Deputy shoots, injures
Boardman man
HEPPNER
A 26 year-old man was
injured after being shot
Friday Sept. 22 nd by a Mor-
row County sheriff’s deputy
when the deputy stopped
for a disabled vehicle on In-
terstate 84 near the Board-
man exit.
The Morrow County
deputy encountered the
Boardman man, who had a
firearm. Shots were fired;
the deputy was uninjured
during the encounter.
The suspect in the
shooting has been identi-
fied as Boardman resident
Efren Hurtado Jr. Hurtado
was initially transported to
the Good Shepherd Medical
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136 NO. 38 8 Pages
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Center in Hermiston and
later flown to a Portland
area hospital for treatment,
where his injuries are con-
sidered non-life threaten-
ing.
The identity of the
Morrow County Deputy
is being withheld pending
the initial portion of the
investigation and will be
released as allowed by the
Morrow County District
Attorney’s Office, along
with the Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office ac-
tivated the Umatilla/Mor-
row County Major Crime
Team. The Oregon State
Police along with the Mor-
row County District At-
torney’s Office are leading
the investigation into the
incident.
7 p.m. in the evening. In
November of 2016 Gould
graduated from NASCAR
Tech, and, because of his
hard work, did it six months
ahead of schedule.
Staying around North
Carolina for a while Gould
was only able to find vol-
unteer work, which didn’t
help pay the bills, so he
came back to Oregon, but
not for long. While in North
Carolina Gould had made
contact with Larry Foyt,
grandson to the legendary
AJ Foyt, owner of the rac-
ing company. Being the per-
sistent young man he is, and
chasing his dream, Gould
called Larry asking for a job
interview, not just once ei-
ther. “I kept calling until he
finally said yes,” And so he
left Oregon in the dead of
winter, on Jan. 1 on his way
to Texas for the interview.
“The weather was terrible,
we almost didn’t make it
over Cabbage Hill” (High-
way 84 East of Pendleton
and a notoriously bad pass
in the winter). But down
through Idaho he drove to
Utah where there was more
bad weather, and finally on
to Waller, Texas, and the
AJ Foyt racing headquar-
ters. He wasn’t given a job
immediately, however, but
was told the company was
planning on forming a third
Heppner
to lift
burn ban
The burn ban for Hep-
pner will be lifted on Sept.
27. Contact Heppner City
Hall at 541-676-9618 for
additional information.
Local man realizes pit crew dreams
From Heppner High, to Indy Car race tracks
wanted to do this. When
he was a little boy he was
putting together his sister’s
toys and calling them all
race cars,” John says with a
smile. “He’s always wanted
to be involved with racing.”
But to realize his dream,
Thomas needed to gain
training and experience, an
endeavor he embarked on
in August after graduation.
Like many young people
he went off to school, but
this was not a regular state
or community college, but
NASCAR Tech, a school
dedicated to race car train-
ing, and located in the heart
of NASCAR country in
Mooresville, North Caro-
lina.
And to begin getting
that needed experience,
in addition to the class
time, Gould managed in
March 2016 to get on with
a truck racing team. There
he worked on the truck
interiors such as safety up-
dates, driver comfort and
installing seats. It was a
volunteer job without pay,
but he was receiving the
racing experience that he
needed, if he ever wanted to
get on with a team full time.
Gould worked on the trucks
until September of 2016
when he then joined a Super
Late Model racing team.
Working from 6 a.m. to 1
p.m. he was also still going
to school from 1:15 until
-See INDY/PAGE FOUR
Thomas Gould at the race track -Contributed photo
By David Sykes
How does a young man
from Heppner get to be
member of the AJ Foyt Indy
Car racing team pit crew,
and in only two years? Hard
work and persistence, or as
Thomas Gould puts it, “If
you want something bad
enough, don’t ever give
up until you get it” And he
certainly did not give up.
Gould graduated from
Heppner High School in
2015, and along with his
diploma carried with him
a deep-seated desire to
be on a big-time racing
team. “He told me when
he was a junior he wanted
to go to NASCAR Tech,”
(a training school for race
car technicians) Thomas’
dad John said when the
two of them sat down with
the Gazette-Times recently.
Thomas was back in town
for a visit with friends and
family, taking a break from Twenty-year-old Thomas Gould is a member of the AJ Foyt Racing team pit crew. Here he is (back to camera) on the
racing. “He has always “wand”, which operates the jack, lifting the car up for the tire changers to do their work. -Contributed photo
Ione Education
Foundation holds
dinner, auction
Heppner celebrates homecoming
Heppner High School homecoming court: (L-R) Junior prince and princess: Keegan Gibbs and Maddison Combe; Senior
prince and princess: Coby Dougherty and Reiah Waite, Senior Queen Morgan Correa and Senior King Wyatt Steagall, Senior
princess and prince: Sophie Grant and Beau Wolters; Junior princess and prince: Jacee Currin and Hunter Nichols. First
grade pennant bearers: Mikalie Duncan (not pictured Kord Dickenson) -Photo by Kirsti Cason
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to G-T Trophy Corner
see pictures of your trophy animals from
this hunting season. Stop by to have your
picture taken, drop off photos, mail them
to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to
editor@rapidserve.net or text cell phone
photos to 541-980-6674.
Above: Faith Futter of Heppner bagged her first buck Sunday
on Buttercreek out of Heppner. Faith took the three-point buck
while hunting with her uncle Jim Healy under the mentored
youth hunter program. Below: Diana Healy, 16, of Heppner
also took her deer on Buttercreek Sunday. This is her fifth
consecutive successful hunt and her largest take to date.
-Contributed photos
ALL NEWS AND ADVER-
TISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT
5:00 P.M.
Ione Education Foundation held its 15 th annual dinner and
auction Saturday, Sept. 23. with Dustin Padberg serving as
auctioneer. -Contributed Photo
10% OFF Danner & Georgia Boots
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)