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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2016)
HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 135 NO. 17 8 Pages Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Morrow County welcomes new 4-H agent Morrow County Exten- ship to the Morrow County sion and 4-H has announced 4-H youth development that Damion Turner will program, as well as being join the Morrow County involved with many other Extension Ofice as aspects of the 4-H, the new 4-H Out- youth programs and reach Coordinator community service on May 2. activities involving As the 4-H Morrow County Ex- agent, Turner’s re- tension. sponsibilities will Turner comes include 4-H pro- Damion to Morrow County gram management, Turner with more than 15 serving as a liaison years of experience between Extension and in agriculture and 4-H. local associations, and pro- He also has work ex- viding oversight and leader- perience in 4-H and Exten- Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Oregon snowpack looks promising after wet, snowy March PORTLAND, Ore.— Cold and snowy weather in the irst half of March bolstered Oregon’s moun- tain snowpack and delayed melting in most areas, ac- cording to the April Water Supply Outlook Report released at the beginning of the month by the USDA Natural Resources Conser- vation Service. Thanks to March snow storms, many monitoring sites across the state have reached or surpassed nor- mal peak snowpack levels for this time of year—a much improved outlook compared to last year, when more than half of these sites were snow-free on April 1. Today’s data shows snowpack levels ranging from slightly below normal to slightly above normal across all basins in the state. In western Oregon, snowpack is the lowest in the Willamette Basin at 80 percent of normal; while in eastern Oregon, the lowest snowpack is in the Malheur Basin, at 69 percent of normal. Today’s cumulative statewide aver- age snowpack is 92 percent of normal. Despite the cold weather in the first two weeks of March, the last two weeks were warm and dry throughout Oregon— which led to the onset of spring snowmelt in most locations across the state. NRCS hydrologists are still predicting near-normal or above-normal streamlows this summer, but they cau- tion that those predictions hinge on air temperature. “Air temperatures are critical right now— if we have a sunny and warm spring, the snowpack will melt faster and irrigation demands will start sooner,” said Scott Oviatt, NRCS Oregon snow survey su- pervisor. “However, if we have cooler mountain tem- peratures and another wet month, we could preserve the snowpack for a few more weeks, delay irriga- tion demand, and boost res- ervoir levels in the regions of the state that are still recovering from the 2015 drought.” According to the April report, streamflow fore- casts call for near-normal to above-normal volumes for the summer water sup- ply season. The highest forecasts are for the Rogue and Umpqua river basins. If extended warm and dry conditions occur, summer projections could decrease due to early snowmelt run- The latest information on Oregon’s streamflow forecasts can be found in the April Water Supply Out- look Report available on the NRCS Oregon website. The NRCS Snow Sur- vey is the federal program that measures snow and provides streamlow fore- casts and snowpack data for communities, water man- agers and recreationalists across the West. In Oregon, snow measurements are collected from 81 SNOTEL sites, 42 manually mea- sured snow courses, and 26 aerial markers. Water and snowpack data for all Oregon SNOTEL sites are available online in a variety of formats. The reports are updated every hour and are available at: www.or.nrcs. usda.gov/snow. Funding available to support business expansion, relocation to new business reloca- tion and existing business expansion. The amount is also subject to available funding. “This program is in- tended to help existing local businesses and new businesses that want to locate in our city limits,” said Jill Parker, BCDA past president. The business incen- tive program will fund fa- çade improvements, in- terior leasehold/building improvements, inventory purchases, rental assistance, landscaping and parking improvements, and relo- cation assistance within Boardman city limits. “The Boardman Com- munity Development As- sociation is excited about new business investment in the community,” said Lisa Mittelsdorf, BCDA President. “This Business Incentive Fund is the miss- ing link that is needed to incentivize home-based business owners to take the next step to creating a store- front presence or current business owners to expand or locate in the Boardman community.” Robert Bose, owner of Predator’s Den, a sporting goods retailer, is one of the recipients of the grant. He is moving his formerly home-based business into a storefront in Boardman. Bose currently focuses on gun sales and archery sup- plies. With his nearly two- year-old business, he plans to add ishing and camping