HEPPNER
G T
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Despite recent cold snap,
weather expected to continue
on the warm side
Despite last week’s
cold spell, the National
Weather Service in Pend-
leton reports that tempera-
tures in Heppner averaged
warmer than normal during
December, a trend that is
expected to continue into
January.
The average Decem-
ber temperature was 35.9
degrees, which was 2.5
degrees above normal. High
temperatures averaged 42.3
degrees, which was 0.9
degrees above normal. The
highest was 64 degrees on
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon the 11 th . Low temperatures
azette
imes
December’s overall warm trend, graphed above, is expected
to continue into January, NWS reports.
averaged 29.6 degrees,
which was 4.1 degrees
above normal. The lowest
was 0 degrees, on the 30 th .
There were 17 days
with the low temperature
VOL. 134
NO. 1 6 Pages
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
below 32 degrees. There
were seven days when the
high temperature stayed
below 32 degrees.
Precipitation totaled
2.12 inches during Decem-
ber, which was 0.80 inches
above normal. Measurable
precipitation of at least .01
inch was received on 18
days with the heaviest, 0.51
inches, reported on the 29 th .
Precipitation in 2014
totaled 12.65 inches, which
is 1.35 inches below nor-
mal. Since October, the
water-year precipitation
at Heppner has been 4.04
County officials elected in the November election were sworn into office earlier this week. Morrow County Clerk Bobbi
Childers administered the oath of office to Don Russell (above left), who takes office as Morrow County Commissioner, and inches, which is 0.02 inches
below normal.
Mike Gorman (above right), Morrow County Assessor.
Snowfall totaled 6.3
County officials sworn into office
Town & Country Awards are just
around the corner
Heppner Chamber of
Commerce’s annual Town
and Country Community
Awards, sponsored by Port-
land General Electric, will
be held Thursday, Jan. 15.
The event will start at
6 p.m. with a no-host social
time, with buffet or served
dinner to start at 6:30 p.m.
The awards program will
start about 7:30 p.m.
Alvin Liu of Corner-
stone Gallery will be cater-
ing the dinner and will be
serving aged prime rib steak
with au jus and horserad-
ish aioli, toasted aspara-
gus, garlic butter couscous
dusted with Parmigiano-
Reggiano; dinner rolls with
butter, mandarin orange
tapioca parfait, and bever-
age.
Tickets are $20 and are
now available at the Bank
of Eastern Oregon, Hep-
pner chamber office/city
hall, Community Bank and
Murray’s Drug.
Event coordinators ask
that everyone who plans to
attend purchase tickets so
they plan on enough food
for everyone.
Of course, the eve-
ning’s highlight will be the
awards, as the community
celebrates Man of the Year,
Woman of the Year, Busi-
ness of the Year, Youth Rec-
ognition, Citizen-Educator
of the Year and Lifetime
Achievement.
Also that evening will
be the coronation of the
Morrow County Fair and
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo
Queen Macy Gibbs.
Contact the Heppner
chamber at 541-676-5536
or heppnerchamber@cen-
turytel.net to purchase tick-
et to be held and picked up
the night of the event.
Klamath Falls crash claims life of
Hermiston man
A fatal accident near
Klamath Falls, OR claimed
the life of Hermiston man
Garrett Zimmer on Dec. 28,
Oregon State Police reports.
Zimmer was the son of Brad
and Jennifer (Rill) Zimmer
of Klamath Falls.
According to an OSP
statement, at approximately
7:40 a.m. that day, troopers
responded to the South Side
Bypass on Hwy. 140 East
on a reported single-vehicle
rollover crash.
The red Ford Ranger
pickup had been travelling
westbound on the highway
and left the north side of
the roadway, colliding with
a roadside lamppost and
highway sign, then rolling
several times into an adja-
cent pasture.
Two of the vehicle’s oc-
cupants, 22-year-old Zim-
mer and Marri D. Young-
Wellbaum, 26, of Eagle
Point, were ejected from
the pickup and pronounced
deceased at the scene. A
third occupant, Guage L.
Gray, 22, of Klamath Falls,
was transported to Sky
Lakes Hospital with non-
life threatening injuries.
None of the occupants
in the vehicle were wearing
A single-vehicle rollover crash near Klamath Falls claimed the
life of 22-year-old Hermiston man Garrett Zimmer on Dec.
28. –Photo courtesy of Oregon State Police
safety restraints. OSP says mains under investigation.
-See obituary PAGE TWO
the cause of the crash re-
Libraries of Eastern Oregon receives
$10,000 award
Libraries of Eastern
Oregon (LEO) has received
a $10,000 award from the
Tom’s of Maine natural
products company in rec-
ognition of LEO’s accom-
plishments to serve public
libraries in the region.
One organization in
every U.S. state and the
District of Columbia was
selected by a team of judges
to receive the award. The 50
final award recipients for
this year were selected from
a pool of more than 3,000
national applicants.
The $500,000 provid-
ed nationwide by Tom’s
of Maine’s “50 States for
Good” program is targeted
to provide grassroots orga-
nizations with funding to
support their projects serv-
ing children and families.
