BESS 1 E WETZELL
U OF ORE
NEWSPAPER LIB
EUGENE OR 0 74 C Z
Morrow County law enforce
ment officials announced
Tuesday that after seven
months of Investigation they
have closed their investigation
into the theft of over one tan of
explosives last February, and
the theft of a large quantity of
drugs from a pharmacy in
Heppner last Dec.
Morrow County District
Attorney Dennis Doherty,
with assistant DA Ann Spicer
and Heppner Police Chief
Dean Gilman, held a press
conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday
to make the announcement.
The investigation, which
included the city police, coun
ty sheriff's department and
Oregon State Police, as well as
numerous out-of-county and
out-of-state law officials, end
ed with the arrest of four
O
rsons and one conviction.
n the explosives case,
Floyd Everett Harshman. 22,
of Heppner, has been charged
with theft in the first degree,
and William Jay Devin, 19, of
Lexington, has been charged
with first degree theft and
first degree burglary.
Devin is currently in Palm-
Past and
by Justine Weathrrford
Archaeological surveys
show that the Carty Reservoir
site was occupied by humans
d' out 8.000 years ago. Just 90
ars ago. James B. Carty
settled in the area and began
operating a sheep ranch there.
Last week Tuesday when the
Boardman Coal-fired Plant
was formerly dedicated,
Carty's daughter, Mary Carty
Doherty, Portland, and his
niece. Catherine McAuliffe,
Cecil, were among the more
than 800 who cheered as
Oregon's Governor Victor
Atiyeh and power company
officials ceremoniously ded
icated the new power prod
ucing plant.
Governor Atiyeh congrat
ulated the builders of the
plant, Portland General Elec
tric Co., and their co-investors.
Idaho Power and Pacific
Northwest Generating Co. He
declared "Power means jobs
which, of course, mean a
healthy, strong economy. This
great plant, constructed to
tight and careful specificat
ions, is only part of the answer
to our future power needs;
however, the plant is a major
step in satisfying those needs
for conventional power."
Atiyeh pointed out that oxen
were the power which carried
the pioneers across this
stretch of land, but now their
use has long vanished. "The
power from this plant, which
is equal to the power gener
ated at Bonneville Dam before
its second powerhouse tied in,
is power for today and for
Oregon's future."
Among the hundreds of
special guests from near and
far were many Morrow Coun
ty officials who had been
involved with the planning of
this great "Oregon First"
project from the early 1970's.
The huge generating plant,
with its miles of piping and
engineered equipment has the '
highest cememt structure in
the state, its 656-foot chimney.
This chimney, as tall as a
65-story building, is one of the
Morrow
VOL. UK. NO. 93
er. Alaska, where, upon learn
ing of the charges against
him. turned himself in to
authorities Sept. IB Doherty
says Devin has waived extra
dition and should be returned
to Oregon by the end of this
week.
Harshman's whereabouts
are not known, but Spicer says
he is under a llOO.noo circuit
court warrant for failure to
appear for a trial scheduled
July 18.
One man connected with the
robbery at Murray's Drug in
Heppner. Dec. 26. 1979. in
which a large quantity of
drugs, including morphine,
was stolen has pleaded guilty.
Michael Richard Buschke.
21. of Kennewick, Wash.,
pleaded guilty Sept. 10 to first
degree theft as an accomplice
He received a suspended
sentence of three years plus
three years probation, 30 days
in the county Jail, a fine of
$1,000 and restitution to the
victims.
Michael Dean Lynch, 22. of
Heppner, was also charged
with first degree theft in
connection with the case.
future meet at Boardman dedication
WiM mis
, avL Jilll
plant's most spectacular feat
ures. It's constructed of re
inforced concrete with a
free-standing-steel-liner. It
took 15 months to construct
the chimney which has an
outside diameter of 29 feet at
the top and 51 feet at the
bottom.
The plant's many related
buildings sit near the 1450
-acre Carty Reservoir which
furnishes cooling water for the
enterprise as well as some
irrigation for adjacent crop
lands. This reservoir has
capabilities to enlarge lo 5,500
acres in the future. The water
for it is brought 18 miles
through a 60 inch-diameter
pipeline from the Willow
Creek arm of the Columbia
River. Boeing Agri-Industrial
Co. built and maintains the
pipeline as part of a lease
agreement with PGE. Normal
maximum water level for the
reservoir is 675 feet above sea
The Heppner
County's
TM'RSOAY. SEPTEMBER 25. inxn
Because of his indirect in
volvement, he has been placed
on pre trial di.ersion. a form
of probation.
