100 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

March 2, 1921

Original settlers of this district who paid the double minimum fee of $2.50 per acre to the government for their lands may receive a refund of $1.25 in the near future according to information received by Major Lee Moorhouse. At the time the Northern Pacific Railroad was built into this country the government gave them a charter giving them every odd section of land for 25 miles on either side of the lines of the road. Before the road was built the company secured all the land in this district and as a result it was sold to settlers for $2.50. When the line of the road was settled it was found that a number of settlers were living outside the 25 mile limit of the railroad company and are now entitled to a refund of $1.25 per acre from the government. The matter has been in the courts for a long term of years and is nearing settlement. Major Moorhouse stated that the time for filing claims to the refund was near at hand.

50 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

March 2, 1971

Move the Umatilla County Boys Ranch out of the Helix school district, asks a petition to the Umatilla County Court signed by about 100 Helix area residents. A counter petition, signed by all but nine of the 62 students at Griswold High School, Helix, asks that the boys ranch stay right where it is. Boys at the ranch, which is located a few miles east of Helix, attend classes at Griswold. The first petition says the boys need more professional counseling than is available at Griswold, they need industrial arts courses which Griswold doesn’t have and they disrupt classes with offensive language and undisciplined behavior. The petition also alleges thefts and vandalism have increased at area farms since the boys ranch moved in 2-1/2 years ago. Jim Epley, director of the county juvenile department, says this isn’t true, that only three such incidents have occurred for which the boys at the ranch have been responsible.

25 Years Ago

From the East Oregonian

March 2, 1996

When Hewlett-Packard Co. wants to talk about computers, where does it turn for advice? Bill Varady’s sixth-grade class at Hermiston’s Sunset Elementary School. The students are among a handful of children from Oregon to Singapore helping Hewlett-Packard field test a tiny computer that gives students wireless contact with the Internet. The company donated 20 of the “palmtops,” valued at $20,000, and other equipment to do market research. The palmtops, known as the H-P 100LX, have just about everything a normal computer does, but it’s packed into the size and shape of a checkbook. To connect to the Internet, students sit in a circle, with their computers in view of a computer server in the middle of the room. Using a beam of infrared light, they log onto the Internet through the server. Sunset was chosen through its participation in an Earth and Sea Investigators Program, which also used computers for research. Hermiston far outpaces most districts in its use of computer technology in the classroom.