1 Bessie W etzëll N ew sp aper Library
University of O regon
Eu gene, OR 97403
62 wind measuring towers
now spread across county
Met towers
precursors to
wind farms
HEPPNER
5<K
The above map shows the placement of 62 different meteorological towers, as shown by small
triangles, spread across Morrow County to measure wind speed and other weather factors for
the possible building of additional wind farms here. - Source Morrow County Planning Dept.
VOL. 130
NO. 30
8 Pages
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Western artist lives and
loves her art
Artist and rancher Denise Smith captures a moment to work
on her latest acrylic painting during a recent farmers market.
Smith says she works best without interruption, admitting
she is easily distracted by her gift of gab. - Photo by Andrea
Di Salvo
“There is nothing
that can compare to a good
horse and the right rope,
but the perfect image might
come close!”
That’s the philoso
phy of local artist Denise
Smith. If anyone knows
about all three— horses,
ropes and art—it’s Smith.
The 50-something
artist and rancher didn’t
start out on a ranch in east
ern Oregon. Rather, her
journey started in 1953 in
the small coastal town of
North Bend, OR. Her love
of both art and horses came
early, though.
“ I was a horse-
crazy kid grow ing up,”
says Smith. “I drew them,
collected them, pretended
in play, was a western TV
nut.”
Like many ch il
dren, some of her earliest
memories include coloring
with crayons. Unlike many
kids, both the art and horse
obsessions stuck.
After her gradua
tion from North Bend High
School in 1971, Sm ith went
on to obtain an associate
of arts degree from South
western Oregon Commu
nity College in 1973 and a
bachelor of science degree
in art education from the
University o f Oregon in
1986.
It was during col
lege that Smith got her first
horse. Her horse-craziness
confirmed, she took any
horse-related opportunity
she could. She participated
on the equestrian team in
college, was an outrider for
the Oregon racing commis
sion in Salem and worked
on the Oxbow Ranch in
Prairie City. Ranching life
seemed the next step.
She and her hus
band, C harles “ Sam bo”
Smith, started their mar
ried lives on Mann Lake
Ranch in Harney County,
OR, where she taught art
full-tim e at Lincoln Ju
nior High School in Bums
from 1988 to 2003. She left
teaching to pursue art and
ranching full time when the
couple moved to Heppner
in the fall of 2003. In 2004,
they moved their cattle and
horses to Currin Ranches
on Little Buttercreek, where
they still work for the Cur
rin family.
In H eppner, the
Smiths are far from fami
ly... 28-year-old daughter
Cory lives in Drewsey, OR
with her family, and 29-year-
old son Cliff resides in Wil-
liston, ND. Smith says she
misses them, as well as
her four grandchildren, but
that they’re a close family
despite the miles.
If distance from
family is a downside o f
life in Heppner, one of the
best features of the Currin
Ranch might be Sm ith’s
basement apartment stu
dio, a bright space where
she is free to create in any
medium that strikes her...
pencil, pastels, oils, acrylics
-See WESTERN ARTIST/
PAGE TWO
Special fair section included
in this week’s paper
See inside for special Fair and Rodeo information
A special 24-page Fair and Rodeo section is included in this week's Heppner
Gazette-Times. The section contains articles, photos and other information about the
upcoming Morrow County Fair and Rodeo.
Green Dot sweepstakes scam
Attorney General
John Kroger is warning Or
egonians to not respond to
unsolicited “sweepstakes”
phone calls. Both the Mar
ion County Sheriff’s Of
fice and the Department of
Justice’s consumer hotline
have received reports about
suspicious callers who noti
fy consumers that they have
won a sweepstakes and then
instruct them to purchase a
prepaid credit card to cover
“taxes” or “fees” associated
with collecting their cash
prize.
One Oregon res
ident was contacted on
his cell phone earlier this
week by a con artist who
asked him to purchase three
$ 1,000 Green Dot Money -
Pak credit cards. In order
to collect his sweepstakes
prize, the man was told he
must call an Idaho number
and read the serial numbers
off the back o f the cards.
Fortunately, he smelled a
rat and called the Marion
County S heriff's Office
instead.
Bogus sweepstakes
and lottery offers are among
the most common types of
scams run by crooks who
seek to rip off Oregon con
sumers. These operations
are often run by perpetrators
located outside the U.S.,
m aking it very difficult
for law enforcement agen
cies to track them down.
