SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 6, 2016
B2H HEARING
-Continued from PAGE ONE
The meeting is being held
in light of an expected de-
termination this week by
the BLM concerning the
project.
While the court has
seemed largely silent on
the issue for the last several
months, the B2H hasn’t
been forgotten. On Dec.
10, Morrow County Plan-
ning Department Director
Carla McLane and county
commissioner Don Russell
both attended a B2H coop-
erating agency meeting in
Ontario, OR.
At the Morrow County
Court’s Dec. 16 meeting
in Boardman, McClane re-
ported that the preliminary
Environmentally Preferred
Route was announced. Ac-
cording to McClane, that
route will align with Inter-
state 84 between the pro-
posed Longhorn Substation
and west of Pendleton.
The route apparently
was chosen based on com-
ments from some Uma-
tilla County landowners.
A letter from the Umatilla
Board of Commissioners
also weighed heavily in
the decision, though com-
missioner Russell said it
was his understanding the
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners no longer
supports the I-84 route.
According to Mc-
Clane’s comments at the
Dec. 16 meeting, the I-84
route was removed from
consideration earlier in the
process, and the west side
of Bombing Range Road
was determined to be Mor-
row County’s preferred
route because it it well for
becoming a corridor for
moving power.
Russell voiced dissat-
isfaction with the results of
the meeting, saying Mor-
row County citizens have
not had a chance to evaluate
the route, and people who
thought they were not in the
pathway now are. It was not
his idea of a “cooperators’”
meeting, he said.
McLane said the BLM
will send postcards to the
affected landowners, who
will likely be learning of
the new route for the irst
time. The BLM is expected
to make a determination
Jan. 8.
The county court had
earlier opted not to hold a
public meeting on the issue,
citing the fact that the coun-
ty is not a decision maker in
the process. However, with
the expected action by the
BLM this week, McLane
requested that the county
draft a comment letter and
hold the public hearing this
week.
Hot, dry conditions dominate list of top
weather events
The Canyon Creek Fire,
which burned 110 thousand
acres of brush and timber
and several structures, was
2015’s top regional weath-
er-related event as voted
by staff members of the
National Weather Service
in Pendleton.
The ire complex south
and east of John Day in
Grant County, OR burned
from Aug. 12 until fully
contained Nov. 5. In addi-
tion to the long-term loss
of timber, there is the short-
term loss of grass and other
vegetative cover which
leaves the Canyon Creek
Watershed vulnerable to
flash flooding and debris
lows. The Canyon Creek
ire event received an aver-
age rating of 8.2 on a scale
0 to 10.
The top four vote-get-
ters were all related to the
hot, dry weather during
2015. Some of the other
weather events that topped
the vote were:
Drought—Severe to
extreme drought conditions
gripped eastern Washing-
ton and Oregon during the
2014-15 water year. During
the summer, no measurable
rainfall was recorded at
Kennewick and Moxee City
in Washington, and it was
the driest summer on record
at Pendleton and Pelton
Dam, Oregon, and Dayton
and Ellensburg, Washing-
ton. Irrigation water was
restricted, which impacted
beneits and importance of agriculture. Stream lows
community partnerships in were reduced, which im-
pacted water quality and
crisis situations.
In addition to Schoen-
feldt, Umatilla County
Emergency Manager Jack
Remillard and Oregon State
November 5 (cont.):-
Police Sgt. Mark Banks
MCSO
received report
will discuss the community
from
a
female
in the Hep-
response in the wake of the
pner
area
who
stated she
fatal 2013 tour bus crash on
was
selling
a
vehicle
to a
Interstate 84.
male
who
took
the
car
and
The remainder of the
didn’t
pay
for
it.
The
caller
Summit will see partici-
pants break out into group requested phone contact
regions – Pendleton-area, regarding her options.
-A female in Irrigon
Hermiston-area, Milton-
advised
that her daughter
Freewater-area, Baker
called
her
that morning and
County area and Morrow
told
her
that
her boyfriend
County area.
beat
her
up,
and that the
These groups will iden-
daughter
was
currently at
tify resources among each
the
store
in
Irrigon.
