Commissioners urge new
windfarm owner to hire locally
HEPPNER
G T
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azette
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VOL. 136
NO. 25 8 Pages
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
‘Will be 20-25 good paying jobs’, says
project manager
By David Sykes
The project manager
for the new wind farm com-
pany poised to construct
200 turbines in Morrow and
parts of Umatilla counties
told the Morrow County
Commission last week that
the company wants to hire
locally once when the proj-
ect is up and running.
Melissa Hochmuth,
project manager for Nex-
tEra Energy, which recently
purchased the ready-to-go
project from Ione-based
‘Amber waves of grain’ ready for harvest in
Morrow County
Wheatridge, said the
NextEra was named
wind farm is going
the largest producer
to be big, produc-
of wind and solar
ing 500 megawatts
power in the world.
and costing $800
Wanting to see
million to build.
local workers ben-
“This will be one of
efit from the new
the largest projects Melissa
wind farm, all of
across the country,” Hochmuth,
the county commis-
Hochmuth told the project
sioners last week
commissioners. She manager
pressed Hochmuth
also said it was one for NextEra
for her company to
Energy
of the largest wind
make every effort to
projects in her com-
hire locally.
pany, which is no small
-See WIND FARM/PAGE
FOUR
deal considering in 2016
Local man shares
memories of Apollo 11
Michel played a role in man-
kind’s ‘giant leap’
A plaque on Ted Michel’s apartment wall in Heppner com-
memorates his contribution to the first moon landing. -Photo
by David Sykes
Harvest is well underway in South Morrow, as evidenced by this combine on the Morgan farm outside of Ione. Morrow
County Grain Growers Grain Department Manager Duane Disque says MCGG opened the Ruggs elevator Monday for early
cutting, though he estimates it will be about 10 days until things “really get going” that far south. Meanwhile, Disque says
yields so far are “all over the place,” but adds that the averages are falling between 40 and 50 bushels an acre, with “some
above, some below.” He says he has reports of yields over 50 but is realistically hoping to average somewhere over 40 by the
end of harvest. -Photo by David Sykes
Community pulls together to extend one
big helping hand
On Sunday, July 16, the
farm of Virgil and Debbie
Morgan became the site of
something Morrow County
communities are known
for—pulling together in an
extraordinary way to help
out a neighbor.
In June, the Morgans’
son and daughter-in-law
had a baby girl. While the
baby is doing well, mother
Larissa had severe health
problems after delivery.
With a long recovery ahead
of Larissa and a new baby
in the house, Debbie Mor-
gan went to Texas to help
out. Since Virgil and Deb-
bie usually work wheat
harvest by themselves, that
left the family farm a little
short-handed when harvest
time rolled around.
That was when neigh-
bor Brent Martin suggested
to others in the Ione com-
munity that they should
get together to help the
Morgans out.
“We had a meeting at
the fire hall to see who was
interested and make sure
we had enough help,” said
Melissa LaRue, who was in
Volunteers who showed up to help the Morgan family bring
on the planning. Maps were in their harvest Sunday look over a combine engine. Around
On July 21, 1969, as-
tronauts from the Apollo 11
spacecraft stepped on to the
moon’s surface—“That’s
one small step for a man,
one giant leap for man-
kind,” quipped astronaut
Neil Armstrong.
While Americans were
proud of this accomplish-
ment, Ted Michel could
swagger a little more than
others if he wanted to. Mi-
chel was a member of the
-See APOLLO 11/PAGE
THREE
Mudie retires from
PMH after nearly two
decades
By Andrea Di Salvo
Long-time Pioneer Me-
morial nursing aide Verna
Mudie is leaving for good
after nearly 20 years work-
ing with patients in South
Morrow County.
Mudie, 68, was born in
Enterprise, OR and raised
in Wallowa, one of six
children in a logging family.
She got married between
her junior and senior years
of high school and moved
to Pendleton with her hus-
band, graduating from
Pendleton High School in
1968.
After high school, she
focused on being a home-
maker and raising her two
daughters, not returning to
the workforce until the girls
were six and eight years
old. She then went to work
at Hershey’s, now Amber
Valley Care Center, a nurs-
ing home in Pendleton.
“Back then you didn’t
have to be certified be-
-See MUDIE RETIRES/
PAGE TWO
-See MORGAN HARVEST 50 people showed up to help their neighbors outside of Ione.
HELPERS/PAGE EIGHT -Photo by David Sykes
Port road named
County signs Community Counseling Contract after Ione farmer,
By David Sykes
The Morrow County commissioner
A new road named in
honor of an Ione farmer
and past Port commissioner
was dedicated at the Port of
Morrow last Wednesday.
Gar Swanson Drive, part of
-See COMMUNITY COUN- what is believed to be the
SELING/PAGE FOUR only roundabout in Mor-
Commission at a recent
meeting signed a two-year
contract with Communi-
ty Counseling Solutions
(CCS) to provide a range
of mental health, devel-
row County, is named for
Garland “Gar” Swanson;
Swanson was a founding
member of the Port com-
mission, joining Dewey
West, Al Lamb, Warren
-See GAR SWANSON
DRIVE/PAGE THREE
Community Counseling Solutions (CCS) recently started construction on its new head offices
in Heppner. CCS provides mental health and other services to Morrow, Wheeler, Gilliam, Lake
and Grant counties. -Photo by David Sykes
Justice of Peace wants drivers
aware of new cell phone law
Can be ticketed for talking at stop sign
Justice of the Peace coming up for the use of ties and definitions of when
Ann Spicer wants people cell phones while driving a
-See CELL PHONE LAW/
PAGE THREE
to know there are new rules car, including stiffer penal-
MORROW COUNTY
GRAIN
GROWERS
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWER
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MAIN
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STREET STREET
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at a 2.99% APR rate: $29.08 per $1,000 financed; and at an 6.99%APR rate: $30.87 per $1,000 financed. An example of a monthly payment with
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