Shepherds Flat Wind Farm will move forward
DOD says it will no longer oppose construction o f one o f the world's largest green
energy projects; Industry expects to hire more than 700 workers to complete project
By David Sykes
A m o n th s - lo n g
stand-off came to a close
last Friday after the Dep
uty Secretary o f Defense
inform ed U.S. S enators
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and
UnTvîTsitV o^O jegon
Eugene,
OK
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 129
NO. 18
10 Pages
Wednesday, May 5 ,2 0 1 0
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
School district to appeal court ruling
By A pril Sykes
M o rro w C o u n ty
School D istrict S uperin
tendent Mark Burrows told
the Gazette-Times Monday
that the district will appeal
a federal court ruling that
the district pay a form er
employee around $200,000
for lost wages, benefits and
damages.
Around a year af
ter the district fired Noe
M elendez, 40, w ho had
w orked for the M orrow
County School District as
a teacher’s aide for Irrigon
Junior/Senior High School
and the M orrow E duca
tion Center, Melendez sued
the district, claiming dis
crimination because o f his
national origin, race and a
mental illness he claimed
he had, in addition to his
being disciplined by the
district because he engaged
in “whistle blowing.”
T h e ju r y th re w
out M elendez’ claim that
the district discrim inated
a g ain st him b e c au se o f
race and national origin.
Melendez is Hispanic and
originally from Mexico.
Burrows said that
the reason M elendez was
fired by the district was
because he could not pass
a math test required o f em
ployees under the 2001 No
Child Left Behind Act.
C o n c e r n in g th e
whistle blowing, Melendez
had ea rlie r rep o rted the
district for alleged child
abuse by a teacher and an
assistant football coach.
Melendez said that because
o f the whistle blowing, the
district sent him a disciplin
ary letter, transferred him
to another school and then
ultimately fired him. Ron
Anthony, former Heppner
High School principal, was
Irrigon Junior/Senior High
School principal at the time
o f the alleged abuse.
A ccording to re-
ports, Melendez was sched
uled to take the math test,
but then said that he suffered
from an anxiety disorder.
The district then gave him
20 more days to take the
test. The jury ruled that the
district should have made
additional efforts to work
with Melendez. According
to Burrows, however, Me
lendez met with the district
only a day before he was
scheduled to be terminated
to inform them that he had
an anxiety disorder.
Burrows maintains
that the district has done
nothing wrong.
The jury also ruled
that the district retaliated
against Melendez because
he said he had a disability,
in this case the anxiety dis
order. The issue concerning
the disability is a violation
of the Americans with Dis
abilities Act, w hich was
why the case was filed in
federal court.
Missing wind-surfer found dead
On Monday, May
3, the Morrow County Sher
iff’s Office received a report
o f a m issing wind-surfer.
Friends o f Jeffrey T. Young,
48, of Hood River reported
him missing when his board
washed up on shore and he
could not be located. Young
had last been seen between
3:30 and 4 p.m.
U n its fro m th e
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office, Columbia Intertribal
F ish eries, O regon State
P olice, M orrow C ounty
Health District, and Klicki
tat County Sheriff’s Office
searched the area until dark
ness hampered the efforts. A
US Coast Guard helicopter
from Astoria arrived at ap
proxim ately 10 p.m. and
continued to search from
the air aided with night vi
sion devices.
A t a ro u n d m id
night, the crew o f the US
C oast G uard h e lic o p te r
located the body of Young
floating approximately three
miles down river.
Cause and manner
of death is to be determined
by the G illia m C ounty
Medical Examiner.
NOAA issues monthly climate summary for Heppner
i
i
o
»
According to pre
liminary data received by
NOAA’s National Weather
Service in Pendleton, tem
peratures in Heppner aver
aged slightly colder than
normal during the month
o f April.
The average tem
perature was 47.4 degrees
which was 1.8 degrees be
low normal. High tempera
tures averaged 58.3 degrees,
which was 3.0 degrees be
low norm al. The highest
was 72 degrees on the 20,h.
Low temperatures averaged
36.5 degrees, which was 0.6
degrees below normal. The
lowest was 25 degrees, on
»
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ij
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M
- Mo-Mrui-,
it
•
17
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i
X
a
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it
»
»
»
»
*
Cirrmc c a n Piowaoa By r.o/S'.'Natcna waonor Ecrvcs
the 10th.
T here w ere four
days with the low tempera
ture below 32 degrees.
P re cip ita tio n to
taled 1.15 inches during
April, which was 0.25 inch
es below normal. Measur
able precipitation -at least
.01 inch- was received on
11 days with the heaviest,
0.34 inches reported on
the 21*.
Precipitation this
year has reached 4.46 inch
es, which is 1.23 inches be
low normal. Since October,
the water year precipitation
at Heppner has been 7.60
inches, which is 1.88 inches
below normal.
T he o u tlo o k for
May from NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center calls for
above normal temperatures
and near normal precipita
tion. Normal highs for Hep
pner during May are 69.1
degrees and normal lows
are 43.1 degrees. The 30
year normal precipitation
is 1.67 inches.
T h e N a tio n a l
Weather Serv ice is an office
o f the National Oceanic and
Atm ospheric Adm inistra
tion, an agency of the U.S.
