I
I
Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper l ibran
University o f Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
Enterprise Zone lays out
four spending ‘categories’
HEPPNER
7 want to see us make a difference , says
board member Neal
imes
VOL. 133
NO. 22 8 Pages
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
By David Sykes
In an effort to organize
and plan how it will spend
millions o f dollars coming
into its coffers over the next
15 y ears, the C olum bia
R iv e r E n te rp ris e Z one
board o f directors agreed
upon four areas of spending
at its last meeting June 6.
After much discussion
the board agreed to divide
the alm ost $22.5 million
it will be receiving in the
next 15 years into four
c a te g o rie s o f spending:
h o u s in g , e d u c a tio n ,
public enhancem ent and
community enhancement.
A f if th c a te g o ry o f
discretionary spending for
public projects may also
be added.
Board m em ber Gary
Neal said he saw the CREZ
funding as an opportunity to
improve our communities.
“ I fe e l we s h o u ld
identify categories w here we
can help make a difference.
It is a unique opportunity,”
he said o f the funding, “and
the decisions we make can
m ove o u r c o m m u n itie s
forward. I want to see us
make a difference.”
Unlike a normal taxing
district such as a city or
county, the CREZ is not
required to have a budget
comm ittee, hold hearings
or publish its budget. The
money it receives comes
from fees paid by businesses
locating in the enterprise
zone (mainly a 12-sq.-mile
-See CREZ CA TEGOR1ES;
PAGE FIVE
On the inside: Clockworks back from prison, at home in Bar fight
Patton takes over as
leads to
Neighborhood Cen
the
courthouse
ter Director...PAGE
FOUR
stabbing
Christian Life Center
in Irrigon
welcomes new pastor,
celebrates reopening...
PAGE TWO
Group dedicated to
keeping forest roads
open to have Heppner
workshop...PAGE
FOUR
New
‘biological
control ’for
Russian
Knapweed
released
in Morrow
County
This May, the Oregon
Department o f Agriculture
(O D A ) re le a se d a new
biological control agent
for Russian Knapweed in
Morrow County.
T h e G a ll w a s p ,
(Aulacidea acroptilonica)
was introduced just north
o f lone near the junction o f
Hwy. 74 and McNab Lane
and also near the Gilliam
C ounty/M orrow C ounty
line at Rhea Road.
T he in c o n s p ic u o u s
wasps tie up plant nutrients
and interfere with plant
reproduction. The small
black wasps, which when
fully grown can fit in this
O, are a parthenogenetic
s p e c i e s , m e a n in g a ll
individuals are female.
T his m arks the 77lh
species released in Oregon
for bio-control o f noxious
weeds. The introductions
started in the 1950s and
continue to target over 30
species o f w eeds. ODA
w orks clo se ly w ith the
U SD A and lo cal w eed
Morrow County
Sheriff s Office responded
to a reported stabbing in
Irrigon on June 12; the
stabbing took place shortly
before midnight at the Sub
Zero restaurant and bar in
Irrigon.-
Morrow County
U n d e rsh e riff S teven L.
M yren said p relim in ary
reports indicate that a group
o f persons, including at
least one o f w hich was
known by the bartender to
be under 21, entered the
establishment. They were
told to leave and a verbal
altercation ensued.
A patron o f the bar,
A a ro n V a n F o sse n , 37,
o f Irrigon, attem pted to
intervene on behalf o f the
e s ta b lis h m e n t. S e v e ra l
o f th e g ro u p w ho had
entered the bar then got
into a physical altercation
with VanFossen. D uring
the course o f the fight,
Taking a break after moving the heavy clockworks into the courthouse lobby Tuesday morning are (l-r) Mike Cleveland of Vanfossen was stabbed in
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute, licensed master clockmaker Gary Kopperud, Tony Clement of Morrow County Public
-See IRRIGON STABBING/
Works, Dw ight Haw kins of EOCI, and local contractor Rod Wilson. - Photo by David Sykes
PAGE THREE
The historic M orrow placed in the lobby o f the refurbished the structure installed later this month,
County Courthouse clock courthouse for all to admire Meanwhile, the clockworks a portion o f the courthouse
h a s b e e n r e f u r b is h e d and observe.
were sent to the Eastern lobby will be refurbished in
by P e n d l e t o n p r is o n
The clock and the tower O r e g o n C o r r e c t i o n a l order to put the clockworks
inmates and is back at the were earlier removed from In s titu te in P e n d le to n , on display for the public. A
c o u rth o u se aw a itin g its the courthouse and sent w h ere a crew o f 40-50 long metal rod will connect
final in stallatio n , w here to separate locations for in m a te s s u p e rv is e d by the works to the actual clock
it will once again tell the refurbishing. The tow er m aster clockm aker Gary face atop the courthouse,
tim e from th e fa m ilia r w en t to an old K inzua Kopperud gave it a complete where it will once again tell
clock dome. Now, however, mill building, where local overhaul.
time for the people below.
the c lo c k w o rk s w ill be c o n tra c to r R od W ilson
A f te r th e to w e r is
Local girl pricked by discarded needle
A local girl was pricked
by a d isc a rd e d sy rin g e
beside W illow C reek in
Heppner, local sources say.
