Russell wins, Extension loses
Low voter turnout for the state and the county
HEPPNER
G T
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VOL. 137 NO. 21 8 Pages
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
According to unofficial
reports of the May 15 elec-
tion, Don Russell won the
race for Morrow County
Commissioner with 69.42
percent of the votes. His
opponent, Raymond Akers,
received 30.07 percent.
It was a close race for
the Extension Service dis-
trict, with the no votes com-
ing in at 1,009 of the 1,883
ballots, for 53.58 percent
no and 46.42 percent yes.
The unofficial results show
the Extension district lost in
every precinct except Ione,
where it received 102 yes
votes to 99 no votes. Other
unofficial precinct results
show Lexington voting 85
yes and 95 no and Heppner
voting 275 yes and 278 no.
Irrigon had 230 yes and 315
no and Boardman shows
182 yes and 222 no. The
measure was also defeated
in Umatilla County.
Statewide voter turnout
was a low 33.45 percent.
Gilliam, Grant and Wallowa
counties were in the highest
percentile for voter turnout
in the 60 to 66 percent range
while Morrow County was
in the lowest range between
28 to 35 percent, at 34.68
percent.
According to unofficial
precinct statistics, Board-
man had 445 total ballots,
Irrigon had 616, Lexington
197, Ione 217 and Heppner
had 597 total ballots cast.
There are 5,978 eligible
voters in the county and
only 2,096 ballots were
received.
Morrow County
Commissioner Don Russell
Mustang golfers bring home trophies from state
Boys with fourth place trophy. LR: Coach Matt Scrivner, Cason Mitchell, Gavin Hanna
Robinson, Casey Fletcher, Logan Burright, Kellen Grant, Reno Ferguson and Coach Greg
Grant. -Contributed photo.
Both Heppner Mustang
golf teams brought home
trophies from the OSAA
State Championships last
week. The Heppner boys’
team finished in fourth
place and the girls’ team
took second place honors.
The state championships
were held at the Quail Val-
ley Golf Course in Banks.
The Mustang boys’
team shot a team total
of 363 on day one of the
OSAA 3A/2A/1A Tourna-
ment. They then came out
on fire and improved that to
a 349 on the final day of the
tournament. Their two day
total of 712 put them in a
solid fourth place finish 30
strokes ahead of fifth place
Burns at 742. Winning the
tournament was Bandon
with a total of 610. They
were followed by Oregon
Episcopal (638) and Blan-
chet Catholic (687) for
second and third place.
After Heppner and Burns
and finishing in sixth place
was St. Mary’s (755). It
was then Portland Adventist
(773) and La Pine (773) tied
for seventh place. Then it
was Taft (791), Echo/Stan-
field (811), Rogue River,
Grant Union and Columbia
Christian.
Leading the way for the
Mustangs was Kellen Grant
who shot a 90-81 (171) to
finish in 18 th place overall
out of the 73 golfers who
competed. Logan Burright
91-88 and Reno Ferguson
89-90 finished tied for 24 th
place as they both shot a
179. Cason Mitchell was
33 rd as he finished 94-90
(184). Also playing for the
Mustangs was the split pair-
ing of Casey Fletcher and
Gavin Hanna Robinson.
They combined to shoot a
total of 192 for the tourna-
ment and tie for 34 th overall.
Winning the boys tour-
nament was Scotty Kennon,
a freshman from Bandon
who shot a two day total
of 136. Second place went
to Kyle Humphreys (139)
from Regis and placing
third was local favorite
Riley Lankford (142) from
Pilot Rock.
The Heppner girls’
team won their fifth OSAA
4A/3A/2A/1A State Tour-
nament trophy in a row this
year. They finished second
in 2014, 2015, 2017 and
2018. In 2016 the Mustangs
brought home the fourth
place state trophy.
At this year ’s state
championships, the Mus-
tang girls’ team was in a
Girls with second place trophy and second place medals. LR: Caitlyn Scrivner, Madison
Combe, Claire Grieb, Sophie Grant, Nicole Propheter and Sasha Keown. -Contributed photo.
solid second place after day
one when they shot a team
total of 366. That put them
30 strokes ahead of the third
place team after the first
day. On day two, the Hep-
pner girls (371) stayed in
second place and stretched
the margin to 40 strokes
over the third place team.
