County officials sworn
into office
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
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County officials elected in the November election were sworn into office on Monday, Jan 7.
Left to right are: Stephen Haddock, County Surveyor; Cayle Gutierrez, County Treasurer;
Bobbi Childers, County Clerk; Leann Rea, County Commissioner; and Greg Sweek, Assessor.
Not pictured is Kan Matlack, Sheriff. -Photo by David Sykes
From lawyer to author
to movie mogul
Heppner native Scott McEwen consultant on
American Sniper movie
VOL, 132
N 0, 2 6 Pages
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
lone resident killed in
highway crash
lone resident Judith F.
“Pachy” Bums, was killed
Sunday morning, Jan. 6, in
a two-vehicle fatal traffic
crash along Highway 207
about three miles south of
1-84.
Burns, 63, from Bit
Timber, MT, was north
bound on Highway 207
near milepost 16 at 10:52
a.m., driving a 2012 Toyota
Tacoma. She began to pass
a northbound 1998 Interna
tional flatbed truck that was
attempting to make a left
turn. Burns returned into
the northbound lane and
the Toyota crashed into the
back o f the flatbed truck,
which was traveling slowly,
beginning the left turn.
Bums, who temporar
ily was living in lone, was
pronounced deceased at the
scene. A passenger in her
pickup, Evan Jesus Dela
cruz-Meza, 45, from lone,
was not injured. Both were
using safety restraints; the
pickup’s airbags deployed.
A two-vehicle crash on Highway 207 Sunday killed lone woman
Pachy Burns; passenger Evan Delacruz-Meza was uninjured.
-Photo courtesy o f Oregon State Police
The two occupants of
the International flatbed
truck were not injured.
Oregon State Police (OSP)
identified them as driver
Scott J. Madison, 55, and
passenger Kattje L. Petty
john, 45, both from Echo,
OR. Both were wearing
seatbelts.
OSP troopers from the
Pendleton Area Command
office are continuing the in
vestigation. Trooper Aaron
Dietz is the lead investiga
tor. OSP was assisted at the
scene by Stanfield Police
Department, Echo Rural
Fire Protection District,
Hermiston Fire & Emer
gency Services and Oregon
Department of Transporta
tion.
-See obituary on PAGE SIX
Heppner schools closed last
week for heating issues
Morrow County schools
had a chilly start to 2013
when three schools experi
enced boiler-related prob
lems that caused school
closures last week.
Students at Heppner
High School w ere sent
home early on Jan. 2 when
a motor on the exterior of
one o f the school’s two
boilers broke down, causing
the boiler not to fire. The
school district immediately
brought someone in to fix
the problem but, according
to Morrow County School
D istrict Superintendant
Dirk Dirksen, a part had to
be ordered before the motor
could be fixed. That led to
plans to cancel HHS classes
on Thursday.
As the repairman was
about to leave HHS on
Wednesday, word came
that Heppner Elementary
School was having heating
issues of its own. Another,
different type, o f motor
had malfunctioned on the
elementary school’s boiler.
Though the school district
had planned on having
classes at HES through
the week, both Heppner
schools ended up closed
both Thursday and Friday,
creating a slow start to
2013.
The motor at Heppner
elementary has been fixed
and is up and running, says
Dirksen. As o f Tuesday
afternoon, one boiler at
HHS still had not been
fixed because maintenance
workers were stilling wait
ing on parts. However,
classes were held at the high
school, as the one working
boiler’s heat was diverted
from the cafeteria and gym
areas to the classrooms.
Dirksen says he hopes
that, once the motors are
fixed, the problem will be
solved.
“That’s what they told
us. H eppner should be
fine,” he says, adding that
the heating problems came
on top of a Jan. 2 closure at
Windy River Elementary in
Boardman.
“ We have a bigger
problem at Windy River.
The boiler (there) has to
be replaced,” he says, say
ing they have temporary
measures in place to fix the
problem until the district
can get in and replace the
faulty boiler. “We plan on
doing that when we won’t
lose any class time.”
Dirksen said it wasn’t a
great way to start 2013, and
he’s hoping for better luck
for Morrow County schools
through the remainder of
the school year.
By Andrea Di Salvo
While the term “movie
mogul” may not exactly fit
Heppner son Scott McE
wen, his involvement with
the “American Sniper” has
certainly launched him into
arenas he never imagined
when growing up in a small
town.
