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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 2017)
Country roots run deep at Morrow County Fair HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 136 NO. 32 8 Pages Wednesday, August 23, 2017 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Young rabbit growers listen to the judge during livestock showing at the Morrow County Fair last week. See more fair and rodeo photos PAGE EIGHT. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo Sun gazers clog roadways, slow traffic Cutsforth named interim county in Morrow County administrator The Morrow County the board of commissioners Commission has appoint- the ability to concentrate ed Kim Cutsforth our efforts in much- the interim county needed projects and administrator until policies. With a a new permanent plethora of these on administrator can the docket ranging be found. Current from energy, health administrator Jerry care, transporta- Sorte recently re- tion, cash handling, signed. federal forest plans Cutsforth was and infrastructure, it most recently ad- Kim was a must that we ministrator for the Cutsforth not lose momentum. City of Heppner and “As a stopgap, is currently the adminis- it is good to have a local trator of the Howard and professional lend her ser- Beth Bryant Community vice. This will allow myself Foundation. She will start and my fellow commission- on the job Aug. 28. ers the ability forge ahead,” “The advent of a Mor- commission Jim Doherty row County Administrator said after the appointment. has in many ways allowed Ryan Neal joins IMESD board A line of cars snakes into Heppner after the solar eclipse Monday. The heavy traffic clogged highways north to the Columbia, Pendleton – The In- Ione, Ukiah, Pilot Rock and requiring extra patrols and a deputy directing traffic at the edge of Heppner. -Photo by Megan Futter terMountain Education Umatilla school districts. Conservation corps partners youth and nature for a winning combination By Andrea Di Salvo A few local youth got a chance to spend some time in the great outdoors this summer while developing crucial work skills thanks to a program developed by the Oregon Youth Conser- vation Corps (OYCC). As part of the OYCC Summer Conservation Corps (SCC), South Morrow teens Syd- ney Qualls, Charles Cason, and Leo and Reiah Waite and OYCC Crew Leader Curtis Harper of Heppner worked with Forest Service staff to complete mainte- nance and conservation projects throughout the Umatilla National Forest. The OYCC was created by the Oregon Legislature in 1987 “to emulate the Ci- vilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s” according to the program’s annual report. The original goal of the OYCC was to “establish a disadvantaged and at-risk youth work program in order to perform conserva- tion work of public value in the most cost-effective manner....” The paid positions are open to youth ages 16 to 21. The summer jobs are posted and students need to fill out an application to be included in the program. “It’s aimed for at-risk youth. The point is to get kids out working in the woods, get them some job skills, hopefully steer them in a more positive direc- tion,” said Harper, adding that the definition of “at- risk” was pretty broad, meaning “at risk for not Auction surprise provides school supplies for needy kids meeting the expectations of their community.” He also said that if no spe- cifically at-risk students applied, other youth could be accepted if they met the requirements of age and Oregon residency. There are no other requirements. “That’s kind of the point, to develop skills,” he said. “I got the best kids I could have gotten,” he added. According to OYCC documents, 75 percent of participants statewide must meet the disadvantaged and at-risk requirement. The SCC is the largest of the OYCC’s state-funded programs, and is funded primarily through the Or- egon Lottery. Its stated goal is to run an SCC in each of Oregon’s 36 counties. To that end it provides grants to local providers who facili- tate the program—the local partner in Morrow County is the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon (CAPECO), which Service District (IMESD) appointed a new member to its board of directors in July 2017. New board member Ryan Neal will fulfill the remainder of the board term of former member Kathy Neal. Kathy served on the board for 17 years and re- signed in June. Ryan will represent IMESD’s Zone 1, which consists of Morrow County, Ryan lives in Board- man and is the general manager of Port of Mor- row warehousing. He and his family moved back to eastern Oregon in 2015, and Ryan is an active volunteer in his community. He serves on the boards of the Kiwan- is Club of Boardman and the Boardman Chamber of -See NEAL JOINS IMESD/ PAGE THREE Court reviews DHS, other documents in Baker case The sex-crimes case of Corey Scott Baker, 40, of Ione will take another step on the road toward trial Thursday as the Mor- row County Circuit Court reviews sensitive records relating to the case. Baker earlier this year pleaded not guilty to charges of first-de- gree rape and sexual abuse of a girl younger than 14. The records under re- view in the hearing include documents from the Oregon Department of Human Ser- vices in Boardman and the Mount Emily Safe Center -See CONSERVATION in La Grande, a nonprofit CORPS/PAGE THREE that conducts forensic in- terviews of abuse victims. Baker’s attorney Nick Patterson filed motions with the circuit court requesting a judge review in chambers the records related to Baker and others, including the alleged victim, according to court records. Circuit Judge Eva Temple signed orders in mid-July to produce the records. Temple may can- cel Thursday’s hearing if she completes the review before then. Baker is currently scheduled for a trial by jury on Jan. 22. Pictured L-R: Kevin Gray (MCGG General Manager), Emily Taylor (Ione FFA), Ashley Price and Brooke Tolar (Irrigon FFA), Jeff Wendler, (Threemile Canyon Farms), John and Jana VandenBrink (JVB Dairy), Sam Bellamy (Lexington Pump/Heppner Christian Church), Lou Lyons (Elmer’s Irrigation), Marie Linnell (Lamb Weston), Morgan Orem (Ione FFA), Jacee Currin, Tyler Carter and Kolby Currin (Heppner FFA). -Contributed Photo The Morrow County Fair Youth Livestock Auc- tion received a surprise item last week. Jacee Currin, a member of the Heppner FFA chapter, donated her extra market hog to be auctioned off with the proceeds to go to the Morrow County elementary schools. With the coopera- tion of the three FFA chap- ters in the county (Heppner, Ione and Irrigon) “ready for school” backpacks will be purchased and distributed to less fortunate kids in the Boardman, Irrigon, Ione and Heppner elementary -See SURPRISE PIG/PAGE TWO Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net