Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2012)
Mustangs take district championship II.M h . I.U II ..... Militili Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 BMC champs head to state playoffs Saturday 5<K The Mustang football team. Back (L-R): Bryce Fowler, Tim Nelson, Ross Cutsforth, Patrick Collins, Stephen Thompson, JC Putman, Ethan Ashbeck, John Propbeter, Jaden O rr and Treston Maben. Middle(L-R): Coach Jeremy Rosenbalm, coach Greg Grant, Tom Could, Jesse Corbin, Skyler Hawks, Earl Propheter, Jesse Boyd, Saul Erickson, Garrett Robinson, Brian Rill, C J Kindle, Aiden Wright, coach Les Payne, Jimmy Fichter and coach Kevin Payne. Front (L-R): Kellan Grant, Ryan Smith, Jared Lemmon, Duane Nicholas, Khayman Heard, Colby Hedman, Weston Putman, Jacob Moses, Kaden Clark, Jordan Bailey, Jose Andrade Guerra and Tommy Bredfield. -Photo by Sandy Matthews -See DISTRICT CHAMPS/PAGE FIVE fo r fu ll story Local man air-lifted after explosion Now at home in good condition VOL. 131 NO. 45 8 Pages Wednesday, November 7, 2012 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Cellular store opens in Heppner By Andrea Di Salvo U.S. Cellular custom ers—and those considering becoming customers—will be happy to know the com pany now has a local pres ence. The new cell phone of fice is owned by Devin Oil. doing business as Devin Mobile, and is located at the Devin Oil Bulk plant on Riverside Street in Heppner. It is one of two U.S. Cellu lar offices Devin Mobile has opened in the county this month; the other is lo cated inside the Circle K in Irrigon. Devin Mobile also plans to open a U.S. Cellu lar office in Pendleton, OR after the first of the year. The H eppner office opened for business Mon day, Oct. 22, but both Mor row County offices will celebrate official grand openings on Nov. 16-17 with events in Heppner and Cellular store in Heppner. -Contributedphoto Irrigon. U.S. Cellular Regional Manager Shannon Denton, 46, says the store is full- service and will provide anything clients need, from opening accounts and mak ing payments to buying phones and accessories. “(We) offer all same serv ice s, all the sam e phones,” said Denton. “It's very small, but they can do everything a regular store can do. We also have a number o f accessories that corporate stores can’t sell.” She also said Heppner was a natural location for the store. “ It was convenient; U.S. cellular is one of the prim e com panies used in Heppner and Morrow County, so we saw a need for it. If (customers) wanted to visit a store, they would See CELL STORE/PAGE FIVE Wastewater irrigation project not feasible City says price tag, regulations too great The City o f Heppner has announced that it has abandoned efforts to re place the current wastewa ter treatment facility with wastewater irrigation. Two months ago the City of Heppner began to research the possibility of using its wastewater for irri gation down Willow Creek. It has been determined that the storage and irrigation use of wastewater will not be feasible. The city, working with engineering company An derson Perry and Associates and meeting with the local farmers involved in the ir rigation project, discovered several “ insurmountable issues.” The initial hope was that this project would be less costly than an ammo nia-reduction plant. Also, it was believed that it would permanently remove the problem of releasing treated w astew ater into Willow Creek, and thereby ease the stress of changing De partment of Environmental Quality regulations. As an additional benefit, it would have provided additional water to area agriculture. The City o f Heppner has discovered that the use of the treated water is also heavily regulated. It can not be used in the winter, and crops cannot easily be changed or rotated after they have been irrigated w ith the water. The city has the highest need for waste- water removal during the winter months and, because it cannot be distributed for at least five months of the year, a storage pond of a minimum of 17 acres would have to be built. The fields are required to have at least a 75-foot buffer, and evaporation and precipitation are constantly m onitored to determ ine if the use is irrigation or runoff". These obstacles cre Lance Lott of Bend, OR killed this five-point hull elk near ate a shocking price tag of Gilbert Creek on Oct. 26. Lott is the grandson of Sonny and nearly $1.2 million. This G-T Trophy Corner Sharon Biddle, and Randy and Bernice Lott, all of Heppner. -Contributed photo V -See CITY WASTEWATER / PAGE