HEPPNER
50¢
Ione, Heppner enrollment
down slightly
Ione Community
School numbers have
dropped slightly school-
wide for the second year
in a row, with a total en-
rollment of 198 this year
compared to 204 in 2015
and 213 in 2014.
The lower numbers are
seen in the elementary and
high school levels. Kinder-
garten through fifth grade
has an enrollment of 72,
down by only three students
from last year’s 75. High
school has dropped slightly,
as well, from 79 students in
2015 to 74 students enrolled
this year. Meanwhile, mid-
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
G T
azette
imes
VOL. 135
NO. 35 8 Pages
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
dle school numbers, sixth
through eighth grade, have
gone up, from 48 students
to 52.
Heppner school en-
rollment figures are hold-
ing steady in general this
year. Heppner Elementary
School has an enrollment
of 170 for the 2016-17
school year, a decrease of
only three students from
last year. Meanwhile, Hep-
pner Jr./Sr. High School has
gained one student overall,
with total enrollment of
162 over 161 last year. That
brings the Heppner school
total to 332—a difference
Race is
CREZ to hold boundary expansion
on for
meeting
Heppner
council
positions
Candidate filing has
closed for Heppner’s open
mayor and city council
positions, leaving two posi-
tions—including Heppner
City Mayor—contested in
the November election.
Current Heppner may-
or Ronald “Skip” Matthews
is running for reelection.
Running against him is
Cody High. The mayoral
position is a two-year term.
Teresa Bedortha is
running for reelection for
City Councilor Position
One, a four-year term. Run-
ning against her is Thomas
Gonty.
Running unopposed
in the race are incumbents
John Bowles, City Coun-
cilor Position 2, four-year
term; Corey Sweeney, City
Councilor Position 3, four-
year term; and Dale Bates,
City Councilor Position 4,
two-year term.
The 2016 General Elec-
tion will take place Nov. 8.
Ballot
measure
numbers
assigned
for 2016
General
Election
SALEM—Secretary
of State Jeanne P. Atkins
announced recently that
signature verification for
the 2016 petition cycle has
been completed and the
following measure numbers
have been assigned to the
three legislative referrals
from the 78 th Legislative
Assembly and those peti-
tions qualified to the Nov.
8, 2016, General Election
ballot. They are:
Measure 94 / Refer-
ral 401 (SJR 4) - Amends
Constitution: Eliminates
mandatory retirement age
for state judges.
Measure 95 / Referral
403 (HJR 203) - Amends
Constitution: Allows in-
vestments in equities by
public universities to re-
duce financial risk and in-
crease investments to ben-
efit students.
Measure 96 / Referral
404 (HJR 202) - Amends
Constitution: Dedicates 1.5
percent of state lottery net
proceeds to funding sup-
port services for Oregon
veterans.
Measure 97 / Initiative
28; determined to contain
95,272 valid signatures - In-
By David Sykes
The Columbia River
Enterprise Zone Board of
Directors will hold a public
meeting Wednesday, Sept.
14, at 6 p.m. in the River-
front Room at the Port of
Morrow in Boardman to
consider expansion of its
current boundary borders.
The meeting will cover
a proposed boundary ex-
pansion that would increase
CREZ’s size from the cur-
rent 11 square miles to 15.
The zone is located at the
Port of Morrow industrial
on Front St. in Boardman.
They are asking that the
boundary of the Enter-
prise Zone be expanded to
include the new hotel so
they may take advantage
of the three-year property
tax exemption that would
be offered inside the CREZ
boundary.
“This facility will
have approximately 66-72
rooms. This hotel will pro-
vide a much needed state
of the art Lodging Facil-
ity for Boardman and its
surrounding area. We will
be creating 20-25 new em-
ployment opportunities and
a steady flow of customers
for the existing restaurants
in the area,” their letter to
the CREZ stated.
In order to expand the
boundary, representatives
from all three entities of
the CREZ, Port of Morrow,
Morrow County and City of
Boardman, must approve
the decision. The meeting
next Wednesday is being
held to make that decision.
Fall weather to even out after hot
August
Despite temperatures
that averaged slightly
warmer than normal dur-
ing August, the outlook for
September calls for near-
normal temperatures and
precipitation, according to
the National Weather Ser-
vice in Pendleton.
Heppner ’s average
temperature in August was
69.9 degrees, which was
0.4 degrees above normal.
High temperatures aver-
aged 85.4 degrees, which
was 0.1 degrees below nor-
mal. The highest was 94
degrees on the 14. Low
temperatures averaged 54.4
degrees, which was one
degree above normal. The
lowest was 47 degrees, on
the 10 th .
On nine days, the tem-
perature exceeded 90 de-
grees.
Park
district
to meet
Willow Creek Park
District will hold a regu-
larly scheduled board meet-
ing Sept. 13 at Heppner
City Hall, 111 N. Main
St., Heppner. The meeting
will begin at 5:15 p.m. The
public is welcome to attend.
Precipitation totaled
0.08 inches during August,
which was 0.31 inches be-
low normal. Measurable
precipitation of at least .01
inch was received on one
day.