Those who read the
article in the Feb. 22, 2012
issue of the Gazette-Times
will remember that McE
wen, along with fellow
co-author Jim DeFelice,
worked with Navy SEAL
Chris Kyle on the creation
of his bestselling autobiog
raphy, “American Sniper:
The Autobiography of the
Most Lethal Sniper in U.S.
Military History.”
The hardcover book is
in its 18th edition, with ap
proximately 500,000 copies
now in print. It was on the
New York Times Bestseller
list for roughly nine months
and was number one on the
list for seven weeks. It is
now being published in six
different languages. The
paperback is due to be re
leased next month, and will
be sold by all major distrib
utors, including Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, Costco,
Target and Wal-Mart.
McEwen, a 51 -year-old
trial attorney based in San
Diego, CA, says he never
wanted to be a writer. How
ever, after hearing Kyle’s
stories of the front lines,
he felt compelled
to get the SEAL'S
story heard. That
launched him into
an unexpected, wild
ride of writing, mar
keting, book deals
and agents.
McEwen says
the book's success
has been “ truly
am azing” from his per
spective.
“I am very proud of all
the support we have been
able to give to the men and
women o f our m ilitary,
including our wounded
warriors,” he says. “The
‘m essage’ o f patriotism
and love of this country we
wanted to impart from this
work has been received and
understood by many. This
is really why we set out to
chronicle Chris’ story, and
1 believe it has been suc
cessful.”
Now, Kyle and McE
wen have embarked on a
new stage in their adventure,
as Hollywood giant Warner
Brothers has acquired the
movie rights to Kyle’s story.
Film star Bradley Cooper
(The A-Team, The Hang
over, Limitless) has plans
to produce, and possibly
star, in the film, which will
be the first effort for Coo
per’s new produc
tion company, 22nd
& Indiana.
David O. Rus
sell (Three Kings,
The Fighter), who
has teamed up with
Cooper on previous
projects, is said to
be slated for the
director’s chair. Ja
son Dean Hall (Spread)
has been set up to write the
script, and McEwen says he
will be working closely will
Hall and acting as a consul
tant in the production.
“I will be consulting
on the movie during its
production, script, and the
actual filming, so that will
be an interesting adven
ture.” says McEwen.
He says that, while he
doesn’t know for sure ev
erything that consultation
will eventually entail, it
could run the gamut. Thus
far, he has been assisting
with terminology used in
the book that might not be
familiar to filmmakers, as
well as certain background
-See AMERICAN SNIPER
MOVIE/PAGE THREE
Public hearing on Heppner
sidewalk use ordinance to be
held Monday
A public hearing to
discuss a new sidewalk use
ordinance will be held next
Monday, Jan. 14, beginning
at 7 p.m. at Heppner City
Hall.
The new ordinance will
cover everything from com
munity events to sandwich
boards to selling items on
city sidewalks and the per
mits and permissions re
quired to use the sidewalks.
The city council will take
public comment at next
M onday’s hearing. The
complete ordinance was
printed in the Dec. 19 and
26 issues of the Heppner
Gazette-Times.
Walden to hold town hall in
Boardman
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden
will hold a Morrow Coun
ty town hall meeting this
Thursday, Jan. 10, from
4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Port
of Morrow, 2 Marine Dr.,
Boardman.
Walden plans to discuss
his efforts to provide tax
relief for Oregon families
and small businesses, grow
the economy, reduce spend
ing. and balance the budget.
Residents will also have the
opportunity to ask ques
tions and give their input for
Walden's “to do” list to take
back to Washington, D.C.
W a ld e n ’s M o rro w
County stop will be one of
eight town hall meetings in
the Gorge and northeastern
Oregon this week, kick
ing off his 2013 meetings.
Last year, Walden held 24
town hall meetings in the
20 counties in O regon’s
Second District.
“While the Congress
and the country are fac
ing very difficult, but very
important choices going
forward, here at home there
are many local issues that
I’m focused on, as well.
Expanding access to broad
band in rural areas, boost
ing our farm and ranch
eco n o m ies, im p ro v in g
management of our federal
forests, and taking care of
those who wear—or who
have worn—our nation's
uniform remain priorities
for me,” said Walden.
GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
Beautification committee to meet
The Heppner beauti- at 8 a.m. at Heppner City the American Indian met-
fication com m ittee will Hall to discuss the city’s alwork planned for it. The
meet Thursday, Jan. 10, proposed heritage park and public is invited to attend.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
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Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Happnar » 676-9422 • 989-6221 (MCGG main offlca)
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