TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 17, 2023
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Lexington begins planning
for downtown improvements
Public invited to participate in
Monday meeting
Heppner students
attend Tupper
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
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at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
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subscriptions.
Chris Sykes ...............................................................................................Publisher
Andrea Di Salvo ............................................................................................ Editor
Cindi Doherty.........................................................................................Advertising
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Obituaries
Earl Selby Towner
Earl Selby Towner, 72,
passed
away unex-
pectedly on
February
27, 2023.
A private
service was
held; a cel-
ebration of life will be in the
summer of 2023.
Born in Prineville, OR,
Earl was raised by his
grandparents at the Towner
Mine. He graduated from
Redmond Union High
School and later received
a degree in electronics en-
gineering. Earl had a suc-
cessful career with General
Electric Medical Systems,
and later with his own com-
pany, Professional X-Ray
Services, Inc.
He was a devoted husband,
father and grandfather who
enjoyed spending time with
his family, farming and
working on his vintage
corvettes.
Earl will be deeply missed
by his partner in life and
loving wife, Judy (Gentry);
sons Michael (Gail), Mat-
thew (Allie) and Jeffery;
daughter Tammy Baney;
grandsons Cory (Ashley)
and Jacob; granddaughters
Tiffanie Bottoms, Danielle
Moss, Mariah (Paul) and
Adalynn Baney, and bo-
nus granddaughters Lind-
si (Scott) Bilyeu, Ashley
(Chris) Level, Alesha Simp-
kins; and 10 great-grand-
children, and numerous
nieces and nephews.
To view his full obituary,
please go to www.bend-
funeralhomes.com. If you
wish to donate in his name,
please do so by contacting
the Oregon Community
Foundation/Oregon Schol-
arship Fund www.oregoncf.
org.
SAGE Center celebrates
10 years this week
Ribbon cutting at the Sage Center at Boardman 10 years ago.
L-R: Gary Neal, Jerry Healy, Joe Taylor, Don Russell and Marv
Padberg, long-time commissioner Larry Lindsay cutting the
ribbon with the big pair of scissors, State Rep. Greg Smith and
Oregon State Sen. Bill Hansell. – Contributed Photo
The SAGE Center in
Boardman is opening its
doors wide to the public
this week as it celebrates
in tenth anniversary here in
Morrow County.
The celebration is go-
ing on all week during the
SAGE Center’s regular
hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As part of the celebration,
the museum is offering 10
percent off all store sales,
admission prizes and raf-
fle submissions each day,
as well as hosting events
visitors have enjoyed in
the past.
Friday, visitors can en-
joy some free French fries
from the Lamb Weston fry
truck from 1:30 to 5:30
p.m. At 6 p.m., the museum
will offer a free showing
of “Night at the Museum.”
The movie is open to the
public and includes free
water and popcorn for ev-
eryone.
Festivities will contin-
ue Saturday with SAGE
Saturday, as stations for
kids’ crafts and sensory
play will be available all
day. Free face painting by
Vivid Imaginations Profes-
sional Face Painting will be
offered to visitors from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Tilla-moos” cheese
giveaways will be back
thanks to donations from
Tillamook County Cream-
ery Association. A free en-
chilada feed with admission
will be offered by Village
Restaurant in Boardman
from 12-2 p.m. Also avail-
able will be shaved ice
treats outside from WE ice.
Since officially opening
its doors to the public in
May 2013, the SAGE Cen-
ter has welcomed hundreds
of thousands of visitors,
travelers and students to
share the story of Morrow
County and learn about
sustainable agriculture and
energy.
The SAGE Center is
located at 101 Olson Road.
For more information, call
541-481-7243.
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Sykes Publishing
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541-676-9228
The Town of Lexington will hold a public education and out-
reach event next Monday to discuss future plans for Lexing-
ton’s downtown area. -Contributed photo
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Town of Lexing-
ton is seeking community
involvement in its plans for
downtown improvement.
The town will hold a pub-
lic meeting next Monday,
May 22, to discuss possible
downtown improvements
and get community input.
The education and out-
reach event will run from
6-8 p.m. at Lexington Town
Hall. It will also be live
online via Zoom.
Items on the agenda
include roadway facilities,
lighting, pedestrian walk-
ability and sidewalks, and
parking. With the possi-
bility of Morrow County
Transit putting in a fixed
route in Morrow County,
the discussion will also
include the best location for
a public transit stop.
“The point is to help
slow people down and also
help provide safe walking
and biking for our commu-
nity and our visitors,” says
Lexington Town Councilor
Katie Imes.
