TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 20, 2020
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
History uncovered
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Would provide internet to homes
with faster speeds
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25
senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student
subscriptions.
David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher
Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor
Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to
100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub-
lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not
responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will
be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Obituaries
Gerald R. Wilson
Gerald R. Wilson, of 2000. They worked hard
Ione, died Saturday, May 9 on their ranch raising cat-
at Pioneer Memorial Hospi- tle and quarter horses near
tal in Heppner. He was
Ione.
born February 8, 1929
He enjoyed
at Hollister, ID, the son
fishing in his ear-
of James W. and Clara
ly years and later
E. Pereboom Wilson.
working on his
He started rid-
ranch. He shared
ing horses at an early
his stories and
age, later becoming a Gerald R.
knowledge with
Wilson
bronc rider in his teens
anyone who would
and working for Wine
listen.
Company. He volunteered
Gerald is survived by
for the United States Army daughters, Tonya Heideman
in 1950, serving in Alaska and Leta Keller; broth-
during the Korean conflict er, Grover Wilson; sis-
and was honorably dis- ters, Priscilla Webster and
charged in 1953.
Acenethe Wilson; grand-
He married his first children, Aaron, Nathan,
wife, Phyllis B. French and Christina and Matthew;
they had three daughters: step-granddaughter, Nicole;
Tonya, Rhonda and Leta. and great-grandchildren,
Gerald retired as a Katelyn, Ellie, Macken-
Union Certified carpenter zie, Hailey, Madelynn and
and welder. He worked on Avery.
numerous projects through-
Preceding him in death
out his life and there wasn’t were his parents; daugh-
much he hadn’t done. A ter, Rhonda; brothers, Bill,
few included sealing the Norm, Morris, Lane, Dalton
Fast Flux Testing Facili- and Phillip Wilson.
ty at Hanford, Richland,
Due to the current pan-
WA, building the Sheraton demic, no service will be
Hotel, adding a wing at held. Sweeney Mortuary
Stanford University in San of Heppner is in care of ar-
Francisco, CA and working rangements. You may sign
for Bechtel Power.
the online condolence book
Gerald found love at www.sweeneymortuary.
again and married Linda com.
J. Miller on November 30,
Lexington looks at
fiber franchise with
PrineTIME
A bit of Heppner history was uncovered Tuesday during the
renovation of the former Lott’s Electric building on Main
Street. Seems the building once housed Green’s Feed Store.
The Lott building is currently being renovated into an exercise
and work out facility.
COVID-19 testing
available
Morrow County med-
ical facilities have part-
nered with multiple labs
to increase the COVID-19
testing capacities for coun-
ty communities. Morrow
County now has the ca-
pacity to test over 200
COVID-19 tests per week.
Those who wish to be
tested, will have to see their
medical provider. The test
results turn-around time
will be determined by the
symptoms and risk factors
of the individual.
The most common
symptoms of COVID-19
are fever, cough and short-
ness of breath. If symptoms
persist or worsen, contact
your medical provider.
Other symptoms may
include; chills, repeated
shaking with chills, muscle
pain, headache, sore throat
and new loss of taste or
smell. If you are experi-
encing two or more of these
symptoms, contact your
medical provider.
Students awarded
scholarships
The Heppner Masonic Lodge sent letters to award
their 2020 scholarships to graduating Heppner High
School seniors on Saturday, May 16.
Cami VanArsdale, Jorden Sweeney, Kellen Grant and
Casey Fletcher will each receive a scholarship of $1,000.
Ione graduation
scheduled May 30
Ione High School will
hold a private graduation
ceremony on May 30 at 7
p.m. at the football field.
Graduates will be on the
field with parents and fam-
ily gathered in small des-
ignated areas outside the
field.
Gift tables will be setup
at the school office May
26-28 between 8 a.m. and
noon for those who wish to
drop off cards or gifts for
the graduates.
