HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136
NO. 7 8 Pages
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
City close to hiring new
administrator
Should be on job in 4-6 weeks
By David Sykes
The city of Heppner is
close to finalizing a contract
with a new administrator,
it was announced at Mon-
day’s city council meeting.
Although the name of
the new administrator has
not been released, the city
is close to having his con-
tract ready, and says now it
is just a matter of getting it
signed. The city winnowed
down 15 applicants to five
finalists, all of whom were
interviewed by the council,
before making its decision
on whom to choose for the
job.
The new person has
said they could be on the
job in four to six weeks, and
since present administrator
Kim Cutsforth is stepping
down March 1, there will
be a gap with no city ad-
ministrator. This spurred
a discussion amongst the
council on what to do in
the interim. Cutsforth said
she is willing to stay on as
an unpaid volunteer until
the new person arrives, and
the council discussed if that
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner has ‘an evening with the stars’ at Town
and Country event
Locals recognized for achievement, contributions to the community
The Heppner Cham-
ber of Commerce’s Town
and Country Awards took
place last Thursday, Feb.
9, at the Morrow County
Fairgrounds.
During the event,
themed “An Evening with
the Stars,” several locals
were recognized for long-
standing contributions to
Heppner and the surround-
ing area. Winners of the
prestigious yearly awards
were Carolyn Willey, Wom-
an of the Year; Pat Swee-
ney, Man of the Year; Troy
Morgan, Citizen-Educator
of the Year; Kolby Currin
and Logan Grieb, Youth
Achievement Award; Miller
& Sons, Inc. owner Ryan
Miller, Business of the
Year; and Al and Donna
Osmin, Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award.
Attendees at the gala
event were treated to a
presentation of “Your Com-
munity on the Big Screen,”
prepared by Dale Bates
and Sandy Matthews, as
well as dinner prepared
by Alvin Liu of Gateway
Café and a no-host bar by
Bucknum’s. After the award
presentations, Joe Lindsay
provided special music with
a trademark song highlight-
ing each of the honored
individuals.
Randall Peterson of
Peterson’s Jewelers do-
nated jewelry for a prize
drawing, and the event
was sponsored by Willow
Creek Energy, Northwest
Farm Credit Services and
Portland General Electric.
The Woman of the Year,
Carolyn Willey, joined the
F ind
the
Heppner community 20
years ago when she moved
here to care for her mother.
An ordained minister, one
of the most notable achieve-
ments shared in Willey’s
nominations had to do with
her role in Pioneer Memo-
rial Hospice, where she
has either worked or vol-
unteered for the last two
decades.
“She is our teacher, our
mentor and our friend,” said
award presenter Cyde Es-
tes. “And she is still sharing
her wisdom with us, in her
retirement.”
He accomplishments
don’t end with hospice,
however. In her time here,
Willey has worked with the
Willow Creek Service Club,
chamber of commerce, the
HEROES and SMART
reading programs, blood
drives, singing in choirs,
various fundraisers and St.
Patrick’s events, among
others.
Those who nominated
Willey for the honor used
words like “harmony,”
“friendship,” “gentle,”
“compassionate,” “depend-
able” and “love” to describe
the former hospice chap-
lain.
“Our Woman of the
Year never misses a chance
to encourage the good in
all of us,” concluded Estes.
“Today more than ever, we
need people like her who
remind us of our respon-
sibility to each other and
to humanity through her
selfless acts of love and
kindness.”
Man of the Year Patrick
Sweeney was selected for
Pat Sweeney
Al and Donna Osmin
-See CITY COUNCIL/PAGE
THREE
Legislators
to hold
public
hearings in
Hermiston
Friday
Carolyn Willey
Ryan and Sharon Miller
Logan Grieb (left) and Kolby Currin
Troy Morgan
“his years of random acts of
kindness and service to our
community,” said award
presenter and Sweeney’s
grandson, Kane Sweeney.
“Every time I see him,
sociate with laughter, jokes,
and songs. However, Pat
Sweeney’s contributions
to the community are no
my goal is to make him
laugh, because he taught me
early in my life that laughter
can do tremendous things,”
said Kane Sweeney of the
man whom many locals as-
-See TOWN & COUNTRY/
PAGE THREE
S hamrock ! MCSD makes plans to keep
Win A $50 Bill!
up with north end growth
By April Sykes
Morrow County School
Superintendent Dirk Dirk-
sen told the MCSD Board,
at its Monday night meet-
ing at Heppner Jr./Sr. High
School, that plans to build
a 240-unit apartment com-
-RULES- 1. A new set of clues to guide you to the plex in Boardman are mov-
hidden shamrock will appear in each edition of the Heppner ing ahead, which would
stretch school facilities and
Gazette-Times.