gear. In the future Bose plans to add apparel and other sports equipment to his inventory. Half of his funding will go toward part of his irst year’s lease and the other half will go toward inven- tory, shelving and other relocation expenses. Parker said two other grants have also been awarded; one helping an existing Board- man business expand and the other to help a salon in Stanield add a Boardman branch. “I think Boardman re- ally needs this,” Bose said. “This program is really good for Boardman and… is what is helping me get started.” Funding is still avail- Ballot drop boxes like this one in the Morrow County Court- able on a irst-come, irst- house parking lot are available 24 hours a day for voter con- served basis. For more venience. -File photo information contact Jill Parker at 541-481-3445. 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. front of the turn to 3 rd Lexington: 365 West Street). Open 24 hours. Hwy 74 (Public Works Boardman: NW Parking lot). Turn off Hwy. Boardman Ave. (24 hours). 74 onto Tom Street and left Irrigon: 205 NE 3 rd into the public works park- St. (Irrigon Annex). Open ing lot. Open 24 hours. 24 hours. Ione: Spring St. (in Primary ballots go out next week Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers says bal- lots for the May 17 primary election will go out next Wednesday, April 27. Re- member, ballots are not for- warded. Those who don’t receive ballots but believe they should have should contact the Morrow County Clerk’s ofice at 541-676- 5604. All ballots are due by 8 p.m. Election Day, Tues- day, May 17. Ballots must be received, not simply postmarked, on that day. For voter convenience, 24- hour drop boxes are located throughout the county. Lo- cations are as follows: Heppner: Courthouse parking lot (24 hours) or the Morrow County Clerk’s Ofice, Room 102 inside the courthouse. Open 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m., M-F and Election Day (Nov. 5) from ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Heppner chamber changes location off. BCDA starts business incentive program Bringing new business and growing existing ones are the goals of the business incentive program recently launched by the Boardman Community Development Association. The non-proit associa- tion received funding from the Columbia River Enter- prise Zone committee and has awarded three grants since the program launched March 1. BCDA may con- tribute up to $25,000 or 50 percent of the improve- ment, whichever is less, sion as a County Extension Agent in Texas. He re- ceived a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from West Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in agriculture science, adult education from Texas A&M University Kingsville Turner can be reached at the Morrow County Ex- tension Ofice, 54173 Hwy. 74 (PO Box 497), Heppner, or at 541-676-9642. As of May 2, he may also be emailed at damion. turner@oregonstate.edu. Heppner Chamber of Commerce has a new look and a new location. The chamber ofice moved last weekend from its spot in Heppner City Hall to 133 N. Main, the former location of Willow Creek Realty. The chamber’s phone number and email will remain the same, 541-676-5536 and heppnerchamber@ centurytel.net. Heppner Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheryll Bates, pictured above in the newly-opened ofice, says the chamber made the move because city hall needed the space for necessary renovations. However, she believes the move will be good for everyone. “It’s a hard transition but I’ll be more accessible. It will be better for us in the long run,” says Bates. “Hopefully this will be better for the whole community.” -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo Lexington celebrates 35 years of risk management The town of Lexington recently received a plaque commemorating 35 years of continuous membership, from 1981-2016, to the CIS Property and Casualty Trust. This award was presented by Citycounty Insurance Services. There to receive the award, L-R, were Lexington Maintenance Manager Rick Smith, Lexington Councilor Deona Siex, Lexington Councilor Sheila Miller, Lexington Town Recorder Janette Eldrige. -David Sykes Chamber plans candidates’ forum The next lunch meeting of the Heppner Chamber of Commerce will take place this Thursday, April 21, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Heppner City Hall con- ference room. The meeting will be a candidates’ forum for the contested county commissioner positions on the May primary ballot. Attendees will be given an opportunity to write questions during the lun- cheon, or can email them to the chamber in advance at heppnerchamber@cen- turytel.net. Bill Kuhn will present the questions to each of the candidates with a time allotment for each question. Attendees are asked to note that lunch will be served at 11:45 in order to begin the forum around noon. Cost of lunch is $10; Murray’s will cater. UP TO $2000 REBATES CALL JASON FOR MORE INFORMATION BEFORE APRIL 30TH Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net
