25 years ago this week — 2000

CONDON — A heap of trouble. That’s what a few citizens of Condon have been digging out of since city officials cited offending property owners under a new abatement ordinance.

The town’s most obvious offender is Clarence Bean, owner of Condon’s Trading Post and Recycling. A multitude of concerned citizens signed a petition in October requesting court action be taken against Bean.

Bean’s property, just off Highway 207, is scarred with tons of rusted axles and corroded motors. Rusting metal car parts are pulled one on top of the other, like stacks of over-done flapjacks.

It’s taken Bean 20 years to accumulate this wealth of junk. But he said he has been given just two months to clean it all up or face a $2,500 fine and a possible year-long jail term.

“They’ve been really nasty,” Bean said, in response to the abatement citation the city issued.

Mayor Tim Layton doesn’t see it that way.

“We are willing to work with anybody,” Layton said.

Not so, Bean insisted.

“They haven’t worked with me at all,” he said. “They have really gotten after us old boys.”

Bean is one of six property owners recently cited for clean-up problems.

“This is the first time we’ve had an ordinance with teeth to it,” Layton said.

When the opposition was passed in December, Layton said there was no public opposition to it.

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PORTLAND — Toss out the accordion. Forget the polka. Leave that grass skirt packed. No hula here. But those were about the only types of dances not showcased at the OSAA U.S. Bank Dance and Drill State Championships held Friday and Saturday at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum.

Pendleton High School’s own Rhythmic Mode team placed second, just as they did a year ago. But it was all the sweeter when the 45-member team helped unseat West Albany’s coed team, which has been the 4A Large Division champs for the past two years. Tigard won the title for their dazzling interpretation of The Lion King’s “The Circle of Life.”

For the first time ever, a trauma-besieged Stardust team from Hermiston High School failed to take place in the 4A Small Division. Hermiston Coach Jackie Peterson, who has been teaching dance for 25 years, was stunned that her 15-member team didn’t place.

“We’ve always placed before,” Peterson said.

In fact, Hermiston’s team won the title in both 1988 and 1994.

“You always want that trophy in your hand,” Peterson admitted, but, she added, “I am really proud of how the girls handled themselves. I thought they performed really well.

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ATHENA — Students at Athena Elementary School showed their enthusiasm for reading during an assembly that also helped kick off spring break by harkening back to the 1950s and 60s.

Gloria Widener’s third-grade class, wearing poodle skirts and rolled up jeans, sang and danced to a popular 50s tune with a slight adjustment to the words. The first line went like this, “We’re going to read around the clock tonight,”

Heather Comb’s fifth-grade class followed suit, belting out a song made popular by Kool and the gang, again with a lyrics adjustment: “Celebrate good books, come on!”

The assembly — and a party afterward that included ice cream sundaes, a 1930s Little Rascals film and 1970s beadwork — was the culmination of the school’s annual reading program.

This year’s theme was “Century on Parade.” Each class was assigned several years from the past century to concentrate on. Hence the assembly skits no doubt jogged the memories of parents and the older teachers at the assembly. Reading program coordinator Louise Duke played along by dressing up in beads, peace symbols and 70s garb.

In addition to the “feel good” assembly and party, students earned free books based on how much reading they did during the month-long program. All told, 257 books were awarded.

50 years ago this week — 1975

No March 1975

100 years ago this week — 1925

Walter Brownfield of Pendleton is wearing bandages, walking with a limp and has in his eyes that look which advertises that he has written off to the charge of profit and loss the cost of one suit of clothes. All of these things came about because Mr. Brownfield has an encounter yesterday with a member of the cow family and counts himself lucky that he has been able to walk today.

While he made no statement for publication and some of the details of the accident and near tragedy are enveloped in a slight haze, a friend of his stated today that in the future Mr. Brownfield will take some observation lessons under the tutelage of an experienced cattle man on the habits, appearances and conduct of cattle.

Yesterday the local man went out on the reservation to look at some cattle. He was warned by the owner of the stock that one animal in the field was cross and resented the intrusion of strangers. The owner told Mr. Brownfield not to run in the event the animal charged but to walk slowly away in a manner dignified, unhurried and nonchalant.

Mr. Brownfield was looking for a milk cow. Whether he made a mistake and was about to decide that he would take the cross animal, or whether the cross animal resented the visit of the stranger probably will never be known, but the first thing the man knew that things were not as they should be when he saw the animal charging him.

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A decision to retire $20,000 of general obligation bonds of the city of Pendleton on July 1, an interest paying date, was made by the city council last night. Slightly more than $20,000 is held in the sinking fund for this purpose, and while the sinking fund is drawing some interest, the bond interest rate is higher than the earning rate of the sinking dun, so a saving will be effected by retiring the bonds.

An application of Anna Harshman for a rooming house license was denied by unanimous vote of the council when the police committee reported that the woman’s husband was recently released from the county jail. The mayor suggested that possibly the man had reformed and that the council might wish to reconsider its action and grant the license at a later date.

“The matter may be reopened and reconsidered at any time, of course,” the mayor declared. At the last week’s session of the council a rooming house license which previously had been denied was given reconsideration and the license granted over the mayor’s veto.

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The feeding of lambs has proved to be a profitable means of marketing alfalfa gay for the third consecutive year, according to results that were announced at the Hermiston experiment station farm yesterday by Supt. H. K. Dean. The statement of results came on the third annual feeders’ day meeting which was attended by many farmers on irrigated land in the west end of the county.

The lambs have not been sold, and the selling price is consequently not determined, but a value of 15 cents a pound, one cent less than the present Portland price, was tentatively given the lots, and on the basis of this valuation, the lambs have made the hay they were fed worth a little more than $20 a ton, Mr. Dean told his audience. This value of hay as a feed allows for the barley, interest on the investment for five months at eight per cent, labor costs, depreciation on equipment, salt, etc.

All of the lots of lambs were on feed for a period of 150 days. They had all the alfalfa hay they would eat during the entire heeding period, and each lot of lambs was fed a total of 75 pounds of whole barley per lamb. The rate of grain feeding was different for the different lots, some being fed at the rate of one-half pound daily, three-quarters of a pound, one pound and one and one-half pounds.