Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Looking back at 2013...
imes
VOL. 133
NO. 1 8 Pages
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner man killed in
ATV accident
Tragedy struck a local that the call regarding the
family during the holiday accident came in shortly
season when Robert Nelson before 9 p.m. thatevening;
Nichols, 31, o f Heppner MCSO and Heppner fire
was killed in an all-terrain responded to the location at
vehicle (ATV) accident the Matt Clark residence on
Monday, Dec. 23.
Hwy. 207 out o f Heppner.
M o rro w C o u n ty
The s h e riff 's office
S he riff's Office reports had no information on the
circumstances surrounding
the a c c id e n t and could
not comment on whether
Nichols was transported
for care or deceased at the
scene.
-See obituary on PAGE
TWO
Umatilla forest welcomes
two new district rangers
Niesen replaces Buchholz as Heppner ranger
Pendleton, OR— The see the work the district
Umatilla National Forest and our partners are doing
has hired two new
a n d hap p y to be
d i s t r ic t ra n g e r s ,
part of the Umatilla
one o f whom will
National Forest.”
take over the post
N ie se n w as
vacated by previous
born and raised in
H e p p n e r D istrict
northern Minnesota,
R an g er Todd
and attended school
Buchholz this fall.
at M ankato State
“We are pleased Ann Niesen
University, where
to have these two
she re c e iv e d a
experienced and highly B achelor o f S cience in
qualified individuals join recreation, parks and leisure
the f o r e s t ’s le a d e rs h ip services.
s ta f f ,” says U m a tilla
N ie sen began her
National Forest Supervisor career with the Minnesota
Kevin Martin. “They bring D e p a rtm e n t o f N a tu ra l
with them a diverse mix Resources in 1988, where
o f resource management she spent 14 years working
skills, fresh perspectives for the Trails and Waterways
and enthusiasm that will Division managing public
serve the forest and our a c ce ss a c q u is itio n and
communities well,” said development, fishing piers,
Martin.
sum m er trail program s,
Ann Niesen is the new s n o w m o b ile and c ro s s
Heppner District Ranger country trail grooming and
based in H eppner. She management of OHV Parks.
replaces Buchholz, who
In 2001, N iesen moved
transferred to the Coos to Idaho to work for the
Bay, OR Bureau o f Land Boise National Forest and
Management.
then later onto the Sawtooth
“ I am thrilled to be N a tio n a l Forest, w here
working on the Umatilla she served as Recreation
and living in Heppner. 1 Program Manager on the
have spent the majority o f Fairfield Ranger District
my career living in small and then Staff Officer for
towns, and Heppner has the R e c re a tio n , L ands,
been very welcoming. I H e rita g e and R esource
look forward to meeting Information programs at the
c o m m u n i t y m e m b e r s , forest supervisor’s office.
helping out where I can She’s also served for seven
and exploring the area,” years on an Eastern Great
says Niesen, who reported Basin Type 2 Team as a
to duty mid-December. “ I Resource Unit Leader.
have been on the job for a
Niesen says she enjoys
week and I am excited to hiking, skiing, fishing,
paddling and quilting as
well as spending time with
her two grown daughters.
Ian R eid has b e e n
selected as the new North
Fork John Day D istrict
Ranger based in Ukiah, OR.
He replaces Bob Varner,
w ho tra n s fe r re d to the
Gifford Pinchot National
Forest in Vancouver, WA.
R e i d s a y s h e is
passionate about sustainably
managing natural resources
of the national forests and
providing a stable supply of
goods and services to forest
users and stakeholders.
“I am super excited to
be a part o f the Umatilla
National Forest and live with
my family in the spectacular
Blue M ountains. 1 look
forward to working with
the outstanding resource
professionals on the North
Fork John Day R anger
District, hard-working local
communities, and tribes in
the area,” says Reid.
Reid earned a fisheries
s c i e n c e d e g r e e fro m
Oregon State University
in 2003 and b a c h e lo r's
and m a s te r’s degrees in
b io lo g y from Southern
Oregon University. Early
in his career he worked
in seasonal positions with
the Oregon Departm ent
o f Fish and Wildlife. In
1999 he began working for
the Rogue River-Siskiyou
N a tio n a l F o re st near
Medford, OR as a district
Mustang Blake Greenup fought for possession during a basketball game on the team's road
to fifth place in the state tournament in 2013.
-See more memories from the past year on PAGE THREE
ESD superintendent
speaks to Heppner
Chamber of Commerce
By David Sykes
Intermountain
E d u c a tio n a l S e rv ic e
District S up e rin te n d en t
mark Mulvihill was guest
speaker at the H eppner
C h a m b e r o f C o m m erc e
recently, and he laid out
his vision for the future
o f education for Eastern
Oregon and the State o f
Oregon, which includes
“The Eastern Promise.”
The Eastern Promise
is a program that allows
students to earn college
credits while still in high
school, thus driving down
the cost o f college and also
better preparing the students
for higher education.
“ The least academic
year for kids is their senior
year,” said Mulvihill. “ It
takes 24 credits to graduate
from high school.
If they take eight credit
hours per year then they
have all o f them by their
junior year. Lots o f seniors
take one credit their senior
year.” he explained.
Under Eastern Promise
stu d e n ts can be taking
college-level classes that
are guaranteed transferable,
and thus be saving time and
college tuition money while
still in high school, he says.
So far $4 million has
been a llo c a te d to fund
the program, and Eastern
Intermountain Education Service District Superintendent
Mark Mulvihill tells Heppner Chamber of Commerce about
“The Eastern Promise.” -Photo by David Sykes
Oregon University, Blue
M o u n ta i n C o m m u n it y
C o lleg e and T reasure
Valley Community College
are participating with the
curriculum.
“ T h ro u g h E a ste rn
Prom ise you can easily
earn your freshman class
in college,” says Mulvihill.
“ T h a t ’s lik e g e tt in g a
$20,000 scholarship. The
idea is not to have kids have
a $28,000 debt when they
graduate from college. Kids
should not have to go into
debt for 100 level classes.”
“ We are working on
a c o m m o n goal w h e re
colleges accept credits from
high school. The old days
o f wracking up a bunch
o f credits in highs school
and then they don’t count
in college are gone,” he
says. “Education is just too
expensive.”
Mul vi hi l l sa y s the
cost o f college education
is typ ic a lly d iv id e d 70
percent for the student
and 30 percent provided
by government grants and
funding.
Locally Mulvihill says
the sch o o ls in M orrow
County are doing pretty
well. With a state-w ide
high-school graduation rate
-See MUL VIHILL A T HEP
PNER CHAMBER/PAGE
TWO
Wow, that’s some stocking!
-See UMATILLA NF HIRES
RANGERS/PAGE TWO
G-T Trophy Corner
Heppner Shell continued its tradition this year of holding a drawing for a giant stocking over
the holidays. They upped the ante for 2013, offering two huge prizes, both of which were won
by local girls. Pictured are (L-R): beaming w inner Faith Futter, Shell employee Melissa Pierson,
and overwhelmed winner Elizabeth Ginn being comforted by father David Ginn. -Photo by
Megan Futter
W E WILL BE CLOSED JANUARY 1ST
NEW YEAR’S DAY
HAPPY NEW
YEAR!!
Tiffany Akers, 12, of Irrigon shot her first doe on Dec. 1 during the Morrow County Youth
Hunt at Green Wood Resources in Boardman. -Contributedphoto
M orrow County G rain G row ers
L e x in g t o n 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 2 - 7 3 9 6
For farm equipment. risii our web sit« at www m e (f net