EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 23, 2025
~ Letters to the Editor Continued School district plans town Yankees secure opening
Chamber
supports
school bond
measure
Dear Editor,
The Heppner Chamber
of Commerce board wishes
to express its support of the
Morrow County School
District bond measure 25-
104 on the May 20 ballot.
This bond will allow
the district to make need-
ed improvements to its
buildings. Projects include
a new school, remodels of
schools and security and
safety improvements at all
MCSD schools. Projects
are planned in Boardman,
Heppner and Irrigon.
The chamber board
recognizes that updated
schools are an essential part
of our communities and are
paramount in making sure
that families and businesses
continue to choose Morrow
County as a place to live
and do business.
The proposed bond is
for $204.4 million, and if
the bond passes, the school
district will receive an ad-
ditional $6 million through
a matching grant from the
state of Oregon. This is a
great opportunity for the
district and its students.
Morrow County School
District is the only district
in our area that does not
currently have a bond on
the tax roll. In order for our
district to stay relevant and
attract families to live and
work, the Morrow County
School District must im-
prove its facilities.
While we understand
that this bond would in-
crease taxes for Morrow
County citizens, the im-
provements to our schools
are inevitable and the costs
associated with them will
only continue to increase.
It is also important to note
that Amazon and other in-
dustries will pay 72 percent
of this bond over its lifes-
pan. Residents will only
be paying for 12 percent of
the bond.
We encourage voters in
Morrow County to vote yes
on Bond Measure 25-104—
for the future success of our
halls about bond measure win with big sixth inning
county to continue to thrive.
Morrow County School
Sincerely,
Heppner Chamber of District and its board of
directors invite district stu-
Commerce Board
dents, parents, teachers,
staff and community mem-
bers to three community
town halls to learn about
General Obligation Bond
Measure 25-104 on the May
Dear Editor,
2025 ballot.
I am writing in sup-
The Heppner commu-
port of the Morrow County nity town hall will take
School District bond mea- place at Heppner Jr/Sr High
sure 25-104 on the May 20 School on Thursday, April
ballot. This bond will allow 24. Building tours will take
the district to make needed place from 4:30-6 p.m. with
improvements to its build- a bond presentation and
ings in Heppner, Boardman Q&A at 6 p.m.
and Irrigon. Projects in-
The district and school
clude a new school, remod- board are currently engaged
els of schools, and security in an information effort to
and safety improvements at inform stakeholders about
all MCSD schools.
the district’s bond.
I served on the Com-
“We are dedicated to
munity Bond Advisory providing accurate, timely
Committee for the Morrow information about the dis-
County School District. trict bond using multiple
Our committee worked for methods to reach our com-
a year to review facility munity,” said MCSD Su-
assessments, tour buildings perintendent Matt Combe.
with school principals, re- “We hope people will join
view bond financial options us for the town halls so we
and prioritize projects. As a can share with them more
former teacher and current information and answer any
parent and coach, I have questions they have about
seen firsthand the updates the bond and its projects.”
that need to be done in our
In February, Morrow
district. This isn’t just about County School District’s
one community; this is a Board of Directors voted to
bond that will support all place a General Obligation
students in the district.
Bond for the district on
Although many of the the May 20, 2025, ballot.
schools appear well-main- If passed by voters, the
tained on the outside, it’s proposed bond would fund
the issues you can’t see, these projects:
whether it be electrical,
-Irrigon Jr/Sr High
mechanical or structural, School (built 1978)—due
that should be of great con- to severity of structural
cern. We are at the point issues, replace school to
where we must address provide modern educational
these needs, and right now environment for students.
we have the opportunity to
-Riverside Jr/Sr High
do so.
I encourage community
members to attend the open
house tours and a town
hall question and answer
The recently opened
session at Heppner Jr/Sr Willow Street Innovation
High School on April 24 Hub will host a Teen Entre-
from 4:30-6:30. Please do preneur Night on Thursday,
your research and vote yes April 24, from 6-8 p.m.,
on measure 25-104—for while the South Morrow
the future success of our Arts Center, located in the
students and to build a same building, will host
stronger school district and a STEAM Day on Friday,
community.
April 25, from 11 a.m. to
Sincerely,
3 p.m.