The
of their organizations, as
daughter
did
not
want
the
well as begin to draft formal
mother
to
call
the
police
but
partnership agreements to
aid in safety response plan- the mother requested a wel-
fare check on her daughter.
ning efforts.
-A caller in Heppner
BMCC has invited all
advised
of a deer in the
public K-12 school districts
Main
St.
park bathroom.
in Umatilla, Morrow and
MCSO
responded.
Baker counties, as well as
-MCSO was advised of
the InterMountain Educa-
a
vehicle-versus-elk
motor
tion Service District, law
vehicle
accident
in
Board-
enforcement, emergency
personnel, city and county man. MCSO and Oregon
governments, hospitals and State Police ish and game
health districts, bus com- division responded and
panies, convention cen- seized the antlers.
-A person at Irrigon
ter directors, county fair
Shell
reported that he heard
directors, the American
what
sounded like some-
Red Cross, Head Start, the
one
yelling
in distress. He
CTUIR, prison personnel
advised
he
looked
around
and the National Guard.
and
located
a
semi,
and
re-
BMCC suggests each
quested
a
welfare
check
on
organization send a partici-
the
subject
inside.
MCSO
pant in order to expand the
network of resources and contacted the subject, who
partnerships throughout the was intoxicated and going
to bed.
region.
November 6: -Morrow
Organizations that rep-
County
was advised that
resent multiple locations
Umatilla
County arrested
should plan to bring a team.
Robert
Miguel
Aguilera,
Interested organiza-
32,
on
a
Morrow
County
tions need to RSVP by Jan.
Supervisory
Authority
war-
15 to Shannon Franklin in
rant.
Subject
was
lodged
at
the BMCC President’s Of-
Umatilla
County
Jail
with
ice, sfranklin@bluecc.edu
no bail.
or 541-278-5951.
-A male at Irrigon Jus-
The Safety Summit is
tice
Court advised he had
free and includes lunch for
found
a wallet and the wal-
participants.
let
had
drugs in it. He would
Questions regarding
like
it
picked up. MCSO
the summit can be direct-
responded.
ed to BMCC Vice Presi-
-A female between
dent of Public Relations
Ukiah
and Heppner re-
Casey White-Zollman
ported
her
side mirror was
(cwhitezollman@bluecc.
hit
by
another
vehicle. She
edu or 541-278-5839) or
was
only
reporting
it for the
Associate Vice President of
time
being.
The
other
driver
Human Resources Tammie
had
left
the
scene
and
stated
Parker (tparker@bluecc.
she
would
be
back
in 45
edu or 541-278-5850).
Safety Summit to
enhance emergency
partnerships
PENDLETON—Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege will host a regional
Safety Summit on Jan. 21
to bring together schools,
emergency personnel,
health services, city and
county governments, and
other community organiza-
tions to identify resources
and create partnerships to
assist one another should a
crisis incident ever occur.
The Safety Summit will
take place at the Pendleton
Convention Center from 9
a.m. to 3 p.m.
BMCC decided to pull
together the Safety Summit
after campus discussions
following the tragic shoot-
ing at Umpqua Community
College in October.
“That tragedy hit very
close to home for us since
UCC is another Oregon
community college and
many of our staff have col-
leagues who work there,”
said BMCC President Cam
Preus.
“We’ve learned from
that incident that there is
a big reliance on the com-
munity to step forward
to provide assistance and
resources, so BMCC wants
to make sure we have those
partnerships in place ahead
of time throughout our
district.”
BMCC quickly deter-
mined other area schools
and organizations could
benefit from sharing re-
sources and formalizing
partnerships; thus the Safe-
ty Summit.
The Summit will serve
Umatilla, Morrow and
Baker counties – BMCC’s
service district region.
The Summit will kick
off with keynote speak-
er Mary Schoenfeldt of
Schoenfeldt & Associates/
Safer Schools in Marys-
ville, Wash.
Schoenfeldt has worked
in emergency management/
crisis response with a spe-
cialty in school systems for
more than 20 years.
Her background com-
bines law enforcement,
emergency management,
education and disaster men-
tal health. She is also the
author of several books on
crisis response.
