Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 2014)
Standing proud for the red, white and blue Eugene. OR 97403 äzette imes VOL. 133 NO. 24 10 Pages Wednesday, July 9, 2014 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon A young spectator stands in awe as the lone American Legion color guard leads the way during the Red, White and Blues parade last Friday in lone. -See more photos PAGE FIVE Harvest underway in Morrow County Teen airlifted after Fourth o f July crash Tw o te e n s w e re involved in a motor vehicle accident on Willow Creek Road out o f Heppner over the Fourth o f July weekend. M orrow County Sheriff's Office reports. T re sto n M aben and John “ Jo h n n y ” W ilson, both 18, were in the vehicle when it crashed on Willow C reek R oad ab o u t nine miles east o f Heppner just before 10 p.m. last Friday, July 4. MCSO, Heppner fire and Heppner ambulance all responded to the scene. M a b e n , w ho w as r e p o r te d ly th e d riv e r, su ffe re d m in o r in ju rie s and was not transported, M C S O sa id . H o w ev er, W ilson w as tran sp o rted to P io n e e r M e m o ria l Hospital in Heppner and later airlifted due to severe back injuries. MCSO had no further information on his condition, but other sources say he was resting c o m fo rta b ly at O H SU (Oregon Health & Science University) in Portland with his pain under control as of last Saturday. He reportedly suffered a fractured L-3 vertebrae and tears to his intestines. There is no indication yet as to the cause of the accident. The crash remains under investigation by the sheriff s office. Community Counseling Solutions has grown Penland Lake break-ins solved through •jver the years A combine dumps grain into a truck as another truck stands by near the Lexington airport on Monday. With harvest in full swing from Lexington north, average yields range from 25-30 bushels per acre, said Marc Gaffrey of Morrow County Grain Growers. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo patience, high-tech police work By Andrea Di Salvo F o r m a n y p e o p le , th o u g h ts o f sm all-to w n police departments conjure v isions o f M ayberry, or maybe sitcom jokes about “ y o k e l” c o p s . S e v e ra l Morrow County residents, how ever, have re a liz e d a fa r d if f e r e n t r e a lity as h ard w ork and high- tech investigation by the M orrow County S h e riffs O ffice solved im portant thefts within the last year. The Lindsay and Seitz families will probably never forget the night several individuals chose to break into a Penland Lake cabin the two families co-own. It was Halloween night 2012, as was confirmed both by the tim e-stam p on video surveillance footage and by cabin co-owner Wayne Seitz. “ We h a d s e c u r i t y c a m e ra s in th e r e a n d one o f the cam eras had a p ictu re o f one o f the suspects; they had the skull and crossbones, and the Halloween decoration was w hat I rem em bered,” he said. Seitz said the thieves took several items, some belonging to the Seitzes and some to the Lindsays. Some o f the items, he said, were worth a lot o f money, including a gun, fishing gear, a fishing m otor, a plug-in battery system and more. “The ones that really g o t m e w as th ey to o k our grandson’s Lightning M cQ ueen sleep in g bag, and som e slippers for a little kid,” said Seitz. “And alcohol; they seemed to like the white wine.” Not only did the thieves steal, they also destroyed. “They pretty much just thrashed the placed, ju st trashed it. They threw stuff everywhere, and then they went ahead and spent the night,” Seitz recalled. “You wanna just give up and walk aw ay and hope it never happens again, but then you clean the glass up and pick stuff up, and you just feel violated. But luckily we have too m any good memories, too many years o f good times at the lake, to let bad memories ruin it.” Seitz called the Morrow County Sheriffs Office, and MCSO Deputy Ryan Jundt Local woman makes ‘substantial’ donation toward new fire hall By David Sykes was the first to the scene. He w as fo llo w e d la te r by M CSO deputies Scott Carter and Todd Siex, who helped process the scene and canvass witnesses, but it was Jundt who found the forensic evidence that would later blow the case open. The Seitz family had begun to clean up and take an inventory o f m issing items by the time he arrived, Ju n d t sta te d , but som e things remained untouched. “ I noticed a cigarette butt in the shed and Mr. Sietz