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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2016)
Staying cool at the fair HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 135 NO. 33 8 Pages Police investigate Irrigon stabbing Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Daemon Worden and Camryn Scrivner pause for a photo op while tending their sheep at the Morrow County Fair last week. The Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo are over for another year, leaving behind good memories of “Country Scenes and Children’s -See more fair and rodeo photos, PAGE EIGHT. Dreams.” -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo Houweling to retire, sells Heppner Family Foods Saturday, August 20, at 11:16 p.m., the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office dis- patch center received a 911 call reporting someone had been stabbed, the agency announced Monday. MCSO reports that law enforcement arrived on the scene 13 minutes after the incident was reported, and that Ivan Salas Salas, 26, of Irrigon was transported by private vehicle to Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston with multiple stab wounds to the back. Salas reportedly was at- tending an event on Depot Lane in Irrigon when the incident occurred. Heppner Family Foods will change hands next month, but current owner Bert Houweling -See IRRIGON STABBING/ says he doesn’t expect the new owners to make any big changes. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo PAGE TWO MCGG receives Connect Oregon VI grant The Oregon Transpor- tation Commission last Friday approved 39 multi- modal projects from around the state for $49,518,726 in funding, provided by the ConnectOregon VI pro- gram. Among the approved grant projects was a Board- man grain elevator unit train unloading project by Morrow County Grain Growers. MCGG was granted $2.5 million for the project, which is esti- mated to cost a total of $6.5 million. MCGG plans to use the funding to expand the existing truck-to-barge grain-handling facility so it will have the capability to unload unit trains of grain -See MCGG GRANT/PAGE THREE By Andrea Di Salvo For those who visit Heppner Family Foods in the coming weeks, every- thing should look much the same in the local market. However, there will be one big change—the store will have a different owner. Bert Houweling, who has owned the local grocery store for the last 17 years, has sold Heppner Family Foods to Kirby Company, owned by David Kirby. Kirby Company also owns stores in Saint Helens and Toledo, OR and Shelton, Cathlamet and Goldendale, WA. Houweling says the company will take owner- ship of the store Sept. 9. Houweling, who give his age as “Old enough, but young enough to do it again,” says it wasn’t an overnight decision. In fact, he’s been thinking of selling the store and retiring for a while now. “I’ve always been in grocery or wholesale, one or the other,” he says. “I’ve been in this my whole life, and here for 17 years. It’s just time to retire.” When he decided it was time to sell the store, he used his connections at URM Stores. URM, among other services, is a food dis- tributor for many grocery stores in the Inland North- west, including Heppner Family Foods. Through them, he says, it was easy to make a connection with Kirby. Despite his history owning one of Heppner’s mainstay businesses, Hou- weling started life a long way from here. He was born in Holland but spent most of his life in Washington. He graduated from high school in Bellevue, WA “a long time ago.” He then attended college for about half a year, he says, before -See FAMILY FOODS/PAGE THREE Gutierrez retires after nearly 30 years with MCGG By Andrea Di Salvo Kim Gutierrez will be putting down his tools at the end of this month, ending a 27-year career as a service technician with Morrow County Grain Growers. Gutierrez, 58, will take an early retirement this year because of arthritis, he says. A quiet man, he would prefer to go out without the fuss his coworkers choose to make over him. “I was hoping to go out quietly in the night and not make a big deal about it,” he says. errez attended Blue Moun- Gutierrez was born tain Community College in Hood River, OR but for two years, earning an raised in Cascade associate’s degree Locks until the age in diesel technol- of 11, when his fam- ogy. He then took ily moved to Ione. a job with Swingle He then attended Machinery in The the Ione school, Dalles. He didn’t graduating from ease his way into Ione High School Kim servicing big rigs, in 1976. It was also Gutierrez but rather started at IHS that he met immediately work- his high-school sweetheart, ing on Caterpillar machin- now wife of 38 years, Gay- ery. le. He left Swingle in After high school, Guti- January of 1983 to return to Morrow County, where he worked for the Mor- row County Road Depart- ment through 1988. It was during that time that the couple’s two children were born—Jessica in 1984 and Joshua in 1987. Jessica lives in Portland and Joshua in Boardman; the Gutier- rezes now also have two grandchildren, ages five and three. In January of 1989, he took a job as a service tech -See GUTIERREZ RETIRES/ PAGE THREE Fourth-quarter rally lifts East to win Shrine game It’s back to East scores winning touchdown midway through fourth for 15-12 victory school next quarter By Gerry Steele. Reprint- East-West Shrine All-Star Braden Clark (Scappoose) regained the ball on the ed from the Aug. 8 Football in the end West 27 with 7:59 week Baker City Herald. Game at zone for a left in the game. It’s back to school for area students; school will begin in both Heppner and Ione schools next Monday, Aug. 29. G-T closed for Labor Day The Heppner Gazette- Times will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on Mon- day, Sept. 5. The deadline for all news and advertising for the Sept. 7 issue will be Friday, Sept. 2, at 5 p.m. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday, Sept. 6. Editor’s note: CJ Kindle and Pat- rick Collins, Hep- pner, and Fredy Vera, Irrigon, rep- resented Morrow Patrick County in the start- Collins ing lineup for the East team in the Aug. 6 game. Not starting but selected as alternates were Weston Putman and Kaden Clark, Heppner, and Cougar Kroske, Irrigon. Kellen Grant of Heppner also was selected as a stu- dent manager for the East team. The East rallied in the fourth quarter Saturday to earn a 15-12 win over the West in the 64 th -annual Chase paving project planned Thursday The City of Heppner will be paving Chase St., Skyline Blvd. and Bruce Kelly Dr. this Thursday, Aug. 25. These streets, begin- ning south of Cannon St., will be closed by 7 a.m. on Thursday and will remain closed until the project is completed later in the day. The pavers also will be paving the new fire hall and patching areas around town on Wednesday; mo- torists are asked to watch for workers during that time. Heppner receives grant to aid TSP update SALEM—The City of Heppner was one of 15 communities across Or- egon—from the Klamath Tribes to Estacada—that have been awarded Trans- portation and Growth Man- agement Program grants to fund transportation and land-use planning projects. The city plans to use the funds, the amount of which has yet to be deter- mined, to update and amend the prioritized project list of its existing Transportation System Plan (TSP). Updat- ing the TSP is a process that local governments must do regularly in order to move transportation and land use projects forward. The Transportation and Growth Management Pro- gram (TGM), a 23-year partnership between the Department of Land Con- servation and Development and the Oregon Department of Transportation, awards grants to support Oregon communities working to create vibrant, livable plac- es where people can walk, bike, take transit or drive where they want to go. “These grants reflect both the transportation planning needs of local governments across the states and the innovation of cities, counties and tribes to meet those future needs for their communities,” said Erin Doyle, Intergovern- Baker Bull- safety. That The East then dog Memo- pulled the ran more than 5 min- rial Stadium. East to with- utes off the clock on T h e in 12-9 with a 10-play drive, all win, the 10:25 left in on the ground. East’s sec- CJ Kindle the game. Cascade’s Gar- Fredy Vera ond straight, Then, rett Coffey scored gives the East a 31- a f t e r t h e t e a m s -See SHRINE GAME/PAGE -See HEPPNER TSP FOUR GRANT/PAGE FOUR 30-3 overall lead in traded fumbles, the East the series played to benefit the Portland Shriners Hos- pital for Children. The East defense start- ed the rally. Forced to punt trailing 12-7, East punter Isaiah Cranford of La Grande put the West in a hole when he angled his kick out of bounds at the West 1. Morrow County Grain Growers Two plays later the East Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net defense tackled the West’s