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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2012)
Illlllllilllllllllllllllllllllll Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 Wind developers talk jobs Cross section o f community joins discussion on employment opportunities in expanding wind farms in Morrow County Bv David Sykes Two o f the heavy hitters in the wind farm business in Morrow County were featured speakers at the Willow Creek Valley HEPPNER 5(K Andrew O’Connell of 2Morrow Energy, standing, speaks to a packed crowd about employ nient opportunities in the wind industry at the annual meeting of the Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group last week in Heppner. Seated to his right is Patricia Pilz of Caithness Shepherds Elat wind farm, who also talked about jobs in the expanding wind farm business in Morrow County. Photo by David Sykes VOL. 131 N 0. 7 8 Pages Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Economic Developm ent Group annual meeting last Thursday in Heppner. An drew O ’Connell of 2Mor- row Energy of lone, which already has a wind farm here and is planning more, along with Patricia Pilz of Caithness Energy, which is building the huge Shepherds Flat wind farm in Morrow and Gilliam Counties, were both featured speakers at the meeting and gave their insights in how locals may capitalize on employment at the new facilities. Heppner native co Library introduces authors bestseller new technology 26 hardcover nonfiction list. By Andrea Di Salvo Anyone in south That comes, though, after a Morrow County who has couple of stints in the num read the New York Times ber one spot on that list, not to mention launch bestseller “Ameri ing as number two can S niper” may on the general non have glanced past fiction list. Not bad a familiar name on for someone who the cover. never wanted to be Scott McE- a writer. wen’s name is fa Never miliar to many in Scott w an ted to be a the Heppner area McEwen writer? because 50-year- Nope. Af old McEwen was born and raised here. He ter graduating from Heppner was a local Eagle Scout and High School in 1979, McE grew up hiking and fish wen received a bachelor’s ing in the area, as well as degree from Oregon State hunting with his 300 Win University in 1983. He then chester. His brother, Bobbie attended McGeorge School McEwen, is still a familiar of Law at University of the Pacific in Sacramento, CA. face around town. Now a trial attor He obtained his law degree ney based in San Diego, in 1987. He has worked in CA, McEwen has suddenly the law field for the last 25 found himself faced with years; he currently lives in a measure of fame as the San Diego, CA and does coauthor o f “A m erican corporate defense and liti Sniper: The Autobiography gation all over the U.S. He of the Most Lethal Sniper still hunts in his spare time, in U.S. Military History.” and does a lot of deep-sea He and fellow coauthor Jim fishing for marlin and tuna DeFelice both worked with in southern California and Navy Seal Chris Kyle on Mexico. the creation of Kyle’s auto M cE w en met biography. After six weeks Navy Seal sniper Chris on the New York Times Kyle through his work with bestseller list, the book has -See BESTSELLING A U- THORJPAGE SEVEN dropped to third on the Feb. Heppner women injured in snowmobile accidents By April Sykes Two H e p p n e r women were injured in sep arate snowmobile accidents over this past weekend. M issy L in d say , 44, Heppner, was injured in a snowmobile accident at Penland Lake, about 30 miles east of Heppner, on Saturday, February 18, around 9 p.m. She suf fered broken ribs, a broken sternum and two broken vertebrae. She was transport ed from Pioneer Memo rial Hospital in Heppner to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland, WA. Accord ing to reports, it is not yet certain whether she will undergo surgery. Sandi Patton, 49, Heppner was injured in a snowmobile accident near Coal Mine Hill, about 22 m iles east o f Heppner, on Sunday, February 19, around 1 p.m. A ccording to re ports, she suffered a com pound fracture to her femur and was also transported from Pioneer M emorial Hospital in Heppner to Or egon Health and Science University, Portland, where she has undergone surgery and was scheduled for an other. Friends o f the Library learn about innovative programs for library patrons By April Sykes The H e p p n e r Friends of the Library heard two presentations at their Feb. 16 annual meeting that will change the common definition of “library.” Oregon Trail Li brary D istrict D irector M arsha R ichm ond told the Friends of the Library that Oregon Trail Library District patrons can now check out books to be sent via their Kindles, Nooks, Sony Readers, Androids, iPhones and other elec tronic readers. Ri chmond d e m onstrated to the Friends of the Library audience how to access the electronic library. Electronic book readers must have an Or egon Trail Library card. Library patrons can go to the Oregon Trail Library R