Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 30, 2014)
I Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 Lightning strike ends in friendship, not tears imes VOL. 133 NO. 266 8 Pages Wednesday, July 30, 2014 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Heppner raises a ruckus PH?""-------- By Andrea Di Salvo An lone couple had a close call from a lightning strike last week, but their greatest memory is of the kindness of their neighbors. Gerald Wilson, 85, of lone says he and his wife Linda were at home last Tuesday, July 22, when the storm moved in around 7 p.m. The first thing he recalls is the sound. “There was a great big boom, a hell of a lightning strike and a thunderclap, and it sounded like it was This teardrop-shaped black spot on the earth is the only sign that remains of the fire that threatened the homes of Gerald -See LIGHTNING STRIKE/ and Linda Wilson and their neighbor Bob Perry. The Wilsons’ PAGE TWO home sits down and to the left of the burn, while Perry’s home is down and to the right. Wilson said the fire was only about an eighth of a mile from their house. -Photo by David Sykes Electric co-op announces retirement, promotion The Board of Directors cooperatives in The Dalles. of Columbia Basin Wolff and his wife Electric Cooperative K aren re s id e in has a n n o u n ce d Heppner. that Thomas Wolff C u r r e n t has been selected M an ag er Jerry to succeed Jerry H ealy is retirin g Healy as the utility’s after 33 years with general m anager, Thomas Wolff th e u ti lit y . He follow ing a five- started his career month national search and with CBEC as an Assistant recruitment process. The Office Manager in February appointment is effective 1981, working his way up Sept. 1. the administrative ranks. Wolff has been He was promoted employed with the to manager on Sept. co-op for 15 years 1, 1998. Healy has as the M an ag er served on several o f F in a n c e and in d u s try -re la te d A d m in is tra tio n . state and regional W olff, who was organizations and raised in Heppner, forums. is a n O r e g o n Jerry Healy Healy and his S tate U n iv ersity wife Carmen look graduate and earned his forward to some travel, CPA (C e rtifie d P u b lic , w a rm e r w in te rs , and Accountant) license while enjoying the upcoming birth au d itin g rural e lectric of their first grandchild. Chip-sealing planned on Hager The City of Heppner will begin chip-sealing on Hager Street Thursday, July 31. The project is scheduled for completion Monday, Aug. 4. Hager Street will be closed to all through traffic, but the contractor will be able to accommodate local residents. This will be the final phase of the city’s beautification project. Locals and visitors alike gathered for the chance to raise a ruckus at the first Ruckus in the Boonies music festival in Heppner last Saturday (top). The featured performers weren’t the only highlights of the event. Above, an enthusias tic Megan Futter (center) was the winner of the white trash costume contest, while at right, Rita Glover (center) tries to keep a tally of the wieners being consumed during the hot dog eating contest. -Photos by Tylynn Cimmiyotti New SAGE Center manager visits chamber o f commerce Federal Appeals Court finds Obama’s wind farm decision unconstitutional Editor snote: Thefollowing article was published on the North American Windpower website (http:// w w w ’. nawindpower. com/) July 24, 2014 The article refers to a wind project on Buttercreek in Morrow County. The Obama Administration stopped construction o f the wind farm following its purchase by a Chinese company. The Gazette-Times printed a series o f articles about the shut-down. By CJ.Voss In a surprise ruling issued last week, a U.S. appeals court held that President Barack Obama had unconstitutionally deprived a Chinese- controlled buyer, Ralls Corp., of its property rights in four wind farm projects by forcing it to divest that property for national security reasons. This case arises from Ralls’ March 2012 acquisition of four project companies that were formed to develop wind farms in north central Oregon (on Buttercreek in Morrow County). The project companies’ assets included easements permitting the construction of wind turbines, power purchase and generator interconnection agreements with the local utility, transmission interconnection agreements with nearby wind farms, and the permits and approvals necessary to construct the turbines. Ralls had challenged the presidential order that had been issued in connection with a review of foreign investment by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency U.S. government body charged with assessing the potential national security effects of foreign acquisitions of U.S. businesses. The appeals court explained that, in the Ralls Corp.'s right to build wind turbines like this along CFIUS context, due Buttercreek is still in contention. File photo By David Sykes New SAGE C enter Manager K alie D avis paid a visit to the H eppner C h am b er o f Commerce recen tly and told members a b o u t upcoming e v e n t s a nd c u r r e n t activities g oi ng on at the interactive visitor center l o c a t e d on Interstate 84 in Boardman. Davis said the center has b e e n b u s y SAGE Center Manager Kalie Davis visited preparing for the Heppner Chamber o f Commerce a c o u p l e o f luncheon recently to talk about what’s going events for the on at the center. -Photo by David Sykes p u b l i c . On from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., -See SAGE AT CHAMBER/ -See WIND FARM APPEAL/ Aug. 22 and 23 there will PAGE THREE PAGE FIVE be Tillamook Cheese Days process requires that the investor be informed of the official action, be given access to the unclassified evidence on which the president relied in making his decision, and be granted an opportunity to rebut that evidence. Although the ruling did not challenge the president’s substantive determination that the Ralls transaction threatened U.S. national security or his decision to block Ralls’ operation and ownership of the wind farms as a means to mitigate the threat, it likely will result in a more transparent and fairer national security review process of foreign investment in the U.S. Appeals C ourt Decision The wind farm projects acquired by Ralls were located adjacent to L A W S MOWER CLEARAU 10% OFF STOP BY AND LOOK OVER OUR SELECTION! p o w ers in stock M o rro w C o u n ty G ra in G ro w ers G reen F e e d A S e e d 242 W. Linden Way, Heppner » 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main offlca| I Ì \ >
