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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2023)
TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 29, 2023 The Official Newspaper of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES U.S.P.S. 240-420 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: $35 in Morrow County; $40 senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $30 elsewhere; $35 student subscriptions. Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor Cindi Doherty.........................................................................................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 $5.50 per column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $15 up to 100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.00 per column inch. 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 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 Marianne Gammell McRoberts Marianne Gammell McRoberts, 90, of Auburn, W A passed away on Nov. 1 8 , 2022 from cancer. Grave- s i d e service will be held at Hep- pner Cemetery on Friday, April 28, at noon. All are welcome. Marianne was born in Heppner. She married Lee McRoberts of Heppner in 1949. She was predeceased by her parents, Lois and Lester; her husband, Lee; and her brothers, Richard, Bob and Roy. She is survived by her three children, seven grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren and her beloved brother-in-law, Ellis McRoberts. Death Notices Vilas Daniel Ropp— Vilas Daniel Ropp, 65, died Sunday, March 26, 2023, at his home near Lexington. He was born in Albany, OR on August 23, 1957. A me- morial service will be held at a later date. Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner is in charge of arrangements. Ronald George Cur- rin—Ronald George Cur- rin, 86, died Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Hermiston, OR. He was born May 26, 1936, in Pendleton. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 7, at the Gilliam and Bisbee building in Hep- pner. A complete obituary will follow in next week’s Gazette-Times. Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner is in charge of arrangements. William Allen Wolf- sen—William Allen Wolf- sen, 81, died Sunday, March 26, 2023, at a care facili- ty in Hermiston. He was born September 18, 1941, at Sedro Woolley, WA. A memorial service will be held April 8 at 2:30 p.m. at the Ione Community Church. Sweeney Mortuary of Heppner is in charge of arrangements. Wyden to hold Morrow County town hall April 2 U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden will be in Morrow County Sunday, April 2, for an open-to-all, in-person town hall. The town hall will be at 4 p.m. at the SAGE Center, 101 Olson Rd. NE, Boardman. The town hall is one of several scheduled in East- ern Oregon for the week of April 1-7. “Open-to-all town halls shorten the distance be- tween Oregon and Wash- ington, D.C. by providing opportunities for any Or- egonian to ask questions, suggest good ideas and work toward solutions to challenges facing commu- nities throughout our state,” Wyden said. “I encourage people of all ages to attend one of these community gatherings that show the rest of the country how democracy is alive and thriving in every nook and cranny of the state.” Quarterly chamber meeting April 13 The next lunch meeting of the Heppner Chamber of Commerce will take place Thursday, April 13, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Gilliam and Bisbee Event Center. Kim Cutsforth of the Howard and Beth Bryant Foundation and Brad Attig of Reinventing Rural are sponsoring the event and will present on the Willow Street Arts and Business Innovation Center. Pre-registration is re- quired. RVSP for the quar- terly luncheon by Tuesday, April 11, at heppnercham- ber@gmail.com or 541- 676-5536. Tacos Home- town will provide a lunch of chicken or beef burritos with chips and salsa at a cost of $15 per person. Any business that would like to present a new service or project at the next chamber luncheon is invit- ed to contact the chamber for sponsorship information at heppnerchamber@gmail. com or 541-676-5536 or visit www.heppnercham- ber.com. Area pastors invited to submit Easter messages Pastors of area church- es are invited to submit Easter messages for the April 5 issue of the Heppner Gazette-Times. All messag- es must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 3. To submit a message or for more information, email editor@rapidserve.net or call Andrea at 541-676- 9228. Ione approves two-year contract with MidCo Bus By Andrea Di Salvo The Ione School Dis- trict Board approved a new bus contract and an integrated guidance plan among other business at its regular meeting Tuesday, March 21, The board approved a new two-year contract with Mid-Columbia Bus Com- pany with words of praise from both board members and staff. The bus company pre- sented options for two-year and five-year contracts, which included updating a 2005 bus to a 2010 bus, as well as replacing another bus with a 2023 model. Mid-Columbia Regional Vice President Michelle Taber said the latter was currently being serviced by a Type 10, but Morrow County Manager Marlene Newlun thought a full-size bus would be more practical and have more uses in Ione. The current contract has a 15-year age limit on buses, so any bus that reaches the age limit would be replaced with a new, late-model bus. Taber also told the board the company had hired another bus techni- cian to split the workload for Morrow County, Ione and Condon and that they were also working with a maintenance consultant to improve that aspect, as well. “We just really are looking at everything to make sure however we can improve any part of our business,” Taber said. Contract costs have gone up, and Taber told the board it was due to inflation and the fact that the company would be raising employee wages “significantly” to help with recruiting. She also sug- gested partnering with the school district in hiring peo- ple who would be willing to split their time between driving and custodial work. Ione School Superintendent and High School Principal Kevin Dinning responded that he thought that would be good. “We’d be happy to work with somebody that way,” he said. Ione School Board Chair Rob Crum said he hadn’t heard any feedback on