Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 19, 2017
- THREE
SAGE Center hosts Shrine Club honors Mustang all-star
Heppner High art football players
exhibit
Unveiling, reception Saturday
This Saturday, April
22, the SAGE Center in
Boardman will unveil Hep-
pner High School’s “Mor-
row County: From Here to
There” gallery exhibit. The
unveiling and gallery recep-
tion will take place at 3 p.m.
at the SAGE Center, 101
Olson Road, Boardman.
“Morrow County:
From Here to There” is
an exhibit created by HHS
students ranging from sev-
enth to twelfth grade. With
support from the Morrow
County Cultural Coalition,
the art students at Heppner
High School have worked
to create a vibrant collec-
tion of work, interpreting
the local landscape through
their young eyes, highlight-
ing the beauty and diversity
of Morrow County, and
showcasing their various
talents.
HES ‘Kindergarten
Roundup’ next week
On April 25, Heppner
Elementary will be round-
ing up all the kindergarten
students for the 2017-2018
school year.
Appointments are
available from 8:15 a.m.
to 3:15 p.m. and will last
approximately 45 minutes.
Each child will meet Mrs.
Calvert, undergo a skills
test and have their eyes
checked.
Parents need to bring
their child’s birth certifi-
cate, immunization record
and emergency contact
information. Parents and
staff will be filling out pa-
perwork while each child is
with Mrs. Calvert.
Please contact Mrs.
Sweeney to set up an ap-
pointment time at 541-676-
9128 ext. 2610.
Students must be five
years of age on or by Aug.
31, 2017 to enroll at HES.
DA’s Report
Morrow County Dis-
trict Attorney Justin Nelson
has released the following
report:
-Kevin Dennis Lee, 29,
was convicted of Assault
IV – constituting Domestic
Violence, a Class A Misde-
meanor. Execution of the
sentence of 180 days’ jail
time was suspended and
the defendant sentenced to
36 months bench proba-
tion. Probation conditions
include 80 hours of com-
munity service, no contact
with the victims, substance
abuse evaluation, alcohol
and/or drug evaluation,
mental health evaluation
and completion of a bat-
terers intervention pro-
gram. In addition, Lee was
convicted of Strangulation
– constituting Domestic
Violence, a Class A Misde-
meanor. Execution of the
sentence of 180 days’ jail
time was suspended and
the defendant sentenced to
36 months bench probation,
to include the above condi-
tions. In addition, Lee was
convicted of Unauthorized
Use of a Vehicle, a Class
A Misdemeanor. Execu-
tion of the sentence of 180
days’ jail time was sus-
pended and the defendant
sentenced to 36 months
bench probation. Proba-
tion conditions include the
above-named conditions.
Additional counts of As-
sault IV and Strangulation
were dismissed. Fines, fees
and assessments totaled
$100.
KISSLER CHARGED
WITH RAPE
-Continued from PAGE ONE He was arraigned Monday
an unidentified female,
disclosed to the deputies
on scene that she had been
raped. Deputies arrested
Kissler on charges of Rape
I, Sodomy I (incest) and
Unlawful Sexual Penetra-
tion I. Kissler was lodged
at Umatilla County Jail.
and a preliminary hearing
is scheduled for this Thurs-
day, April 20.
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office was as-
sisted by officers from the
Umatilla Police Department
and the Boardman Police
Department.
The Tri-County Shrine
Club hosted a banquet to
honor Mustang football
players Kevin Murray and
Logan Grieb recently. Both
young men were chosen to
the Portland Shriners Chil-
dren’s Hospital All-Star
Team. Kevin was selected
to play in the Shrine game
that will be played on Aug.
5 in Baker City. Logan will
serve as an alternate on the
team.
They were nominated
by their coach for this honor
and then selected by a com-
mittee on three criteria.
Their athletic accomplish-
ments, their academics and
their community service
were why these players
were chosen to represent
the Shriners in their cause
to help children receive
medical care. The Portland
Shriners Children’s Hospi-
tal, which started operation
in 1924, has served more
than 60,000 children since
its doors opened.
The players and their
families and friends were
treated to a dinner at the
Heppner Elk’s Club. Tri-
County Shrine President
Herman Winter welcomed
everyone and introduced the
other Shrine Club members
present—Merlin Hughes,
Gene Orwick and Archie
Ball. The featured speaker
of the night was Dick Crist,
who is the Outer Guard for
District 1 of the Al Kader
Shriners. He spoke about
the work the Shrine Club
Pictured L-R: Gene Orwick, Herman Winter, Kevin Murray, Dick Crist, Logan Grieb, Archie
Ball and Merlin Hughes. -Contributed photo
does and all the programs
that are available to patients
at all Shriners Hospitals
across the nation.
Heppner football coach
Greg Grant then spoke
about the work ethic of
both the players on and off
the field, how they both
were four-year lettermen,
helped the Mustangs win
eight home playoff games,
accumulated a 44-5 record
over their careers and won a
state championship. He also
stated that the boys were
great teammates, leaders
and always worked hard,
and that they were unself-
ish and set a great example
for the younger players on
the team.