In 2010, the department
received 1,054 complaints
about international money
schemes, with $1,999,323
in reported losses...more
-See SWEEPSTAKES SCAM/
PAGE FIVE
By David Sykes
M orrow County
currently has 62 meteoro
logical (met) towers spread
throughout the county, mea
suring wind speed and other
atmospheric conditions that
may be favorable for the
construction of additional
wind farms here.
As indicated by the
map recently released by
the Morrow County Plan
ning Dept., the majority
o f the towers are located
across the mid section of
the county; however, there
are some located in the
northeast.
The tow ers can
range in cost up to $65,000
apiece, not counting instal
lation. They oftentim es
will measure wind speed at
various heights, as well as
other atmospheric condi
tions such as pressure. The
data is gathered by poten
tial wind-farm investors to
determine where to place
wind farms and towers that
will produce steady enough
wind to justify the cost of
the wind farm project.
On a related topic,
Bruce Sorte, an economist
with Oregon State U ni
versity, recently spoke to
the Morrow County Plan
ning Commission about
the economic impact o f
wind-energy development
on rural communities.
Sorte was part of a
group that did a 2006 study
on wind energy and its
economic impact on rural
communities. He is cur
rently working on a similar
study, which will also look
at the effect of wind farms
on agricultural businesses
such as the family farm.
Many times it is
assumed that income from
-See WIND FARMS/PAGE
THREE
lone School Board
discusses leaking boiler,
new HVAC system
By April Sykes
The lone School
Board, at their July 26 meet
ing, heard from Principal
Jerry Archer concerning the
school’s boiler leak, which
has contributed to some
moisture detected in the
newly installed gym floor.
Archer said it is believed
that the moisture is com
ing from the wall by the
leaking boiler. He said it
was estimated recently that
the gym floor near the leak
had around 12-15 percent
moisture, when the mois
ture content should only be
around nine percent. Archer
added that a section that had
been warped has already
shown some improvement.
The board had earlier dis
cussed removing the boiler,
and is scheduling a boiler
review hearing on Thurs
day, August 4 from 4-5 p.m.
A new heating/ventilating/
air conditioning system is
under consideration.
“If we get rid of the
boiler, that problem should
be gone,” said Archer. Bids
are to be awarded on Au
gust 8 at 1 p.m.
In addition to the
proposed new HVAC sys
tem—estimated at around
$150,000—and boiler re
moval, the board is con
sidering a new fire alarm
system, estimated around
$30,000, and purchase of
new Promethean Boards.
Promethean Boards
are interactive hand-held
com puters that students
would use in the class
rooms. The devices enable
anything that can be seen
or done on a com puter
to be projected onto an
interactive whiteboard in
front of the classroom. Su
perintendent Mark Mulvi-
hill advised the board to
purchase the Promethean
Boards now, so that they
can be used by students
right from the start of this
school year. Board member
Ann Morter said that the
boards could be paid for
out of the $25,000 that had
already been budgeted for
computer hardware.
Also at the meet
ing, Archer told the board
that he expects to have
recommendations for new
hires for third- and fourth-
grade teaching positions for
this school year by August
15. He also recommended
that the board hire an as
sistant junior-high coach
for volleyball as well as
football.
“I think they should
be the same,” said Archer.
M u lv ih ill echoed that
thought, recom mending
hiring two coaches each for
junior high volleyball and
football.
In other business,
the board:
-heard from Archer
rrmm
concerning the charter up
date. He said it is still not
certain whether the lone
district, as a charter school,
will need to have two boards.
He said that the Oregon De
partment of Education says
“Yes,” however, the Oregon
School Board Association
says, “Maybe not.” Mulvi
hill also suggested that the
board needs to start talking
about whether or not they
should put a cap on student
population.
-heard a brief up
date from M ulvihill on
the current situation with
ESDs statewide, especially
the ability of certain school
districts to withdraw from
ESDs. He said in the Inter-
Mountain ESD, formerly
Umatilla-Morrow ESD be
fore consolidation with
Union-Baker ESD to form
IMESD, only three districts
are allowed to withdraw:
Burnt River, Pine Eagle
and Baker.
-heard a briefing
from Mulvihill on his East
ern Promise plan, which
would emphasize a com
prehensive education plan
for students kindergarten
through age 20, rather than
the previous K -12 plan, and
would coordinate education
between area high schools.
Blue Mountain Community
College, Treasure Valley
-See ¡ONE SCHOOL
BOARD PAGE FOUR
;T reesa S hrúbs J
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