St. Mary’s won the state
championship by shooting a
651. Heppner finished in
second place with a 737.
Other team scores were Val-
ley Catholic (777), Salem
Academy/Blanchet Catho-
lic (785), La Grande (791),
Taft (820), Scappoose
(821), Cascade Christian
(842), Baker (847), Oregon
Episcopal (853), Waldport
(870) and Phoenix (881).
Individually for the
Mustangs, Nicole Propheter
shot a 86-87 (173) to fin-
ish in 11 th place out of the
71 girls who participated.
Sasha Keown 90-85 (175)
finished in 12 th place over-
all and Sophie Grant 87-91
(178) was 15 th . Claire Grieb
103-108 (211) finished in
41 st place and Madison
Combe 107-109 (216) was
44 th .
Winning the champion-
ship was St. Mary’s fresh-
man Baylee Hammericksen
who shot a 142. Tori Suto,
a friend and competitor of
the Heppner girls, from
Wallowa/Joseph, finished
second with a score of 147.
“Overall it was an
outstanding OSAA State
Championship for the Mus-
tangs. History was made
by bringing home trophies
from both the girls’ and
boys’ tournaments in the
same year. It is quite an
accomplishment because
both teams have to play
against schools that are
much larger than Heppner
High School,” stated a
spokesperson.
For the season, both the
Heppner girls’ and boys’
teams were undefeated in
tournaments around the
region. According to a
spokesperson, both teams
put in hard work each and
every day in practice and
got better as the year went
on. “They were also lucky
to be led by the outstanding
and hardworking coaching
staff of Greg Grant and
Matt Scrivner.”
2018 Morrow County Crystal Apple winners announced
The InterMountain
Education Service Dis-
trict (IMESD) announced
the Morrow and Umatilla
County winners of the 2018
Crystal Apple “Excellence
in Education” awards at
a banquet held May 14 in
Pendleton. Union County
winners were honored on
May 7 at Eastern Oregon
University in La Grande.
A total of 44 individ-
uals were honored from
the IMESD’s component
school districts in eastern
Oregon. The 2018 events
mark the 19 th annual Crystal
Apple Awards for Umatilla
and Morrow counties and
the 7 th annual for Union
County.
Winners from Morrow
County were Ione School
District superintendent, Jon
Peterson; Ione Commu-
nity School custodian, Tom
Gates; Ione Community
School third grade teacher,
Chelsea Matheny; Morrow
County School District su-
perintendent, Dirk Dirksen;
Heppner Jr/Sr High School
department secretary, Tra-
cie Bunch; Sam Boardman
Elementary School first
Students build picnic cover
2018 Crystal Apple winners from Morrow County School District (L-R) Tracie Bunch,
Sarah Christy, Erin Stocker, MCSD,, Betsy Shane and Amy Stringer. -Contributed photo.
grade teacher, Sarah Chris-
ty; Riverside Jr/Sr High
School math teacher, Betsy
Shane and A.C Houghton/
Irrigon Elementary Schools
counselor, Amy Stringer.
Each year, the IMESD
partners with its school dis-
tricts to recognize outstand-
ing administrators, teach-
ers, educational assistants
and office and building staff
for their dedication and
commitment to students
and for their willingness to
go above and beyond their
regular duties. Nomina-
tions are submitted over
a two-month period by
administrators, coworkers,
parents, students and com-
munity members. Winners
are selected from these
nominations by school dis-
trict administration.
“We congratulate each
of this year’s Crystal Apple
winners and are honored to
celebrate these wonderful
educators who are making
a difference every day for
students,” said Michele
Madril, IMESD director of
communication and print
solutions.
The deadline for all advertisements and news for
the May 30 edition will be Friday, May 25 at 5 p.m.
Morrow County
Grain Growers
Charles Cason, Hannah Palmer, Roen Waite, Carson Brosnan, Gibson McCurry, Zach Bred-
field and Caitlyn Scrivner in back. -Contributed photo.
Heppner High School students in the woods manufacturing class designed and built
a picnic cover for the city of Heppner. TSA students assembled the structure during
the Mustang Mop Up service day.
Students will continue to work on the project, which will include building picnic
tables.
Lexington