Morrow County Rodeo,
OTPR results announced
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 134
NO. 33 8 Pages
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Suspect sought after recovery
of stolen motorcycle
Above: Jason Minor (center) of Ellensburg, WA won the All-Around title and the saddle do-
nated by Bank of Eastern Oregon at the Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo last month. Below: Bo Foster,
pictured with Morrow County Fair and OTPR Queen Macy Gibbs, took home the Morrow
County Rodeo All-Around title, along with the buckle donated by Les Schwab Tires. –Photos
by Lindsey Wylie
Two men were arrested of Irrigon on two felony
and a third is wanted after warrants out of Benton
police recovered a stolen County, Washington, one
motorcycle in Mor-
for Non Compliance
row County over the
for Burglary in the
weekend.
2 nd Degree and one
An Irrigon res-
for Non Compliance
ident whose mo-
for Stolen Property
torcycle had been
Trafficking. Bail is
stolen Aug. 16 con-
set at $10,000 for
tacted the Morrow Chester Brent each warrant. Para-
County Sheriff ’s Paradiso
diso also faces pos-
Office last Satur-
sible charges from
day, saying he had received Morrow County.
information regarding the
Also contacted as part
stolen motorcycle and re- of the investigation was
questing police assistance Daniel Roy Walchli, 41,
in locating it.
of Irrigon. Walchli was al-
MCSO, with the help of legedly trespassing on the
Oregon State Police and of- property of Greenwood
ficers from the Blue Moun- Resources, and was arrested
tain Enforcement Narcotics and released at the scene for
Team, was able to follow Criminal Trespass II.
up on the information. As a
Morrow County Sher-
result of the investigation, iff’s Office did recover the
law enforcement arrested stolen 2006 Honda motor-
Chester Brent Paradiso, 44, cycle, which has been re-
Jason Minor of Ellens-
burg, WA won the All-
Around title for the $35,000
Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo in
Heppner by winning out
by half a point over Randy
Thompson of Yoncalla,
OR in the wild cow milk-
ing contest. With the title,
Minor also won the OTPR
All-Around saddle donated
by the Bank of Eastern
Oregon.
In other events, Cam-
eron Craig won the bare-
back title with an 83, while
Jacob Ramirez won bull
riding with a 70, Danny
Alires took saddle bronc
with an 86 and Justin Quint
scored 80 points on ranch
bronc. Other champions
were: barrel racer Callahan
Crossley of Hermiston with
17.22 seconds; tie-down
roper Paul Cope with 9.7
seconds; breakaway roper
Send
trophy
shots to
the G-T
It’s that time of year
again! Whether you shot it
with an arrow or reeled it in
with a hook, the Heppner
Gazette-Times wants to
see pictures of your trophy
animals from this hunting
season.
Getting your photos to
the G-T is easy. Stop by to
have your picture taken,
drop off photos at our office
on Willow St. in Heppner,
mail them to PO Box 337
in Heppner, email them to
editor@rapidserve.net or
text cell phone photos to
541-980-6674.
Please be sure to in-
clude you name and other
details--such as your age
and where you’re from,
and even what gear you
used--so we can show off
your hunting skills in our
local paper.
G-T closed
for Labor
Day
The Heppner Gazette-
Times will be closed for the
Labor Day holiday on Mon-
day, Sept. 7. The deadline
for all news and advertising
for the Sept. 9 issue will be
Friday, Sept. 4, at 5 p.m.
The G-T wishes every-
one a happy and safe Labor
Day weekend.
turned to the owner. MCSO
is also seeking information
on a third suspect who
was able to flee the scene.
Morrow County is asking
the public’s help with any
information on the where-
abouts of Wallace Gary
Smith, 45, who is wanted
for Theft I in connection
with this case. Anyone
with information regarding
Smith is asked to call the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office at 541-676-5317.
Smith is wanted for
the charge of Theft I and
other possible charges that
are pending. Smith is also
wanted by the U.S. Mar-
shal’s Service for a federal
felony warrant out of Ar-
lington, VA for Probation
Violation for Theft of Gov-
ernment Property, no bail.
No photo of Smith was
available at press time.
Kayse Winkle with 2.0
seconds; steer wrestler Sean
Santucci with 3.9 seconds;
team ropers Andy Carlson
(Hermiston) and Bryan
Reay (Adrian) with 4.9
seconds.
On the home front Sun-
day, Aug. 23, excitement
had a more home-grown
feel at the Morrow County
Rodeo. Bodeen Foster took
home the All-Around buck-
Search continues for new health
district CEO
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District, at its regu-
lar meeting Monday night
in Heppner, agreed to au-
thorize an electronic vote
on a proposed CEO con-
tract. The district is seek-
ing a new CEO since the
resignation of Dan Grigg
in June, and Chief Financial
Officer and acting CEO
Nicole Mahoney and board
member Aaron Palmquist
are in the process of refin-
ing the contract verbiage.
The board hopes to get a
new contract approved by
Sept. 10.
