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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2020)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 21, 2020 The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES U.S.P.S. 240-420 Lexington ‘unincorporated’ comment sparks town council discussion Mayor: ‘Have no intention of letting that happen’ By David Sykes face different challenges, A comment by incum- and he (Doherty) wants SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE: bent county commissioner to see communities, such http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/ running for reelection, Jim as Lexington — which he Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post Doherty, that the town of described as in danger of Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid Lexington was “in danger being unincorporated and at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax of being unincorporated ‘absorbed’ into the county (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, and absorbed into the coun- — get the extra attention P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25 ty” caused a lively debate at they need to improve,” the senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student subscriptions. last week’s Lexington town entire East Oregonian quote David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher council meeting. read. Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor Near the end of the The comment, howev- Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising meeting, one citizen in er, was enough to get the 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 the audience asked coun- council wondering if some- column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to cilmembers if any had read thing was happening they 100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch. an article in that day’s East didn’t know about. “It’s For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publi- cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested at the time of submission. Affidavits Oregonian quoting Doherty news to us here,” Coun- require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be as saying the town of Lex- cilmember Bill Beard said specified if required). For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to ington may be dissolved when he heard the Doherty meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines and become part of the quote. Some others in the or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space county at large. Doherty audience wondered if his for the obituary. For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner was apparently speaking at comments had been taken GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone a recent candidates’ forum out of context. The citi- number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not when he mentioned the zen audience member who 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. possibility the town could brought the article to the become unincorporated. council’s attention said His comment, how- she would like answers as ever, was part of a larger to what Doherty meant. “I Send birth announcements to editor@rapidserve.net or upload to Heppner.net. statement about help for would like the council to Aubrey Joy Rice certain cities within the ask him to come here and – David and Dakota county. “Different commu- explain to the townspeople Rice, Heppner, wel- nities in Morrow County what that really meant,” comed a daughter, Au- brey Joy, on October 9, 2020. Aubrey was born at Kadlec weigh- Send engagement and wedding announcements to editor@rapidserve.net or ing 7 lbs. 2 oz and upload to Heppner.net. measuring 19 ¼ inches long. Aubrey joins three siblings, Tyler, 10, Lo- Aubrey Joy Rice gan, 6, and Madison, 3. Grandparents are Jim Rice, Yakima and Marti Ko- Mayci Garrett, Hep- erner, Heppner. Great-grandmother is Leslie Moore, pner, and Troy Richman, Prosser, WA. Hermiston, were wed Au- gust 25, 2020 at Bowditch Point Park, Fort Myers New Baby in Your Family? Beach, FL. Garrett, the daughter of Engagement? Doug and Sariena Garrett, Wedding? Heppner, graduated from We want to share your life events! Heppner High School and Stop in the Heppner Gazette office or email us Pioneer Pacific College. Troy and Mayci Richman with details and photos. She works as a certified medical assistant at Mor- uated from Hermiston High All birth, engagement and wedding announcements are always free! row County Health District. School. He is a US Army Richman is the son of veteran and is currently 188 W Willow Street Randall and Becky Rich- employed as a salesman at Heppner, OR man of Hermiston and grad- United Rentals. editor@rapidserve.net Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper Births Weddings/Engagements Richman, Garrett wed in Florida said Dorothy Edwards, who brought up the quote. “I want to know before I decide who to vote for (for commissioner,), she added. Mayor Juli Kennedy said she hadn’t yet read the article but would con- tact Doherty for an expla- nation of the comments. Following the meeting she called him and asked for clarification on “where this was coming from.” “First off, I let him know that community members were concerned that a comment like that was put in the pa- per and it caused them to wonder what was going on and if something happened. I told him that things with Lexington have been much better since there have been a few changes. That we are doing well, and we are excited about our future,” Kennedy said in an email to councilmembers the next day. Kennedy said Doherty attributed comments about unincorporating to a pre- vious county planner, who had made the comments that she was concerned Lexington was going to be absorbed by the county. Kennedy said Doherty told her he thought unincorpo- rating would be a bad idea. “I told him that we have no intention of letting that happen. I also reminded him that when the budget was not passed last year and the town was shut down, yes I’m sure there was talk about that happening within some circles, but that is not where we are now,” Kenne- dy said in her email. Kennedy said Doherty told her county govern- ment needed to assess the needs of each community better “when figuring out assistance and funding. For example, Lexington may need more money allocat- ed to them than Boardman because of needs,” he said. Doherty also expressed that same view to the Heppner Gazette-Times later when contacted for further comments on the quote. Doherty said some areas of the county might need more assistance than others, pointing out that although Columbia River Enterprise Zone (CREZ) funds are distributed on a population basis around the county, maybe the CREZ board should look more at a city’s needs, rath- er than just its population. In the end Mayor Ken- nedy was positive about what she heard from Doherty. “The conversation overall was good and ended well, but I did make it clear that we had no intention of letting something like that happen,” she said. In other business at the October 13 meeting the council talked about a request from a resident to change his address to Hum- phries Street. The council was not sure if Humphries was even a legal street in Lexington, even though there is a street sign with that name. “I’m not against it but we have to make sure it is even a legal street,” councilmember Bobbi Gor- don said. The name change request was tabled until more information was re- ceived. Town Recorder MacKia Tarvin was in- structed to contact the coun- ty for more information. The council also re- ceived a letter from Brent Gunderson, CPA, of the accounting firm Connected Professional that the firm would no longer be doing the town’s yearly audit. “We appreciate your busi- ness and the relationship our firm has had with you over the years,” Gunderson wrote in his letter. “Unfor- tunately, we have decided we need to reduce our au- dit and review services to maintain the quality of our product.” He said his com- pany has grown and, “We regrettably must ask you to engage another firm to provide you with future re- view services.” Town staff said they would investigate a replacement firm to do the town’s audit. In other business the council heard a report from town maintenance man Scott Lamb who said the east side paving project was done and that he got some cold patch from the county to fill some pot holes. He reported that with the help of Lexington Pump the chlorine pump was rebuilt and tubing changed. “It seems to be working good again,” he told the council. Lamb also said the town was investigating getting some reimburse- ment for COVID related expenses. There is $25,000 in grant money available for reimbursement such as cleaning town hall. He also said he was investigating possibly getting a pickup truck with a plow from the county for the winter months. The town does not have plow at this time. The option is to buy just the plow, or the plow and pickup together. Print & Mailing Services *Design *Print Sykes Publishing *Mail 541-676-9228 ATTENTION HUNTERS!! The Heppner Gazette-Times wants pictures of your trophy animals from this hunting season. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos at 188 W Willow in Heppner, email them to editor@rapidserve.net upload them at heppner.net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674.
