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
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242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)