HEPPNER
50¢
County hires new
administrator
Morrow County ended
its search for a new county
administrator last Wednes-
day with the hiring of Ger-
ald “Jerry” Sorte. Sorte’s
official start date is cur-
rently set for Dec. 1.
The Morrow County
Court recently voted to hire
an administrator to take
over some of the current
duties of Morrow County
Judge Terry Tallman. Upon
Tallman’s retirement at the
end of 2016, the county
court plans to eliminate the
judge position and operate
with a full-time adminis-
trator and three part-time
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon commissioners.
G T
azette
imes
VOL. 134
NO. 42 10 Pages
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Heppner, Ione send teams to state
tournaments
As a stipulation of his
He is the son of Bruce
employment, Sorte, 35, will Sorte, the OSU Extension
live within Morrow County. Community Economist for
Sorte brings with
Eastern Oregon who
him wife, Misty,
has worked several
and their two young
times with local
children, who plan
organizations like
to arrive just before
Willow Creek Val-
Christmas.
ley Economic De-
Sorte was raised
velopment Group.
in Corvallis, OR and Jerry Sorte
Jerry Sorte also has
attended Corvallis
a strong planning
schools. He gradu-
background, includ-
ated from Oregon State ing previous work experi-
University with a degree ence as a planner in Polk
in political science and County, OR for about eight
minor in economics and years and his current posi-
then obtained a master’s in tion as assistant director of
-See COUNTY ADMINIS-
public administration from
TRATOR/PAGE THREE
the University of Missouri.
Teen contracts bubonic
plague after hunting trip
near Heppner
Mustang football enters irst round of playoffs,
Lady Cards aim for volleyball quarterinals
Public health oficials say the
disease remains rare in Oregon
A case of the “black
death” is likely linked to a
hunting trip in the Heppner
area, state and local oficials
report.
The Oregon Health
Authority’s Public Health
Division and the Crook
County Public Health De-
partment are conirming a
case of bubonic plague in
a teenage Crook County
Above left: Weston Putman keeps an eye on the TigerScots as he runs the ball, but Weston-McEwen didn’t even come close
to shutting down the Mustang powerhouse team last Friday in its inal regular season game. Heppner enters the irst round girl. It is one of eight human
of playoffs at home this Saturday at 3 p.m. –Photo by Sandra Putman
Above right: It’s the last set of the game, and the Cardinal girls are down and ready, with Tristan Estabrook (left) and Maggie
Flynn (standing) in front. The girls won the second-round game to advance to quarterinals this week. –Photo by Sylvia Sandford
-See more sports pages THREE and FOUR
New Infant Day Care Center opens
in Heppner
A new Heppner Day
Care Infant Center has
opened in Heppner. The
center will take infants
from six weeks to three
years old.The center is open
from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday and
will have a staff of three.
As of last week the center
had already proven popu-
lar, with seven of its eight
slots taken. People can stop
and get an application and
sign up on the waiting list,
however. It is located at 278
Main St. in Heppner.
To take care of the in-
fants the center has a kitch-
en and will serve breakfast,
lunch and a snack. Food is The new Infant Day Care Center is open and not taking “customers.” Pictured (L-R) are
provided except for formu- Manager Lynan Scott, Lindsay Roy, Grady Henderson having fun on the rocker, and Grady’s
la.The three-person staff is dad Austin looking on. –Photo by David Sykes
“We are ready and ex- cited to get started,” says manager Lynan Scott.
trained in CPR and irst aid.
Nominations for Hep-
pner Chamber of Com-
merce’s Town and Country
Community Awards will
be accepted starting this
Friday, Nov. 6, and running
through Friday, Dec. 11.
The theme for the event
will be “An Evening with
the Stars.” The event will
be held on Thursday, Jan.
14, at the Morrow County
Fairgrounds. The month-
long nomination period is
intended to give community
members time to get nomi-
nation forms in for commu-
nity members for “Woman
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
of the Year,” “Man of the
Year,” “Business of the
Year,” “Citizen-Educator
of the Year,” “Lifetime
Achievement” and “Youth
Award.”
