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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2019)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 13, 2019 -- THREE Business enhancement grant funds available Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group (WCVEDG) has funds available for local businesses in south Morrow County to use for outside/ exterior improvements. The requestor must provide at least 50 percent of the funding of the total project budget, which can include in-kind and cash contribu- tions from local and region- al sources. The grant payout will be up to $7,500 with at least 50 percent match. Although the business enhancement grant is open all year if funds are avail- able, completed grant re- quests received March 15 through April 15 will be reviewed and awarded at the end of April. Grant applications, as well as el- igibility and exclusions in- formation, are available by contacting Sheryll Bates at 541-676-5536 or by email- ing heppnerchamber@cen- turytel.net. Forms are also avail- able at Heppner, Ione and Lexington city hall offices or printed from the Eco- nomic Development tab on the Heppner Chamber website at www.heppner- chamber.com. Grant appli- cations must be received at the chamber office by April 15 to be considered for April funding. Power outage scheduled for Ione area substation Columbia Basin Elec- tric Cooperative, Inc. has announced a planned power outage in the Ione area on March 22 beginning at 9 p.m. with re-energization scheduled for 7 a.m. March 23. The Bonneville Power Administration has sched- uled the 10-hour outage to replace some damaged equipment that aids in the protection of CBEC’s dis- tribution lines outside of the Ione substation. The outing was origi- nally scheduled in Decem- ber but had to be postponed. This outage will only affect CBEC members served out of the Ione BPA substation. Those areas include: Town of Ione, Ella Rd., Low- er Rhea Creek, Brenner Radon gas second leading cause of lung cancer Morrow County eligible for free home test kits Radon is the second leading cause of lung can- cer in the U.S. after ciga- rette smoking, and the lead- ing cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. The U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency estimates that radon is responsible for more than 20,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the United States. Radon is odorless, tasteless and invisible. It is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes up from the ground and is drawn into buildings, where it can build up to dangerous levels. “Every homeowner should test their home for radon every two to five years,” recommends Kari Christensen, Radon Pro- gram coordinator at the Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division. The best time to test for radon is during the heating season, when the windows and doors are closed tight. This is when you would expect to find the highest radon levels in your home. Many regions of the state are at moderate risk of having high radon lev- els, with several pockets of high-risk areas in the north- west, around the Willamette Valley and in eastern and southern Oregon, according to 2018 data published on the Oregon Radon Program. The Radon Program collects radon test data from test kit manufacturers in an effort to understand which areas of the state have the potential for high radon levels, and to identify areas where educational outreach efforts need to be focused. The program is offering a free radon test kit to resi- dents whose homes are in Morrow County with fewer than 20 radon test results. Residents can send an email to radon.program@state. or.us to receive instructions on how to get a free test kit, which will be provided while supplies last. For more information on radon testing and miti- gation, radon-resistant new construction, or to order a test kit online, call the Oregon Radon Program at 971-673-0440, TYY: 711 or www.healthoregon.org/ radon. Death Notices Kenneth M. Gates Kenneth M. Gates, 73, of Lexington died Monday, March 11 at Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner. He was born Nov. 13, 1945 at Prairie City, OR. A memorial service will be held on Friday, March 22 at 11 a.m. at the Lexington Bible Church. Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner is in care of arrange- ments. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM Canyon, Ione Gooseberry Rd., Dry Fork, Lower Wil- low Creek, North Lex and the surrounding areas. The communities of Heppner and Lexington will not be affected by this outage. Members who are un- sure if they will be affected by this outage should call Columbia Basin Electric at 541-676-9146. Students to test engineering skills KidWind, the interna- tional leader of clean ener- gy education, is hosting a KidWind Challenge Event at Riverside Junior/Senior High School on Thursday, March 14 starting at 9 a.m. At the event, approximately 50 students from Riverside Junior/Senior High School and Heppner Junior/Senior High School will showcase and test the performance of their handcrafted wind turbines and present their design process to a panel of judges. EDP Renewables North America, which owns the Rattlesnake Road and Wheat Field Wind Farms outside of Arlington, is sponsoring the event. The judges will evalu- ate each team’s wind turbine energy output and design, the documentation of their design process and their knowledge of wind and renewable energy. Teams placing first and second in the middle and high school divisions automatically qualify for the 2019 Na- tional KidWind Challenge hosted at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) WINDPOWER 2019 conference in Hous- ton, TX on May 20-23. A team from Riverside Junior/Senior High School has attended the National KidWind Challenge the past two years thanks to generous support from the local community, including travel scholarships from EDP Renewables North America. “As more communities recognize that wind energy is a worthwhile alternative to other non-renewable energy sources, companies developing wind farms such as EDP Renewables North America will need more skilled workers,” said Michael Arquin, founder of KidWind. “Giving students the knowledge, tools, and time to create a functioning wind turbine brings real-life science to the classroom, helps develop students’ problem-solving and en- gineering skills and gen- erates excitement – which could encourage students to pursue a career in the renewable energy industry.” The KidWind Chal- lenge is a nationwide ini- tiative to help students learn about renewable energy and hone their engineering skills through the spirit of competition. Since the first event in 2009, the KidWind Challenge and its partners