Madison Rosenbalm
The Teen Entrepreneur
Heppner, OR
Night is free, open to all
Community Bond Advi- local teens, and promises
sory Committee
pizza, prizes and hands-on
exploration of business
Vote yes for
a stronger
school district
School (built 1968)—re-
model and build addition
for more classroom space
and gym to support future
enrollment.
-Heppner Jr/Sr High
School (built 1962 with lat-
er additions/remodels) and
Heppner Elementary (built
1954 with later additions/
remodels)—remodel Jr/
Sr High to become a K-12
campus with thoughtful
grade level separation, re-
sulting in operational sav-
ings and safer location for
elementary students.
-Sam Boardman Ele-
mentary—make parking/
traffic flow improvements
including a dedicated bus
loop for safety.
-District-wide—make
security and safety im-
provements including se-
cure main entry, cameras
and door access control at
all district schools.
The proposed bond
would raise $204.4 mil-
lion. The district would
receive a $6 million match-
ing grant from the Oregon
School Capital Improve-
ment Matching Program
if the bond passes. The
proposed bond would ma-
ture in 20 years or less and
the bond rate would be an
estimated $2.99 per $1,000
of assessed property value,
although the actual levy rate
may differ.
More information
about Bond Measure 25-
104 is available online at
mcsdbond.org, by emailing
bondinfo@morowsd.org
or by calling the Morrow
County School District Of-
fice, 541-676-5705.
mitted four errors with no
hits in the game.
Ya n k e e s D e f e n s e
Stumbles vs Red Sox
Wednesday, April 16,
the Hodgen Distribution
Yankees traveled back to
Bob White Field after an
opening game the night
before that had them on the
field until almost 10 p.m.
This time, for a face-off
against Big John’s Red Sox,
the Yankees committed six
errors and walked seven
batters in a 15-3 game that
was called in the middle of
the fifth inning due to the
10-run rule.
Joel Wilson got the start
for the Yankees, pitching
2.0 innings, allowing 10
runs (two earned) on five
hits with four walks and
recording three strikeouts.
Joel was replaced on the
mound by Charlie Mullins
after he walked the first two
batters of the third inning.
Charlie pitched the last 2.0
innings of the game, giving
up five runs on three hits
with three walks and re-
cording two strikeouts.
Five different players
were responsible for six
errors throughout the game.
The offense was not much
help as only four Yankees
managed a hit; and of those
four, only Brody Ogden and
Matt Wilson scored. Kord
Dickenson joined Brody
and Matt as the only Yankee
runs as he reached base on
an error and scored on a
Gage Rosenbalm RBI.
The Yankees get a long
weekend to rest up and will
return for their next action
Thursday, April 24, at 7
p.m., hosting the Athena
Coca-Cola Nationals at Bob
White Field in Pendleton.
Teen entrepreneur night,
STEAM day at Hub
The Gazette Puzzle Pop
concepts.
Nichols breaks 32-year
school record
The STEAM Day will
focus on science, technol-
ogy, engineering, arts and
mathematics activities spe-
cifically for Heppner stu-
dents, grades five through
12.
Students interested in
attending either event can
RSVP by contacting Andrea
Perry-Nelson at andrea.per-
ry-nelson@morrowsd.org.
Willow Street Innova-
tion Hub is located at 188 W
Willow St., Heppner.
Over the Tee Cup
A sunny and warm day the field.
For flight A, Corol
attended the ladies’ play Mitchell had low gross and
day April 15 at Willow KP, while Tiffany Clement
had the long drive.
Creek Country Club.
For flight B, Shirley
Low gross of the field
went to Karen Thompson, Martin had low gross, Kar-
while Tiffany Clement had en Wolff had low net and
low net of the field. Sharon Sharon Harrison had the
Harrison had least putts of long drive.