Another person charged in
connection with that robbery
has not been located and
authorities declined to release
his name.
A fourth person involved
was granted immunity in
exchange for turning state's
evidence. His name was not
released.
Investigation of the theft of
explosives began Feb. 19 when
approximately l'j tons of
explosives were reported
stolen from an Oregon State
Highway division storage site
between Heppner and Lexing
ton. The explosives stolen in
cluded jell, stick, wire and
bagged type. Large quantities
of blasting caps and primer
cord were also taken.
In the Initial investigation
assistance was sought from
and furnished by federal
firearms authorities and var
ious other police departments,
including the Oregon State
Police, said Dougherty.
I
level. Storage water in excess
of plant cooling requirements
(the top 10 feet) is used for
irrigation. PGE could expand
the reservoir to hold as much
as 35,000 acre feet of water
over and above the plant's
cooling requirements, accord
ing to facts released by a
company spokesman, Dave
Eagon.
This large body of water has
already attracted the atten
tion of area and state wildlife
personnel who are considering
various recreational possibil
ities there. Visitors to the site
are noting the growing num
ber of ducks that seem happy
there. The implantation of fish
in the near future is being
considered, according to
Glen Ward of the Wildlife
Service.
The fuel used to fire the
boilers at the plant is low
sulphur, sub-bituminous coal
from the AMAX Coal Com
pany's surface mines near
Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
"Ann Spicer of the Morrow
Conn l v District Attorney's
office worked closely with
investigating officers. Off
icers made investigative trips
into the Portland-Vancouver
metropolitan area and into
Washington".Doherty told re
porters. However, the first major
break in the investigation
came on the night of February
29 when over a Ion of the stolen
explosives was located at a
commercial storage site in
Boardman.
The Morrow County Sher- ,
iff's Dept. and the Boardman
City Police, after receiving a
tip. cooperated in a stake-out
of the storage site.
Harshman and Devin were
arrested in a pickup truck
after leaving the storage area .
Harshman was charged at
that time, but charges against
Devin were deferred for
further investigation.
On March It. a Morrow
County Sheriff's deputy re
covered more of the stolen
stick type explosives during a
re-examination of the crime
jaws m
0Erti'i
Jimn
U 1 1 )' I I . 1 W. I I
Gillete, Wyoming. Modern
coal handling methods are
used in loading and unloading
and processing the coal. In
addition to selecting low
sulfur coal as the boiler fuel,
the plant utilizes air-quality-control
equipment to regulate
particulate emissions. The
Boardman plant utilizes ad
vanced combustion equipment
designed to minimize the
formation of oxides of nitro
gen during the combustion
process.
During the peak building
period, approximately 1,400
construction workers were
employed at the plant. Now
there are approximately 140
permanent workers in opera
tions and maintenance. How
ever, the state of automation
is such that in some emer
gency situation, a skeleton
crew of only seven could
contiue the plant's operation.
Power generated at Board
man will be sent to BPA's new
rTV'rtr
2(1 CENTS
II PACKS
Htppntr PcEet Cfcbf Dtei G2ara, (bft), tubtext DA Ana Sfktr, DA
scene. Spicer says they are not
sure how the explosives were
returned to the scene.
On March 23. a case of
'in irk type explosives-and two
v. &
- 4
.. -
Slatt substation near Arling
ton. Oregon.
The huge investment in this
plant, which may be almost
doubled in the future when a
contemplated twin plant may
be built, means a great deal to
the people of the adjacent area
and to tax-payers of Morrow
county. Boardman, one of the
fastest-growing communities
in Oregon, had only 400
residents before this devel
opment. Now its population is
approaching 1500.
The permanent plaque
which was unveiled by Frank
M. Warren, Chairman of the
Board of PGE, will be
mounted beneath an oxen
yoke, symbolizing the pioneer
ing spirit of the early Oregon
ians and of the builders of this
first coal fired, electrical-generation
plant which will help
pioneer Oregon's expanding
future.
"1
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Weather
' by Don Gilliam
HEPPNER.
boxes of blasting caps were
recovered about two and a
half miles from Lexington in
an abandoned cellar by OSP
trooper Vic Groshens. "- -
On May 15. another Morrow
County Sheriff's deputy locat
ed additional stick explosives
at another rural location in the
north Lexington area.
' Spicer said investigators
conducted "innumerable"
searches, including four with
warrants and two by consent.
