Heppner residents rescued following
three days and two nights in mountains
II i I h I mi I i I m IH...IU im II
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OP 97403
What started out as
a nice afternoon drive turned
into a three-day, two-night
ordeal for Floyd Jones, 89,
and George Flynn, 74, and
Winifred Flynn, 71, all o f
H eppner Jo n es and the
Flynns got stuck in the snow
on W estern R oute Road
between Heppner and Ukiah
on Saturday, Feb 26 and
were found unharmed by
Morrow County Search and
R escue
m em bers
on
Monday, Feb 28 at 8 30
pm
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 124
NO. 9
10 Pages
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
The trip started out
w ith the Flynns inviting
Jones on an afternoon drive
as they do many times during
a week, said Jones Thinking
they were only going to be
gone for about an hour,
Jones put on only a vest and
the trio headed out in the
Flynns’Chevy suburban The
first few miles along the
Western Route Road were
free of snow, but after about
10 miles the snow began to
accumulate They got stuck
once and were able to free
the vehicle, but going a little
further they got caught again
and this time, even with 4-
wheel drive, couldn’t get the
vehicle out o f the snow
“ The snow was
about 14 inches deep,” said
Jones “There was about
eight inches o f fresh snow on
top o f six inches o f ice ”
Fire destroys house on Willow Creek
N ot having cell
phones or anything with
them to call for help, the
group was forced to wait for
help to come Also, being
that this was ju s t an
afternoon jaunt, they did not
have food, water or matches
However, being resourceful
they w ere able to stay
hydrated by melting snow
and had enough gas that they
were able to run the vehicle
every 20 minutes for about
10 minutes at a time to get
heat
Jones did say that
they walked a little ways and
found a couple people, but
they weren’t willing to help
After going to sleep
for the third night out, at
around 6 p m , the group
was awakened at 8:30 p m ,
by search and rescue
members, said Jones. They
were given some food and
then taken by snowmobiles
to Cutsforth Park Jones said
that he was surprised to find
that Cutsforth Park was only
about 30 m inutes away;
since they had lost their
orientation and assumed the
rescue ride would take a few
hours
“ They w ere the
nicest bunch o f people,”
Jones commented about the
search and rescue members
He was also so grateful that
he took a $50 bill out o f his
wallet and gave it to the crew
who said they would donate
to the search and rescue
fund.
Jones and the Flynns
retu rn ed to th eir homes
Floyd Jones
Monday night and were in
good condition, except for
being a little weak
“We didn’t suffer, we
were just inconvenienced,”
said Jones He also said the
Flynns were good company.
The Flynns were not
home Tuesday for comment
The search for the
trio began after M orrow
C ounty S h e riff’s O ffice
received a call M onday
afternoon around 12:30 p m
from the Flynns’ daughter-
in-law who was concerned
because the couple had not
show n up for dinner
Saturday night.
Personnel from the
S h e riff’s O ffice p atro l
division, detective division,
com m unications division
and volunteer search and
rescue members participated
in the search O regon
Em ergency M anagem ent
had scheduled an Oregon
National Guard helicopter to
join the search on Tuesday
morning
Clogged sewer causes school
cancelation last Friday
Classes at Heppner
Elementary was cancelled on
Friday, Feb 25 due to the
city’s sewer line backing up
into the school, said HES
Vice Principal Daye Stone
The backup was caused by a
root ball from the trees
grow ing near the school
clogging the line A few
pencils were found in the
drain inside the school, but
they were not the cause of
the backup
O So C lean was
brought in Thursday evening
to clean the carpets and
rem ove the sew er w ater
from inside the building, said
Stone They were able to
complete the project over
the w eekend and school
resumed as usual Monday
lone teams headed to state
tourney in Baker City
Both lone basketball
teams, girls and boys, will be
playing in the 1A state
basketball tournam ent in
Baker City
The boys will be
Firemen battle blaze at the Joey VanDoorn home on Willow Creek Tuesday afternoon. The lone fire department also
sent trucks to help fight the fire. Details of how the fire started and the extent of damage was not av ailable at press time.
St. Patrick’s Day leprechauns are getting lambs ready for Ewe-Do Bingo
Our leprechaun works at coaching the ewe on just what to do.
More Si. Patrick's Day stories pages 11 d- 12
A sheep with attitude
can
c re ate
a ten se
atmosphere at the Ewe-Do
Bingo event sponsored by
the Heppner Junior High and
High School cheerleaders.
Simply put, an ewe (female
sheep) will be released on
Saturday, March 19 at 2:30
p m into a fenced area, in the
parking area o f the Bank o f
Eastern Oregon, containing
a grid o f 200 num bered
spaces Anyone who wants
to take a chance can pick a
number, buy a $5 ticket and
hope that the sheep is
p o sitio n ed
over that
numbered space when she
clears her bowels
A speedy sheep may
delight the ow ner o f the
$300-prize ticket, but more
com m on is the ewe that
meanders, checks out the
crowd and takes its time in
choosing when to “drop her
pellets” on the grid The
cheerleaders are patient,
how ever, know ing that
eventually the sheep will
make someone happy and
they will have some leftover
*
funds to help them with
uniform and camp expenses
C h eerlead ers will
have tickets for sale as o f
March 1 and they will be on
site S atu rd ay m orning,
M arch 19, w ith the
remaining tickets By calling
676-5257, a person can buy
tickets in advance
Heppner Garden
Club to meet
The
H eppner
Garden Club will be meeting
on Monday, March 7 at 7
p m at St Patrick’s Senior
C en ter H osts for the
evening are Peggy Connor
and Daisy Collins Shirley
McNary o f lone will share
about her hobby o f raising
orchids with club members
playing the Crow Cougars
on Wednesday, March 2 at
3:15 p m The girls will be
playing St Paul on Thursday,
March 3 at 8:15 p m
Stories and pictures page 2
Heppner woman indicted on
embezzlement charges
Sharon Robinson, of
Heppner, was indicted on
480 counts on Wednesday,
Feb 23 as a result o f
embezzlement allegations
that she stole approximately
$70,000 from the Miller and
Sons company
The 480 counts are
broken down to include
seven counts o f Aggravated
Theft in the First Degree, a
Class-B felony, for seven six-
month periods in which she
stole at least $10,000,' 150
counts o f Theft in the First
Degree- for incidents where
at least $750 was taken at
one time, 262 counts o f
Fraudulent Use o f a Credit
C ard; and 61 counts o f Theft
in the Second Degree- for
incidents where an amount
o f $50-$750 was taken at
one time These counts were
taken from times Robinson
w ro te checks w ithout
au th o riz atio n or made
unauthorized purchases on
the com pany’s visa card,
stated Allen
R obinson
w as
arrested Monday, Feb 28
and arraig n ed Tuesday,
March 1 by Judge Hill, who
set bail at $100,000, said
Allen The next court date
for Robinson has been set as
March 24 in which a pre-trial
conference will be held
G allagher E lectric F encing
C omplete F encing S ystems
See It 7bday At:
M o rro w C ou n ty G rain G ro w e rs
Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452*7396
For farm »quipmont, vltit our wob tit* at www.m c|(.Mt
i