A car seat clinic will be held on Thursday, May 22, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., at the Burns Fire Hall.

Harney County Homeschoolers will hold a year-end picnic at Hines City Park, on May 22, at noon. All homeschool students are invited to attend. For more information, call Lonna at 573-7630.

Disabled Services Advisory Council (DSAC) meets every fourth Thursday at the State Office Building small conference room, 809 West Jackson, at 1:30 p.m.

Harney County Soil and Water Conservation District board of directors meets the fourth Thursday of each month at the Rory and Ryan Best Western in Hines from 5-7:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

Tai Chi is held every Thursday at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate.

Kiwanis Club of Burns-Hines meets for a no-host luncheon each Thursday at Glory Days Pizza, 690 Oregon Ave., at noon.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly meets each Thursday at Hines City Hall, 101 East Barnes, at noon. Call 573-2896.

The Boys & Girls Club holds karaoke each Thursday. Members of all ages are welcome to join Hanna in the education room for a program that promotes the art of singing, as well as a fun way to practice reading skills.

Teen Night is held at the Boys & Girls Club each Thursday, from 6-7 p.m. for all teenagers.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets each Thursday at the Foursquare Church, at 7 p.m.

The Boys & Girls Club presents People in Uniform the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month, from 1-2:30 p.m. Professionals from around Harney County come give kids a peek into their profession.

Hines Middle School Reading Club meets each Friday from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the Harney County Library.

The Boys & Girls Club has the Club Bucks Store open each Friday. This is an incentive program in which members earn “club bucks” by doing good deeds and helping out around the club.

Oregon Old Time Fiddlers, District 9, meets the first, third and fourth Friday of each month. Call Julia at 573-2770, for time and place.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Friday at Foursquare Church at 7 p.m.

Alanon holds an open meeting each Saturday at Foursquare Church at 5:30 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Sunday at Foursquare Church for 12X12 study, at 7 p.m.

The Harney County Health Department will be available at the Harney County Senior Center, 17 South Alder, to check blood pressure the fourth Monday of each month from 1-3 p.m. There is no charge for the clinic and results can be forwarded to a physician or nurse practitioner at your request.

Order of Eastern Star meets the second and fourth Monday of each month at the Burns Masonic Hall, 1210 West Taylor, at 7:30 p.m.

The Torch Club, a teen leadership and service group at the Boys & Girls Club, meets each Monday from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

ImageMakers, a photography program is offered to members of the Boys & Girls each Monday from 4-5 p.m. All ages are encouraged to learn and practice black and white, color and digital photography skills as well as image editing.

PRIDE meets each Monday in the Courthouse basement meeting room, 450 North Buena Vista, at 7:30 a.m. to network for community betterment.

The Burns Lions Club meets each Monday at noon at the Burns Elks Lodge, 118 N. Broadway, for lunch. Those interested in serving the community are welcome.

Narcotics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Monday at 7 p.m. at Foursquare Church.

HDH Sports & Physical Therapy will offer a free athletic injury clinic at that facility, 559 West Washington, every Monday from 5-6 p.m. A physical therapist will assess and treat athletic injuries and provide education for athletes and parents on self management of injuries. For more information call 573-1543.

A breast cancer support group meets the second Tuesday of each month in the Harney District Hospital conference room, from 5:30-7 p.m. For more information, contact Tammy at 573-8614.

Tai Chi is held every Tuesday at the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to participate.

Alcoholics Anonymous holds an open meeting each Tuesday at Foursquare Church, at 7 p.m.

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

It was in April 1978 that the Ted Marshall Jr. family moved from Bend to Burns and took over the operation of Burns Ford Garage.

In April 1987, Ted Marshall III took over the helm, and in June 1989, Jim Gibbon joined Burns Ford as the service department manager.

Now, 30 years after the Marshalls first took over the business, the Gibbons and the staff at the dealership have announced plans to expand in time for their 100th year anniversary in 2010.

Burns Ford Garage was founded by Archie McGowan in 1910 on the same site where it now stands, replacing Robbins General Store, and it remains the oldest existing Ford dealership operating in the same location on the West coast.

Not only has the business remained at the same spot for almost a century, but the Marshalls and Gibbons are just the third owners in all that time.

