Mustang wrestling crowns
two district champs
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 134
NO. 8
8 Pages
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Ryan Smith (above left) and John Propheter (above right) both took district championships
in their respective weight classes, putting them on the road to the state tournament this
-See more on this story PAGE SIX
week. -Photos by Kandy Boyd
Gaelic sports come to Ione home destroyed by fire Lexington
to hold
Heppner for St. Pat’s
The Irish sports of hurl-
ing and Gaelic football will
come to Heppner as part of
the St. Patrick’s Wee Bit
O’ Ireland celebration on
Saturday, March 14.
The coordinator of
this event is Hud Wilkins.
Raised in Condon, Wilkins
now resides in Tacoma,
WA. He is very involved in
the northwest organizations
that promote the native Irish
sports of hurling and Gaelic
football, and those organi-
zations have asked to come
to Heppner and be a part of
the St. Patrick’s activities.
There are currently six
hurling teams and three
Gaelic football teams in
Oregon, Washington and
Montana. The teams com-
ing March 14 will be set
up on the football field and
will performing a demon-
stration/workshop from 2-4
p.m. Everyone is invited to
participate, no experience
is necessary, or to simply
come and watch from the
stands.
The Tacoma Rangers,
in which Wilkins is in-
volved, and its umbrella
entity, The Irish Heritage
Club, provide a social and
sporting resource to pro-
mote Gaelic sports in the
South Sound of the Pacific
Northwest. The club main-
tains an active Gaelic foot-
ball and hurling/camogie
program for men, women
and youth.
All are welcome to try
out the sports; no previous
experience is necessary.
Training continues each
Saturday in Tacoma.
medical
marijuana
hearing
Firefighters try in vain to save a home destroyed by fire on spring Street in Ione Saturday
morning. According to Ione Rural Fire Protection District Chief Virgil Morgan, the white and
orange single-wide trailer was a rental property owned by John VandenBrink. No one was
home at the time, and a neighbor reportedly called in the fire shortly after 9 a.m. Along with
quick response from the Ione department, mutual aid was sent from Lexington and Heppner.
Morgan said a total of three engines and around 14 volunteers showed up to fight the house
fire. No injuries were reported but the home was “pretty much totaled out,” Morgan said. The
fire chief said the fire may have started from a possible electrical source in the bedroom, but
the fire is still under investigation. –Contributed photo
The Town of Lexington
has announced it will hold
a public hearing on March
10 at 6:30 p.m. at Lexington
Town Hall, 425 F St.
The purpose of the pub-
lic hearing is to present for
public review and comment
proposed changes to the
city’s development code to
meet the needs of medical
marijuana.
Copies of the proposed
changes are available for
review at town hall. All in-
terested parties are encour-
aged to attend.
Health district approves building
purchase to ease cramped clinic quarters
Plans proceed for opening Ione clinic
Irish athletes compete in hurling, one of the Gaelic games
that will be introduced during this year’s Wee Bit O’ Ireland
celebration. Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic
and Irish origin, and is considered by many to be the world’s
fastest field sport. –Contributed photo
F ind
the
S hamrock !
The Shamrock Hunt is back! After a long hiatus, the St. Patrick’s
Day shamrock treasure hunt is back. The first person to find the
hidden shamrock will win a 2014 Silver Eagle donated by the Bank
of Eastern Oregon, which is on display at the Heppner branch. The
Silver Eagle is valued around $50.
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District Board, at
its regular meeting in Hep-
pner Monday night, ap-
proved purchase of the
county annex building,
which is located above the
hospital, near Pioneer Me-
morial Clinic. The board
proposes to purchase the
building from the county
for $80,000, which will
give the cramped district
additional room to house
Pioneer Memorial Physi-
cal Therapy, which is cur-
rently located in the clinic
building.
Board member Leann
Rea excused herself from
the vote to approve the
purchase because she is also
a Morrow County Com-
missioner. She said that al-
Irish
boxing
is back
-RULES- 1. A new set of clues to guide you to the
hidden shamrock will appear in each edition of the Heppner
Gazette-Times.