G-T closed
Memorial Day
T h e H e p p n e r G a - iday on Monday, May 25.
zette-Times will be closed The deadline for all news
for the Memorial Day hol- and advertising for the May
27 issue will be Friday,
May 22, at 5 p.m. Normal
business hours will resume
Tuesday, May 26.
The G-T wishes ev-
eryone a happy and safe
Memorial Day weekend.
PRINT & MAILING
SERVICES
SYKES PUBLISHING
541-676-9228
OR UNTIL FULL!
By David Sykes
The Lexington Town
Council last week agreed
to enter into a franchise
agreement with PrineTIME
internet provider, allowing
the company to string high
speed internet fiber around
the town and to people’s
homes. The deal has not
yet been signed but the
council told company rep-
resentative Ted Howard to
go ahead and bring a sample
agreement to the council
next month for their review.
Under the proposed
agreement, the company
will string fiber cable on
Columbia Basin Electric
power poles around town
and then offer subscriptions
to residents who want high
speed internet. Howard
said the fiber will give 100
mb internet speed both “up
and down” to those who
subscribe, which is substan-
tially more speed than is
available now through other
providers, he said.
If the town uses the
City of Heppner’s Prine-
TIME agreement as a tem-
plate, which was just signed
last month, the town will
receive, in exchange, free
internet at Town Hall and
possibly several other lo-
cations such as the shop
and the well house. Howard
said he would help the city
set up security cameras at
the locations if it worked
out. The company also of-
fers phone service as part
of the package it will be
offering subscribers. The
council will decide on the
final agreement at the June
council meeting.
In other business the
council heard a report from
Mayor Juli Kennedy who
said the town had received
a street allotment grant
from the county for $55,124
which will be used for re-
pairs to streets around town.
She said the town would
most likely receive another
grant from the county in the
next fiscal year.
The council also heard
a report from town main-
tenance man Scott Lamb,
who said he was preparing
to put up the new shop
addition the city is plan-
ning to construct. The town
received $5,000 from the
Willow Creek Valley Eco-
nomic Development Group,
WCVEDG, Community
Enhancement Grant fund
to help with the cost. Lamb
said he has asked Tom Ca-
marillo of Ione to help with
preparing for the purchase
and installation of the new
building. Camarillo has ex-
perience with these kinds of
structures. The new struc-
ture will be an addition to
the existing shop building
and will be used to house
equipment and supplies
such as backhoe, piping
and other material that does
not fit in the existing shop
building.
In other business, the
council heard a report from
councilmember Bobbi Gor-
don who has been working
on designing and purchas-
ing “Welcome to Lexing-
ton” signs. The signs will
be paid for with last year’s
grant from WCVEDG. Gor-
don says they are narrowing
down the design and loca-
tions for the signs. In a nod
to the town’s history it was
announced that the Jack
Rabbit mascot will most
likely be part of the sign
design. When Lexington
had a school years ago, the
mascot was the Jack Rabbit.
The council also voted
to go out to election with
a renewal of the five-year
fire department and general
fund operations tax. The
tax is needed for both the
general and fire department
operations. The tax will be
on the ballot for the Novem-
ber 3 election.
The council heard a
report from the budget com-
mittee that they have ap-
proved the proposed 2020-
21 budget for the town. The
budget will be presented to
the council for approval at a
special meeting on May 28.
In other business the
council heard from resident
Kevin McCabe who is still
upset that his neighbor has
a large number of goats
in her yard and they are
causing foul odors at his
house. McCabe has been
to the council several times
seeking solutions, mainly a
limit on the number of goats
allowed on the property.
The council has said in the
past and repeated at last
week’s meeting that it does
not have ordinances in its
zoning codes to deal with
animal problems. Coun-
cilmembers pointed out that
even if the town had animal
control ordinances it has no
police department or code
enforcement officer to en-
force them. Before ending
the discussion, McCabe
and councilmember Will
Lemmon got into a heated
argument, with McCabe
saying the animals stink
and the council needs to
act. Lemmon said he had
been to the property and
the animals do not smell.
There was no further action
or discussion by the council
on the matter.