Both Kevin and Logan
got up and thanked their
families, coaches, team-
COUNTY COURT
-Continued from PAGE ONE asked Huwe. That is the
Following the meet-
ing Huwe said the offices
are important to the city
because they have so very
little. “We have no main
street businesses and no in-
dustry. Don’t take that away
for us, it is all we have,” she
said of the county offices.
She acknowledged that the
Bartholomew Building in
Heppner was expensive to
build. “We don’t need a Ca-
dillac building, just a Ford.”
She said, talking to
residents, they say they do
not want to lose the offices
and get “totally pulled out
of the mix” from the rest
of the county. She said the
current buildings are in bad
shape and need to be torn
down, and that the footprint
of the buildings is enough to
build a two-story to handle
all the county office needs.
Commissioner Don
Russell said the county has
a responsibility to all the
citizens of the county when
deciding what to do.
“When you gathered
those petitions did you ask
them if we can save a half
million dollars by going
to Boardman?” Russell
amount initially figured to
be the savings by buying
the BMCC building over
building new in Irrigon.
“It’s hard for me to look
the other 9,000 (county)
citizens in the face and say
we are going to spend $1/2
million more to build in
Irrigon,” Russell said. “If
we were going to move
from Boardman to Irrigon I
would feel the same way,”
he added.
Commissioner Jim
Doherty said they were
still in the planning stages
on where to locate and the
county would look at “lots
of options. We are strug-
gling right now and up
against the budget,” he said.
County commission
chair Melissa Lindsay said
she appreciated Huwe’s
comments and concerns,
saying the county needs to
do what is best for the com-
munities, but in the end the
decision has to be a finan-
cial one. She added that the
commission needs to get the
true cost of building a new
building in Irrigon and any
remodeling cost for Board-
man before any decision is
mates and the community
for always supporting them.
They both said that they
made many great memories
playing Mustang football,
but the best memory they
will have is winning the
state championship with
their “brothers.”
Both boys had interest-
ing side stories to go along
with their selections to the
team. Kevin stated the he
is the third member of his
family to play in the game.
His father John and brother
Ian also represented the
Mustangs in the game.
Logan then told of his
family’s direct knowledge
of the great work the Shrine
Hospital does. In 1937 his
great-grandfather Charles
Christensen was 12 years
old and spent a year in the
Portland Shrine Hospital
after a load of wood crushed
one of his legs. The Port-
land Shriners Children’s
Hospital saved his life.
Although one leg ended
up being shorter than the
other and he walked with
a stiff leg, he was able to
live a full life and have a
family, which would even-
tually lead to Logan being
selected to this honor.
In another interesting
story line, Logan’s father
Ken was also selected as a
Shrine game alternate.
These two fine young
men certainly deserve the
honor of being selected to
the Portland Shriners Chil-
dren’s Hospital All-Star
Team.
made.
Huwe suggested that
SIP (Strategic Investment
Program) money be used
to construct a new facility
in Irrigon. SIP funds come
from energy projects, main-
ly wind, and are paid to the
county in lieu of taxes. SIP
money was used to con-
struct the new administra-
tive building in Heppner,
and comes into the county
on a yearly basis. Russell
addressed that idea also.
“People think there is
a pile of SIP money out
there.” He said it is true
that SIP “doesn’t have side-
boards” and the county has
wide latitude on how to
spend the funds, but the
county gave up regular
property taxes in exchange
for SIP funds.
Irrigon City Manager
Aaron Palmquist also urged
the commission to keep
the facilities and offices
in Irrigon. He had some
additional advice for the
commission if they decide
to move only some of the
services to Boardman. “If
you are going to move
some of it, then move it all,”
Palmquist said, meaning
don’t take just the plan-
ning commission, VA and
sheriff and leave the courts
and parole and probation
in Irrigon. “Criminals stay
close to the court system,”
he said, which has not al-
ways been beneficial to the
city of Irrigon. “Don’t take
the good away and leave the
bad. Move it all.” he told
the commission.
Palmquist also echoed
Huwe’s feelings that people
come to Irrigon to use the
county facilities and with
that comes economic activ-
ity for the local businesses.
The commission has
not announced a date for a
decision on the new facili-
ties and where they would
go, but has hired an archi-
tect firm to come up with
costs and concepts so the
commissioners have solid
information on which to
base their decisions.
In other business the
commission voted to give
county employees a three
percent cost of living wage
increase (COLA) for the
coming year. The increase
will cost the county $66,000
in additional wages. The in-
crease does not cover union
employees, who are negoti-
ated separately. Lindsay
said next year she would
like to deal with the COLA
earlier.
“I feel we were kind of
backed into a corner hav-
ing done elected (officials)
already,” she said.
In other action the com-
mission voted to approve a
new Columbia River Enter-
prise Zone (CREZ) agree-
ment with VA Data, the
Amazon business that runs
server farms in Boardman.
The agreement will allow
Amazon to pay CREZ fees
in lieu of property taxes for
the next five years.
FISHERMAN'S
NIGHT
Thursday,
April 20th
Scalloped Potatoes,
Coleslaw & Garlic Bread
Dinner 6:00pm
Lodge 8:00pm
Mossberg 12 Gauge
& Other Prizes