-Continued from PAGE ONE 2nd – Lily Nichols (11), greeted the nine ladies who
26th – Austin Willis (11),
27’ 6”
Discus (1.6kg)
6th – Chris Hum-
phreys (11), 117’ 11”
10th – Landon Mc-
M a h o n ( 11 ) , 1 0 5 ’ 4 ”
16th – Gage Heideman (9),
93’ 8” PR
Javelin (800g)
2nd – Chris Hum-
p h r e y s ( 11 ) , 1 6 1 ’ 7 ”
21st – Gage Heideman (9),
97’ 8” PR
H i g h
J u m p
1st – Joseph Albitre (11),
6’ 0” PR
L o n g
J u m p
4 t h – N i c k We n -
berg (12), 17’ 10”
12th – Joseph Albitre (11),
16’ 11.5”
Girls
2 0 0
M e t e r s
2nd – Hallee His-
ler (12), 26.57a (3.5)
3rd – Healy Hisler
(10), 27.90a (3.5) SR
18th – Laia Puelles (10),
31.83a (0.6) PR
4 0 0
M e t e r s
1st – Hallee His-
ler (12), 1:00.59a SR
2nd – Healy Hisler (10),
1:02.98a
8 0 0
M e t e r s
By Brian Bunch
Heppner ’s Hodgen
Distribution Yankees built
on their lead and pulled
away from the Prodigal Son
Brewers with a six-run sixth
inning on Tuesday, April
15, in a 10-2 win in their
first game of the season.
It seemed that Pendleton’s
Bob White Field had been
gifted perfect weather for
the opening week of the
2025 Babe Ruth Season,
as the fans admired the
weather with a high near 70
degrees for the day.
The Yankees held a 4-2
lead after five innings with
a quality start from Kord
Dickenson. The lefty went
4.1 innings, allowing two
runs (one earned) on four
walks and zero hits with
nine strikeouts. Johnny
Ashbeck worked a lead-off
walk in the top of the sixth
to start the Yankee parade
around the bases as they
sent 10 batters to the plate
in the inning, scoring more
than half of them.
Mason Haugen re-
placed Kord on the mound
in the fifth and finished the
game, pitching 1.2 innings,
giving up no hits, one walk,
and recording two strike-
outs, including a backwards
K on a nasty curveball to
end the fifth. Kord and
Darby Spivey both led the
team at the plate with two
hits and two runs in two
at-bats. Jace Wilson added
the only other Yankee hit,
while younger brother Joel
Wilson added two runs.
The Yankees secured
their season-opening win,
scoring 10 runs on five hits
and committing only one
error, while the Brewers
scored two runs and com-
2:29.08a SR
1500
Meters
1st – Lily Nich-
ols (11), 4:55.67a
PR – School Record
8th – Riley Archer
(11), 5:31.94a SR
11th – Brooklyn Hendricks
(10), 5:45.54a SR
3000
Meters
4th – Riley Archer (11),
11:48.19a SR
100m Hurdles (33”)
16th – Laia Puelles (10),
19.47a (0.6)
300m Hurdles (30”)
5th – Lily Nichols (11),
51.49a
4x400
Relay
1st – Heppner A: Riley Ar-
cher (11), Healy Hisler (10),
Lily Nichols (11), Hallee
Hisler (12), 4:19.82a
Shot Put (4kg)
18th – Avia Boutefuhr (9),
24’ 2” PR
Discus (1kg)
32nd – Avia Boutefuhr (9),
59’ 5” PR
Javelin (600g)
2 1 s t – Te a g a n K e l t -
o n ( 11 ) , 8 1 ’ 5 ” P R
3 5 t h – Av i a B o u t e -
fuhr (9), 67’ 10.5” PR
36th – Loren Trujillo (11),
66’ 0”
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Weekly math, word, and local trivia from our five
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Number Pattern Puzzle
Level - Moderate
Question: Find the next number in the sequence:2,
5, 11, 20, 32, …
Wordplay Whiz
Level - Easy
Question:What do you call a dinosaur that takes
care of its teeth?
(Hint: Think of a dinosaur name combined with a
dental term.)
Morrow County Trivia
Challenge
Level - Easy
In what year was Morrow County created from
parts of Umatilla and Wasco Counties?
Answers from April 16th edition
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
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541-215-2274
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These small acreage homes are hard to come by, so
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Number Pattern Puzzle
Puzzle: Find the next number in the sequence: 1, 2,
7, 34, 103, 104, 623, ...
Solution: The next number is 3742.
New Wordplay Riddle
Riddle: I speak without a mouth and hear without
ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind.
What am I?
Answer: An echo.
Question: What is the highest point in Morrow
County, and in which forest is it located?
Answer: Black Mountain, Umatilla National
Forest
Seniors Matter March/April Menu
April 1 - Chili Relleno, Refried
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April 8 - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes/
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Mac/Cheese, Cucumber Spears and Dessert
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