Ione seniors benefit from grant
HEPPNER
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VOL. 137 NO. 2 8 Pages
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Local residents to perform in
Cabin Fever show
The popular Cabin Fe-
ver variety show is prom-
ising to help chase away
the January blues with a
delightful mixture of music
and humor. John Wambeke
and Friends will stage their
10 th annual family fun event
on two consecutive Satur-
day nights, Jan. 13 and Jan.
20 at the Hermiston Confer-
ence Center.
Performers include Joe
Lindsay, who creates some
of the show’s commercial
skits and Ione teacher and
violinist Eric Jepsen. Jepsen
will be doing a classical
piece and playing fiddle
with the stage band com-
prised of John Wambeke
on vocals and guitar, Luke
Basile, formerly of Hep-
pner, on bass, the Frazer
Wambeke Trio, Pat Ward,
and Jimmy Creason. In
addition, nine-year-old An-
drew Lindsey of Lexington
will take to the Cabin Fe-
ver stage for the first time
singing and playing the
dummy in a ventriloquist
Seniors from Ione High
School recently had the op-
portunity to tour the Port of
Morrow and POM Work-
force Development Center,
thanks to a grant from the
Ione Education Foundation
and Wildhorse Resort and
Casino.
Students from Ione
and Nixyaawii Community
School were then treated to
a fully catered luncheon and
etiquette lesson at the Pla-
teau Restaurant sponsored
by Wildhorse. After the lun-
cheon, Ione seniors volun-
teered at the Agape House
in Hermiston as a lesson in
community service.
At the Plateau Restaurant at
Wildhorse, pictured top to
bottom (L-R): Emily Taylor,
Austin Morter, Daniel Eu-
banks, Jesse Williams, Maggie
Flynn, Wyatt McNary, Mor-
gan Orem, Sonia Medina and
Roman Rodriquez.
Andrew Lindsay, Lexington, pictured with his dad, Joe, will
perform at the Cabin Fever show in Hermiston.
-Contributed photo.
act. The humor of spinsters
Thelma and Eunice will re-
turn again, played by John
Wambeke and Pat Ward.
The event features a
pair of Dutch oven din-
ner shows, or guests can
choose to attend the show
only. Tickets for the din-
ner, which are $38 each,
are limited and need to
be purchased in advance.
Show-only tickets are $15
each and will be available
at the door. For the dinner
event, doors open at 5:30
p.m. Show-only guests
are invited to arrive at 6:30
p.m. for the 7 p.m. show.
Tickets are available at
Cottage Flowers, 1725 N.
First Street in Hermiston.
For more information call
541-567-4305 or search
Facebook for Cabin Fever
Concert Hermiston.
Pranger appointed to OISC
Dave Pranger, Lexington, pictured with equipment used to battle invasive weeds.
-Contributed photo.
Lexington resident,
Dave Pranger, as been no-
tified that he was appointed
to serve a two-year term on
the Oregon Invasive Spe-
cies Council (OISC). He
will serve from Jan. 2018
through Dec. 2019.
This council is made
up of a distinguished col-
lection of professionals
with varying backgrounds
brought together to help
protect Oregon’s natural
resources from the intro-
Pictured at the Agape House (L-R): Daniel Eubanks, Jesse Williams, Roman Rodriguez, Wy-
att McNary, Austin Morter, Morgan Orem, Sonia Medina, Maggie Flynn and Emily Taylor
duction of invasive species.
The OISC’s mission is
to protect Oregon’s natural
resources and economy by
planning and leading a co-
ordinated and comprehen-
sive campaign to prevent
the introduction of invasive
species and eradicate, con-
tain, or manage existing
invasive species in Oregon
through the Council’s:
-Early detection report-
ing systems
-Educational outreach
to diverse stakeholders,
decision makers and gen-
eral public
-Statewide plan to
prevent introduction and
spread of invasives
-Grant/loan program
for educational and eradica-
tion projects
Additional information
regarding OISC can be
found at www.oregoninva-
sivespeciescouncil.org.
WINTER CLOTHING SALE
KEY BRAND
15 %
INSULATED COVERALLS
COATS AND JACKTS
OFF
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
County hires engineer firm for
north end buildings evaluation
Crow Engineering to look at all county facilities
By David Sykes
The Morrow County
Commission plans on hir-
ing a Beaverton engineer-
ing firm to do a compre-
hensive study of all the
county’s offices and ser-
vices located in Boardman
and Irrigon, and then make
recommendations on what
new construction will be
needed to improve these
offices and services.
