HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 134
NO. 18
8 Pages
Getting to
know your
exchange
students
Jǿrgen Andersen
Age 17, Junior, Heppner
Where are you from? Oslo,
Norway
Host Parents: Jon & Jacque
Dompier
What do you think of Hep-
pner?
“I find it kind of charm-
ing living
the small
town life.
The area is
so pretty, a
lot differ-
ent from the
urban area I
Jǿrgen
come from.
Andersen
I really like
the closeness of the people,
how everyone knows who
you are.”
How has the experience
been for you?
“It’s been great, every-
thing from the people to the
athletics. I was in football,
wrestling, and now I’m in
track. I’m really grateful for
being here.”
What was the most difficult
thing about this experi-
ence?
“Adapting to having to
drive everywhere and be
dependent on others to get
places.”
What did you like best?
“It’s gotta be getting
the American high school
experience. School is really
different. Getting to play
the sports I did played a
huge part of it.”
Did you have the chance to
attend any special events?
What did you think of that
experience?
“I’ve been to dances,
Homecoming, fair. I got
dirty with the pigs. It was a
lot of fun. The St. Patrick’s
festival was also really
great here in Heppner.”
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Morrow County declares
drought state of emergency
County court asks governor to follow suit
Morrow County Court
has declared a state of emer-
gency in the county due to
drought conditions, Mor-
row County Judge Terry
Tallman informed the Ga-
zette-Time this week.
The resolution to de-
clare a state of drought emer-
gency comes in response to
unusually dry conditions
since 2013 with no end in
sight, as well as Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown’s declara-
tion of drought emergency Conditions are dry in Morrow County and expected to get
-See COUNTY DECLARES drier despite recent rains, which prompted the county court’s
DROUGHT/PAGE FOUR recent declaration of drought emergency. -File photo
County hero to be honored in new
building’s name
The new Morrow
County administrative
building now has a new—or
rather, old—name, Morrow
County Judge Terry Tall-
man informed the Heppner
Chamber of Commerce last
week. The building will be
named the Bartholomew
Building in honor of the
man who was county judge
during the Heppner Flood,
Alba G. Bartholomew.
According to Tallman,
picking the right name was
no easy task. In fact, the
county opened up a con-
test with a $100 prize for
the best name, hoping that
would spur some creativ-
ity in county residents. In
the end, the county court
received nearly 20 submis-
sions.
“They just didn’t quite
click,” said Tallman.
Tallman said he turned
to local newspaper own-
er David Sykes for sug-
gestions on where to find
The new Bartholomew Building, shown here from the rear of the courthouse, is well underway,
with completion expected early October. –Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
an individual for whom
the new structure next to
the courthouse should be
named. Sykes said he had
no suggestions himself but
then recalled someone who
might—Joann Green Byrd,
author of “Calamity: The
Heppner Flood of 1903.”
Sykes emailed Byrd,
who lives in the Seattle area
but is a cousin of local man
Cliff Green. Byrd combed
through her research notes
and found a couple of likely
candidates, but only one
that truly stood out to her—
Alba Bartholomew.
“There’s someone else I
-See BARTHOLOMEW
BUILDING/PAGE THREE
County school district announces new
principals for north end schools
School lunches to increase slightly in cost
By April Sykes
Morrow County School
Superintendent Dirk Dirk-
sen announced the appoint-
ment of new principals for
two north
c o u n t y
schools at
the Monday
night school
board meet-
ing at Riv-
erside High
Tracey
Johnson
School in
Boardman.
Tracey Johnson is the new
principal at A.C. Houghton
Elementary School in Irri-
gon and Ryan Keefauver is
the new principal at Irrigon
Junior/Senior High School.
At the meeting, Morrow
County CARE Coordinator
Peggy Doherty presented
a program on her agency
which helps families in
receiving a wide variety of
assistance, from accessing
eye glasses for students, to
accessing health care, men-
tal health care, transporta-
tion, WIC assistance, food
and clothing and even help-
ing students
and families
with the
complicat-
ed process
of getting
rid of head
lice. Dirk-
Ryan
sen praised
Keefauver
the program
and said that CARE has
Ballots for this spe- Parking lot). Turn off Hwy. been a “critical missing
cial election are due next 74 onto Tom Street and left
Tuesday, May 19. All bal- into the public works park-
lots are due by 8 p.m. that ing lot. Open 24 hours.
day, and must be received,
Ione: Spring St. (in
not simply postmarked, on front of the turn to 3 rd
that day. Morrow County Street). Open 24 hours.
