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
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HARVEST HOURS:
M oaday - Friday 7 a
Saturday 7am -
Morrow County Grain Growe
Lexington 98»-<221 « 1 -<00-462-7396 r.rim
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