University of Oregon Library Eugene, Ore. 97^03 X X X X X Nyssa Gate City Journal 67th Year, 11th Issue The Sugar City Nyssa, Oregon Thursday, March 15, 1973 Thunderegg Capital COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD POSITIONS EXPIRE SOON, FILING DEADUNE NEARS MALHEUR COUNTY WATER SUPPLY IN GREAT SHAPE FOR COMING SEASON "War Eagle Mountain snow marker Is a tough one to lo­ cate, " said Adam Focht, Ny . .1, manager of Owyhee North Borad of control. "It’s supposed lobe right down there in a little opening in the timber.” After making a tight turn over ■ timbered ridge, Casey Jones of Ontario Elight Service, brought the Cessna 180 back over the marker. "There it is! One, two, two and a half boards above the snow" said Focht. "That's what I count, too" said Town. That figured close to 65 Inches ol snow. Jones then put theCessna into a steep downward slant toward the Silver City, Idaho marker which is much easier to lo­ cate, it had 31 inches of snow. Eor 4 1/2 hours tin flight continued with 23 aerial snow markers being observed. These are located in a horseshoe sha|>e down the east side of Malheur county to Nevada, then west to Harney county going over Trout Creek Mts., then north across the Pueblo Mts., over Steens Mountain to Strawberry Moun­ tain in Grant County, then south and east to Upper Bully Creek, then to Cottonwood-Indian Creek marker and then tack to Ontario. From these aerial observa­ tions and others, and from snow course measurements all over Oregon the following picture is painted. "Malheur County still re­ mains the bright spot in Oregon. Water supplies will be excellent to average for users with stored water, said Bud Town, District Conservationist for the USDA Soli Conservation Service at Vale. The water supply outlook for next summer for most Ore­ gon water users ranges from much below average up to ave­ rage. Most reservoirs will not fill. Some late-season shortages may occur where water users depend on direct diversion from streams in the north end of the county. Snow cover varies from 104 percent of average on the upper Owyhee to 76 percent on the Jordan Creek drainage. February was very dry with precipitation only 38 percent of tie average. The November through February total is 101 percent of average. Soil mois­ ture is near average. The April September streamflow forecasts range from 91 percent of average on the Owyhee to 69 percent on the Malheur near Beulah. Reservoir storage was 137 percent of average, however, if present conditions continue An­ telope and Bully Creek reser­ voirs will not fill. The Owyhee net inflow was only 54 percent of average during February. Compared to the rest of Ore­ gon, Malheur County Is in great shape for water supplies. Warren Henninger Resigns County Position Warren Henninger, County Extension Agent has resigned from the Malheur County Staff to accept a position with the J. R. Simplot Company according to Ray Novotny, County Staff Chairman. Henninger will work in a re­ search capacity in row potato production with the J. R. Sim­ plot Company, Novotny stated. It was emphasized that this spe­ cialist during the past four years has made a very sig­ nificant contribution to the po­ tato and onion industry of not Adrian High School To Stage Oklahoma The Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma" will be presented by the music depart­ ment of Adrian High School, March 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. The story of "Oklahoma" takes place while Oklahoma is still a territory, but Is looking forward to becoming a state. The story centers around the conflict of the farmersandcow. men while learning to adjust to oue another. Lead characters are Laurie Williams • Connie Campbell, Curly McClain - MikeCondra, Aunt Eller - Vickie Lane, Will Parker - l^ren Robinson, Ado Annie - Cindy Sutton, Andrew Carnes - Larry Price;JudFry - Russel Grau, All Hakim - Forrest Griggs. The musical is being direc­ ted by Richard Anderson, music director, Jim Johnson and choreographer, Sally Seller. only Malheur County but all of Oregon, Idaho and all areas over the country. Henninger worked with (lie lo­ cal commodity groups and ser­ ved as an advisor to the Na- tom.il Potato Council, Idaho- Oregon Onion Promotion Com­ mittee, Co-chairman of the I Mfiilliltte. n.r till Idaliu-Orogon Fruit and Vege- tatile Association, memtier of Extension's representation to tlw Potato Association of America and area information representative for the National Potato Promotion Board. This