HEPPNER
G T
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azette
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VOL. 137 NO. 4 8 Pages
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Chamber elects 2018 officers
Springfield woman dies
seeking help after accident
Becky Sue McDuffee,
57, from Springfield was
found dead on Tuesday, Jan.
16 when she attempted to
seek assistance after driving
off a rural farm road near
milepost 59 on Highway
206 Condon.
McDuffee and her
78-year-old mother-in-law
were driving on rural roads
Monday night when their
vehicle left the road and
went off a steep incline.
The elderly woman said
McDuffee had left on foot
around midnight and had
not returned. According
to a news release from
the Morrow County Sher-
iff’s Office, the weather cy Management (MCEM)
was in the low 30’s
activated Search
with heavy rain and
and Rescue, with
fog, and she was
searchers going out
not dressed for the
on foot, on ATVs,
weather conditions.
in vehicles and by
A passer-by no-
air to search for
ticed the vehicle off Becky
McDuffee. Accord-
the road and called McDuffee
ing to the release
911 around 8:24
she was located at
Tuesday morning, stating 12:38 p.m., deceased.
he discovered the elderly
MCSO would like to
female still in the vehicle remind citizens to carry ap-
when he went to assist. She propriate and extra clothing
was transported to Pioneer during car travels and stick
Memorial Hospital in Hep- to main roads in unfamiliar
pner and later released.
areas. Those who are lost
Morrow County Sher- or whose car is disabled
iff’s Office (MCSO) and should stay with their ve-
Morrow County Emergen- hicle.
Enterprise Zone allocates $2.7
million
Money given for education, public safety, health
care and economic development
The Heppner Chamber of Commerce elected its new officers at its annual meeting held last
week.
The 2018 slate includes (L-R): Jeff Bailey, Bank of Eastern Oregon CEO, board member;
Bob Houser, CEO, Morrow County Health District, vice president; John Gould, Manager
Heppner Les Schwab, board member; Kim Cutsforth, Director Bryant Trust, board member;
Matt Combe, Heppner Jr./Sr. High School Principal, chamber president; Nancy Snider, owner
Wheatland Insurance, board member; Tawny Miles, Human Resource Director Morrow Coun-
ty Grain Growers, treasurer and Edie Ball, Administrator City of Heppner, board member.
Also at the meet-
ing Chamber Ex-
ecutive Director
Sheryll Bates pre-
sented Heppner
re s i d e n t L a r r y
Mills with a spe-
cials gift for his
work within the
community, in-
cluding many
years of announc-
ing both the an-
nual St. Patrick’s
Day and Fair and
Rodeo parades.
Federal Commission sides with
Umatilla Electric over territory dispute
Columbia Basin claimed encroachment
By David Sykes
The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission
(FERC) last week ruled
in favor of Umatilla Elec-
tric Co-op (UEC) in a dis-
pute with Columbia Basin
Electric (CBEC) over who
would build a transmission
line from the planned new
Wheatridge wind farm in
Morrow County, out to the
Bonneville Power Associa-
tion (BPA) grid.
Columbia Basin had
claimed that plans by UEC
to build the transmission
line would encroach on
CBEC’s exclusive service
territory covered under
Oregon law. CBEC had
been moving forward with
plans to do a portion of the
transmission line in its ser-
vice area, and had already
been working with local
landowners on a route and
securing easements. CBEC
wanted to build the trans-
mission line from the wind-
farm out to the edge of its
service area, and from there
UEC would build the rest of
the line out to the grid.
The FERC ruled on
Jan. 18 that construction of
the transmission line would
not cause CBEC to lose its
exclusive retail service ter-
ritory, nor would it compel
retail service in CBEC’s
service territory to be pro-
vided by anyone other than
Columbia Basin, as the co-
op had claimed.
“Of course we are dis-
appointed in the decision,”
said CBEC General Man-
ager and CEO Tom Wolff,
“but we accept it and are
ready to work with Wheat-
ridge on the new windfarm
project.” CBEC will still be
the exclusive provider of
local power for the wind-
farm’s use within the co-
op’s service area. The new
292-turbine 500 meg-watt
windfarm covers an area
just north of Lexington out
to Buttercreek, and not only
resides in the two different
co-ops service areas, but
also overlaps into Umatilla
County.
By David Sykes
The Columbia River
Enterprise Zone (CREZ)
recently awarded close to
$2.7 million in funds to a
variety of groups across
the county representing
education, economic de-
velopment, health care and
public safety.
The funds represent
money collected from
businesses and industry in
north Morrow County pay-
ing reduced fees in place
of regular property taxes.
CREZ offers reduced prop-
erty taxes as an inducement
for new business to locate
there, and existing busi-
nesses to build expansion
creating new employment.
CREZ’s mandate is also to
decide how to distribute the
collected funds.
A run down on who
received the money: City of
Boardman and Boardman
Community Development
Assoc. - $714,785; City
of Irrigon/Irrigon Housing
Group - $629,556; Willow
Creek Valley Economic
Development Group -
$510,235; Morrow County
Education Foundation -
$350,000; Boardman Rural
Fire District - $176,214;
Boardman Rural Fire Dis-
trict - $50,000; Boardman
City Police - $110,000;
Morrow County Health
District - $100,00; Board-
man Community Develop-
ment Assoc. - $55,000.
The formula for distrib-
uting a portion of the money
was based on population
figures. Percentages of the
county’s population living
in certain zip codes in the
county was used, along
with a base allotment of
$50,000, on how to allo-
cate the money across the
county.
In the beginning CREZ
laid out four basic areas
to allocate money: educa-
tion, housing, community
enhancement and public
safety. A discussion was
held on whether to change
those categories and per-
haps add infrastructure.
After discussion the CREZ
board decided to stay with
the original categories.
Makeup of the six-member
board is two appointments
each from the Port of Mor-
row, City of Boardman and
Morrow County.
Jackson Coiner takes top
honors in HES Geography Bee
Heppner Elementary
School students competed
in the school Geography
Bee on Wednesday, Jan.
17. Fourth, fifth, and sixth
grade students were given a
qualifying test and the top
12 students were invited to
participate in a competition
in front of the school.
Students were asked a
variety of questions about
world and local geography.
Seven rounds of questions
eventually narrowed down
the competitors to a group
of ten for the final round.
The top two students re-
maining were fifth graders
John Lindsay and Jackson
Coiner.
Jackson Coiner was
crowned the champion and
will be taking the qualifying
test for the state competi-
tion.
Jackson Coiner
Public Works adds on to office
HES students pictured who competed in the Geography Bee are front row (L-R): John Lindsay,
Keegin Chitty, Rylee Palmer, Aden Lathrop and Lane Critchlow.
Back row (L-R): Landon Mitchell, Hallee Hisler, Teagan Ramsey, Jackson Coiner, Sierra
Greenup, Caden George and Arianna Worden.
Morrow County Public
Works additional office
space in Lexington is al-
most complete. The new
space will house two offic-
es, an employee breakroom,
a conference room and an
ADA restroom.
Public Works Director,
Matt Scrivner said, “I am
so excited about the new
conference room that will
allow us to hold meetings
without going to Heppner.”
He stated that they currently
have to reserve a room in
the Bartholomew Building,
meet in a small room at the
airport or just meet in the
hallway at the current office
building in Lexington.
The conference room,
scheduled for completion
about March 1, will ac-
commodate approximately
20 people and will have a
separate entrance allowing
it to be used for meetings
after hours. Other county
departments will soon have
an option for holding meet-
ings in Lexington.
Morrow County
Grain Growers
Lexington
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.