TWELVE The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Ore., Thursday, Feb. 10. 1077
i
.5
i
X.
f r
.tSI..
jFied ofheliostats could
power plant.
Boardman farmer
predicts growth
John Prag, Boardman area
farmer, at a recent noon
luncheon meeting of the La
Grande Lions Club, told Lions
of the spectacular develop
ment of the Morrow County
port area in recent years.
"About 1969, the Boeing
Company, who had leased
100,000 acres of land in the
Hermiston-Boardman area,
switched the lease to an agri
industrial effort, developed
the center -pivot sprinkler sys
tem that is now being used in
202 installations, irrigating
130-acres each, and with all
private capital; except the
government installed the Mc
Nary dam, developed the
potato-growing and marketing
industry in that area to the
point where Oregon is now the
third largest potato producing
state in the union, with 75 per
cent of the production being in
the Morrow County area.
"The world's largest 'fresh
pack potato' operation is
located near Boardman, and
Outages, ice build-ups
experienced in area
(Continued from page 1)
Power outage and ice build
up have also been experienced
east of Heppner up Little
Butter Creek. The fog con
dition has extended from
Highway 395 westward, cover
ing vast portions of the Uma
tilla Drainage Basin south
, west into Wheeler and Gilliam
counties.
Outside the fog bound area,
sunshine has been the rule. On
the east, the fog concentration
through the weekend started
along Highway 395, drop
ping off the west side of the
Battle Mountain summit. To
the west, Fossil has remained
generally clear. The heavy
concentration of ice buildup
settled in the Condon area and
extended northeast into the
lone area.
The Eightmile area and
most other areas immediately
outside of Heppner have ex
School district
lists vacancies
The Morrow County School
District board has announced
two vacancies on its advisory
committee from the
Board man-Imgon area.
The positions are Nos. 2 and
5. Both are three year terms.
Petitions for election are
available at the school district
office at Lexington. Signers of
petitions and the candidate
must reside in the zone or
I
S I
i
r '.(..
... i
produce energy-
another plant is going in at
Hinkle. Several French-fry
plants are located in the area
and one immense 'flaking
plant' which uses the portion
of the potato otherwise un
used." Prag defined other results of
the development and possi
bilities for the future as being
an extremely low tax-rate for
Morrow County, around 12
mills; expectation of building
a community of from 10 to
12-thousand at Boardman
within the next 20-25 years,
building a large steam power
generating plant using coal for
fuel, possible building of from
1 to 4 nuclear power plants,
and possible diversification of
crops to include alfalfa, beans,
wheat, grass seed, mint and
sugar beets.
"Agricultural acreage in the
area no longer than 15-years
ago sold for $5 an acre, and is
now around $1,200 to $1,500
and expected to soon average
around $2,000," Prag stated.
perienced heavy ice buildup.
Heppner and the immediate
vicinity have been compara
tively free of ice buildup and
road problems during most of
the three weeks of foggy
weather.
Umatilla Electric Co-op has
also been affected by the
weather conditions and re
ported as many as 35 ad
ditional people in the field to
clear ice from lines.
A number of high school
students from Heppner helped
clear iced lines over the
three-day weekend. In addi
tion to those on extra payroll
have been special construc
tion crews hired to replace
down power lines. Farmers
and ranchers have been as
sisting, bringing the number
of persons at work on the
problem into the hundreds.
attendance area irom which
the candidate is to be elected.
A minimum of 10 signers is
required. They must be reg
istered voters in Morrow
County.
Completed petitions are to
be returned to the school
district office or to the county
clerk's office before Tuesday,
March 15.
Annual election has been
set for April 19.
.; ..
1
equivalent to a 10 megawatt
3
(1
14 karat
Needle
v Peterson s
'etc8"' ;Trr)
Jewelry
.4
V3 .
W. Personal - m
' 'inn .
x
r
P.
Solar
Last summer, Navy planes
spotted four giant, suspicious
looking bubbles growing on
the desert 25 miles southwest
of Boardman. After circling
the area several times the
pilots radioed the discovery
back to their base.