specialist received his higher education from the Pen­ nsylvania State University and advanced degree from Oregon State University. Novotny stated no replace­ ment has been selected but that Extension Administration was moving as rapidly as possible to fill the position in view of the forthcoming farming season. THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA is drill­ ing a wildcat or exploratory oil well on property owned by Highland Livestock and Land Company about five miles east of Nyssa on the Idaho side. The well is near the microwave relay tower east ot Highway 95. Jack Bird of Artesia, Calif., drilling foreman for Standard Oil, is shown at right standing near some 13-3/8" casing. R.P. Thompson is the other company foreman on the job, and Art Calanchmi is foreman for the R.B Montgomery Drillers of Bakersfield, Calif., under contract to Standard Oil. Four drilling crews are working around the clock, with 28 men on the job. The well was down about 1,000 feet Tuesday with 20" casing. The smaller 13-3/8" casing will be used at about 3,000 feet, and later a 9-7/8" casing will be used as the well nears the ultimate 12,000 foot depth expected. Hird said that exploration crews decide on the locations for the wells, looking for basic formations in the earth likely to have oil. The crews expect to be at this Idaho location for about three months, and then will move their ngtosouthern Malheur County to drill another test well. Voters De leal TVCC Budget The proposed operating bud­ get for 1973-74 for Treasure Valley Community College was defeated Monday by 45 votes. Complete but «inofficial count of the votes was l,112yesvotes to 1,157 no for a total of 2,269 votes cast, the smallest turnout of voters since 1968. Only the two Ontario pre­ cincts and Huntington tallied a majority of yes votes with On­ tario 1 voting 568 yes, 166 no for 734 total and 168 yes, 53 no, for 222 total in Ontario 2. Huntington had 33 yes, 31 no, 64 total. Other precincts show Pio­ neer, 23 yes, 93 no, 116 total, Cairo, 69 yes, 87 no, 156 total, Nyssa 70 yes, 231 no, 301 total; Vale, 121 yes, 257 no, 378 total; Adrian 31 yes, 99 no, 130 total; Willowcreek, 10 yes, 74 no, 84 HENIGSON ELECTED total. Harper, 7 yes, 47 no, 54 total, and Annex, 12 yes, 19 no, TO PHI BETA KAPPA 31 total. The budget as proposed would Stuart Henlgson, in his se­ have raised $659,291 through nior year at Whitman College, a tax levy for the operating bud­ has been elected to Phi Beta get of the college, $37,319 grea­ Kappa, the nation’s oldest scho­ ter than that portion of the lastic honorary. operating budget financed by Henigson’s selection was an­ local taxes for the previous nounced at the school’s 11th year. annual academic recognition Last year 2,848 voters tur­ banquet held recently at the ned out for the budget elec­ college. tion and the final turnout in An economics major, Mr. 1971 had 4,302 voting. Henigson is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Henigson, Nyssa. KANDY KANF GIFT SHOP is Nyssa’s newest business, owned and managed by Frances Focht, left and Betty Rieb. They are located at 610 Main Street next door to Rieb’s Clover Farm Market. The two women opened the shop for a trial run just before Christmas, and were so suc­ cessful in selling their hand-mad*' articles of all descriptions that they have turned their hobby into a profitable and successful business venture They feature handknitted items, handma<|e candies of different design and scent, doll clothes, handmade jewelry, ceramics, potted plants, fresh and plastic flower arrange- Ten Cents ments, and a variety of interesting and at­ tractive gift items. They take special orders on knit goods and flower arrangements. Frances has taken classes for five years, and delights in turning a piece of driftwood or discarded rick-rack into a useful or orna­ mental gift. Betty has recently completed a course In flower arranging, and says on«' of the nicest part of their new business is providing an outlet for things that many people in the community mak« Many Items are sold on con.Ugnment, but both women emphasized the fact that they are very choosy what they display and sell. City Council Receives Bids Seven Rivers District Starts Boy Scout Drive March is the official finance The breakdown of the figures campaign month for the Boy shows 592 Cub Scouts in 25 Scout Drive Francis McLean, Packs. 