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
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• Drill/Driver
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