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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2015)
HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 134 NO. 17 8 Pages Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon April weather was ‘nearly’ normal May expected to be warmer than usual According to prelimi- nary data received by NO- AA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, tem- peratures at Heppner aver- aged near normal during the month of April. The average temper- ature was 49.1 degrees, which was 0.1 degrees above normal. High tem- peratures averaged 61.9 degrees, which was one degree above normal. The highest was 76 degrees on the 29 th . Low temperatures averaged 36.4 degrees, which was 0.8 degrees be- low normal. The lowest was 28 degrees, on the April 3. There were five days with low temperature below 32 degrees. Precipitation totaled 0.72 inches during April, which was 0.79 inches be- low normal. Measurable precipitation of at least .01 inch was received on eight days with the heaviest, 0.38 inches, reported on the April 6. Precipitation this year has reached three inches, which is 2.62 inches below normal. Since October, the water-year precipitation at Heppner has been 7.04 inches, which is 2.64 inches below normal. The highest wind gust was 42 mph, which oc- curred on the 13 th . The outlook for May from NOAA’s Climate Pre- diction Center calls for above-normal temperatures and near-normal precipita- tion. Normal highs for Hep- pner rise from 64 degrees at the start of May to 73 degrees at the end of May. -See LOCAL WEATHER/ PAGE THREE Getting to Heppner celebrates prom know your exchange students Getting to know your exchange students Enrico Macciotta Age 17, Junior, Heppner, transferred from Irrigon Where are you from? Ca- gliari, Sardinia, Italy Host Parents: Brian & Amy Kollman What do you think of Hep- pner and Morrow County? “It’s pretty different but I like it. It’s pretty cool. In Ita- ly there are not these long dis- tances with- out towns in Enrico Macciotta between. I like it.” How has the experience been for you? “It’s all right now. It’s been pretty cool. I’ve trav- elled a little bit.” What was the most difficult thing about this experi- ence? “I have a girlfriend and I can’t see her for eight months. We wanted to go to prom together but it’s too expensive for her to come here. That was pretty much the hardest part.” What did you like best? “People are really friendly. If you need help, people will really help you. They don’t just say they’ll help and then don’t do it, they really will help. “You can go up and talk to random people and they will talk to you. That’s cool. You can learn so many new, interesting things. It’s that way in Italy, but not in some other countries where I’ve been.” Did you have the chance to attend any special events? What did you think of that experience? “I was in football and wrestling, and I go to Ione for tennis. I went to Irrigon Homecoming. That was strange. It was right after a football game, and I was really tired. I went to Ione prom. That was really fun because it was on a boat. We don’t have these kinds of dances and events. We also took a limousine. It’s something I’m not really used to. It was really, re- ally fun.” Anything else? “I think I would suggest this experience to everyone. It’s pretty useful. You grow up a lot. The first period is harsh, and you can get homesick. The first weeks, I hardly understood a word that was said to me, and my vocabulary for a week at a time was just ‘Yes,’ and ‘No.’ But you learn. That’s part of what the experience is about.” Amir Bayanayev Age 16, Junior, Ione Where are you from? Tal- dykorgan, Kazakhstan Host Parents: Tori Rice What do you think of Ione and Morrow County? “When I realized I would go to America, we thought they would send me to a big city…. When I got here, I loved it. It doesn’t Amir m a t t e r i f Bayanayev it’s a big or small town. It’s the people. If I had to choose between a house for $10,000 in L.A. and a house for $20,000 in Ione, I would choose Ione.” How has the experience been for you? “Football season had started when I came here. I’d never played football. I came to football practice and fell in love. It’s the greatest sport I ever tried.” What was the most difficult thing about this experi- ence? “When I first came here I had issues in some of my classes, literature and math, because there were some words I didn’t under- stand. That lasted about two months, then my language got better. “I did study English at home, but my teacher’s accent wasn’t very good. I used to get movies in my language and play them with English subtitles. Then I switched and watched movies in English with subtitles in my language to learn the meaning, the way words sounded, the way they were spelled.” What did you like best? “How I met people here. When you have trou- bles here, just talk with the people here. I loved it. They’re really nice to ev- erybody. Everyone in Ione is nice. The people are great people, kind people.” Did you have the chance to attend any special events? What did you think of that experience? “At home we have prom and graduation all at one time. Here we had prom separately, and it was on a boat. I think I was lucky that I came this year.” Anything else? “I love this town. I love the people here. I’m re- ally thankful to them. They made my year—I can’t even say ‘awesome.’ Better than awesome.” Heppner High School celebrated bright lights and movie glitz at a Hollywood-themed prom last Saturday night. Pictured striking their best poses are the prom court members (front L-R) Maddie Lindsay, Cade Arbogast, Alex Victorio, (Back L-R) Ross Cutsforth, Makenzi Hughes, King John Propheter, Queen Kelly Wilson, Senior of the Year Jenny Marick, Jasmine Garcia and Paige Grieb. –Photo by Sandra Putman Boardman adopts medical marijuana dispensaries code At a special council meeting April 28, Board- man City Councilors unani- mously adopted an ordi- nance changing language in the Boardman Develop- ment Code to accomplish the governance of medical marijuana facilities within the city. Oregon Senate Bill 1531 was signed into law on March 19, 2014, giv- ing local jurisdictions the ability to adopt regulations governing the operations of medical marijuana fa- cilities. The city had no such regulations, leaving no clear guidance should such a business be proposed. In response to the bill, the councilors adopted an ordi- nance setting a moratorium on medical marijuana fa- cilities until May 1, 2015. The change to the De- velopment Code provides Merkley to hold town hall in Morrow County Portland, OR—Senator sues facing Oregonians, Jeff Merkley will hold a and the best way for me Morrow County town hall to effectively advocate for in Irrigon on Saturday, May Oregon’s families and busi- 16, at 10 a.m. in the Irrigon nesses is by getting out on Junior-Senior High School the road and holding a town cafeteria, 315 W Wyoming hall in every county, every Street, year to hear directly Irrigon. He will from Oregonians,” also hold a Uma- said Merkley. “I in- tilla County town vite all residents of hall later that same Morrow and Uma- day at 12:30 p.m. tilla Counties to at Hermiston High come and discuss School. what we need to do Senator Jeff Merkley says Merkley to strengthen our he will use the town state and nation.” halls to update con- Since joining stituents on his work in the Senate in 2009, Merkley Washington, DC and an- has held a town hall in each swer their questions and of Oregon’s 36 counties invite their suggestions every year. Morrow and about how to tackle the Umatilla counties will be challenges facing Oregon his 236 th and 237 th town and America. halls as a U.S. Senator. “There are huge is- ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. required language for gov- ernance of medical marijua- na dispensaries and medical marijuana grow facilities in two commercial sub-dis- tricts, Tourist Commercial and Service Center. Some of the language includes review of proposed facili- ties for compatibility with Minor Child Safety Areas in the Municipal Code, a requirement the facility be licensed by the Oregon Health Authority, sets the hours of operation, prohib- its on-site consumption of products, and limits the size of signs for the businesses to 100 square feet per build- ing face. All of the language changes to the Boardman Development Code can be found at the city’s website at www.cityofboardman. com. Rollins joins Ione school board Tricia Rollins of Ione was sworn in by Ione Superintendent Phil Starkey as the newest member of the Ione Community School Board at the board’s last meeting on Tuesday, April 28. Rollins manages the Heppner branch of the Bank of Eastern Oregon. –Contributed photo MOTHER'S DAY SPECIALS 10 % OFF - H anging B askets C OlOr B Owls - P lanters MONTANA SILVER 20% OFF Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)