4® Scouts in 27 Troops, finance chairman far the Seven and 172 Explorers in 21 Posts Rivers District of the Ore-Ida. Gurr also noted that the district Council of the Boy Scouts of has 535 adult leaders, not America, said that this year's counting the district staff and goal for the district is $15,500 the 150 to 200 who will be A business district campaign working on the finance drive will be held in ail cities of the Rocco Falotico. scout district except Parma where scouting will receive an executive f The Department of Environ­ mental Quality has made a $4,000 grant offer to Malheur County for regional solid waste planning. This $4,000 state grant is to supplement the county’s fe­ deral grant awarded by the En­ vironmental Protection Agency (EPA). State monies are to be utilized in the preliminary por­ tion of the solid waste project and will also serve as a por­ tion of the matching funds needed for Malheur County to receive a total EPA grant of $39,778. The DEQ planning grant is part of a DEQ program desig­ ned to assist local governments in developing and adopting ac­ tion plans to implement the De­ partment’s goals of recycling 257 of what we now throw away by 1975 and 907 by 1J82. As he issued the grant offer, DEQ Director Diarmuid F. 0*- Scannlain said he's looking for­ ward to some fine planning ef­ forts in the area and that DEQ stands ready to assist local people in any way. The DEQ has a total of $1,- 129,630 available for the deve­ lopment of a statewide solid waste management plan. GM/ Scout WEEK MARCH 11-17 Jones Opposes County Sehool Reorganization "Unbearable" is the way Re­ presentative Denny Jones, R- Ontario, described the situa­ tion that would come to pass if the legislature passed legisla­ tion creating consolidated school districts in District 60. Speaking in rebuttal to testi­ mony supporting House Bills 2129 and 2130 before the House Education Committee last Tuesday, Jones said, "it would be almost unbearable for Dis­ trict 60 to get along with county­ wide school districts. In Harney County alone there are two union high school districts, one in Burns and the other in Crane; a distance of 35 miles. And if you’re talking about a county­ wide district,” argued the Mal­ heur County rancher, "you’re talking about a school district that stretches for over 150 miles. Under no stretch of the imagination could you get kids to school.” House Bill 2129 would merge certain elementary school dis­ tricts and union high school districts into unified districts. The boundaries of the new dis­ trict would become those of the existing high school districts. “I suppose the purpose of that is to save money," said Jones, "but you'd have to prove that to me.” "The problem is,” he emphasized "that you’re try­ ing to measure equality of schools in terms of money. Shucks, if it costs twice as much to educate a child in Jun­ tura than somewhere else in the county, that’s our bu­ siness." The freshman legislator for southeastern Oregon is also op­ posed to HB 2130 which would require that certain elementary districts not included in uni­ fied districts by January 1, 1974 to merge with unified districts by July of that year. Jones claims he might be able to live with unified high school districts, but not unified ele­ mentary school districts. Another fear, said the re­ presentative, was that unify­ ing school districts mean "cen­ tralized government.” Said Jones, "personally I'm opposed to centralizing government, and this seems to be another step in that direction. Districts should be allowed to consolidate on their own." Jones is con­ cerned that with one county­ wide school district, the popu­ lated areas would control the school board and force kids ui the rural areas to commute up to 50 miles to school. "That might not be too bad for high school students," Jones em­ phasized, "but you can’t ex­ pect us to do that with five- year old children." Rep. Stafford Hansell, R-Her miston, introduced the bills, contending that consolidation would avoid costly duplication and would result in more ex­ tensive use of school buildings. A companion measure, HB2150, also sponsored by Hansell would abolish all intermediate educa­ tion districts and require mer­ ger of school districts into county units. TARA MADRID, 10, daughter of Mr. and Mrs Joe M. Madrid of Rt. 1, Nyssa, proudly displays the $50 check and letter pre­ sented to her by Radio Station KSRV. Tara was the local winner in the Spring Fling contest sponsored by the Oregon Dairy Association and KSRV, and won the right to compete for the main prize of a seven-day trip to Palm Springs, won by a woman from Bend.