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
• .
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C ity C O U ltC ll a f t e r
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12
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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
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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
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