EIGHT Bv Andrea l)i Salvo Local man Troy Hyatt, 44, was air-lifted to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Port land Sunday morning with severe injuries resulting from a welding accident. According to Hyatt’s wife, Leah Hyatt, the Hepp ner man was using a plasma cutter to cut the tops off 55-gallon drums in order to use them as burning bar rels. He was working on Columbia Basin Electric Co-op property, but sources say he was working on his own drums on his own time, and not working for the company. The contents of one of the drums were apparently flammable; an explosion occurred and Hyatt was knocked to the ground with extreme force. The explo sion reportedly was heard throughout the northern part of Heppner. Acquain tances and friends rushed to the scene to give assistance, and responders from Hep pner ambulance, Heppner fire and the Morrow County Sheriff s Office responded to a 911 call regarding the accident. Hyatt was rushed to Pioneer Memorial Hospital suffering “severe lacera tions” to his face, a severely bruised back, a broken eye socket and a broken collar bone. Almost miraculously, he suffered no burns from the close-quarters explo sion; all of his injuries ap parently stemmed from the force of the explosion. Staff at PMH treated and stabilized Hyatt, and he was then air-lifted to Emanuel for further treat ment. According to Leah, the accident scalped his forehead and head an esti mated four inches, from his eye backward on his head. He was in emergency sur gery at Emanuel for around three and a half hours while the surgeon there used mi cro-sutures on the lacera tion. Leah said the surgeon could not keep a count of stitches but said the number was “well above 200.” The broken clavicle bone had also broken through the skin; doctors set the bone and stitched that wound, as well. As severe as Hyatt's injuries w ere, his wife says they are thankful they weren’t much worse. “The way the laceration was on his eye,” says Leah, “they (the doctors) didn’t know how he didn’t hit any main nerves.” Hyatt returned home Monday and, sources say, is well on the road to recov ery. Leah says he will have to go back to the hospital to consult with the surgeons more next week, and he will be out of work on sick leave until the first of the year, but “his prognosis is good.” Man to be arraigned on sex abuse charges Morrow County Dis trict Attorney Justin W. Nel son last week announced the arraignment of Patrick Alan Greer, 32, from Kent, WA, on five counts of sex crimes. The charges, includ ing two counts of sodomy in the first degree, a class A felony, and three counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, a class B felony, span from August 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011 and involve three separate mi nor victims, all under the age o f 14. Sixth Judicial District November 29, 2012 at 8:15 Circuit Court Judge a.m. at the Morrow Christopher Bruaer C ounty C ourthouse arraigned the defen in Heppner. dant on the charges. Every criminal The defendant ap defendant is con peared via closed sidered innocent circuit television until proven guilty from the Umatilla P a tric k Alan beyond a reason County Jail. The Greer able doubt in a co u rt a p p o in ted court of law. Blue Mountain Defenders The case is being in to represent the defendant. vestigated by the Morrow The state objected to re County Sheriff’s Office. lease. and the court set bail Anyone with any informa at $250,000. The court set tion should call the sherifFs a Pre-Trial Conference for office at 541 -676-5317. Police investigate shooting in Boardman I ne iv io r r o w /u m a m ia County Major Crime Team responded to a shooting that oc curred in the City of Boardman in the evening hours Sat urday, Nov. 3. Just after 9 p.m., Morrow A I e * a n d “ Ale*" Per County Dispatch re- Velasco several 911 calls about a shooting that occurred at an apartment com plex located at 111 N.W. Colum bia Ave. in Boardman. Officers from the Boardman Police Department, along with deputies from the Mor row County Sheriff’s Of fice, arrived on scene to find the victim, a 30-year-old male identified as David Ramirez, being treated for apparent gunshot wounds. The Morrow/Umatilla -See BOARDMAN SHOOT- ING/PAGE SIX PORTER-CABLE 12V MAX COMPACT LITHIUM 2-TOOL KIT • Drill/Driver • Hex Impact Driver • (2) 12V Lithium Ion batteries • (1) 12V 30 min charger • (2) belt hooks • (1) PH -2 screwdriving bit • (1) double-ended screwdriving bit • (1) storage hag. M o r r o w C o u n t y G r a in G r o w e r s I