“The expansion is necessary in order to continue our tradition of giving the best service we can to our many friends and customers of Harney County, and surrounding area, who have counted on Burns Ford Garage for generations,” Marshall said.

Burns City Manager Justin Boone also weighed in on the new plans, “The City of Burns looks forward to the expansion of Burns Ford and the increase in available jobs to our citizens. Burns Ford has always provided the city with excellent service with both purchasing and maintaining city vehicles.”

The expansion

Marshall said that the expansion of the business will be done in phases over the next two years. Those phases include:

• A new state-of-the-art service center that will be built directly behind the current location. At 15,000 square feet, the new service center will more than triple the garage’s ability to provide truck, auto, trailer and ATV service and repair.

“We’ve simply outgrown our current facility,” Gibbon said. “This new service center and the remodeling of everything else will help us expand to meet the current and future needs of our customers, be more efficient and lower costs and prices. It’s a real win for everybody.”

• A greatly expanded auto parts and accessories department will move into the area now occupied by the service department. After the area has been remodeled next winter, it will include a complete new line of auto and truck parts as well as the current complete lines of Genuine Ford, Polaris, Arctic Cat and Kawasaki parts currently available.

“Our goal is to be the best parts supplier in the region,” Marshall said.

• A new indoor showroom for trucks, cars, trailers, ATVs and snowmobiles will be built in the front half of the current building. The showroom will display an expanded vehicle inventory in conjunction with the expanded parts department.

Marshall’s wife, Angela, stated, “The old fireplace, that has really been a community gathering spot for about 100 years, is staying and will be a focal point of the new showroom.”

• As the projects are completed, Burns Ford Garage will host open houses for the community.

• Once all phases are completed, Burns Ford Garage plans to host their centennial celebration, probably by fair time 2010.

“We’ve always tried to be a big supporter of the Harney County community, and these improvements clearly say that we believe in the viability of our community,” Marshall said. “We’re willing to set an example by investing here on North Broadway, our ‘Main Street.’ These improvements will clearly set us up for the next 100 years for giving our customers, most of which are also family friends, the high quality service and fair prices they’ve come to expect from us. Many have been counting on Burns Ford Garage for a generation or two … or five.”

When Harney County resident Earl Carson heard about the expansion plans, he offered to loan them a 1929 Model A pickup originally purchased at Burns garage and left to him by his uncle. He added that he heard other people were giving them vintage items to display as well.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty offered his congratulations on the expansion and said, “Many local businesses have remained committed to keeping their products and services available in this community even as the local and national economies fluctuated over the years. Ted, Jim and Burns Ford personify that commitment. I am very pleased to see them expand an operation that goes back to the time of the Model T. I would personally like to thank them for their faith in this place we all call home and wish them continued success.”

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

While it may be a smaller amount than what some in Harney County would like to see, the United States Forest Service is proposing to salvage between 20 and 27 million board feet of timber as part of the Egley Fire Recovery Project.

Rick Vetter of the Forest Service attended the Harney County Court meeting on Wednesday, May 7, to discuss the activities included in the proposal. Vetter said time is a key component in salvaging the timber, because if they don’t get the trees cut before this coming winter, blue stain will set in, and the trees will be unsalvageable.

To expedite the process, Vetter said there was an Environmental Assessment (EA) done on the project rather than an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). He added that they are also expecting to receive an Emergency Situation Determination so the timber harvest can commence while the trees are still salvageable.

Vetter provided a handout that outlined what activities are included in the proposed action plan and they include:

• Removal of identified danger trees along forest travel routes, trails, fences and other improvements and structures; some danger trees would be removed commercially, others would be cut and left on site.

• Danger trees would be removed from 288 roads for a total of 368.67 miles.

• One trail, for a total of three miles, would have danger trees removed.

• Areas of range improvements, 182 miles of fence and 25 guzzlers would have danger trees removed.

• The open designation of 180 roads would change to closed.

• Seven roads (5.61 miles) designated as open, would be changed to decommissioned.

• Six roads (5.47 miles) designated as closed, would be changed to open.

• Nine roads (2.55 miles) designated as closed, would be changed to decommissioned.

• Eight roads (2.55 miles) designated as decommissioned, would be changed to closed.

• One road (0.35 miles) designated as undetermined, would be changed to decommissioned.