the bus service this year, but implied that was a good sign. “I think if it’s no feed- back, that’s pretty good,” Crum said. “I think this year’s gone well, and Marlene’s always easy to work with,” added Ione Elementary Principal Tracey Johnson, saying that the drivers this year have been consistent. While the five-year contract was at a lower rate, Dinning said he rec- ommended going with the two-year. “I think for the sake of making sure we’re not getting too far extended on the bond stuff,” he said, “let’s see what it looks like for two years.” “I appreciate both pro- posals,” he added. “I don’t want to do it again in two years, but I think it’s the right move.” The board also ap- proved a new integrated guidance plan for the dis- trict. Dinning told the board that they have to approve all parts of the plan in order to be in compliance with the state. One portion was a needs assessment that re- lated to equity. Dinning said he had created a deci- sion-making tree to guide district decision making, though he commented that they usually don’t have to use it because they know all the students and families. “The good part about stuff like this is that we make sure we’re being intentional about who it impacts, who it doesn’t,” he said. “Is there a financial cost, is there some sort of staff that has to be attached with it, are we communicat- ing with the right amount of people, did we include people in the decision that need to be included in it?” The plan also listed strengths and challenges the district had identified. Dinning said the highlights for the district’s strengths are that they recruited a bi- lingual board member, have adopted an English Lan- guage Arts program, and will adopt a math curricu- lum that will address and differentiate various focal groups and levels. The dis- trict has also reestablished the backpack program, hosted Cinco de Mayo, created a student space on the stage for providing public health access, and has increased career and technical education (CTE) and elective opportunities for middle school students in an effort to expand equity and course offerings at that level. Dinning said that the district’s small numbers have made it difficult to identify trends with stu- dents. “We have six kids in a grade level, or 12,” Dinning said. “It’s really hard to jus- tify whether it’s juniors who are having an issue with that, or is it just the class period that they’re having an issue with?” Dinning also said reg- ular attenders in K-12 are lower than they would like to see at about 55 percent. However, he said he has analyzed several similar school districts and found that Ione’s numbers are actually pretty good, with many districts having much lower numbers. “I think it’s an area to target still, it’s something that came back,” he added. He also told the board that third grade reading data is showing growth but at a varied proficiency level, and that the community feedback is that CTE offer- ings need to broaden. “We need to offer more that are in line with our regional job fields, and we agree with that,” he said. Dinning said they also lack translation with some of their communication methods, specifically ro- bo-calls and communica- tions that are put out day-of. Finally, he said the district saw a need for increased focus on school safety. In other business, Din- ning reported that the school had received its augmented reality (AR) welder. They now have a handheld one and a large tabletop unit. “It’s got a screen on it, it’s got curriculum in it, the guy hooked it up for us -Continued to PAGE FIVE Garcia promoted to detective Morrow County Sheriff’s Deputy Dalton Garcia was pro- moted from Patrol Deputy to Criminal Deputy/Detective, the sheriff’s office announced last week. “This is a well-deserved promotion,” said Morrow County Sheriff John Bowles. “Here’s to a long successful career with the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office.” -Contributed photo Ione school announces third quarter awards Ione Community School third quarter students of the quarter. Back L-R: Isabelle Venegas, Nain Calvillo, Kole Strzelewicz, Cheston Covey, Emmyngton Revoir and Guadalupe Aguilar. Front L-R: Julius Bailey, Anson McCabe, Anthony Elia, Gabriel Mendoza, Vayda Ramirez and Harlow McElligott. -Contributed photo Ione Elementary School recipients of attendance awards for the third quarter. Those receiving attendance awards had attendance of 90 percent or more. -Contributed photo Third Quarter Student of the Month The following Ione Com- munity School students re- ceived Student of the Quarter recognition for being honest and helpful: Mrs. Orem’s kindergarten class: Anthony Elia and Vayda Ramirez. Mrs. Wainwright’s first and second grade class: An- son McCabe, Julius Bailey, Gabriel Mendoza and Harlow McElligott. Mrs. Rietmann’s third and fourth grade class: Guadalupe Aguilar and Emmyngton Re- voir. Mrs. Osmin’s fifth grade class: Kole Strzelewicz and Cheston Covey. Mrs. Ogden’s sixth grade class: Nain Calvillo and Isa- belle Venegas. Attendance Awards The following elementary students received attendance awards for 90 percent atten- dance or better for the third quarter at Ione Community School: Ryan Atkin, Wyatt Geer, Adley McElligott, Aimeric McElligott, Vayda Ramirez, Andalynn Rietmann, Ezekiel Soto, Liam Aparicio, Julius Bailey, Anson McCabe, Luna Rico, Kyson Scoggin, Kleo Childers, Amira Hernandez, Ana Juarez Martinez, Myles McAhren, Harlow McElligott, Gabriel Mendoza, Germain Ramos Lopez, Miriam Rico Gonzalez, Matthew Bailey, Emmyngton Revoir, Luke Neiffer, Guadalupe Aguilar, Alison Aparicio, Jeslyn Fer- nandez, Emily Rico, Amilya Rupe, Elissa Yates, Izabelle Carson, Cheston Covey, Mina Hernandez, Joshua Neiffer, Emberlee Revoir, Cooper Stefani, Bryson Bailey, Nain Calvillo, Madelyn Campbell, Haryss Padberg, Teagan Roy and Brylee Scoggin. Grow ‘Em and Show ‘Em holds lamb and goat meeting By Jasper Hanna, Club Reporter On March 17, 4-H group Grow ‘Em and Show ‘Em had its first Goat-Sheep meeting. Members went over body part recognition and what to look for in a goat and/or sheep. They did an ice-breaker bingo, then elected officers. Brooklyn Hendricks was elected pres- ident, Tenley Rosenbalm vice-president, and Jasper Hanna reporter. The club’s next meeting will be April 9. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