What the pilots had stumbl
ed on were neither space
vehicles nor oversized jelly
fish. Located at the Boeing
Company testing site, four
bubble shaped heliostats were
being studied as possible
collectors of solar energy.
Three of the heliostats are
under contract to the National
Aeronautics and Space Ad
ministration (NASA). The
fourth is involved in a sepa
rate Boeing experiment It is
,
an - - r
.... V -
I - ' .:M-ri V y J
ra a era ezj a en e3 nancinacaannncannn
T FOR
H j? YOUR
gold
$1'50
99C
. ... m
Ls
our
x
tics
energy bubbles studied
the company's first research
model of a helioslal solar
reflector.
Transparent plastic, called
Tedlar, covers the igloo-shaped
domes that measure 17 feet
in diameter. Inside the domes
are round, 15-foot frames
covered with a plastic coated
Mylar film. The film produces
a mirror reflection. They are
mounted on a two axis gimbal
and driven by digital control
led stepper motors. The en
tire unit, excluding the con
crete foundation, weighs
about 200 pounds.
NASA's heliostats are
equipped with control mech
anisms that are connected to a
mini-computer for testing un
der conditions simulating an
Diet Pepsi
8 pak 16 oz.
plus deposit
to
A I
Eight Heppner merchants join in wishing
you a Happy Valentine's Day, February
14th. They offer you sweetheart deals on a
variety of items. Have your heart set on a
Valentine? Pick them up a prize from one
of these Cupid coupons. Coupons good
through Monday, Valentine's Day, unless
otherwise noted by individual merchants.
$ 6 piece Cutlery SePM
i $13.95
-A Morrow
"tv Urowers -'V
actual power plant operation.
The mini computer is pro
grammed to track the sun in
its path across the sky.
The three NASA units obey
the commands of the mini
computer and follow the sun.
reflecting its image onto a
focal point at the' top of a
nearby rocket test stand. The
five-story stand was first built
in the 1960's when the Boeing
property had been chosen as a
test site for a Boeing-built
moon rocket That project
was later moved to Mishould,
La. .
The rocket stand is now
being used for simulation of
the solar reflector receiving
tower.
Instruments at the top of
I 4",
?g
Mi
$17.95 M
County. fl
I fer iG At I
v of e W
the tower measure the
amounts of energy received at
different times of the day and
under varying weather condi
tions. Collection of solar heat data
as a possibility for boiling
liquid to be used in turning a
turbine engine is not the sole
aim of the experiment Effects
of weather on structure and
material make-up of the helio
stats is also being studied.
The heliostats are designed
to withstand 80 m.p.h. winds
with gusts up to 100 m.p.h.
Durability of the 61000th
inch plastic that covers the
airtight heliostats is one of the
questions that NASA is
checking into.
"We had to put heaters in
the heliostats to keep ice and
snow from gathering on the
tops of the bubbles," said
Holmes. Researchers are also
interested in seeing what
affect abrasive dust storms
have on the heliostat plastic.
Should the units check out
as a viable means of collecting
8" particle boarM
,
osV 'Hard board-
paneling 3.79 &
Supply
c
TT
Wt art
Pi r-wncement stock fi?
Subscription
solar energy, it could lead to a
field of three thousand helio
stats or the equivalent of a 10
megawatt power plant The
collectors would cover about
50 acres.
Solar energy will contribute
to the nation's energy supply
one day but John Lowe, head
of solar energy activities for
Boeing Engineering and Con
struction, cautions that the
time this will happen is not
just around the corner.
Hospital
Admitted and dismissed
from Pioneer Memorial Hos
pital this week were Teena
Galbraith, Lexington; Ryan
Heath, Heppner; James Phil
lips, California; Robert Pow:
ers, Fossil; John E. LaTrace,
Heppner; Beulah Florence,
Heppner; Thomas Howell, Jr.,
Lexington; Geneva Black
burn, Heppner, Marion Olsen,
Heppner. Still in the hospital !
Wednesday were Alex Ulrich,
Heppner, and Lyle Peck,
Lexington.
. -
r-
mm m r