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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2019)
Ballots go out in mayor recall Kemp cites positive efforts to ‘make Lexington Great’ 50¢ Ballots have gone out in the recall effort against Lexington Mayor Marcia Kemp. The mail-in ballots are due back to the clerk’s office by October 22. The recall was initiated by Lexington resident Will Lemmon who says, among other things, Kemp has failed in her oath of office, exceeded authority and is uncommunicative with oth- er members of the council (see below for complete text of the charges). Kemp has responded by citing the positive things she says are being accomplished in Lexington (see below). Wednesday, October 9, 2019 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Reason for recall: “Kemp has failed her oath of office regularly exceed- of the hay truck swung wide turn into the path of the ing the authority of the left to make the turn when grocery truck, causing them Mayor. Kemp refuses to the vehicle was struck by to collide. Sunlight on their work with nor even com- a grocery truck that was windshields may have been following. a contributing factor. The grocery truck driv- OSP, MCSO, ODOT er apparently assumed the and Heppner Ambulance hay truck was moving to the and Fire all responded. left and proceeded forward There were no injuries and Morrow County Health in the right lane, which neither driver was trans- District was recently award- put the trucks somewhat ported. There was minor ed Top Performer in quality side by side. The hay truck leakage on the roadway reporting and improvement continued with his right from a radiator. efforts by the Oregon Office of Rural Health. The Ore- gon Office of Rural Health recognizes Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) in Ore- gon for their outstanding work as proactive leaders in ensuring CAH’s are pre- pared to meet and exceed present and future quality measures. “I would like to thank our Quality Manager, Becky, and all of our staff HEPPNER G T azette imes VOL. 138 NO. 41 6 Pages Trucks collide near Lexington An accident along Highway 74 between Lex- ington and Heppner had traffic blocked Monday morning after a collision between two semi trucks. According to the Mor- row County Sheriff’s Of- fice, who assisted Oregon State Police on the accident, a hay truck was signaling and turning right into a driveway between mile- posts 39 and 40. The driver municatee with 3 of our 4 councilmembers circum- venting the authority of the council in absolutely clear violation of the town char- ter. She has publicly slan- dered their character and by her own admission based solely on hearsay. She has created an us vs. them at- mosphere. Kemp continues to put her own personal feelings, issues and agenda above the whole electorate of the town of Lexington. We deserve better!” Mayor Kemp’s re- sponse: “When I took the oath of office in January 2019 to become Lexing- ton’s mayor, I promised to follow all the rules and regulations of the State of Oregon, the Town of Lexington, and Morrow County. “With the help of Lex- ington community mem- bers, we are improving the livability of the town by having safe neighborhoods, attracting more families to move to our communi- ty, providing clean water, maintaining our streets, parks to enjoy and promot- ing and supporting busi- nesses. We are actively applying for grants and establishing partnerships to help us.” “Lexington has a bright future and together, we can make Lexington Great, a town to be proud of.” Another recall, this one against councilmember Bill Beard concluded last week with voters rejecting that effort 54 to 43 (see related story). Morrow County Health Dist. earns Top Performer award Heppner weather slightly colder last month Low temperatures above normal members for their outstand- ing quality reporting, and especially their leadership among rural Oregon quality teams. This award demon- strates our promise of ex- cellence and unwavering commitment to the health and safety of our communi- ty,” said Bob Houser, CEO of Morrow County Health District. Morrow County Health District’s Quality Manag- er, Rebecca Sanders was present to accept the award at this year’s ORH Awards luncheon at the 36 th Annual Rural Health conference. Rebecca Sanders, Quality Manager, Morrow County Health District accepts the Top Performer award. Lexington says ‘no’ to councilmember recall Voters have spoken 54 to 43 According to prelim- inary data received by NOAA’s National Weather Service in Pendleton, tem- peratures at Heppner aver- aged slightly colder than normal during the month of September. The average tempera- ture was 61 degrees which was 0.6 degrees below nor- mal. High temperatures averaged 72.7 degrees, which was 3.9 degrees be- low normal. The highest was 88 degrees on the 6 th . Low temperatures averaged 49.4 degrees, which was 2.8 degrees above normal. The lowest was 33 degrees, on the 29 th . Precipitation totaled 0.71 inches during Septem- ber, which was 0.15 inches above normal. Measurable precipitation, at least .01 