A c c o r d in g to th e
M orrow County Sheriff’s
O ffic e an d P io n e e r
Memorial Hospital staff, the
seven-year-old local girl,
whose name is withheld for
her privacy, was walking
-See GALL WASP/PAGE the p ath a lo n g W illow
FOUR Creek behind Northwestern
RV Park the afternoon o f
M ay 31 w hen she saw
w hat she thought was a
thermometer with cap lying
in the grass. She picked it-
up and accidentally pricked
her right thumb. She later
told PMH staff that it went
“straight in” and she pulled
it “straight back out.”
Her father did not learn
o f the incident until the
follow ing day. W hen he
did, he took her to Pioneer
M e m o ria l, w h e re s ta f f
checked her for symptoms
and ran “ baseline te s ts ”
in c a s e sh e d e v e lo p s
symptom s later. She was
not tested for drugs.
Another adult initially
took the needle and threw
it away after the incident;
it could not later be found
for testing, so Director o f
Nursing Molly Rhea said
there is no way to determine
what had been in the used
syringe; the tiny puncture
itself provided no clues.
“Only if you actually
got something injected in
your vein would we be able
to tell...maybe,” she said.
The Gazette-Times was
unable to obtain further
in fo rm a tio n a b o u t the
incident.
McEwen targets America in second novel
Heppner native s fiction an eerie shadow o f current events
By A ndrea Di Salvo
The terrorists are at it
again in Scott M cEw en’s
latest novel, and this time
the target is America.
In “Target A m erica,”
H e p p n e r n a tiv e S c o tt
M cE w en and c o -w rite r
SCOTT
WEN
AC C o , O M Ml
MW*
Target America was released
June 3.
T h o m as K o lo n ia r have
tu rn e d o u t “ a h e a r t
pounding military thriller in
which the fabled domestic
Special Ops Black unit is
activated in order to stop a
group o f Chechen terrorists
from launching a pair o f
‘suitcase’ nukes somewhere
in America.”
The n o v el, rele ase d
by publisher Touchstone
on June 3, is the second
installm ent o f M cEw en's
“ Sniper Elite” series; the
first book, “ Sniper Elite:
One-W ay Trip” was also
coauthored with Koloniar
and came out December of
last year.
M cEwen says Target
A m erica’s reception has
been good so far.
“It’s right at national
bestseller; whether it makes
it, w hether it m akes the
New York Times list, I don’t
know, but it may make an
Amazon list. We’ll see,” he
says. “The numbers have
been extremely good.”
“ I t’s got som e good
editorial reviews, but also
the readers are really liking
it, w hich is ev en m ore
important,” McEwen adds.
B o th m a jo r n e w s
outlets and readers have also
picked up on an unintended
d o v e ta il w ith c u r r e n t
a ff a ir s ...th e C h ech en
terrorists in the novel were
released from Guantanamo
Bay. For many, th at's an
eerie fo re sh a d o w in g o f
the release o f the “Taliban
5” in exchange for Army
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl just a
few days before the book's
release.
“I got some calls from this crop they just let out,
the p re s s a s k in g
if they don’t think
they’re coming back
how I could have
called it so close,”
a fte r us, th e y 'r e
say s M cE w en.
w ro n g ,” he adds.
“They keep coming
“ I thought it w as
interesting how life
a n d t h e y ’ ll use
kind o f re c re ate s
whatever weapons
fiction sometimes.”
Scott McEwen they’ve got.”
“Unfortunately,
On a lighter note
I ’m j u s t h o p e fu l
McEwen also says
the s to r y lin e d o e s not
-See TARGET AMERICA/
PAGE EIGHT
recapitulate fiction, because
Woman
arrested
for crash
that killed
lone man
O regon State P olice
(OSP) arrested a 31-year
old H e rm isto n w o m an
Monday morning for her
involvement in the March
2014 traffic crash that killed
lone man Bob Baker.
Monday morning, June
16, an OSP trooper arrested
A licia G. B reckheim er,
31, at her Hermiston-area
residence. She was lodged
in the Umatilla County Jail
on a w arrant for charges
o f M a n sla u g h te r in the
First Degree, Manslaughter
in th e S econd D e g re e,
three counts of Recklessly
Endangeri ng Anot her
Person, DUII and Reckless
Driving.
The arrest is a follow-up
to an accident that occurred
early on the m orning of
M arch 7 o f t hi s y e a r.
Police say a 2005 Cadillac
CTS four-door driven by
Breckheimer was traveling
westbound in the eastbound
lanes o f Interstate 82 near
milepost 4 when it collided
nearly head-on with a 2006
-See WOMAN ARRESTED
FOR CRASH/PAGE EIGHT
P O LA R IS S E R V IC E S P E C IA L "
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