Her keynote presen-
tation will focus on the
Canyon Creek tops regional
weather events list
water temperature and re-
sulted in ish kills.
Multiple Wildires—
From June through Oc-
tober, 14 ires, each over
1,000 acres, burned through
parts of eastern Oregon
and Washington. The Can-
yon Creek Complex and
Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire
each scorched over 100
thousand acres.
Hot Summer—The
June-through-August peri-
od was the hottest on record
for Heppner, as well as for
other Oregon locations The
Dalles, Hermiston, Bend,
Dayville, Moro, Prineville,
Sisters, Long Creek and
Pelton Dam. In addition,
Hermiston set a record for
the all-time, single-day
maximum temperature in
late June.
November 17 Wind
and Dust—A strong cold
front brought widespread
damaging winds across
eastern Oregon and Wash-
ington. Wind speeds topped
115 mph at 3,500 feet eleva-
tion on uninhabited Rattle-
snake Ridge, west of Rich-
land, WA. In the lowlands,
peak wind gusts exceeded
60 mph and produced pow-
er outages, downed trees,
building and sign dam-
age and tractor trailer roll-
overs. The strong winds
combined with dry soils to
generate a dust storm. The
reduced visibility caused a
multi-vehicle accident near
Stanield, OR in which one
person was killed.
December 21 Wind
and Snow—Strong jet
stream winds combined
with a deep low pressure
area and cold front tracked
across Oregon and southern
Washington. Peak wind
speeds gusts were at least
65 mph at Goodnoe Hills,
Helix, Kooskooskie, Athe-
na, Hermiston, Pendleton
and Madras.
May Flash Flood-
ing—A large low-pressure
system off of southern Cali-
fornia pushed moist and
unstable air north across the
area for several days. The
result was thunderstorms
with heavy rainfall on May
21-22. Several areas across
eastern Oregon recorded
nearly an inch of rain in a
30-60 minutes time.
Strong El Nino—As
of the first of December,
the El Nino was the warm-
est since 1997-98. This
weather pattern reversal
has contributed to increased
storminess on the west
coast and southern plains,
abnormal warmth in the
eastern states, decreased
Atlantic hurricane activity,
and increased drought and
fire activity in Australia.
The El Nino is expected to
continue into the spring of
2016.
Wet December—A
barrage of Pacific storm
systems unloaded frequent
rain and snow across the
area. By mid-December,
most areas had received
their normal precipitation
amounts for all of Decem-
ber with additional storms
into Christmas week.
WEATHER
OUTLOOK
-Continued from PAGE ONE
was 55 mph, which oc-
curred on both the 10 th and
21 st . There were two days
when the wind exceeded
50 mph.
The outlook for Janu-
ary from NOAA’s Climate
Prediction Center calls for
near- to above-normal tem-
peratures and near-normal
precipitation.
Normal highs for Hep-
pner 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 ofice of the
National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration,
an agency of the U.S. Com-
merce Department.
Snowpack
up this year
MT. HOOD, Ore.—
USDA’s Natural Resourc-
es Conservation Service
(NRCS) held its irst snow
survey of the 2016 season
on Mt. Hood Dec. 29, 2015.
Hydrologist Julie Koe-
berle and Hydrologic Tech-
nician Dan Fries measured
21.5 inches of water stored
in 80 inches of snow at the
site. Across the Mt. Hood
Basin, snowpack levels
were 124 percent of normal
for this time of year.
The entire state of Or-
egon is experiencing above-
normal mountain snowpack
this time of year—which
hydrologists and ski en-
thusiasts agree is an excel-
lent start to the 2016 snow
season.
Sheriff’s Report
minutes to exchange info;
possible hit and run.
-A person in Ione ad-
vised some kid was pop-
ping his head up at the
Ione market and the caller
wasn’t sure if anyone was
supposed to be locked in
the market. At the end of the
call the caller advised there
was a second subject in the
store. MCSO made contact
with the store owner, who
advised the subjects were
his daughters.
-A person in Heppner
requested a welfare check
on a female; she was in a
trailer out back and was
drunk. The caller advised
the female didn’t want them
to call and get help but
she had been a victim of
sexual assault as a child
and the caller thought she
needed a ride home. MCSO
responded and made con-
tact with the female, who
advised she did not need a
ride anywhere.
