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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2021)
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 3, 2021 County awards $371,939 in COVID grants Morrow County, last month, awarded $371,939 in CARES, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security and Tillamook Cheese money grants to businesses and organiza- tions throughout the county. The funds came from the federal government, down through the state and then to the counties. In an Good News Only effort to help local busi- nesses Tillamook Cheese of Boardman also added money to the fund. Below is a list of the businesses and organizations who received funding. The county has announced another round of funding and is now taking applications. See related article this issue. By Doris Brosnan Can you smell it? Springtime seems to al- most be blowing in the wind, probably from the plants emerging from the ground and leaves forming on the trees. But while these changes seem to be occur- ring down here, more ac- cumulations of snow were recently forecasted for the mountains. Pleasant for us lowlanders and good omen of more moisture for later agricultural operations. Trees on Main Street that have reached the end of their longevity – some broken, some dying – are being removed by the City Maintenance employees, soon to be replaced with new trees, which will, hope- fully, serve to beautify the street for another 30 years or so. City Manager Kraig Cutsforth views as very good news the increasing interest in new building construction in Heppner. Some building sites have merited interest by indi- viduals planning to make our community their new home, another new duplex is being planned, and some buildings that previously housed particular entities are going to be repurposed soon. The fifth- and sixth- grade teachers at HES, Mrs. Proudfoot and Mrs. Coiner, are thrilled to be able to bring back Time Out for Reading this year. It’s a reading program that be- gan with Mrs. Allen many years ago… and something fifth and sixth graders look forward to every year. Stu- dents keep track of minutes read each week for four weeks (four quarters) and earn prizes for their partic- ipation and effort. “We are so thankful for generous donors this year (Jannie Al- len, Karen Smith-Griffith, Heppner Parent-Teacher Club, Heppner Oddfellows Lodge) who allow us to continue offering this fun program. This year there were 14 students who read over 1,000 minutes in the first week.” As reported in the East Oregonian, Hunter Nichols was scheduled to travel to South Dakota on Monday morning to participate for Eastern Oregon Universi- ty (in his second year) in the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field Champi- onships in Yankton, SD, scheduled for March 3-6. Ranked nationally 14 th in the 1000-meter, Hunter will face the prelims on Thurs- day. The finals will be on Saturday. He is ranked 8 th all-time in the EOU record book, but according to his coach, “He could be one of the best we have ever had.” On February 23, Pat Sweeney listened to his wife, Trish, and went to an ER in the Tri-Cities. On the 24 th , Pat received a stent in a heart artery that was 95 percent blocked. On the 25 th , the Sweeneys headed home but were diverted by a call from Spray. Fortunate- ly, Pat says he was feeling fine then and continues to feel good. He cautions that a person should listen to his/her body before having to listen to a spouse, and he expects that he will have to listen for the next ten years to Trish’s “I saved your life.” Some good news items come from beyond our south Morrow County lim- its, but they prove the truth of “the ties that bind.” Hannah Green, daugh- ter of Dave Green, is a junior at Wenatchee High School in Washington. Hannah spent last week- end with her dad but first began her time in Heppner in a 6:30 a.m. Skype inter- view on Fox News. The school is making a hit on social media and national news networks with its green practice pods (small, one-person-and-instrument tents) for its bands, and Hannah was chosen as one of three golden apple band members interviewed for their insights into this inno- vative approach that allows students to gather together but individually in their pods to practice live instead of online. Such an honor for an outstanding student. Janet White appreciates being able to catch weekly glimpses of our area, via the Heppner Gazette: “I am one of the many subscribers who once lived in that area. I lived in Ione for almost 20 years. I just renewed my subscription for a year to the Gazette.” Janet, who now lives in Redmond, looks forward especially to reading more Ione news. Last week from Verina (French) Schiller who is a daughter of Raymond and Norma French, “I didn’t think I had any good news, but now I am happy to say that we have electric power, warmth and water again here in our apartment in north Austin [Texas] area. We were melting snow for water and boiling the water. Our family in Dallas and south Austin has electricity again. Also, we do not have any burst water pipes… (but so much fall-out and damage from this disaster is still going on in the way of burst water pipes