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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2016)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Grange to host Wheat Walk/Run On Saturday, May 14, the Lexington Grange will host a 5k Wheat Walk/Run. The walk/run will begin and end at the Grange building, 66296 Marquardt Rd., Lexington. The cost for the run is $10, or $16 with an event shirt. Pre-registration can be done online or registration will start at 8:30 a.m. before the run. The run will start at 9 a.m. Prizes will be awarded and a portion of the proceeds from this event will go toward the Lexington Grange scholarship fund. Bingo at senior center next week Bingo is returning to St. Patrick’s Senior Center in Heppner next Thursday, May 12, from 7-9 p.m. It will be held in the senior center’s multipurpose room (aka the dining room). Cost will be 50 cents per card per game, and the black- out prize of $150 will go to the winner. All proceeds will be for the beneit of the senior center and the St. Patrick’s apartment complex. Chamber lunch meeting The next lunch meeting of the Heppner Chamber of Commerce will be an all entities report on Thursday, May 5, at noon in Heppner City Hall conference room. Cost of lunch is $10; Gateway Café will cater. Cham- ber lunch attendees are asked to RSVP at 541-676-5536 no later than the Wednesday before to guarantee a lunch. Community lunch menu Christian Life Center volunteers will serve lunch on Wednesday, May 11, at St. Patrick’s Senior Center. Lunch will include pulled-pork sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, sliced tomatoes and strawberry shortcake. Milk is served at each meal. Suggested donation is $3.50 per meal. Menu is subject to change. - THREE Weather service offers free weather spotter training in Heppner Weather spotter network will help track storms Volunteers are being sought to participate in the latest weather spotter train- ing on May 17 in Heppner. Weather spotters trained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) are key volunteers who as- sist the meteorologists by providing up-to-date infor- mation about storm activity. The Skywarn Weather Spotter training is free and will be held at Heppner City Hall at 111 N Main St. in Heppner at 2 p.m. Even though the Dop- pler weather radar is scan- ning the skies and the NOAA Weather Radio is broadcasting forecasts, watches and warnings, fore- casters depend upon getting good ground truth informa- tion from trained Skywarn weather spotters. “Skywarn volunteers are not ‘storm chasers,’ although many Skywarn members, both local and na- tionwide, may chase storms on their own time,” said Dennis Hull, NWS Warning Coordination Meteorolo- gist at the forecast ofice in Pendleton. “The National Weather does not encourage storm chasing because it is very dangerous.” “The safety of all Sky- warn spotters is a high priority,” Hull added. “Sky- warn members are volun- teers trained in weather spotting and reporting those indings in a timely manner using the phone, amateur radio, or internet.” Skywarn spotters at- tend a two-hour training session where they learn how to observe cloud for- mations and other weather in this area. The Weather Service teaches how to determine which storms are potentially severe. Spot- ters use a special toll free number, amateur radio fre- quency, or the internet ad- dress to let the forecasters at the National Weather Service ofice in Pendleton know what is happening in their area. Meteorologists use this data as they issue severe weather warnings or statements to the residents of Morrow County. Hull said the Skywarn was a concept, developed in the early 1970s, that was intended to promote a cooperative effort between the National Weather Ser- vice and communities. The emphasis of the effort is often focused on the storm spotter, an individual who takes a position near their community and reports wind gusts, hail size, rain- fall, and cloud formations that could signal a develop- ing tornado. In the winter, spotters report heavy snow, icing, high winds and blizzards. Skywarn also works to ensure National Weather Service forecasts, watches, and warnings are broadcast Skywarn weather spotter training is being offered in Hep- pner May 17 to help train citizens to provide meteorologists up-to-date information about storm activity. -Photo courtesy of National Weather Service and received in a timely manner. The lead role in Sky- warn may lie with the Na- tional Weather Service or with an emergency man- agement agency within the community. This agency could be a police or fire department, or often is an emergency management/ service group. This varies across the country, how- ever, with local national weather service ofices tak- ing the lead in some loca- tions, while emergency management takes the lead in other areas. Interested residents who would like to learn more about local weather or those who are interest ed in helping their neighbors obtain good weather warn- ings are invited to attend the training. Volunteers are asked to fill out pre- registration at weather.gov/ Pendleton and bring infor- mation about their latitude, longitude, and elevation so their locations can be easily mapped. Door prizes will be given away. More information about the training is avail- able by contacting the Na- tional Weather Service at 541-969-7136. You can also email Hull at