Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 24, 2013)
Clock tower removed for renovation Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libraiy University of Oregon Eugene. OR l)7403 HEPPNER VOL. 132 N 0. 30 8 Pages Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon TREO branches out to bike tours By David Sykes Known m ainly as a b ird -h u n tin g b u sin ess, Tours and Recreation of Eastern Oregon (TREO) has now branched out to offer bicycle tours on the roads o f South Morrow County, company owner and founder Phil Carlson told the Heppner Chamber of Commerce last week. For the past 25 years Carlson and his wife Kathy have offered visitors to his hunting lodge top- quality bird hunting and accommodations. However, with the fee-hunting bird season lasting only six months o f the year, the business went looking for ways to expand, and they hit upon the idea of offering guided and supported bike riding tours around the roads of Eastern Oregon. But first Phil had to find some customers. So, he did what worked when building his bird hunting business; he went to where G-T receives investigative journalism award Phil Carlson speaks to the Chamber of Commerce about his latest venture, hosting bike riding tours. He is holding a picture of a group of bicyclists at his lodge near Heppner. - Photo by David Sykes the customers are. “In June and July of 2012 we went to Portland and, in one day, went to eight different companies, bike stores and bike pubs,” he says in promoting his new business. C arlso n ad m its he didn't know much about the bird-hunting business when he got into that, nor much about bike tours when he launched his new venture. “ 1 d id n ’t even hunt when 1 started TREO, and there was a steep learning curve,” he explains. In p re p a ra tio n for the bike riders, he took a class in bike repair, a bit of a switch from the diesel -See BICYCLE TOURS/ PAGE FIVE Driver dies in crash attempting to elude police A crumpled car and crumpled newspapers were all that remained of Byron Kincade’s deadly attempt to elude police last week. Kincade, of Ephrata, WA, died when the vehicle he had stolen rolled off Hwy. 207 in Morrow County. -Photo byOSP A 3 7 - y e a r o ld W ashingto n man died early Thursday morning when he crashed a stolen vehicle as he attempted to elude a Stanfield Police Officer along Highway 207 southbound near Pine City in Morrow County. The victim had stolen the car about an hour earlier when it was temporarily parked at the Pilot Truck Stop in Stanfield while the driver was delivering newspapers. O re g o n S ta te P o lic e (OSP) is investigating the fatal traffic crash at the request of Stanfield Police Department and Morrow County SherifTs Office. A cc o rd in g to OSP Sergeant Sterling Hall, on July 18 around 4:13 a.m., a newspaper delivery person stopped at the Pilot Truck Stop in Stanfield, leaving the car unlocked with keys inside as he dropped off USA Today newspapers. While he was away from the vehicle, someone stole it and drove away. A S ta n fie ld p o lice officer was called out from his residence to take a report. Shortly after arriving at the truck stop and while taking the report, the stolen vehicle was spotted driving past the truck stop. Officer Mike Elwood got into his patrol car and attempted to stop the stolen vehicle. The driver failed to yield and attempted to elude the -SEE CAR CHASE ENDS IN FATAL CRASH/PAGE FOUR Fair edition deadline July 31 The Morrow County tion of the Gazette-Times the article and advertising Fair and Oregon Trail Pro is also upon us. deadline for the annual fair Rodeo are coming up. That The G-T would like edition is July 31 at 5 p.m. means the yearly fair edi to remind everyone that I ( Top: A large crane pulls the clock tower off the historic Morrow County Courthouse Tuesday morning. Earlier in the morning, despite upward pressure of 4,200 lbs. by the large crane, the clock refused to break free. C o n tracto rs worked to free it up, however, and it later came off. The clock will be taken to the form er Kinzua Mill site near Heppner, where it will be rehabilitated and then put back onto the courthouse. Right: Spectators got up early Tuesday morning, some bringing lawn chairs, to watch the clock tower on the courthouse being removed for renovation. -Photos by David Sykes The Heppner Gazette- Times won first-place for investigative journalism at the Oregon Newspaper P ublishers A ssociation (ONPA) awards convention held last week at Gleneden Beach. The s ta t e - w i d e aw ard was given for a series of articles run last September about the federal government’s construction shut down of a Buttercreek wind farm. The articles were written by publisher David Sykes, and detailed organization and our peers the actions o f a little- in the journalism business.” known government agency S ykes said fo llo w in g called The Committee on announcement of the award. Foreign Investment in the Founded in 1887, the United States (CFIUS), ONPA is a professional which stopped a s s o c i a t i o n of construction of the the s ta te ’s dai l y wind farm following and n o n d a i l y its purchase by a paid-circulation Chinese company. n ew spapers. The “ It is v e r y Gazette-Times, satisfy in g to see David Svkes which was founded the w ork o f our in 1883, was judged newspaper recognized by among other newspapers of the sta te ’s professional its circulation size. Heppner church reaches out with helping hand By Andrea Di Salvo He p p n e r r e s i de nt s wi l l have no t r oubl e rem em bering the storm that blew through the area last Decem ber, rippi ng apart roofs and felling trees, including the trees in front of Sue Mecham's home on Court Street. Most won’t know what Paul Harvey would have called, “ ...the rest of the story.” Last Friday, volunteers from the Heppner Church of the Nazarene showed up with tools in hand to clear away what was left of the w reckage at 260 Court Street. Two of Mecham’s trees had blown down in the December storm, taking out part of Mecham 's fence and her neighbor's; the trees also felled phone lines and blocked part of Court Street. Century Tel and the City of Heppner showed up almost immediately to clear Sue Mccham (center) with Pastor Norman Lee and Wanda Lee of the Nazarene church. -Contributedphoto the street and fix broken phone lines, but that still left wreckage in Mecham’s yard. That problem was partly solved when two local men, both members of the Wenberg family, offered to cut up the trees and remove them for firewood, “ They t o o k the beginning o f the mess. I couldn't even get out of my driveway until they took it away,” Mecham says, -See CHURCH LENDS A HAND/PAGE FIVE H arvest H ours - M onday - F riday - 7 a m - 6 S aturday - 7 am- 5 pm CLOSED SUNDAY M o r r o w C o u n ty G r a in G r o w e r s ^9X Ìnj|ton^89^82^2^^^-800-452^739^^F«M «niM qulpni«nt^ls|t»un»eM jt^^rwi^neg£oM I