Nomination forms will
be available at the cham-
ber ofice, Bank of Eastern
Oregon, Kuhn Law Ofice,
Community Bank and the
post ofice. The completed
nomination forms need to
turned in the chamber ofice
or Kuhn Law Offices no
later than Friday, Dec. 11, to
be considered for the 2016
community awards event.
Warm October still low
on rainfall
According to the Na-
tional Weather Service in
Pendleton, temperatures at
Heppner averaged warmer
than normal during Octo-
ber, but rainfall was still
below normal.
The average tempera-
ture for October was 55.8
degrees, which was 4.5
degrees above normal. High
temperatures averaged 67.9
degrees, which was 3.7
over the years.”
degrees above normal. The
After 10 years, though, highest was 81 degrees on
he says it’s time for some- the 11 th . Low temperatures
thing different. Other com-
mitments like Ione City
Council had started to con-
lict with the board, and “I
thought it would be a better
deal to let younger people
come in and start trying to
do it,” he said.
Willow Creek Valley
Gorham, 44, has served
Economic
Development
on the board for six years,
Group
(WCVEDG)
has
most recently as chairper-
announced
the
recipients
son, but also in two stints as
vice chairperson and some of the second round of
time as member at large. Community and Public En-
She now lives with her fam- hancement Grants awarded
ily in Boardman, but was to local groups last month.
In July, WCVEDG an-
raised from second grade in
nounced
that it had received
-See FAIR BOARD OPEN-
funds
from
the Colum-
INGS/PAGE TEN
Two vacancies remain
Aaron Smythe of Hardman went on a walk across the road
recently and spotted some turkeys, so he went home and got
his shotgun, and then went back, snuck up and shot the clos-
est one to him—a hen—for his irst turkey. Cross that off the
bucket list. Then, since his dad wasn’t home to help him, he
called John Wight at Pettyjohn’s to ask him how to properly
take care of it. Happy Thanksgiving! –Contributed photo
-See BUBONIC PLAGUE/
PAGE FIVE
Nominations open this
week for Town & County
G-T Trophy Corner Taylor, Gorham resign
from fair board
The Morrow County
Fair Board has two empty
slots with the retirement
of long-time members Rod
Taylor and Nancy Gor-
ham, both of whom stepped
down at the end of the fair
this year.
Remaining members
are Angie Hanson, Pat To-
lar (chairperson), Zachary
Lantis and Rhonda Hamby.
Taylor, 48, had been on
the board for 10 years, serv-
ing as chairman for seven
years, as well as a member
at large for several years.
While not a native of Mor-
row County, he has lived
here since the age of ive.
He now lives in Ione and
owns Double T Farming in
partnership with his brother.
When asked why he
joined the fair board a de-
cade ago, he joked, “My
wife came home one night
and said, ‘You’re on the
fair board.’ But,” he added,
“I’ve enjoyed every bit of it
cases diagnosed in Oregon
since 1995.
The girl is believed to
have acquired the disease
from a flea bite during a
family elk-hunting hunting
trip near Heppner that start-
ed on Oct. 16. The family
was hunting in the Heppner
Unit, but no more precise
location was availabe ac-
averaged 43.7 degrees,
which was 5.3 degrees
above normal. The lowest
was 33 degrees, on the 25 th .
Precipitation totaled
0.53 inches during Octo-
ber, which was 0.61 inches
below normal. Measurable
precipitation of at least .01
inch was received on 10
days with the heaviest, 0.15
inches, reported on the 29 th .
Precipitation this year
has reached 5.42 inches,
-See OCTOBER WEATHER/
PAGE FIVE
WCVEDG announces
second-round grant
recipients
bia River Enterprise Zone
Board (CREZ) to be used
for community and public
enhancement for South
Morrow County. Earlier
this fall the group awarded a
total of $34,141.49 in fund-
ing to local organizations. It
has now announced at addi-
-See WCVEDG GRANTS/
PAGE SIX
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