dennis. hull@noaa.gov. Additional information is also avail- able at the National Weather Service website at weather. gov/pendleton. NOAA Weather Ra- dio broadcasts to Mor- row County from a trans- mitter near Heppner on a frequency of 162.425 MHz. Find additional in- formation about Skywarn at http://www.skywarn.org. Firewood permits available now for Umatilla National Forest Pendleton—Personal- use firewood permits for the Umatilla National For- est went on sale this week at local vendors and Forest Service offices. Locally, permits are available at Heppner Shell or the Hep- pner Ranger District ofice. Firewood permits can be purchased for $5 per cord with a minimum purchase of four cords for $20. The maximum limit for per- sonal-use irewood on the Umatilla National Forest is 12 cords per household per year. Local vendors will sell irewood permits in four- cord packets. An additional vendor fee, up to $2, will be charged for each four-cord, $20 firewood permit you purchase at a local vendor. “Our vendors provide a great service to the wood- cutter by selling irewood CITY OF IRRIGON -Continued from PAGE ONE able to be leveraged with assistance from the Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) through the lower- ing of the interest rate on an existing loan. The plan is one of many that cities must have cur- rent in order to request and move projects forward. The city’s engineers, J-U-B, will Wedding Tables Derek Gunderson & Meghan McCabe May, 21, 2016 permits at times more con- venient to the public,” said Genevieve Masters, Forest Supervisor. Most vendors are open early mornings, late eve- nings and on the weekends. An additional fee is not charged if you purchase a permit at a Forest Service ofice. Firewood cutters are required to carry an axe, a shovel, an eight-ounce capacity or larger ire ex- tinguisher, and have their chainsaw equipped with an approved spark arrester when cutting wood. As we move into the hot, dry summer months, Public Use Restrictions (PURs) may be imple- mented. Restrictions will be announced by 6 p.m. on the day prior to the restriction(s) going into ef- fect. Weekend restrictions will be announced by 6 p.m. on Friday. An updated recording at 1-877-958- 9663 will let you know if irewood cutting is: allowed all day; restricted to speciic hours (i.e. 1 p.m. chainsaw shutdown); restricted to speciic areas of the Forest; or closed completely due to wildire danger. Restric- tions will also be posted on the forest’s website at: be performing the work on the plan development and writing. Infrastructure Fi- nance Authority will assist the city on behalf of Busi- ness Oregon. The City of Irrigon also is in the process of develop- ing an incentive program to eliminate nuisance proper- ties. The policy is two- fold to assist in nuisance compliance and property improvement. Applications should be available in early summer, with further details to be provided once the program policy is established. Initial funds of $50,000 have been provided by the Colum- bia River Enterprise Zone board. The city council says it wants to see properties cleaned up and improved, whether businesses or pri- vate residences. WARM WEATHER MILES & MILES OF SMILES Emma Osmin & Jordan Wright May 7, 2016 Rick Worden & Kelsie Fox May 28, 2016 Lane Bailey & Jessica Hughes June 25, 2016 217 North Main St., Heppner • Phone 676-9158 • Floral 676-9426 Serving Morrow, Wheeler & Gilliam counties Since 1959 www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla. It is the public’s responsi- bility to check if irewood cutting is allowed. For more information on irewood cutting, con- tact the Supervisor’s ofice at 541-278-3716 or the Heppner Ranger District at 541-676-9187. Firewood season will end November 30 on the Umatilla National Forest. -Continued from PAGE ONE water-year precipitation temperatures for this April averaged 67.7 degrees, which was 6.8 degrees above normal. The highest was 81 degrees on the 20 th . Low temperatures averaged 41.2 degrees, which was four degrees above normal. The lowest was 33 degrees, on the 25 th . Precipitation totaled 0.53 inches during April, which was 0.98 inches be- low normal. Measurable precipita- tion of at least .01 inch was received on seven days with the heaviest, 0.23 inches, reported on the 15 th . Precipitation this year has reached 3.71 inches, which is 1.91 inches below normal. Since October, the at Heppner has been 7.55 inches, which is 2.13 inches below normal. The highest wind gust was 39 mph, which oc- curred on the 14 th . The outlook for May calls for above-normal tem- peratures and near-normal precipitation. Normal highs for Hep- pner rise from 64 degrees at the start of May to 73 degrees at the end of May. Normal lows rise from 40 degrees to 47 degrees. The 30-year normal precipitation is 1.66 inches. The National Weather Service is an ofice of the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Com- merce Department. RE-ELECT LEANN REA MORROW COUNTY COMMISSIONER Our success... It's All About Kids, Employees, & Customers!! Mid Columbia Bus Company provides a family atmosphere for the employees to come to work each day and know they are appreciated. NOW HIRING SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS Starting Wage $11.75/Hr. Apply at: Mid Columbia Bus Co. 541-676-5861541-481-7551 HERE TO SERVE ALL THE PEOPLE OF MORROW COUNTY • Experience • Integrity • Knowledge • Dedication