inch, was received on 14 days with the heaviest, 0.19 inches reported on the 16 th . Precipitation this year has reached 11.71 inches, which is 1.77 inches above normal. Since October, the water year precipitation at Heppner has been 15.72 inches, which is 1.72 inches above normal. The outlook for Octo- ber from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center calls for below normal temperatures and near to above normal precipitation. Normal highs for Heppner fall from 71 de- grees at the start of October to 58 degrees at the end of October. Normal lows fall from 42 degrees to 35 de- grees. The 30-year normal precipitation is 1.14 inches. Arrest solves nine cases After investigations into multiple crimes led the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office to Chalen James Ottmar, 24, Hermiston, a search warrant was is- sued to search the Ottmar residence at 19 Westview Drive in Hermiston. The search recovered property involved in approximately nine criminal cases in Mor- row and Umatilla County. A theft reported to the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office on August 6 by Bar- ton Leveling, Inc near Pole Line Road and Homestead Lane outside Boardman began the investigation. Deputy Wasserman found the stolen item was sold on eBay by Ottmar to a party in Fairview, Illinois. With co- operation between MCSO, the individual in Illinois and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the property, valued at approximately $20,000, was returned to Oregon and the owner. During the course of the investigation and searching the property, many sto- len items were recovered, solving cases from multiple agencies, including MCSO, Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, Hermiston Police Department, Oregon State Police and US Fish and Wildlife. Ottmar was lodged at the Umatilla County Jail Chalen James Ottmar on charges of two counts each of aggravated theft I, unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle and crim- inal trespass II for a total bail of $54,000. Additional charges are pending follow- ing further investigation. The voters have spo- ken and Lexington has rejected an effort to recall councilmember Bill Beard. Beard was the target of a recall effort initiated by town maintenance man Ed- die Dickenson. The recall campaign grew contentious but in the end the voters turned down the recall by a vote of 54 no to 43 yes. According to County Clerk Bobbi Childers there were 189 ballots mailed out and 99 ballots returned for a 52 percent voter participation rate. Next up is a recall against Mayor Marcia Kemp, with those ballots having been mailed out this week and due back Oct 22. Columbia Basin Electric announces rate increases The Bonneville Power Administration recently announced a 3.6 percent increase to its transmission and other fixed-fee rates to your local electric cooper- ative, effective October 1, 2019. While it is Columbia Basin Electric’s intention to keep electric bills as affordable as possible for our members, it is now necessary to recapture these increases from the BPA via a monthly base charge increase to our members. Effective with the Oc- tober 2019 billing cycle, these increases calculate to a $1.50 increase per month to our residential class base fee, a $3 per month increase to our residential 3-phase class base fee, a $1.50 in- crease per month to our commercial class base fee, a $6.60 per month increase to our commercial 3-phase class base fee, a $2.20 per month increase to our gen- eral demand class base fee, and a $2.20 increase per month to our industrial class base fee. As BPA has not in- creased the kilowatt (kwt) power rate at this time, there will be no increase in the kwh consumption rate to our members. These increases will be effective with your October electric bills, due on November 11. If you have any ques- tions or concerns, contact your local Columbia Basin Electric office at 541-676- 9146 in Heppner, or 541- 384-2023 in Condon. The Heppner Gazette-Times wants pictures of your trophy animals from this hunting season for our Trophy Corner. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos, mail them to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to editor@rapidserve.net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674. Girls selling poinsettias Heppner High School students Kylie Boor (sopho- more) and Hailey Wenberg (freshman) are selling poin- settias to offset their player fees for Columbia River Heat ASA 16U softball. These big, beautiful plants are $20 each and available in red, white, pink and jingle bell (red/white mix). Jingle Bells are limited due to orders already received. Delivery will be November 21, in time for the Thanks- giving holiday. To place an order or for more information, call or text Shannon Boor at 541-377-5879, Sheena Shank at 541-980-5881 or speak to one of the girls. MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS Hailey Wenberg (left) and Ky- lie Boor are selling poinsettias to earn money for their player fees. 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