Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 2014)
Bessie W e tze ll N ew spaper Library University o f O regon Eugene, OR 9 7 4 0 3 VOL. 133 NO. 43 8 Pages Wednesday, December 10, 2014 She m ust have been a very good g irl . .. Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon City residents to see increase in water, sewer rates Council also approves automatic increases for next five years By David Sykes The Heppner city coun cil Monday approved an increase of $4 per month for water and sewer usage. The increase was needed to keep up with costs of main taining the services, city officials said. The increase will go into effect on Jan. 1 o f 2015. As part of the increase the council also approved an automatic increase of sewer and water rates ev ery year for the next five years. The amount o f the increase will be determined by the Portland CPI (Con sumer Price Index) which is used by governments to determine inflation rates. The city said the automatic increases, which will be allowed without council approval, are needed so the city can keep up with inflation. Since the year 2000 the CPI has increased an aver- age of 2.6 percent per year, with the high being 3.7 per cent in 2007 and the low . 10 in 2009. Over that time the CPI has never been nega tive, and likewise the city resolution only addressed increases in the CPI. In the same action the city also increased the mini mum usage from 1999 gal lons per month to 2,499. So people who use up to 2,499 gallons will now pay $21.90 per month, up from Judging by that smile, Miracle Holsinger, II, of Heppner must have had a very good conversa tion with Santa last Thursday at Heppner Family Foods. Santa made an appearance to take lists and pose for photos as part of the customer appreciation open house events last week. -Contributed photo $19.90. The base sewage rate also went up $2 per month to a flat $ 31 . 10 . According to minutes from the last city utility 1 commission meeting, the commission had also rec ommended a $4 per month total utility increase, but had wanted water to go up $2.50 and sewage to in- Buschke to retire from • . •> ^ < « C ity C O U ltC ll a f t e r * 12 ** years -See CITY WATER TO GO UP/PAGE THREE Rhea to retire after 28 years as crop insurance agent By Andrea Di Salvo This month Morrow County farmers will say farewell to long-time crop insurance agent Steve Rhea. Rhea will retire at the end of the month after 28 years helping area farmers keep their crops secure. Rhea, 60, was bom and raised in South Mor row County, on a farm on Alpine Lane. He graduated from Heppner High School in 1972 and then attended Oregon State University Steve Rhea sits at his desk in the Wheatland Insurance office for a year, studying wildlife in Heppner. He says he won't miss the piles of paperwork, but science. He then returned will miss the people. Rhea retires after nearly 30 years with the to the area and attended company. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo Blue Mountain Commu nity College on a baseball scholarship; he spent two years there, earning an as sociate’s degree in general studies in 1976. “I really enjoyed Blue Mountain,” he said. “It’s a great school.” After BMCC, he re turned to his studies at OSU. It was in his senior year there that his path took a different twist. Rhea said there were around 300 students in his class in the fish and wildlife program at OSU at that time. “The dean of the school -See RHEA TO RETIRE/ PAGE THREE County school board keeps up to speed with HHS happenings at board meeting By April Sykes The Morrow County School Board heard several presentations by Heppner High School groups at its regular m eeting held at HHS Monday night. HHS physical science teacher Jason Palmer made a PowerPoint presentation on the technology grant he wrote, which brought the school 22 iPads for class room use. While the iPads remain at the school, he said that the students can access information anywhere they can access the internet. The board also saw a clever video presentation from the H eppner High School Technology Student Association members who were seeking approval for a field trip to the National TSA conference at Dallas, TX in June. The students plan to raise their own mon ey for the trip. The trip was approved. Sophomore FFA mem bers Tim Gould and Rian Wizner also made a Pow erPoint presentation on the Heppner FFA Leadership Conference FFA members attended back east. In other business, the board: -heard from Superin tendent Dirk Dirksen who told the board that the pro cess for his evaluation will get underway at a work session planned prior to the Jan. 12 board meeting. Madison Alldritt, 13, with her first-ever deer, harvested during He said that his evaluation the Morrow County youth doe hunt on November 22. Madison will be discussed in open is the daughter of Mike and Bridgett Alldritt of Lexington. session at the February -Contributed photo board meeting. Dirksen’s G-T Trophy Corner ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. last evaluation was also discussed in open session at his own request. -received the follow ing December enrollment report: A .C. H oughton Elem entary School, Ir- rigon-294 students; Sam B oardm an E lem entary School, Boardm an-354; H e p p n e r E le m e n ta ry School-188; Irrigon El em en tary S ch o o l-1 7 4 ; Windy River Elementa- ry-200; Heppner Junior/ Senior High School-161; Irrigon Junior/Senior High School-401; Riverside Ju nior/Senior High School, Boardman-391; Morrow E ducation Center, Irri- gon-32; total-2,195. -approved the follow ing employment action: retirem ent-M ark Jones, PERS retirement May 1, 2015, to work through June 2015. -approved an early graduation request for a Heppner Mayor Joe Perry presents councilwoman Judy Buschke with a plaque honoring her service on the Heppner City Council. Buschke served 12 years on the council, since 2002. She was honored at a reception at Heppner City Hall prior to Monday’s city council meeting. -Photo by Sandy Mat thews lone businesses plan Christmas open house The lone businesses’ annual Christmas Open House will be held next Wednesday, Dec. 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Community members are invited to join them for goodies and a chance to win a door prize. Mr. B ill’s Traveling Trivia Show returns to Heppner The Heppner Day Care will again sponsor, on Dec. 13 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Elks Club, the fun and entertaining Mr. Bill’s Traveling Trivia Show as a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization. A spaghetti dinner will be available from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The cost is $5 per per son and includes spaghetti, -See MR BILL S IS BACK/ PAGE FOUR Area pastors invited to submit Christmas messages Businesses, individuals also invited to send in Christmas greetings The Heppner Gazette- Times will publish a Christ mas edition on Dec. 24. Area pastors are in vited to submit Christmas messages to be published in the Dec. 24 edition. The deadline is Friday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m. Messages can be -See SCHOOL DISTRICT/ dropped off at the Gazette PAGE FIVE office, emailed to editor@ MONTANA SILVERSMITH rapidserve.net, or faxed to 541-676-9211. Any businesses or in dividuals who would like to purchase space on our special Christmas greeting page in the Dec. 24 Gazette should call 541-676-9228 or em ail m egan@ rapid- serve.net by Monday, Dec. 22, at 5 p.m. 20 % 4 MONTANA* OFF •Jin SILVERSMITHS W " " M o rro w C o u n ty G rain G ro w ers G reen F e e d & S e e d I « 4 I