“We’re awarding more
Heppner chamber
annual meeting this
week
The next lunch meeting of the Heppner Chamber of
Commerce will be the chamber’s annual luncheon this
Thursday, Jan. 8, from noon to 1 p.m. The annual meeting
will be held in the St. Patrick’s Senior Center dining room.
Cost of lunch is $10; Pudding on the Ritz will cater.
Chamber lunch attendees are asked to RSVP at 541-
676-5536 no later than the Wednesday before to guarantee
a lunch.
than $500,000 to support
organizations on the front
lines of making commu-
nities stronger across the
country,” said Susan De-
whirst, programs manager
at Tom’s of Maine. “Ev-
ery community advocate
we heard from—reflected
in thousands of nomina-
tions—has a unique and
special vision for bringing
a lasting, positive impact to
where they live.”
“We’re delighted to
have received this award,”
said Lyn Craig, LEO ex-
ecutive director. “LEO has
worked hard behind the
scenes over the past 14
years to provide area li-
braries with services that
some couldn’t otherwise
afford on their own, such
as community programs
and Library2Go, the online
service with free download-
able e-books.
“By collaborating
throughout the region,
public libraries in eastern
Oregon are able to do more
together than each could do
alone. It’s the library direc-
tors who really deserve the
recognition,” Craig added.
The award to LEO will
be used to further develop
early literacy and commu-
nity programs in the region.
Based at Joseph, OR, LEO
serves public libraries in 15
eastern Oregon counties.
For further information,
contact Craig at leolibrar-
ies@gmail.com.
inches, with at least one
inch of snow reported on
two days. The heaviest
snowfall was five inches,
reported on the 29 th . The
greatest depth of snow on
the ground was five inches
on the 29 th .
The highest wind gust
was 88 mph on the 11 th .
The outlook for Janu-
ary from NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center calls for
above-normal temperatures
and below-normal precipi-
tation. Normal highs for
Heppner during January
are 43.6 degrees and normal
lows are 26.7 degrees. The
30-year normal precipita-
tion is 1.47 inches.
The National Weather
Service is an office of the
National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration,
an agency of the U.S. Com-
merce Department.
Extreme wind in
December was the top
regional weather story
The year 2014 was a
crazy year for weather in
this region. In recognition
of that, eight staff members
of the National Weather
Service in Pendleton voted
on the 10 most important lo-
cal weather events of 2014:
10. October warmth…
Summerlike weather con-
tinued into October. Monu-
ment, Kennewick, and Wal-
la Walla had the warmest
October on record. Heppner
was one of several cities
reporting a top-five warm
October.
9. Dry water year…
From October 2013 to Sep-
tember 2014, Kennewick
had the driest water year,
receiving only 3.81 inches.
The previous record was
3.92, set in the 1963-64
water year. Walla Walla
had their fourth driest water
year, and Redmond’s water
year was 10 th driest.
8 . Wi l d f i r e s … D r y
thunderstorms and dry veg-
etation led to numerous
wildfires across the Inland
Northwest during July and
August. In the NWS Pend-
leton Fire Weather service
area, there were 456,000
acres burned in 2014, com-
pared to 135,000 in 2013
and 182,000 in 2012.
7. Damaging wind Jan.
11-12…Wind gusts 60-90
mph led to trees down,
power outages, and roof
damage. A semi-truck was
blown off the road near
West Richland.
6. Severe thunder-
storms Aug. 12-14…Thun-
derstorms with heavy rain-
fall, damaging winds, and
blowing dust hit many areas
of the Inland Northwest.
Hail up to golfball size fell
southeast of Meacham.
Over an inch of rain in an
hour or less was reported
in some areas, including
west of Hermiston. A mud-
slide occurred on Highway
12. Wind gusts to 68 mph
were reported on the Han-
ford Reservation and a tree
was uprooted northwest of
Pendleton.
5. Record November
cold…Arctic air became
entrenched the second week
of November. Many loca-
tions did not reach above
freezing for more than a
week. After the snow fell
and the skies cleared…
temperatures plummeted
even further. Several sites
had one of their coldest all-
time November mornings
on record Nov. 15 and 16.
4. Mid-November
snow…Early season snow
was heavy in a several lo-
cations including Heppner.
The heavy snow caused
a roof collapse at a wood
products mill in Prineville.
2. (TIED) Hot July…
It was the hottest on record
at Bend, Condon, Whitman
Mission and Yakima. A top-
five hot July was recorded
at Heppner, among other
locations.
2. (TIED) Heavy snow
Feb. 6-9…Heavy snow
fell in most areas with 1-2
feet accumulating in Con-
don, WNW Bend, WSW
The Dalles, Echo and La-
Grande. Three fatalities
were associated with the
heavy snow. Rain occurred
during the snow melt a few
days later with minor flood-
ing across Deschutes, Jef-
ferson, Crook and Wheeler
counties.
1. December wind…A
deep low pressure system
moving north, just off the
Oregon and Washington
coast, brought widespread
wind gusts over 60 mph,
which caused tree and
building damage, power
outages, and vehicular acci-
dents. Wind gusts of at least
80 mph were reported south
of Ione, WNW of Ruggs,
NW Heppner and Condon.
up to
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