-John Day dispatch ad-
vised MCSO of a domestic
off the 2104 road. MCSO
arrested Jodi Lee Struloeff,
37, for Domestice Violance
– Assault IV.
November 8: -Oregon
State Police advised Mor-
row County Sheriff’s Ofice
that a mom and dad would
be bringing their one-and-
a-half-year-old to Pioneer
memorial with burns to the
hands and the face. OSP ad-
vised it was accidental but
wanted dispatch to advise
the hospital they would be
there I 20-30 minutes.
-A subject in Boardman
advised MCSO that he had
been drinking—he advised
a ifth—and felt he was a
danger to himself and oth-
ers. He felt suicidal.
-A female in Irrigon
advised a male subject just
slashed her tires. She ad-
vised she knew who did it
and why he did it. MCSO
took it under investigation.
November 9: -Morrow
County Sheriff ’s Office
was advised by ODOT that
they would be changing
and updating the milepost
signs. ODOT advised that
on Hwy. 207 from Lex-
ington to Butter Creek the
milepost numbers would be
followed by the letter B and
on Hwy 207 south toward
Ruggs the milepost signs
would now be followed by
the letter C.
-A female in Heppner
advised her tire was slashed
over the weekend and she
just took it to Les Schwab
and they conirmed it was
cut. She requested contact.
-Umatilla County Pa-
role and Probation request-
ed assistance arresting a
female that had a warrant.
The subject had called and
given her parole officer
a new address in Irrigon.
MCSO arrested Cindy Tor-
res Dias, 35, on a Umatilla
County Circuit Court war-
rant for Parole Violation
– Possession of Controlled
Substance – Methamphet-
amine.
-A female on Hwy. 74-
Lena, Heppner advised
there was a small green
pickup parked out by her
residence and there was a
small softball-sized hole in
the window. She advised
there was no hole in the
window last night. No one
was in the vehicle and the
key was in the ignition.
November 10: -Mor-
row County Sheriff’s Ofice
was advised by someone
at Umatilla Army Depot
that there was a male at the
front gates who seemed
intoxicated and thought he
was at home. The caller de-
clined emergency medical
assistance for the male but
advised it appeared his car
had some damage.
-A person at the Mor-
row County OHV Park
on FS Road 21 reported a
father and son yelling all
morning; the father had
made comments that they
are scared will lead to vi-
olence. MCSO arrested
Andrew Thomas Mervyn,
42, on PC charges of Dis-
orderly Conduct II and
Harassment.
-MCSO was advised of
a Jeep not yielding at the
sign at the bottom of the
hill by Green/Matlock St.
in Heppner. MCSO made
contact with the driver re-
garding driving habits.
-Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Ofice advised MCSO
that they arrested Marion
Ivan Taylor III, 56, on an
MCSO warrant for Failure
to Appear on FTA.
-A female advised her
ex-boyfriend stole her debit
card and credit card and
ran up charges between
Irrigon and The Dalles of
about $600+. She advised
she reported it to her credit
card company and the bank
and they told her to call the
police and make a report.
-A female in Heppner
reported three or four kids
chasing deer up the hill
behind the forest service
building. MCSO was un-
able to locate.
-A male in Boardman
advised that he thought a
lady ran over a male sub-
ject. He advised the kids
were walking across the
street and the driver ran
over his foot. The caller
advised that she almost hit
another kid but the other
kids ran. The female ad-
vised that she pulled over
to the side of the road.
-Heppner ire respond-
ed to report of a side-by-
side ATV on fire in the
Heppner area. No structures
were threatened.
November 11: -A Mor-
row County Sheriff’s Dep-
uty reported being out with
a possible disabled vehicle
near Irrigon. A male subject
was sitting inside, eating
hot dogs.
-A female in Irrigon
advised that while she was
gone her truck was stolen
and that she located it that
morning not realizing yet
that it had been stolen be-
cause she was out of town
when it was stolen and she
would like to make a report.
-MCSO was advised of
a suspicious vehicle in Hep-
pner. MCSO made contact
-Continued on PAGE EIGHT