Quick response halts damage
from Horseshoe Bend fire
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136
NO. 28 6 Pages
CBEC
accepts
nominations
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
A wildland grass fire on
Horseshoe Bend on Hwy.
74 last week took four hours
to extinguish, causing the
highway to be closed for
several hours as local emer-
gency responders worked to
contain the fire.
Around 4:45 p.m. Aug.
1, the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office Commu-
nications Center received
a report of a wildland grass
fire at Horseshoe Bend on
the east side of Highway
74 near milepost (mp) 20.
Ione Rural Volunteer
Fire was the first on the
scene and requested mutual
aid from Heppner Rural
Fire. Many local farmers
and ranchers also respond-
ed to assist.
“The quick response
and actions of those re-
sponding to the fast-moving
grass fire kept the fire dam-
age to approximately three
miles, from mp 20-23,”
said Melissa Ross, MCSO
Administrative Lieutenant,
in a statement.
Morrow County Sher-
iff’s Office, Oregon State
Police and Oregon De-
partment of Transportation
also responded for traffic
control. Highway 74 was
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Say hello to the Morrow County Fair
Columbia Basin Elec-
tric Cooperative has an-
nounced that nominations
are open for three director’s
positions, including three-
year terms for zones 3 and
4 and a one-year term for
Zone 1.
Zone 1 is the territory
served by the cooperative
lying west of the Morrow-
Gilliam County line and
north of the township line
dividing Townships 4 South
and 5 South, excluding the
area within the incorporated
city limits of Condon, OR.
Zone 3 is the territory
served lying east of range
line between Range 24 East
and Range 25 East, and
north of the township line
between Township 2 South
and Township 3 South, ex-
cluding the area within the
incorporated city limits of
Heppner.
Zone 4 is the territory
served lying west of the Young farm hand Keller Sweeney waves to the crowd as he sits with mother Stefanie Sweeney in a Case IH Quadtrac during
the 2016 fair and rodeo parade. The Morrow County Fair and Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo roll into town again next week, with
-See CBEC NOMINATIONS/ exhibits opening to the public Aug. 16. See more details on special events and attractions in this week’s special fair insert in
PAGE TWO the G-T. -File photo
Boardman
man jailed
on sex abuse
charges
Aug. 4, Boardman PD
arrested Boardman man
Kenneth James Sicard,
57, on several sex-related
charges. According to the
East Oregonian, the three
juvenile female victims
were between 8 and 12
years old. Most of the in-
cidents were alleged to
have occurred in April of
this year.
Sicard is currently be-
ing held at Umatilla County
Jail on charges of encour-
aging child sex abuse II,
possession of materials
depicting sexually explicit
conduct of
a child I,
rape I, rape
II, sodomy
I, sodomy
II, unlaw-
ful sexual Kenneth
penetration James Sicard
I, unlawful
sexual penetration II and
six counts of sexual abuse I.
Total bail is set at
$345,000.
Sicard has been the
subject of 11 previous state
criminal prosecutions in
2017 Chronicles dedicated to
the Carlsons
Louis and Betty Carlson
The 2017 issue of The
Morrow County Chronicles
is dedicated to Louis and
Betty Carlson, two indi-
viduals who have devoted
and community obligations,
the Carlsons have found
time to suggest topics, re-
search topics, write articles,
enlist other writers, promote
the sales of the Chronicles
and organize volunteers for
the kick-off-sales week at
the county fair.
Louis is the youngest
son of Leonard and Julia
Carlson, second-generation
Century-Farm owners near
Ione. Betty is the middle
of three children of local
ranchers John and Dorris
Graves. Since she attended
uncountable hours to the school in Heppner and he
publication that strives to attended in Ione, they did
preserve the history of our not know much of each
-See CHRONICLES
county. Though already
busy with family, business, DEDICATION/PAGE FOUR
County to seek interim
administrator
By David Sykes
The Morrow County
Commissioners have de-
cided to hire an interim
administrator during the
search for a replacement
for current administrator
Jerry Sorte, who has re-
signed. The commission
had considered forgoing an
-See SICARD/PAGE THREE interim and have one of the
commissioners take on the
job until it was filled, but
decided against that option
at its Aug. 2 meeting.
At an early July 28 spe-
cial meeting commissioner
Don Russell had said he
may be inclined to take on
the job if it were for only
three or four months. Rus-
sell said last week, howev-
er, that his schedule was too
full and he did not see how
any of the commissioners
would be able to fill in and
do an adequate job.
“I don’t see how a
county commissioner doing
the job could be here for 40
closed to all but emergency
traffic for a time due to
low visibility caused by
the smoke. A power pole
caught fire, and a resident
near mp 22 advised his
power was out. Columbia
Basin Electric responded
with a crew to the scene to
restore power.
Volunteers connected
with Ione Fire provided
40 meals and water to the
crews. At 8:57 p.m. the
fire was determined to be
extinguished.
“Thanks to the exper-
tise and hard work of our
local and neighboring fire
fighters, farmers and ranch-
ers there was no loss of life,
homes or structures, due to
this wildland grass fire,”
said Ross.
Eclipse
viewing
at Willow
Creek Dam
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers is partnering
with the City of Heppner
to open the Willow Creek
Dam to the public on Aug.
21 from 8 a.m. to 11:30
a.m. for a total solar eclipse
viewing event.
Visitors are welcome to
bring a chair and sit within
designated areas on the
dam to enjoy this rare solar
eclipse at 99 percent total-
ity. Solar eclipse viewing
glasses will be available at
no charge for the first 250
visitors.
Parking will be avail-
able in the ball field park-
ing lot; a shuttle will take
visitors from the parking
lot to the dam beginning at
-See ECLIPSE VIEWING/
PAGE TWO
New farm store offers
grass-fed meat
Jake and Lara Neiffer, with their sons, Josh and Luke, stand
ready to welcome visitors to their new farm store outside of
Lexington. The store opened last week and offers a variety
of frozen USDA/ODA inspected pork, beef and chicken from
the Neiffer ranch, which the couple works with parents Duane
and Linda Neiffer. The store at 64466 Clarks Canyon Rd. is a
little off the beaten path, but Lara Neiffer says it was a logical
outreach for the family. “We’ve done farmer’s markets and
buying clubs for the last few years,” she said. “This is our per-
manent farmer’s market.” Visitors can stop by Mondays and
Thursday 1-7 p.m. or contact 541-371-7264 or grassfedfamily@
gmail.com for more information. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
hours a week and supervise Karen Wolff to begin the
things,” he said. “I am in job search.
favor of an interim.”
To aid in the search a
The other commission- recruitment committee was
ers agreed and instructed
-See COUNTY ADMINIS-
human resource director
TRATOR/PAGE THREE
Health advisory issued for
Willow Creek Reservoir
High blue-green algae and toxins found in Morrow
County lake
The Oregon Health
Authority issued a health
advisory Monday for Wil-
low Creek Reservoir.
Water monitoring has
confirmed the presence of
blue-green algae and the
toxins they produce in the
reservoir. These toxin con-
centrations can be harmful
to humans and animals.
People should always
avoid areas with visible
scum that looks foamy,
scummy, thick like paint,
pea-green, blue green or
brownish red. Swimming
and high-speed water ac-
tivities such as water skiing
-See WILLOW CREEK
ALGAE/PAGE FOUR
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net