Precipitation this year
has reached 7.36 inches,
which is 2.02 inches below
normal. Since October, the
Historical society
plans day trip to
The Dalles
The Morrow County
Historical Society is plan-
ning an all-day trip to The
Dalles, OR on Friday, Oct.
7. The trip will include the
Fort Dalles military post,
Anderson homestead and
Old St. Peter’s Landmark
Catholic church.
Fourteen spaces are
available. The bus will de-
part from the Heppner St.
Patrick’s Senior Center at 8
a.m. Oct. 7, and should ar-
rive in The Dalles
about 10 a.m.
The group
will spend its first
few hours at the
Fort Dalles Muse-
um and Anderson
House. Admission
is $5.
A lunch break
will follow. The
group is invited
to pack a lunch or
eat at one of the
nearby fast food
restaurants. Af-
terward the group
will proceed by
bus to a tour of Old
See BALLOT MEASURES/ St. Peter’s Land-
PAGE ??
land near Boardman, but
recently received a request
to accommodate a new
hotel that plans to build in
Boardman and wants to be
included in the zone to take
advantage of the property
tax exemptions for busi-
nesses located in the CREZ.
Rjiv Malhan and Nakul
Butta of RNB Hospitality
from Richland said in an
earlier letter to the CREZ
board that they are planning
on building a Choice Hotel
(Comfort Inn & Suites)
of two students compared
to last year’s 334.
In the rest of Morrow
County, enrollment is up
overall, with some schools
seeing losses while others
see significant growth. To-
tal enrollment for Morrow
County School District for
this school year is 2,192,
a gain of 31 students dis-
trict-wide over the 2015-16
school year.
A.C. Houghton Ele-
mentary in Irrigon (kinder-
garten through third grade)
has an enrollment of 272,
up from 266 last year, while
Irrigon Elementary (fourth
through sixth grade) is up to
204 from last year’s enroll-
ment of 192. Irrigon Jr./Sr.
High School, however, has
dropped significantly, down
to 365 from 387. Irrigon
schools’ total enrollment
is 884.
In Boardman, enroll-
ment at Sam Boardman
Elementary (kindergarten
through third grade) has
dropped, down to 331 from
344, while Windy River
Elementary (fourth through
sixth grade) has gained 10
students with an enrollment
of 224. Riverside Jr./Sr.
High School has grown sig-
nificantly, with 421 students
compared to 395 last year.
Boardman schools’ total
enrollment is 976.
The Morrow Education
Center in Irrigon also has
seen significant growth,
with 43 students compared
to last year’s 29.
mark. Admission is free, but
donations are appreciated.
The bus will then de-
part for return to Heppner,
arriving around 4 p.m.
Transportation is free;
however, a suggested $10
donation would be appreci-
ated. A sign-up sheet will
be available in the office at
the Heppner St. Patrick’s
Senior Center.
Questions, call 541-
676-8017.
Old St. Peter’s Landmark.
water-year precipitation
at Heppner has been 11.2
inches, which is 2.24 inches
below normal.
The highest wind gust
was 35 mph, which oc-
curred on the second.
Normal highs for Hep-
pner fall from 82 degrees
at the start of September
to 71 degrees at the end of
September. Normal lows
fall from 50 degrees to 43
degrees. The 30-year nor-
mal precipitation is 0.56
inches.
The National Weather
Service is an office of the
National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration,
an agency of the U.S. Com-
merce Department.
Irrigon senior center
changes address
The City of Irrigon
last week announced that
the address of the Stokes
Landing Senior Center will
change—but not the loca-
tion.
According to a release
from the city, the change
is part of an ongoing state
effort to clarify addresses
for emergency responders.
“For the past two years
the State of Oregon has
been working to create a
system wide E911 address
database,” stated the city.
“This database will greatly
assist emergency and first
responders.”
Occasionally, locations
create conflicts for the new
system; that was the case
with Opal Place and Tum-
bleweed Blvd. in Irrigon.
“These two streets are
in essence one in the same
for traversing,” stated the
city’s release. “Opal Place
only consists of approxi-
mately 160 feet with one
addressed structure while
Tumbleweed Blvd. has
multiple addressed struc-
tures.”
So, for safety and con-
sistency purposes, Opal
Place will be removed from
mapping and street naming
systems. Effective Oct. 1,
Opal Place will be renamed
as Tumbleweed Blvd.
The address of 195 NW
Opal Place (Stokes Land-
ing) will change to 150
Columbia Lane.
On the
Inside....
Obituaries ....
....PAGE TWO
Yard of the Month ....
.... PAGE TWO
Music in the Park ....
..... PAGE THREE
Justice Court Report ....
..... PAGE THREE
DA’s Report ....
..... PAGE THREE
Mustang Football ....
..... PAGE FOUR
Cardinal Football ....
..... PAGE FIVE
Big Game Preview ....
..... PAGE FIVE
Classified Ads ....
.... PAGES SEVEN &
EIGHT
Sheriff’s Report ....
..... PAGES FIVE &
EIGHT
Sports Schedules ....
..... PAGE EIGHT
50 lb bag Purina
Strategy GX
R eg $18.95
ON SALE
$15.95!
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)