ep resen tativ es from education, business and the electrical workers union were also in atten dance and they, too, partici pated in the discussion on how local people could ben efit through employment in the new wind farms. O'Connell did not say how many jobs his two projects in the county will require; however, he did say the jobs pay well and will be here for a long time. He did not say how much the jobs pay, but later an actual missioner, Position 1 during the upcoming election. March 6 is the last day to file candidacy for nonpartisan and major party offices. Primary elections District website at www. oregontrail.plinkit.org and click on the Library 2 Go logo, find a title to enjoy, click a book, click more (or similar links) to open a list or try a search. When a reader finds a title, then select “add to cart” and proceed to check out. If prompted, they then sign in with their informa tion and the checkout page opens. To sign in, they are asked to enter their library card number and personal identification (PIN). Some sites include an option to adjust the lending period. To continue, select “confirm check out.” The reader may check out a maximum of 10 titles at one time. Then click “download” to begin Top: The lone Lady Cardinals head into state as the Big Sky the download process. District Champions. Back (L-R): Head Coach Mike G ar -See LIBRARY TEL 'H/PAGE rett, Asst. Dale Holland, Asst. Diana McElligott, Charlette SEVEN Burghard, Lacey Thompson, Dominka Senkerikova, Jaque- linc Juarez, Emily Holland and Manager Shannon Metcalfe. Center (L-K): Makenna Kamos, Stacee Halvorsen and Mary Kietmann. Front (L-K): JoAnna Patton, Jasmine Verduzco and Shadow Kendrick. Bottom: The Cardinals battled through districts to take the number-three seed heading into state. Back (L-K): Evan Kietmann, Steven Holland, Bailey Haguewood, Micah Stillman, Adam Collin, Kirk Haguewood, Omar Juarez, August Peterson and Joseph Doherty. Front (L-R) Lucas Jobes, Zac Orem, Joel Stillman and Kaleb Duniler. -Photos by Paula Emmel. -See Pages FOUR and FIVE fo r fu ll story. County Court agrees with lone wind farm permit Denies neighbor s appeal o f 52-tower facility at Ella Butte By David Sykes The Morrow Coun ty Court upheld the issuing of a permit for a 52-tower wind farm near lone, ap proved earlier by the county planning commission. On a unanimous vote, the court found no justification to deny the permit over the objections of James Jepsen. a nearby home and business owner, who said that building the wind farm would cause medical problems and loss of business, would lower property values and ruin his view, impact wildlife and cause harmful noise. In addition, Jepsen said the county did not follow proper procedure in notify ing people of the original planning commission hear ing siting the wind farm. The county court discussed Jepsen’s reasons for the appeal for about one hour, then ruled it could find no evidence to support any of the claims, and voted to unanimously to deny the request. Approximately 25 people were in attendance at the hearing, which was held in Boardman. Jepsen hired A t torney Charles Gillis of La Grande, who presented a cover letter and evidence to the court that he said supported Jepsen’s claims; however, the court decided not to accept any addi tional evidence and ruled MCSD receives 2011 unqualified audit By April Sykes The Morrow Coun ty School District Board has received the district’s 2011 audit, which shows net assets o f $6,437,037 for the year ending June 30. up from $5,493,988 in net assets for the period end ing June 30 of the previous year. The district's audi tors, the Oster Professional Group, LLC, gave the dis trict an unqualified opinion, which means they believe that the district gave a true and fair view of its financial -See WIND FARM APPEAL/ PAGE THREE matters. will be held M a y 16 with gener- at elections November 5. Kandy Boyd ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. i -See WIND JOBS/PAGE EIGHT lone boys, girls head to state Boyd files for commissioner Kandy Boyd, cur- rent Morrow County Deputy Clerk, announced this week that she has filed to run as a Democratic Party candidate for Morrow County Com- wind-tower technician who works in the area and was at the meeting said, depending on experience and training, the jobs can range from $40,000 up to $100,000 per year. O'Connell said'Hie Columbia Gorge Commu nity College in The Dalles offers a two-year Renew able Energy Technology Training degree, and that he has talked to BMCC but they are not able to set up a i MCSD Superi n tendent Dirk Dirksen said, however, that Oster recom mended that the district make changes with the As sociated Student Body fund in using tickets at games and events to keep better track of monies generated from these events and. ad ditionally, that the district segregate accounting duties as a way to create more oversight. In answer to the recommendation for segre gation of duties, the district S e t ML SD A UDIT PAGE SIX