Commerce Department.
U.S. C ongressm an G reg
Walden (R-Ore.) that the
Pentagon w ould no lon
ger block construction o f
the Shepherds Flat Wind
Farm in Oregon’s Gilliam
and Morrow counties and
w ould instead upgrade a
nearby radar system which
had, until now, put the proj
ect’s future in doubt. The
announcement would also
eliminate the threat to other
planned wind farms in the
area that is adjacent to the
Columbia River.
“In allow ing this
p r o je c t to
go
f o r -
w ard, both
th e W h ite
H ouse and
th e P e n ta
gon have
underscored
th e ir c o m Patricial Pilz
m itm ent to of Caithness
U.S. energy Energy
s e c u r ity ,”
said W yden. “As I have
said throughout this effort,
blocking this project would
have had a chilling-effect
not just on Shepherd’s Flat
but on private investment in
new energy projects across
the country. As a member
o f both the Senate Com
mittees on Energy and In
telligence, I am convinced
that national security and
energy security are not only
com patible, they are one
and the same.”
“The D epartm ent
o f Defense’s earlier deci
sion threatened to drop a
bom b on jo b creation in
central O regon. T oday’s
decision defused that bomb.
This is great news for thou
sands o f families who will
earn a paycheck because of
work on this project. And it
will help contribute to Ore
gon’s emergence as a global
leader in clean energy pro
duction,” Merkley said. “I
thank the D epartm ent o f
Defense for resolving this
issue and responding to our
concerns about the negative
effect that shutting down
Ballot
drop sites
announced
E le c tio n D ay is
May 18. All ballots must be
received by 8 p.m. on Elec
tion Day. Morrow County
drop sites are as follows:
N ew B o a rd m a n
City Hall - 200 City Cen
ter Circle, Monday through
Friday, April 30-May 18, 8
a.m. to 5 p.m.; Election Day
hours 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Irrig o n A n n ex
Planning Department lobby
- 205 NE 3"* St., Monday
through Friday, April 30-
May 18, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
Election Day hours 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m.
Bank o f Easter Or
egon lone Branch - 280
West Main St., April 30-
May 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
Election Day hours 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m.
M orrow C o u n ty
Courthouse, 100 S. Court
St. in Heppner, M onday
through Friday, April 30-
May 18, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
Election Day hours 7 a.m.
to 8 p.m.
For more informa
tion co n tact the county
clerk at 541-676-5604 or
visit www.morrowcounty-
oregon.com.
lone resident Linda LaKue speaks at a public meeting last
Tuesday night. ‘We need the jobs this project will create,” she
said. -Photo bv David Svkes
this project would have had
on the Oregon economy.”
“ This is a m ajor
re lie f for the la n d o w n
ers, business owners, and
community members who
endured weeks o f nerve-
wracking uncertainty over
the future of the project,”
Walden said. “They deserve
credit for remaining patient
and engaged. Going for
ward, Congress must work
on reforming this process
to provide smoother siting
while protecting security
and aviation. Our great state
can and should play a role
in a strong national defense
and be a leader in our coun
try’s smarter energy future
at the same time.”
If com pleted, the
Shepherds Flat wind farm
will be the largest land-
based wind energy project
in the w orld, producing
845 megawatts o f power,
which is the equivalent of
a nuclear power plant. At
the beginning o f March,
days before the project was
slated to begin construc
tion, the Pentagon brought
the project to a halt, citing
its concerns that wind tur
bines could interfere with
a 50-year old radar system
located in nearby Fossil,
Oregon. Oregon’s congres
sional delegation has spent
the last two months press
ing both the White House
and Department of Defense
(DOD) to discuss ways that
the P entagon’s concerns
might be addressed without
halting new green energy
construction.
DOD’s announce
ment today will allow the
FAA - which on behalf of
the Pentagon had formally
placed the project on hold
- to remove all "notices of
presum ed hazard,” thus
clearing the way for Caith
ness Energy to begin hiring
the more than 700 construc
tion w orkers that will be
needed to build Shepherds
Flat. W hile clearing the
way for Shepherds Flat,
today’s decision still leaves
undeterm ined how future
projects may be affected.
O regon’s representatives
intend to keep w orking
with DOD to ensure that
national security objectives
are met while not impeding
efforts to increase energy
independence and promote
job creation.
A town hall meet
ing was held in lone last
Tuesday night with repre
sentatives o f M erkley’s,
Wyden’s and Walden’s of
fices in attendance. About
60 members o f the public
attended the m eeting to
voice their concern over
the hold up o f the project.
Patricial Pilz o f Caithness
Energy, Shepherds F lat’s
developer, was in atten
dance and said the hold-up
was more than just about
just this project. “This is
more than just about Shep
herds Flat and an outdated
radar,” she said. “This proj
ect is being held hostage be
cause o f its size.” She said
the FAA and DOD were
sending a message about
all outdated radar stations
and new wind farms across
the country.
HHS performs spring play
“Alice” (Kolleen Chapa) and “Hatta the Mad Hatta” (Shane
Smith) discus« the way to the nest square in the Heppner High
School Drama “Wonderland” directed by Jodi Chapa. Photo
bv Sandv Matthews
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