2. A total of five clues beginning with the Feb. 15 edition will staffing capabilities.
Dirksen announced
be published each week on the front page.
that because of continued
3. The hidden shamrock is not on private property and no
digging or moving of objects, dirt or other materials is neces- growth in the north end,
sary to find the shamrock.
the district plans to increase
4. The first person to find the shamrock and bring it to the
staffing with an additional
Heppner Gazette-Times office will claim their prize.
teacher and a classified staff
position at Windy River
Elementary in Boardman;
CLUE #1
an additional teacher and
So here you are back once more
To hunt and search again outdoors
a classified staff position at
You must be smart - and wise to boot
Irrigon Elementary School;
Or maybe just lucky, like some old Irish galoot
a new “newcomers” teach-
Anyway we’re all here to find
ing position; an assistant
That little green symbol, of the clover kind
principal at Irrigon Elemen-
We start our quest from last year’s end point
tary to reduce the work
You remember - up there - by Bart’s new joint
load on Irrigon Elementary
From there we trek to a place below
School’s head teacher; and
Across the water to the An tSráid Mhór we go
an online teacher.
Wait right there and I’ll see you next week
Dirksen also announced
Can you keep up, and find what you seek?
promotion of teacher/assis-
Sponsored by Bank of Eastern Oregon and
tant principal Dieter Waite
The Heppner Gazette-Times
to principal at Heppner El-
The Shamrock Hunt is
back! The first person to
find the hidden sham-
rock will win a $50 bill
donated by the Bank of
Eastern Oregon.
would be the best solution.
Cutsforth is leaving the city
job to head up the Howard
and Beth Bryant Charitable
Trust, which is moving into
an office right next to city
hall, previously occupied
by the Heppner Chamber
of Commerce.
“I need to start my new
job on March 1, and I can-
not be paid (by the city),”
Cutsforth told the council.
She said since the office
was right next to city hall
it would make it easy for
her continue as volunteer
interim city manager until
the new person arrives.
She said she wanted to help
the transition as much as
possible to the new admin-
istrator.
Although the council
discussed various options
for the filling the one-month
vacancy, City Attorney
Bill Kuhn read the city
ordinance which said it was
solely the responsibility of
the mayor to name an inter-
im city administrator for up
to four months’ time. Mayor
Cody High said he was not
aware of the ordinance and
had expected the council
would make the decision
together, but said he now
wanted some time to “think
about it” before deciding on
the best way to fill the gap
before the new administra-
tor arrives.
“Since it is my deci-
sion, I am going to take
some time to make that
decision,” High told the
council.
ementary School, to reduce
the load on principal Matt
Combe, who was previ-
ously principal at both HES
and HJSHS and director of
facilities. Dirksen said that
Combe will be continue to
be principal at HJSHS and
director of facilities.
Dirksen said the district
has received a grant to fund
the cost of a “newcomers”
teacher for the north end
schools. He said that 10-15
students each year for the
past several years have ar-
rived at school in Morrow
County with no experience
in American schools and
possibly speaking little
or no English. He said
this new teaching position
would help toward ensuring
their educational success.
-See SCHOOL DISTRICT/
PAGE EIGHT
SALEM—Oregonians
on the eastern side of the
state will get the chance
this week to voice their
opinion on the state’s next
two-year budget as the Leg-
islature’s Joint Ways and
Means Committee hosts a
town hall-style public hear-
ing in Hermiston.
The committee will
welcome the public to the
Main Commons at Hermis-
ton High School from 5 to
7 p.m. Friday night.
The event is the third
in a series of seven sched-
uled hearings across the
state as the committee
seeks input from Orego-
nians on the 2017-19 state
budget. The committee’s
co-chairs released an “Ex-
isting Resources Budget
Framework” in January,
explaining the state’s $1.8
billion budget shortfall and
outlining potential cuts to
programs.
Hermiston High School
is located at 600 S 1st St,
Hermiston.
MORROW
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GROWERS
350 MAIN STREET
LEXINGTON, OR
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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