advised no one at the cabin smoked,” Jundt said in his report. Not only were there no smokers among the cabin’s usual occupants, but the shed housed a generator and some gas, flammables around which Jundt knew no property owner would allow a cigarette. He bagged the cigarette butt to be sent to Pendleton for analysis. Seitz also pointed Jundt to what they thought must be the point o f entry, a broken w in d o w in a s h e lte re d com er o f the cabin. Both the broken glass and the wall immediately inside the house had reddish-brown stains Jundt believed to be blood; he took a swab o f the stain, which would also be sent to a lab to be analyzed. O th er ev id en ce was g a th e r e d , in c lu d in g a p illo w c a s e w ith a red- brown stain and a bottle o f Boone’s Farm that the -See PENLAND LAKE CASE/PAGE FOUR Ida Farra of Heppner hat made a “substantial" donation toward construction of the new Are hall, Fire Chief Rusty Estes has announced. Estes, along with a large group of firefighters, presented Farra with a plaque of appreciation Monday evening, in honor of this and other donations she has made to the local fire department. The lire department is in the early stages of constructing a new fire hall next to its present hall on Willow Street in Heppner. So far an architect has been hired and grants are being applied for to pay for the hall, which ia estimated to cost around S900,000 Estes said. While declining to name the exact amount Farra donated, Estes said it would get them off to a good start. He said anyone else who would like to donate should please contact him. “Ida Farra, thank yon for many years of support. Heppner Volunteer Fire and Rescue," the plaque read. She has purchased peeded equipment and other items for the dept, over the years Estes said. -Photo by David Sykes update to the Chamber of Commerce on the Lakeview C o u n s e lin g S o lu tio n s H eights se cu re fac ility has grow n from a local in Heppner, saying it has organization called Morrow se rv e d 152 in d iv id u a ls County Mental Health to since opening in February today’s organization, which o f 2010. operates multiple services With a payroll o f over in four different counties. $70,000 per month and 19 E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r of the 21 employees living Kimberly Lindsay recently in South Morrow County, c a m e to th e H e p p n e r the facility has become an C h am b er o f C om m erce asset to the com m unity, to give an update on its she say s. She said the activities. facility also buys much of Lindsay s a i d its groceries locally and C om m unity C o u n selin g uses the local hospital and Solutions (CCS) has grown clinic, also. to where it now operates in Grant County has seen Morrow, Wheeler, Gilliam significant expansion of and Grant counties with a C om m unity C o u n selin g budget of $9.2 million and S o l u t i o n s s e r v i c e s 130 employees. w h e re , in p a r tn e r s h ip It started its grow th w i t h B l u e M o u n t a i n spurt in 1996 as Morrow H o s p i t a l a n d E a s t e r n County Metal Health with O regon H ealth Services 15 em ployees providing C o n so rtiu m , it o p erates outpatient and addiction J u n i p e r R i d g e A c u t e counseling to adults Card Center, a and children. secure acute care N ow CCS psychiatric facility. offers a wide variety This 10-bed facility o f behavioral health provides acute care services including services for up to individual, family fo u r i ndi vi dual s, and group therapy, short term secure Residential care a lc o h o l and drug Executive t r e a t m e n t , 2 4 /7 Director for up to five crisis intervention Kimberly i n d i v i d u a l s , and services, psychiatric Lindsay one c risis/re sp ite bed for individuals c o n su lta tio n , and medication management. prim arily from the Grant It a lso o p erates the County area. Lakeview Heights Secure Lindsay says her job R e s id e n tia l T re a tm e n t and the grow th at CCS Facility in Heppner, The has been quite a learning D avid Rom prey O regon experience. W arm line for telephone “ W i t h o u t an M B A help for people in distress, ( M a s t e r o f B u s i n e s s and also problem gambling Administration) I have had a and counseling. significant learning curve,” L i n d s a y g a v e an she told the Chamber. C o m m u n i t y BF Sf* NEW yXW HARVEST HOURS: M oaday - Friday 7 a Saturday 7am - Morrow County Grain Growe Lexington 98»-<221 « 1 -<00-462-7396 r.rim >