Concerning Pioneer
Memorial Hospital’s de-
teriorating sewer system,
Maintenance Supervisor
Carl Lauritsen told the
board that a cost-saving
solution to install liners in
the sewer would not work
because the sewer system
has a “belly,” which is
a lower sagging portion
where waste and water ac-
cumulate. He said that the
“belly” would have to be
replaced before liners could
be installed. The district is
planning to let bids again on
replacing the sewer system.
The district plans to utilize
the current system until
new lines can be installed
and then abandon the old
system.
Mahoney and Lauritsen
say they believe the system
could be replaced in the
neighborhood of $75-80
thousand; however, board
member Aaron Palmquist,
who is also the city manager
for the city of Irrigon, said
he thought it could cost up
to a quarter of a million.
Mahoney said that she
would reprioritize other
planned capital improve-
ment projects in order to
help fund the sewer project.
She said that the district
would let bids as soon as
possible.
Mahoney told the board
that according to Merritt
Hawkins, the physician
recruitment firm hired by
the district, there are no
new developments on any
of the previous physician
candidates, but a female
doctor from Florida has
recently responded to their
ad. Dr. Betsy Anderson left
her positon with the district
as of the end of August.
Mahoney also told the
board that the CEO search
committee has conducted
preliminary interviews
with two candidates, one
of whom has been invited to
interview in person later in
September. That candidate
is currently working and
residing in Alaska.
Mahoney said that con-
struction has been complet-
ed on the Ione Community
Clinic and that staffing is
underway. She said that
Shelly Rietmann of Ione
was hired as a part-time
medical assistant for the
clinic and that two CNA
students, Pam Piper and
Ariel Knight, will join the
hospital team after they
complete their training and
certification.
An open house for the
Ione Clinic is set for open-
ing day on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
Mahoney also pre-
sented the profit and loss
le donated by Les Schwab
Tires.
Before that, though, the
events started with the stick
horse races. In the three
and under division, Kam-
ryn Dickenson took first,
Charlie Mullins second
and Maddox McMasters
third. For the four- and five-
See more rodeo results and
photos at RODEO
RESULTS/ PAGE FIVE
Red Barn
5k planned
for Sept.
19
Local walkers and run-
ners, as well as anyone who
wants to bring the family
out for a fun event on a fall
day, are asked to mark their
calendars for the Red Barn
5k on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The event will include
a one-mile, two-mile or five
kilometer run/walk.
Registration will be
held that morning from
7:45-8:15 a.m. at the Lat-
ter-day Saints church in
Lexington, on the corner of
Hwy. 74 and Tom St.
Cost to participate is
$5, or $10 for a t-shirt.
Proceeds go to the Mor-
row County cross country
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/ team.
PAGE THREE
WCVEDG announces grant recipients
Willow Creek Valley
Economic Development
Group (WCVEDG) has
announced the recipients
of the Community and Pub-
lic Enhancement Grants
awarded to local groups
last month.
In July, WCVEDG an-
nounced that it had received
funds from the Colum-
bia River Enterprise Zone
Board (CREZ) to be used
for community and public
enhancement for South
Morrow County. The group
has now announced that
eight local entities received
a total of $34,141.49 in
funding. Recipients are as
follows:
-Morrow County Mu-
seum received $5,000 to
digitize county newspapers
so they are available online
and can be accessed by the
public.
-The Town of Lexing-
ton received $5,000 to add
a picnic facility at the old
fire hall/town hall site, in-
cluding planting grass and
installation of a pergola
picnic table.
-City of Heppner re-
ceived $5,224 for improve-
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see pic-
tures of your trophy animals from this hunting
season. Stop by to have your picture taken,
drop off photos, mail them to PO Box 337 in
Heppner, email them to editor@rapidserve.
net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674.
ment of playground equip-
ment at Heppner City Park.
-Morrow SWCD re-
ceived $967.50 to remove
an old concrete curb and re-
place it with recycled plas-
tic/rubber parking stops,
as well as an additional
$699.99 to purchase a DR
TreeChopper ATV attach-
ment for the control of
Western Juniper in South
Morrow County, to be used
by landowners.
-Heppner Jr./Sr. High
Booster Club received
$5,000 toward refurbishing
the high school gym floor
and to install three water
bottle fill stations for use
by community and students.
-Ione American Le-
gion and Auxiliary received
$2,250 to purchase new
chairs and lightweight ta-
bles and to purchase a stor-
age container into which
to put existing chairs and
tables for use by commu-
nity members.
- Heppner Day Care re-
ceived $10,000 for renova-
tion and construction costs
for an infant and toddler
child care center.
Applicant organiza-
Morrow County
Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment,
visit our web site at
www.mcgg.net
tions had to have been local
organizations, clubs, spe-
cial districts or governmen-
tal entities who reside in
the South Morrow County
Service Area (as defined by
the WCVEDG Service Area
Map). The requestor had to
have at least 50 percent of
funding, which could in-
clude in-kind and cash con-
tributions from local and
regional sources, for the
total project budget com-
mitted before application,
with exceptions granted at
the discretion of the board.