Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2012)
„ ." 'i '/,'D I .III)//I|lll// Eugene. OR Senator David Nelson will not seek fifth term PENDLETON - Senator David Nelson (R- Pendleton) announced on Monday that he will not seek another term in the Or egon State Senate. Nelson was first elected from Sen- 50 < VOL. 131 N 0. 4 8 Pages Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon M cDowell retires from SWCD O ffice m anager right after their marriage, Merilee McDowell retires when Bill took a job with C olum bia B asin from her position at E lectric in C on the Morrow Soil and don. Water Conservation T he M c D istrict (SW CD) D o w ells m oved th is m onth. The from C ondon to 57-year-old worked Heppner in 1979 for the SWCD for Merilee so Bill could be 15 years, starting McDowell come a lineman for as a district clerk Colum bia Basin. in 1996. M cD ow el w as Their daughter, Danielle, bom and raised near Spo was bom in 1983, after they kane WA. She graduat moved to Heppner. Merilee had been ed from Davenport High School in 1973 and mar working for Murray’s Drug ried her husband, Bill, in in Condon, and transferred September of that year. The to the M urray’s store in couple moved to Oregon ate District 29 to the Oregon Senate in 1996. From 2001 through 2003, he served as Senate Majority Leader. “Serving my con stituents has been an honor, a unique privilege,” said Nelson. “1 am grateful to the good folks in my sen ate district for their support over the years and for their interest in state govern ment. Their suggestions and concerns have been impor tant to me and my decision making process.” Since his election to the Oregon State Senate, he has championed educa tion and natural resource issues. He has served on nu merous policy committees, chaired or co-chaired the Joint Legislative Commit tee on Information Manage ment Technology, Business Committees, and currently co-chairs the Ways and Means Sub-Committee on Capital Construction. He and has delivered a water also serves on Ways and bill to benefit the city of Means sub-committees on Pendleton and in coopera Legislative Audits, Infor tion with the Confederated mation Management Tribes of the Uma and Technology, as tilla Indian Reser well as a Working vation, as well as Group on the State water bills leading Radio Project and up to and including a Task Force on the recharge of un Higher Education, derground aquifers Student and In'stitu- Senator in critical ground tional Success. David water areas in the S e n a t o r Nelson Umatilla Watershed N elson has su c Basin. In October, cessfully passed legisla he was appointed by Gov tion creating a statewide ernor Kitzhaber as co-con broadband telecommunica vener of his second Oregon tions network to benefit his Solutions Team Projects district, as well as making on Boardman Workforce Oregon a leader in broad Housing. band infrastructure. He “The active par sponsored “Oregon O p ticipation of Oregon’s peo portunity” legislation to ple in their government is build new Science Labora essential,” says Senator tory Buildings at Eastern Nelson. “It is what makes Oregon University and Or Oregon a wonderful place egon Health Science Uni to live, work, and savor versity, a forest health bill. family life.” Rep. Smith named to agricultural honor roll O re g o n ia n s for Food & Shelter has named Rep. Greg Smith (R-Hep- pner) to its “Honor Roll of Outstanding Legislators” for his 2011 legislative vot ing record. “ I am pleased to have been recognized by O regonians for Food & Shelter and the natural- resource-based producers they represent,” said Smith. “I’m also pleased my vot ing record reflects the con- Heppner, where she con tinued working until the early ‘80s. McDowell then worked for First Interstate Bank in Heppner—which later became Wells Fargo— before going to work for the SWCD. McDowell says she loved her job at the Mor row SWCD, but it was time to retire. Her plans for retirement include visiting friends, reading and us ing her new Nook, writing inspirational poetry and By Andrea Di Salvo Heppner residents short stories, and spending might see a familiar face in more time with the people one o f country singer Ron she loves. nie Dunn’s latest videos. Dunn’s video, “Let the Cowboy Rock,” fea tures local cowboy Blake Knowles as the lead char acter, a cowboy who needs to be left alone to have a good time after getting his heart broken. Dunn, o f Brooks and Dunn fame, plays the country singer who is sim ply there to help the cow boys fight off the lonely. O therw ise, the video is mostly Knowles. Knowles is a pro steer w restler currently ranked 10"1 in the world. He is riding the rodeo circuit in Texas right now, and un available for comment, but his wife, Whitney Knowles, said it was exciting watch him. “I ’m so proud of Blake, and excited that he got this opportunity; he did a great job,” she said. “He’s so humble, though, I know he doesn't talk about it much.” W hitney, who is also featured in the video in a brief bar scene, said she was a little embarrassed, but Knowles reminded her that they were just acting. stituents 1 was elected to serve.” K ey issu e s for which Smith advo cated during the 2011 Legislative Session include restoration o f funding to OSU Extension S ervic es; passage o f HB R ep. 3058, which delivers Smith tax relief to Oregon wheat cooperatives; and passage of HB 2563, which provides a perma- nent personal property tax exem ption for O regon’s small logging companies. Orego nians for Food & Shelter is a coali tion of agricultur al-minded individ uals and business Greg owners dedicated to protecting the rights o f natural- re s o u rc e -b a s e d businesses in Oregon. Local cowboy featured in Ronnie Dunn video Snow and ice create winter playground A shot of Knowles and his horse, from Ronnie Dunn's music video, “Let the Cowboy Rock,” “It was fun to do,” she said, “though not, apart from the cowboy aspect, a true reflection of our char acters.” The “cowboy as pect” of the video features Knowles in both riding and steer-wrestling shots. The film crew also caught him in the bar scenes, though, dancing and throwing back shots of whiskey. Whitney said those scenes were out o f character for her hus band. “The shots in the glasses were iced tea, not whisky,” she said, adding the Blake also isn't a fan of iced tea. “I could tell that by the end of the night he was feeling like, ‘Enough iced tea!’” Most of the video was shot in Pendleton dur ing the Pendleton Round- Up, including the bar scenes from Crabby’s Underground Saloon. Additional footage with Knowles was shot at the family ranch on But ter Creek. Other scenes of Dunn were filmed in Salt Flat, UT and Nashville, TN at The Stage on Lower Broadway. Whitney said hav ing the film crew at the ranch was the best part for her. “ It was great to watch them at work, their process,” she said. “We didn't know why they were filming there or doing that, but when we saw it all together, it was amazing to see how their minds worked, how it all came together.” AT MCGG GREEN FEED & SEED IN H EPPN ER: Wild bird feed 10% o f f m u a b ir d fe e d e rs 20% o f f Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed 242 W. Linden Way,'Heppnur « 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main The snow and ke last week may have wreaked havoc with travel, school and work throughout the regidta, but it provided a winter playground for local kids. Above: Gaige Futter and Noah Wenberg take to the snow to do some sledding in a field near Water Street. -Photo by Megan Futter Below: Wet, heavy snow made the perfect material to build snow sculptures, like these “hello snow kitties" on an area farm -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo 9 I ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. l