Imes says the town be-
gan looking into possible
downtown improvements
due to safety concerns, es-
pecially at the junction of
highways 74 and 207 and
through the dip in the center
of town, where visibility is
limited.
“Lexington is located at
a junction,” says Imes, “so
there is a lot of activity for
our little town.”
Public outreach like
next week’s meeting is the
first of many steps toward
completed projects in a
process that will most likely
take several years.
The town is seeking
initial project funding
through the Transportation
& Growth Management
(TGM) program, which is
a joint effort between Ore-
gon Dept. of Transportation
(ODOT) and the Oregon
Dept. of Land Conservation
and Development (DLCD).
The TGM program’s
goal is to support com-
munity efforts to expand
transportation choices.
That includes planning for
streets and land use in ways
that lead to more “livable,
economically vital, and
sustainable communities,”
according to a TGM report.
In the 2017-19 biennium
alone, TGM awarded 25
grant projects totaling more
than $4 million to 23 local
governments.
Competitive grants are
awarded yearly for projects
involving transportation
safety and land use. Lexing-
ton is seeking an Integrated
Land Use and Transporta-
tion Planning grant, geared
toward compact, mixed-use
development.
“There’s a lot of differ-
ent things communities can
do with these programs,”
says Imes, “but we’ve cho-
sen to focus on our down-
town.”
Lexington first applied
for a TGM grant for the
2022-23 funding cycle.
The application wasn’t ap-
proved, but a Region 5
committee member told
Imes the committee had
really liked the town’s ap-
plication.
Funding was limited
however, so the committee
told the Lexington Town
Council to put some more
work into education and
outreach and then try again.
The town is currently in the
process of applying for the
next round of funding. This
time around, Imes says,
Lexington is more likely to
receive the funding it needs
to move forward.
The town is seeking a
$175,000 grant. If awarded,
the funding will be used to
hire a consultant to analyze
Lexington’s downtown area
and conduct studies of the
town’s downtown needs
and transportation system.
The results of those studies
will, in turn, open the door
to more funding for projects
like downtown lighting,
sidewalks and more.
The prospects are
promising, but it’s not a
quick fix. It will take at least
a year for a consultant to
finish the studies and have
the council adopt them, plus
more time to find addition-
al funding and complete
downtown improvement
projects.
“This is not a short-
term project,” says Imes.
Monday’s meeting is
only one part of the town’s
effort to involve the com-
munity in the initial plan-
ning process. Lexington
council members and Lex-
ington Town Recorder Ve-
ronica Ferguson have been
working with planners from
DLCD and ODOT to create
a public outreach strategy
and talk with town stake-
holders.
Imes said the town
would also like to see en-
gagement from elected of-
ficials and county-wide
stakeholders, including the
board of commissioners
and Morrow County Public
Transit.
Lexington Town Hall
is located at 425 F Street
in Lexington. The Zoom
meeting can be accessed
through meeting ID 687
755 5033, passcode: Lex-
ington.
More information is
available on the Lexington
website, https://lexington-
oregon.com. Any questions
or concerns regarding this
meeting should be directed
to Veronica Ferguson, Town
Recorder at 541-989-8515
or by email to lexington.
oregon@gmail.com.
The heppner Elementary School sixth-grade class spent a
week at Tupper Outdoor School recently. The week at Tupper
is an annual tradition that is supported by many partners in
the community. Students said they had a great time and made
some amazing memories. -Contributed photo
Boardman hosts low-cost
rabies clinic, offers free
dog licensing
The City of Boardman is
reminding pet owners of the
need to keep their dogs and
cats current on their rabies
vaccinations. This year the
city will host a low-cost
rabies vaccination clinic
given by Dr. Burgess of
Country Animal Hospital.
Rabies is a fatal disease of
the brain and spinal cord,
caused by a virus carried
by mammals. Vaccinating
dogs and cats against rabies
is essential in protecting
loved ones and halting the
spread of the disease.
This low-cost rabies vac-
cination event kicks off on
Saturday, June 17, from
8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the
Boardman City Park. The
cost of the rabies vaccina-
tion is $25 per pet.
Along with the vaccina-
tions, the city will offer
free dog licensing. All dog
owners who reside in the
city limits of Boardman are
required to have their dog
licensed for identification
purposes.
For more information,
please call Boardman An-
imal Control Officer Jose
Fernandez at 541-481-
9252.
May 21st
Happy 30th
Birthday Amber
Boyer. To our
sweet Goddaughter.
Love Bob and Bonnie.
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