The county has for
some time been seeking to
upgrade the facilities and
offices located in the north
end, but commissioners and
staff have wrestled with
how best to do the big job
of evaluating the multiple
county offices and build-
ings, then coming up with
a plan for new buildings. It
was finally decided to hire
a project manager with ex-
pertise in this type of wide-
ranging planning.
Crow Engineering will
be hired at a cost of $36,759
to do a complete study of
the buildings, services and
staff, then will formulate
new facility plans along
with their costs. The firm
plans on visiting each office
and facility, talk to staff and
meet with county commis-
sioners during the process.
It also plans on holding
public hearings in Board-
man, Irrigon and Heppner
once plans are formulated.
First off, Crow officials
will visit the Irrigon Annex,
Boardman Clinic, Veterans
Services and the Irrigon
Boardman Emergency As-
sistance Center. During
each visit they will be look-
ing at things like number
of employees, growth po-
tential in each department,
building condition and site
usage and lease and other
costs (the county leases
some office spaces). They
also plan on interviewing
county staff and looking at
numbers of people served,
parking and other public
needs. Crow plans on hav-
ing the finished analysis
for the new facilities to the
commissioners by Feb. 1,
2018.
The buildings to be
looked at include: Irrigon
Annex, which houses the
Justice Court, Planning
and Parole and Probation.
Boardman Clinic Building
which houses Public Health,
Juvenile Department and
District Attorney’s Office,
Veteran’s Services, which
leases one office in Irrigon
City Hall, and the Irrigon
Boardman Emergency As-
sistance Center in Irrigon,
which also has an office
there leased by the County
Clerk.
In other business at the
Jan. 3 meeting, commis-
sion chair Melissa Lindsay
turned over the gavel to new
chair Don Russell. Since
the county changed from a
Judge and two commission-
ers to a three-commissioner
format, the chairmanship
will be rotated each year
among the three. Previously
Lindsay said she had been
honored to serve as the first
woman judge/chair in Mor-
row County. The county has
had women commissioners
before, but she was the first
in the judge position.
The commissioners
also heard from Fair Sec-
retary Ann Jones, who said
they are exploring bringing
in a bull riding champion-
ship event during the St.
Patrick’s Day weekend.
She said they are currently
looking for sponsorships
to pay the $18,250 cost of
hosting the event. She said
that amount covers every-
thing, with the company
coming in and doing the
whole event. The fair would
make money by getting the
extra sponsorship dollars
and proceeds from food
and beverage sales. She
said it would be planned for
outside, but could be moved
into the Wilkenson Arena
if the weather turns bad.
Jones pointed out how the
event would be good for the
whole weekend since the
riders have large followings
and these people would be
in town. “We’ll see,” she
said if the event actually
comes together.
Gale Street has top priority for
repairs in Heppner
City’s top 10 street repair list released
Gale number one
By David Sykes
A list of the top ten
streets in the worst condi-
tion and needing repair in
the city of Heppner was
released at the city council
meeting Monday night.
And to no one’s surprise
coming out number one
was Gale. Rounding out
the list of streets to get at-
tention was Chase, Center,
Church, Summit, Willow
View, South Main, Morgan,
Willow and Jones Streets.
Mike Barry of the Or-
egon Department of Trans-
portation was at the meeting
and said he was going to
be working with the city to
make sure the $3 million in
road repair funds allocated
to Heppner by the State of
Oregon in the last legisla-
ture, gets spent correctly
and within the deadline.
“The funds have to be
spent on roads, and have to
be spent by 2020,” Barry
said. “The transportation
funding bill allocated you
$3 million for street main-
tenance and it is my job
to make sure you get your
money,” he told the council.
He said the money has to
be spent on roads but that
could also include side-
walks and drainage. He said
the money cannot be spent
on infrastructure below the
streets.
Barry also said the
citizens of Heppner owe
Representative Greg Smith
a big “thank you” for se-
curing the funds during
the legislative process. The
money was part of a larger
package that Smith had
negotiated across his legis-
lative district.
Even though the city
has come out with the top
ten list, which was derived
after citizen input and in-
volvement, it does not mean
all the streets will get fixed.
-See GALE ST/PAGE FOUR