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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
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