have hosted more than 220 events in 26 states, impacting roughly 35,000 students. The National KidWind Challenge and the local KidWind Challenge events are made possible through contributions from gen- erous sponsors. For more information about the Kid- Wind Challenge, visit kid- windchallenge.org. Chamber Chatter Willow Creek Ag Water Quality LAC to meet The Willow Creek Ag Water Quality Local Advisory Committee will conduct its biennial review of the Wil- low Creek Ag Water Quality Management Area Plan on Wednesday March 20 from 6-8 p.m. at the Ag Service Center in Heppner. For additional information, contact Kevin Payne with the Morrow SWCD at 541-676-5452. Meetings of the Morrow SWCD are open to the public. Community and public enhancement grants offered Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group (WCVEDG) has funds available to be used for community and pub- lic enhancement for south Morrow County communi- ties. Organizations must be a local organization, club, special district or govern- mental entity in the south Morrow County service area as defined on the WC- VEDG service area map. Those requesting funds must have at least 50 per- cent of their own funding for the total project budget, which may include in-kind and cash contributions. Completed grant requests will be accepted between March 15 and April 15. Forms may be obtained by contacting Sheryll Bates at 541-676-5536, emailing heppnerchamber@century- tel.net, picked up at Hep- pner, Lexington and Ione city halls or may be found under the Economic Devel- opment tab on the Heppner chamber website, www. heppnerchamber.com. Grant applications may be emailed, mailed, hand delivered or faxed to 541- 676-5656 and received no later than April 15 to be reviewed and considered by the WCVEDG board. Fridays, March 22 and 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Heppner City Hall, Free In-Person Tax Preparation Service. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide offers free tax preparation to any- one of any age, especially for those 50 or older or can’t afford paid tax preparation. March 14-17, 37 th An- nual Heppner’s Wee Bit O’ Ireland St. Patrick’s celebration. The event will begin with Father Con- don’s play on Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at the St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish Hall. Admission is free and refreshments will be served. Contact the Heppner Cham- ber for information on en- tering or registering for the Team Bed Races, O’Planky Races, Road Bowling and Welly Toss. Friday, March 29 at 5 p.m., Community-Wide Salute to Veterans Dinner at Stokes Landing (Irrigon Senior Center) to show your appreciation to those who have served in the military. Tickets may be purchased at City of Boardman, City of Irrigon and local branches of Bank of Eastern Oregon. The tickets for this event, hosted by the Irrigon Senior Center, Morrow County Veterans Services and Ore- gon Department of Veterans Affairs, are $10 per person. Births Lauren Deborah Lindsay – Dan and Ashley Lindsay of Lexington announce the birth of a daughter born Feb. 22 at 12:56 p.m. at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton. Lauren weighed 8 pounds and measured 19.5 inches long. She joins brothers Paul, 14, John, 12, Max, 7 and Kenny, 2. Her sisters are Claire, 10 Lauren Deborah Lindsay and Lucy, 5. Grandparents are Vilas and Deb Ropp and Larry and Corrine Lindsay, all of Lexington. School board approves property transfer The Morrow County School Board, in a regular meeting at Irrigon Jr./Sr. High School Monday night, gave the okay on a minor partition involving transfer of property from Morrow County Grain Growers to the school district. The property will be used to erect a softball bat- ting practice facility with an easement for access from Riverside Street in Hep- pner. The petition was re- quested by Kim Cutsforth, director of the Howard and Beth Bryant Foundation, on behalf of Heppner High School. The board also ap- Family Hunt Club Looking for Big Game Land Wildlife Development Association (WDA), a hunting club which is over 40 years old, is seeking to expand its leased big game hunting areas by 10,000+/- acres. WDA is known for promoting the highest standard of hunting ethics, hunter safety and family hunting. Using club volunteers we hold annual work parties on leased proper- ties working on projects directed by the property owner (fence and gate repair, road improvement, vegetation removal, etc.). We do projects to improve hunting, such as “No Trespassing” signage, and Predator Con- trol program. References are available upon request. If you have land to lease please contact: Wildlife Development Association Jason Slangan, President(503) 927-5643 proved a resolution ac- cepting and appropriating unanticipated revenues of $70,000 for Heppner Ju- nior/Senior High School from the Howard and Beth Bryant Foundation; and an additional $2,000 and $3,310 from the foundation for Heppner Elementary School. The board approved sending two calendar op- tions to district staff for their input. -Option 1 is a pre-La- bor Day start with stu- dents beginning August 26, 2019; school ending June 4, 2020; winter break from December 20-January 5; spring break from March 23-27; school on Friday when there is a holiday on Monday. -Option 2 is a post-La- bor Day start with students beginning September 3, 2019; school ending June 11, 2020; winter break December 20-January 5; spring break from March 23-27; school on Friday when there is a holiday on Monday. Superintendent Dirk Dirksen informed the board that the six snow days to be made up for Heppner schools and the five snow days to be made up for Boardman and Irrigon schools will be April 5 and 12 and May 3. He noted that for each two snow days, students are required to make up one school day. “It’s strange that we’re having snow this time of year,” Dirksen noted. In a report concerning four-year graduation rates with a GED or diploma Dirksen said that River- side Jr./Sr. High School in Boardman had a 92 per- cent rate with Irrigon Jr./ Sr. High School having an 80 percent rate and Hep- pner High School bucking tradition with a 76 per- cent rate. HJSHS Principal Matt Combe told the Ga- zette-Times that the un- characteristically low rate was due in part to students leaving the district that they were unable to track, low student numbers that skewed the percentages and other factors. In other business, the board: -heard recaps from dis- trict principals on sports successes from the vari- ous schools, including the -See SCHOOL BOARD/ PAGE EIGHT Valby Lutheran Church Valby Road Ione Oregon. 97843 Church Services 1st & 3rd Sundays Available for: Weddings ♦ Funerals Family Events Old Coun- try Church All are Welcome