2. A total of five clues beginning with the Feb. 11 edition will
be published each week on the front page.
3. The hidden shamrock is not on private property and no
digging or moving of objects, dirt or other materials is neces-
sary to find the shamrock.
4. The first person to find the shamrock and bring it to the
Heppner Gazette-Times office will claim their prize.
CLUE #2
So you followed the clues from the past two weeks
And where did it lead you? In front of un alce place.
Now you wonder, what’ll I do?
You can walk not far, with a little zip
And maybe a code might give you a tip.
There it is, right in front of your face,
Not far away inside a red corked public place.
Don’t be a spoil sport, just leave him there
Cuz all treasure hunters must be aware.
The wee one helped you identify a street.
Exactly where, just use your feet.
Need more help such as a bonus clue?
Check our mug page before you are thru.
Sponsored by Bank of Eastern Oregon and
The Heppner Gazette-Times
The annual amateur
Irish boxing event, spon-
sored by Heppner Chamber
of Commerce and Y102
Haystack Broadcasting,
will return for its eighth
year Friday, March 13, in
the Heppner High School
gymnasium.
Doors will open at 6:30
p.m. and the event will be-
gin at 8 p.m. Admission will
be $10 for ages 12 to adult,
$5 for ages eight to 11, and
free for under seven.
Also returning this year
is the chance to purchase a
2015 St. Patrick’s button for
$3 for two chances to win
$100 during the St. Pat’s
weekend. The first of the
two prize drawings will be
held during intermission at
the boxing event.
This year’s fight card
sponsors are Devin Oil/
Devin Mobile, Northwest
Farm Credit Services,
Sweeney Mortuary and
-See IRISH BOXING/PAGE
TWO
though it was not a conflict
of interest to vote on the
issue as a MCHD Board
member, she felt it was
more prudent to abstain.
CEO Dan Grigg an-
nounced that the district is
proceeding with the plan
to establish a school-based
medical clinic at the Ione
Community School. Grigg
said that the Ione School
Board recently agreed to
purchase a house across
the street from the school
for the site.
“I’m excited,” said
Grigg. “It will be good for
the community of Ione.”
The district has hired
Anderson Dabrowski Ar-
chitecture to design the
clinic.
Grigg said the district
has received a preliminary
agreement from a nurse
practitioner to provide med-
ical care at the clinic one
day a week. He added that
the district will seek another
provider to provide care the
second day. The target date
for opening is mid-May
or early June. Grigg said
they have identified a loca-
tion where the clinic could
open if construction on the
permanent site falls behind
schedule.
The Morrow County
Court has agreed to lend
some furniture that had
previously been used by the
county health department.
Grigg eased concerns
that the clinic would be
established as a site to dis-
pense contraceptives, com-
menting, “It is intended to
be a clinic for the com-
munity.”
Also at the meeting, the
board approved a graphic
design package for the dis-
trict, which would include
a new website, brochures,
digital ads, billboards and
other media to enhance the
district’s image and adver-
tise the many services it
offers.
The district selected
Artmil, a graphic design
company out of Kenne-
wick, WA, to provide the
$27,716-$32,816 graphic
design package for the first
year, which would be billed
in $2,309-$2,735 proposed
monthly payments, and an
$18,666-$21,616 package
for the second year, which
would be billed in $1,556-
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE FIVE
Mustangs head to state playoffs
The Mustang boys are headed to the 2A state tournament in the third seed position after taking
second in the CBC district tournament. Pictured with their district trophy are team members
(L-R) Caden Hedman, Kevin Murray, Ross Cutsforth, Logan Grieb, Patrick Collins, Weston
Putman, CJ Kindle, Jesse Corbin, Jake Lindsay and Jerimiah Petzoldt. Not pictured: Kolby
-See more on this story PAGE FOUR
Currin and Brian Rill. –Photo by Sandra Putman
Polaris
Service
Special
$ 79.
99
Thru February 28th
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net