She also said that "dozens" of
people were interviewed
throughout the investigation,
and that several were given lie
detector tests.
"We got there through
diligence." she said, pointing
to a six-inch file on the case.
"We had no place to go when
the investigation began."
Spicer, who went to Board
man and sat with tne stake-out
'Fried bird' cgugg of
Many Heppner area resi
dents probably slept right
through a power outage that
began at 6:32 a.m. last
Saturday morning, but Col
umbia Basin Electric Co-op.
Dcboto on iVicrtin Prcrio closuro to confiirja
Debate on whether to close
the Martin Prairie Road
between Ditch Creek Guard
Station and Rhea Creek, will
continue at the October 8
meeting of the Morrow County
Board of Commissioners.
Controversy over the road
closure surfaced at the Sept.
17 meeting of the commission
ers, however, the court took no
action because of "legal
Ccnidstos to
A Candidates' Fair, spon
sored by the Heppner-Ione
Branch of the American
Association of University
Women, will be held on
October 1 at 7 p.m. at the
Heppner Junior High auditor
ium. Those who have accepted
invitations to attend the fair
include candidates for Mor
row County Sheriff, incum
bent Larry Fetsch and Doug
Rathbun; candidates for Mor
High Uw
Tues.. Sept. 16 86 ?
Wed.. Sept. 17 89 52
Thurs. Sept 18 74 55
Fri..Sept. 19 75 53
Sat.. Sept. 20 w 50
Sun.. Sept. 21 63 53
Mon.. Sept. 22 70 l
OREGON
team says the investigation
led to Walla Walla. Wash., the
Tri -Cities, Portland and other
areas outside the county and
" state; " r;
"There was immense coop
eration between many law
enforcement authorities," she
emphasized.
Spicer said that no motive
was ever established for the
theft of the explosives.
In the Murray's Drug theft,
entry was gained by breaking
into a clothing store next door.
The thieves then proceeded to
the basement bored through
the common wall, and entered
the drugstore. They broke into
locked cabinets and took a
large quantity of drugs, incl
uding morphine injection kits.
The drugs were never re
covered and Spicer speculates
that they were taken out of
state.
Manager Fred Toombs cer
tainly didn't.
The outage, caused by a bird
that strayed into a conductor
and tripped a breaker at the
substation, resulted in an
outage that lasted an hour and
problems," said county Judge
Don McElligott.
Under the proposed closure,
about six miles of road would
be vacated and closed to all
vehicle traffic.
Some hunters, the state
game commission, the Forest
Service and at least one land
owner in the area are in favor
of the closure.
Others are opposed to the
moot at ccndldatos fcir
row County Clerk, incumbent
Barbara Bloosworth and
Pauline Winter; and candid
ates for Morrow County Trea
surer, Margo Sherer and Alice
Vance.
Also accepting are John
Smallmon, candidate for the
newly established position of
Judge of Umatilla and Mor
row counties; and candidates
for State senator District 28,
incumbent Ken Jernstedt and
Donnell Smith.
Sending alternates to the
Precis.
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.05
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Dtnsb Defetrty
Commenting on the solution
of the case. City Police Chief
Dean Gilman said. "All police
agencies must function to
' gether lo accomplish any
thing, and this case proves it."
He also commended Doherty
for his work in the investigat
ion. "The general public has
no idea of the work that went
into this." he added.
"These lengthy investigat
ions have been extraordinary
in the ways in which they have
demonstrated uncommon
tenacity by the persons in
volved and the advantages of
inter-agency and inter-juris-dictional
cooperation. I would
like to publicly commend the
Morrow County Sheriff's De
partment, the Heppner City
Police Department and my
deputy, Ann Spicer, for their
work on these cases," con
cluded Doherty.
btecEiout
a half in most homes. Power in
some homes was on and off
two or three times, said
Toombs.
Total extent of the damage,
said toombs, consisted of "one
fried bird."
road closure, and both groups
appeared at the Sept. 17
commissioner meeting.
Those in favor cite vehicle
traffic as causing pollution of
nearby Martin Creek, and
point out that the road is not on
a dedicated roadway.
Those against the closure
say the road is needed for
hunters to get into the area.
fair are candidates for Oregon
Secretary of State, incumbent
Norma Paul us; candidate for
Oregon State Treasurer,
Jewel Lansing; and U.S.
Senator Bob Packwood.
Unopposed candidates have
been invited to sit in to answer
questions, says Candidates
Fair chairperson Ann Spicer,
but will not participate in the
debate.
Refreshments will be served
during intermission.
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