in both residential plus commercial and business buildings, plumbers here are over- whelmed with calls and many are told they won’t be able to get any help until sometime in April, if even then) … or damage from snapped tree limbs weighed down by thick, heavy ice (as some have suffered). We have been in Texas for over 27 years now and have nev- er seen anything like this before. We are more grate- ful than ever for these ba- sics that seem like luxuries now and will not take any of these for granted again.. Also, I am grateful for my hometown of Heppner and the Heppner Gazette-Times in which I can come home every week.” Readers will surely be happy to see your good news, so take a few min- utes, if you wish, to jot it down as an email or call it in. (Just a few ideas: new babies, marriages, anni- versaries, new jobs, new businesses, visitors, trav- els, vacations, adventures, promotions and successes, great pets, children’s’ ac- complishments.) Anyone who has a tidbit is invited to email it to dbrosnan123@ gmail.com or to call 541- 233-1490. Hoping some good news comes to everyone reading this. NEW IRRIGON FACILITY -Continued from PAGE ONE the Arts and Mathematics diesel, gasoline, lubricants and aviation fuel for the next three years. Under the agreement Devin Oil will provide approximately 67,500 gallons of unleaded gas and 60,000 gallons of diesel fuel to the Morrow County Road Department in Lexington, 1,500 gallons of unleaded mid-grade fuel, and 2,000 gallons of diesel delivered to the OHV park, 7,000 gallons of aviation fuel to the Lexington airport and various types of oils, greases and hydraulic fuels to operate county vehicles. $1 million to schools for STEM In other business the county agreed to pay schools in the county $1 million over the next year for their STEAM and STEM programs in the schools. The programs promote an “approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, K2 Aerial provides agricultural spraying of pesticides and broad cast spreading of dry materials such as seed or fertilizer. as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking.” Each school in the county will receive a $100,000 base amount and then more per school depending on their enrollment. In each school the mon- ey will be allotted 60 per- cent going to the science, tech, engineering and math, and 40 percent going to arts and music. The money for the program comes from the new Wheatridge wind and solar project in Morrow County, which pays Stra- tegic Investment Program money to the county in lieu of taxes. Food processor gets tax refund The commission- ers learned RDO/Calbee Foods, LLC of Boardman would be getting a tax re- fund of $94,141. Calbee had appealed the property valuation of its potato pro- cessing plant at the Port of Morrow to Oregon tax court and a ruling was made in their favor. Under the judgment, Calbee’s property valuation will be reduced from its current $16,345,520 to a court ordered $14,797,170. Calbee had appealed its valuation to the court and as a result will be refunded the overpaid taxes from the past two years. Last November the county had created a re- serve account especially to repay taxes on valuations that were appealed and granted. Commissioners set aside $380,020 and the re- fund will be paid from that. Pacific Ethanol Columbia, LLC also filed an appeal to the Oregon Tax Court on its property tax assessment, however no judgment has yet been issued by the court. Any refund to Pacific Etha- nol would also be paid out of the reserve fund. County to host two school interns In other action the county agreed to host two high school internship posi- tions, one through the plan- ning office in Irrigon and the other as a “float” posi- tion in south county. (see article p. 2 in last week’s Gazette-Times) Under the program students are paid minimum wage through the Port of Morrow Enter- prise Zone agreements. The county would be considered the host employer, but the students are technically employed by Intermountain Educational Service Dis- trict, IMESD, in Pendleton. Under the plan host employers such as the coun- ty will provide a position description which will be posted on the IMESD em- ployment page. Students will apply March through April and interviews are held the middle of May. The program covers students to work up to 15 hours per week. Students start their internship the second week of school in the fall. Mid-semester evaluations are done to determine if the placement is a good fit. If the host em- ployer and student would like to continue, they can keep working through the rest of the school year. 541-980-8498 Located at the Lexington Airport Imagine The Difference You Can Make DONATE YOUR CAR 1-844-533-9173 Prepare for unexpected power outages with a Generac home standby generator REQUEST A FREE QUOTE! FREE TOWING TAX DEDUCTIBLE 877-557-1912 FREE Help Prevent Blindness Get A Vision Screening Annually Ask About A FREE 3 Day Vacation Voucher To Over 20 Destinations!!! 7-Year Extended Warranty* A $695 Value! Blazing Fast Internet! ADD TO YOUR PACKAGE FOR ONLY 19 . 99 $ /mo. where available 2-YEAR TV PRICE GUARANTEE 64 $ 99 MO. 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