HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
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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