• Conifer reforestation would occur in the areas that are proposed for danger tree removal and in the Green Butte and Blue Creek areas.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty expressed some concern over the road closures included in the proposal. Vetter explained that there are a lot of roads in the area and a number of them run parallel to each other. “You’ll still have access to areas, it just may be on a different road,” Vetter said.

Harney County Sheriff Dave Glerup agreed and said, “I’m with Rick on this one. Look at a fire map and there’s more roads than you can imagine.”

Vetter added that by reducing the number of roads in an area, the soil compaction ratio is also reduced, and that may allow the use of skidders for logging in the future.

The removal of the first 400 danger trees from the Egley Fire area was expected to begin this week.

Members of the Harney County Weed Board were in attendance for a public hearing regarding a revised Weed Ordinance.

After some discussion, the court approved the ordinance and declared it in effect immediately.
In other business:

• the court had no objections to a request by Jay Winn for an approach off Hines Logging Road;

• Cheryl Keniston from Public Health asked the court to sign an inter-county mutual aid agreement which would provide medical assistance in the event of a disaster. The agreement would include eight counties (Harney, Malheur, Baker, Union, Morrow, Umatilla, Grant and Wallowa) and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation;

• Jesse Barnes, Weed Control Coordinator, asked the court if they could make some changes in the plans for adding on to the county’s weed shop. The court said they would have to check with an engineer to see how much it would change the original approved plans;

• the court set a public hearing for 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, to hear comments on the voluntary remand on the Hogrefe land- use appeal;

• there was some discussion on the public hearing scheduled for May 14 regarding the Rural Fire District. Because the hearing will be held from 4-8 p.m., there was some concern about how to get already discussed information to those citizens arriving later;

• the court approved an intergovernmental agreement with Oregon Water Resources regarding the state agency hiring the county’s part-time person for additional work;

• because Judge Grasty will be out of town on Wednesday, May 21, the court set the next court date for Monday, May 19.

By Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

The Crane boys and girls track teams both won first place team trophies at the 1A District 4 track meet held Friday and Saturday, May 9-10, in Baker City.

The Crane girls took first with a total of 168 points, followed by Imbler with 98, Adrian 92, Joseph 71, Wallowa 49, Powder Valley 40, Jordan Valley 29, Cove 22, Prairie City 21, Dayville 14, Huntington 11 and Long Creek 3.

The Mustangs’ September O’Crowley not only had four first-place finishes, she also set a new school record in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.45. Emilee O’Toole and Lindy Steeves each had top eight finishes in four different events.

The state qualifiers from the Crane girls team and their events are as follows: O’Crowley 400m and pole vault (chose not to run the 300m hurdles); Steeves 200m; Alex Borelli 100m; Caity DeBoer 200m; O’Toole 100m; Delilas Korth 1,500m and 3,000m; Natalie Bentz high jump and 800m; Bethany Milburn 300m hurdles; 4×100 relay (Steeves, O’Toole, DeBoer, Borelli); 4×400 relay (Steeves, Borelli, Bentz, O’Crowley).

The Crane boys team claimed the team title with a total of 199 points. Joseph was second with 117 points, followed by Adrian with 72, Cove 45, Harper 43, Wallowa 42, Imbler 39, Pine Eagle 28, Prairie City 26, Huntington 16, Powder Valley 8, Jordan Valley 3 and Long Creek 2.

Raymond Thompson, Dallen Davies, Blake Steeves, Levi Crisp, Jeran Conaway and Chris Brower all had top-eight finishes in four different events for the Mustangs.

Those advancing on to the state meet and their events include:

Carl Neumann shot put; Thompson discus and javelin; Davies 100m, 200m and 400m; Levi Harris long jump and 110m hurdles; Crisp long jump; Brower 100m; Steeves triple jump; Conaway pole vault; Garrett DeGraw 3,000m; Gus Titus 3000m; 4×100 relay (Davies, Thompson, Brower, Crisp).

