who shops local merchants
from Nov. 24 to Thursday,
Dec. 18, will receive re
wards cards in the amount
o f purchase (payment on
account is not eligible).
Shoppers can collect the
cards and bring them to
this year’s Celebrate Hep
pner C hristm as com m u
nity event, which will be
held at the Morrow County
Fairgrounds on Thursday
evening, Dec. 18, starting
at 6 p.m. Attendees will be
able to enter rewards cards
for an opportunity to win
-See CHRISTMAS IN HEP-
PNER/PAGE FIVE
Vets honored at high school
assembly
THREE
G-T Trophy Corner
Haven't
sent in
your
Trophy
Corner
photo yet?
We still want to hear
from you.
Email them to editor@
rapidserve.net, stop by
to have your picture
taken, text 541-980-
6674 or
dropoff
photos at
our office.
Hayden Hyatt, II, of Heppner got this spike elk on the first
day of the season, Saturday, Nov. 8. Hayden is the son of Troy
and Leah Hyatt. -Contributedphoto
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
I
Local veterans like these were honored at a recent assembly at Heppner High School. The
Nov. 10 program was well-attended by veterans, students and community members. -Con-
tributed photo _____________________________________________________________________
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TH U R S D A Y
N O V E M B E R 27 TH
rnmu S u n d a y
N O V E M B E R BOTH
Morrow
v County Grain Growers
989-8221 ♦1-800-482-7396 r i f i v a i i w w . h i k *•»i i u u m
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