Heppner hosts FFA Soil Judging Contest H. Itilml.l,, JH... I|1|lll|| Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 VOL. 125 NO. 42 10 Pages Wednesday. October 18.2006 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon lone celebrates Homecoming ( Back row L-K ): Princess Tori Heagy, Princess Aimee Emery, Queen Kayla EaKue, Princess Irina Chekmezova, Princess Brianna Peterson, and Princess Emily Rietmann; (Eront row L-R): Prince Christian Cannon, Crown Bearer Sydney Payant, Prince Cody Keisling, Crown Bearer Logan Burright, King Mark Davidson, Prince Isaac Stillman, Prince R.l Kamos, and Prince Richard Bohna. (story and more photos on page 3) Wheatland Insurance to hold new building grand opening The grand opening of the newly built Wheatland Insurance building will be held Friday. Oct. 20 from 2- 6 p.m. The new building is located at 294 Main Street in Heppner. Dick and N ancy Snider commissioned Jerry Gentry and Mark Miller with Sandhollow Homes, LLC. to construct the 1832 square foot building. The new office building prov ides Wheatland Insurance with private offices and a conference room . The previous Wheatland office was just over 600 square feet and did not have separate offices. The new building also allows for an employee lounge, o p e ra tio n s room and restrooms. "We wanted to make a place that is easier for our clients to do business," said Nancy Snider, owner/partner of Wheatland Insurance. Snider also said that building this new building is a way to show that Wheatland is “committed to Heppner and to being here for a while." Construction of the building took 120 days from the time they received the permits to the time of move in. Heppner hosted this y e a r 's Blue M ountain District FFA Soil Judging Contest on Thursday. Oct. 12. The location for this annual contest rotates each year and was held at the Brian Thompson Ranch. Approximately 125 students attended the contest. The Blue Mountain District consists of Heppner, Irrigon. Hermiston. Athena. Stanfield, Pendleton. Pilot Rock and Mac-Hi. In the beginner group, Heppner placed fifth. In the advanced group, Heppner placed sixth. The beginner group consists of freshmen and sophomores, along with first year ag students and the advanced group consists of juniors and seniors, along w ith members w ith multi-year experience. Emily Thompson of Heppner placed ninth in the beginner group in the individual contest. The top 10 in each group is recognized at the contest. In the contest, the students are judged on their soil judging skills. They have several aspects of the soil, including structure, color and texture they must analyze and evaluate and several questions they must answer about the soil, the area and the impact of the soil results. The students first work in a practice pit where the judges go over their results with them and answer any questions they might have. The students then test three other pits and are given thirty minutes in each pit. Each pit has an official score card made up by the official ju d g e and the stu d en ts' results are compared to the cards. Don Wysocki with the Oregon State University Extension Service is has served as the official judge for the Blue M ountain District for the last 15 years. Students in Heppner have been studying some of the concepts of soil judging in class through the new VoAg program at Heppner High School. The local Extension Service, under the guidance of Larry Lutcher. did a lot of the setup work for the contest. They found the land and helped dig the pits. Students in the Blue Mountain EEA district compete in a district soil contest at Thompson Ranch in Heppner. H eppner B o o ste r Club Fairgrounds for all the provided lunch at the co n testa n ts, judges and M orrow C ounty volunteers. 2007 Fair and Rodeo Court announced The 2007 Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo Court was recently announced. Court members are (E-Rl: Queen Josie Miller. Princess Makayla Anderson, Princess Becky Schiller and Princess Jessica Hamilton. City worker spots vehicle leaving town Vehicle thief leads police on chase Mark Miller and Jerry (¡entry, owners of Sandliollow Homes, EEC, with Dick and Nancy Snider. lone School Board hears weight room proposal money to fund architectural The lone Schools could eventually have a weight room if an lone B ooster C lub plan is successful. lone teacher/ coach Dean Robinson and coach D ennis Stefani presented a plan to the lone School Board M onday night which would get the process underw ay. A ccording to Robinson and Stefani. the lone Cardinal Booster Club would like to see a weight room at the school and the club believes it has enough blue prints for such a weight room. They also said that club members are willing to spearhead fund raising and take classes on grant writing to provide funding for the plan. R obinson and Stefani said they believed weight training is crucial to the school's athletic teams and will help cut down on injuries such as those that have plagued the school's football team of late and w ill benefit student and community wellness. intimici! ¡nine 3 ALL NEW S ANI) ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. On Oct. 12 at approximately 1:16 p.m., Roger Ehrmantraut. a City of Heppner maintenance w orker, observed his personal vehicle eastbound on Hwy. 74 leaving the Heppner City limits being operated by a person that was unknown to him. The theft o f the vehicle was immediately reported to the Morrow' County Sheriff's Office who began a search for the vehicle. Units from Pilot Rock Police Department and Umatilla County Sheriff's Office were also notified. At approxim ately 1:52 p.m.. Corporal Mark A shcraft of Pilot Rock Police Department observed the suspect vehicle near milepost 74 on Hwy. 74. When he attempted the stop of the vehicle, the operator initially sped up, then subsequently stopped in the middle of the highway. The suspect jumped from the vehicle, leaving it in the middle of Hwy 74 at milepost 80. and ran into farm ground due north of the traffic stop location. Units from Morrow County Sheriff's Office. Pilot Rock PI) and Umatilla County S h e riff's Office began a search of the area with the aid of an unidentified landowner. At around 2:36 p.m.. the suspect was observed hiding in some tall grass. As deputies approached, he jumped up ran again. Other units were able to get ahead of the suspect and take him into custody. The suspect was identified as Jeremy Dee Allen Wilson. 22, out of LaG rande. Wilson had A t th e MCGG GREEN Nutrition Pet Food n 0°/o O FF appeared earlier in the day at the Morrow County Circuit Court on a charge of Driving While Suspended- misdemeanor. Wilson was lodged in Umatilla County Jail on multiple felony charges including U n au th o rized Entry of a Motor Vehicle. U n au th o rized Use o f a Motor Vehicle, Attempting to Elude a Police Officer and Driving While Suspended. The Morrow County Sheriff's Office extended their appreciation to the Pilot Rock Police Department, the Umatilla County Sheriff's Office and the unidentified landowner. "Without the involvement of all parties this case may not have been solved as quickly and effectively as it was." said Undershcriff Steve Myren. E m STORE In H e p p n e r: H D OF SEAS0X SALE OX I N K s u m MAHALS * AID SITEK ( I,O l i s e ­ lo 0,, OFF! M orrow C ou n ty C ra in C rn w ors C roon Food & Stinti 2 4 2 W . L in d e n W a y . H e p p n e r • 6 7 6 -9 4 2 2 • 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 (M C G G m ain office)