Individual placers for the Crane teams are as follows:

Girls

100m — O’Toole 1st (13.85), Borelli 2nd (13.96), DeBoer 4th (14.08).
200m — Steeves 1st (28.77), DeBoer 2nd (29.57), O’Toole 3rd (29.73).
400m — O’Crowley 1st (1:02.41), Milburn 6th (1:07.98).
800m — Bentz 2nd (2:38.40), Iris Gunkel 3:09.45).
1,500m — Korth 2nd (5:51.65).
3,000m — Korth 2nd (12:55.30), Gunkel 5th (14:33.79).
300m hurdles — O’Crowley 1st (48.45), Milburn 3rd (52.60).
4×100 relay — Crane 1st (Steeves, DeBoer, Borelli, O’Toole 51.72).
4×400 relay — Crane 1st (Steeves, Borelli, Bentz, O’Crowley 4:19.24).
Shot put — Taylor Campbell 5th (29’ 11”).
Discus — Rachael Pelroy 6th (83’ 1”).
Long jump — O’Toole 3rd (14’ 11 1/2”), Savannah Duff 6th (12’ 11 1/2”).
High jump — Bentz 1st (5’ 1”), Steeves 4th (4’ 6”).
Pole vault — O’Crowley 1st (7’ 6”).

Boys

100m — Davies 1st (11.85), Brower 3rd (12.03), Crisp 5th (12.13).
200m — Davies 2nd (23.91), Crisp 3rd (24.56), Brower 4th (24.79).
400m — Davies 2nd (52.31), Steeves 6th (58.16), Milton Merritt 7th (58.34).
1,500m — Kenny Willsey 7th (5:16.10).
3,000m — DeGraw 1st (10:15.62), Titus 2nd (10:25.20), Mike Harris 7th (11:48.05).
110m hurdles — L. Harris 1st (17.67), T.J. Potter 4th (19.30).
300m hurdles — L. Harris 3rd (46.20), Potter 5th (48.13), Conaway 6th (48.42).
4×100 relay — Crane 2nd (Davies, Thompson, Brower, Crisp 45.13).
4×400 relay — Crane 4th (Steeves, Brower, Colton Ketscher, Lance Moser 4:14.11).
Shot put — Neumann 1st (44’ 7”), Thompson 7th (35’ 10”).
Discus — Thompson 2nd (128’ 4”).
Javelin — Thompson 3rd (153’ 8”), Conaway 8th (134’ 10”).
Long jump — Crisp 1st (19’ 6 1/2”), L. Harris 2nd (19’ 2 3/4”), Steeves 6th (18’ 2 1/2”).
Triple jump — Steeves 1st (41’ 1”), Moser 7th (37’ 3”), Merritt 8th (37’ 1 1/4”).
High jump — Conaway 5th (5’ 6”), Moser 7th (5’ 4”).
Pole vault — Conaway 2nd (10’ 6”), Kyle Borelli 4th (10’), Potter 5th (8’ 6”).

The Burns High School (BHS) band, under the direction of Ken Peckham, placed second at the OSAA State Band Competition on Wednesday, May 7, at the LaSells Performing Arts Center at Oregon State University.

“The kids did a fine job,” Peckham said. “They did Burns proud.”

The BHS band was in tight competition with Warrenton and was the first to perform on Wednesday morning. Judge Dick Elliott, a retired band director from Newberg High School who now teaches trumpet at George Fox University, placed the BHS band first in the sight-reading competition. “The sight-reading is scary,” said Peckham. The band is given seven minutes to examine a selected piece of music and figure out how to perform it. “They did really well,” Peckham said.

Judge Donald Peterson, professor of music and director of both the marching and symphonic bands at Brigham Young University in Utah, placed the BHS band first in performance by one point over Warrenton.

Judge Nicolas Wallin, professor of music and director of the symphony orchestra at Washington State University, placed the BHS band second by one point.

Judge Richard Strauch, professor of music and director of the Wind Symphony at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., placed the Burns band second to Warrenton, which provided for the final four-point spread. At a distance of 33 points, the Jefferson band was the closest band to the two vying for first place.

The Burns band was once again praised for its outstanding musicianship, quality of sound, technique, interpretation, phrasing, expression, choice of music and professional appearance.

Out of 47 3A bands in the state only five made it to the state competition. The final results in the OSAA 3A band competition were as follows:

First: Warrenton High School, directed by John Hammond, 263 points.

Second: Burns High School, directed by Ken Peckham, 259 points.

Third: Jefferson High School, directed by Heather Clark, 226 points.

Fourth: Grant Union High School (John Day), directed by Mary Ann Vidourek, 213 points.

The Gold Beach band came in fifth.