Clerk Bobbi Childers rec-
B o a r d m a n : N W By Andrea Di Salvo
Morrow County library
ommends mailing ballots Boardman Ave. (24 hours).
no later than this Thursday
Irrigon: 205 NE 3 rd patrons will say goodbye
to ensure they are received St. (Irrigon Annex). Open to long-time Oregon Trail
Library District Director
in time to be counted. For 24 hours.
Marsha Richmond this year
voter convenience, how-
as she steps down from
ever, 24-hour drop boxes
the district to take a post
are located throughout the
in Umatilla County. Rich-
county. Ballot drop loca-
mond, who has worked 22
tions are as follows:
years for the library district,
Heppner: Courthouse
will leave OTLD July 1 to
parking lot (24 hours) or
become the coordinator for
the Morrow County Clerk’s
Umatilla County Special
Office, Room 102 inside the
Library District.
courthouse. Open 8 a.m.
Richmond, who now
to noon and 1-5 p.m., M-F
lives in Irrigon, began with
and Election Day (May 19)
the district in 1993, shortly
from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
after its inception in 1992.
Lexington: 365 West
She started as the Board-
Hwy 74 (Public Works
man branch manager before
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: taking distance courses in
“library school” through an
Emporia State University
Ballots due next
Tuesday
piece” in providing much-
needed family assistance.
He also commended the
Morrow County Public
Health Department. A regis-
tered nurse
who is
working for
the program
along with
Doherty
will retire
Peggy Doherty s o o n , b u t
the position
is being currently adver-
tised and will be budgeted
through the Morrow Coun-
ty School District and the
Ione School District, Dirk-
sen said.
Dirksen also an -
nounced the winners of
the annual Crystal Apple
Awards, sponsored by the
InterMountain ESD, to be
presented May 20 at the
Pendleton Red Lion. Becky
Evans, Heppner Elementary
School ed assistant, will be
one of the honorees. Other
Morrow County School
District honorees include
Claude Birt, Riverside High
School art teacher; Rhonda
Boor, Windy River Title I
program teacher; and Nan-
cy McElhaney, Windy Riv-
er and Sam
Boardman
Elementary
School li-
brary tech.
McElhaney
will be re-
Becky Evans tiring this
year after
38 years with the district.
Also at the meeting, the
board voted to raise the cost
of school lunches 10 cents
-See MC SCHOOL DIS-
TRICT/PAGE FIVE
Getting to
know your
exchange
students
Kelsey van Os
Junior, Ione
Where are you from? Al-
mere (near Amsterdam), the
Netherlands
Host Parents: Anna & Jerry
McElligott
What do you think of Ione
and Morrow County?
“It’s a
really small
town but
everyone is
really nice
and they
h elp each
other out. I Kelsey van Os
really like it
here because it’s so differ-
ent from a big city.”
How has the experience
been for you?
“Really cool. It’s so dif-
ferent and I do a lot of stuff
I probably wouldn’t have
done in my own country.”
What was the most difficult
thing about this experi-
ence?
“The small school. Liv-
ing in the middle of no-
where and having to always
depend on someone to drive
you. In my own country I
can just go everywhere on
my bike.”
What did you like best?
“It’s all so different. I
like how it’s so quiet. I can
ride horses. I live with a
big family, and the house is
never quiet but it’s always
really fun. The American
high school spirit. It’s re-
ally different from what we
have in high school.”
Did you have the chance to
attend any special events?
What did you think of that
experience?
“I try everything out—
Homecoming, prom, sports.
I like that everyone is so
happy, they all try to partici-
pate in everything.”
Anything else?
“I thank my host fam-
ily, how they take care of
me, they’re just great. And
I thank my parents for mak-
ing this happen for me.”
Richmond to step down as library
district director
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
program at Portland State
University. She then be-
came director of the library
district, a position she has
held for the last 15 years.
She says she has lived at
some time in each of the
communities served by the
district.
She says her decision
to work in Umatilla County
comes because she sees a
chance to expand on her
skills.
“It’s a good opportunity
to grow and develop my
career,” she says.
The library district is
currently seeking a replace-
ment for the director posi-
tion. Richmond says she
will work full time through
-See RICHMOND STEPS
DOWN/PAGE TWO Marsha Richmond
Rebates up to
$ 1400 pLus financing
as Low as 1.99%
apR w/
oac
additionaL in-stoRe
discount avaiLabLe
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net