Local woman arrested in
drug sweep
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 4 6 Pages
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Charged with two counts meth distribution
Local woman Megan out by the Blue Mountain
Futter, 34, was arrested Enforcement Narcotics
Team. The under-
last week and charged
cover investigation
with two counts of
was aimed at iden-
unlawful delivery of
tifying, disrupting
methamphetamine
and dismantling
within 1,000 feet of a
drug trafficking or-
school. Both charges
are class A felonies Megan Futter ganizations oper-
ating in Umatilla,
and she is currently
Morrow, Union and
lodged in the Umatilla
County Jail under $50,000 Gillam counties. A total of
65 people were arrested in
bail.
Futter was caught up the sweep.
“Today approximate-
in the seven-month long
drug investigation called ly 85 law enforcement,
Operation Wildfire carried corrections, parole and
probation, Department of
Human Services Child Pro-
tective Services and prose-
cutorial personnel formed
11 arrest teams charged
with locating and arresting
How does Heppner look to outsiders?
Visiting team gives “first impressions” of our town
By David Sykes
If you have ever won-
dered how Heppner looks
to people on the outside, a
public meeting last week
by the Rural Development
Initiatives, RDI, would
have told you.
RDI recently complet-
ed a “First Impressions”
study were a team of people
from nearby communities
(those communities were
not named) come to the
town and look at how vis-
itor friendly it is. Heppner
scored pretty good in some
areas and not so good in
others.
Each team member
has an assigned task when
they get to town says Anne
Mitchell of RDI, who along
with Jonelle McCoy, con-
ducted the study and put
on the public program last
week. They looked at the
town from the standpoint
of someone visiting who
not only wants to enjoy
the town for the day but
maybe move here or start a
business here. “We are not
being judgmental with our
assessment,” Mitchell told
the large crowd of locals
gathered at city hall where
they were also served a
pizza dinner as part of the
program. “We are trying
to help.”
She said the teams came
into the town from two dif-
ferent directions; one from
the north and one from the
south. Mitchell said the
Welcome to Heppner signs
were nice but the one from
the south was rather hard
to see as they drove in.
Other signage that got high
marks were those pointing
to the sheriff’s office and
the hospital. Mitchell did
point out that with Heppner
trying to promote the Blue
Mountain Scenic Bikeway
as a tourist attraction, there
should be more bike signs
in town.
Mitchell also said in
some areas there was visual
clutter with too many signs
and information in one
place, causing “clutter” that
was hard for people to sort
out. She did not identify
the exact areas of the visual
clutter.
The visitors did have
some confusion when they
indicted person, seizing
illegally possessed items
and vetting associated per-
sons,” a news release stated.
The Pendleton Convention
Center served as the main
command and processing
facility for those arrested.
The arrests resulted in the
seizing of fentanyl pills,
cocaine, heroin and meth-
amphetamine.
Futter was arrested last
Wednesday morning by two
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Deputies at her place of
employment, the Heppner
Gazette-Times newspaper.
Publisher David Sykes says
Futter is no longer em-
ployed with the paper. She
had also worked part-time
at the local library.
Online student
manages studies
and rodeo
Anne Mitchell of Rural Development Initiatives shares observations about Heppner. -Photo
by David Sykes.
Visiting team was impressed with the large mural on the side of the Farm Museum on
Riverside, but thought there should be a sign directing motorists back onto Main Street,
instead of leaving them to drive down residential Gale Street.
came into town from the
north. A sign pointing to
the farm museum direct-
ed them down Riverside
Street. They enjoyed the
murals on the wall of the
farm museum as well as the
fit park and swimming pool
(although they did say the
entrance to the pool was not
well marked for visitors),
but when they got to the
Heritage plaza park they
continued on down Gale
Street through a residen-
tial area. No sign directs
visitors back onto the main
street and into town, so the
visitors kept traveling down
Gale street and missed the
Historical Marker at the
park and driving into town
on main street.
Public restrooms are
very important Mitchell
says, since the first thing
visitors need when they get
to town is a restroom. She
said Heppner has a very
good public restroom in the
park, (she gave it an A plus)
however there is inadequate
signage to tell people were
they are.
Other observations by
the team was their surprise
we have an Irish theme, and
they liked the good walking
path, neighborhood watch
signs and a general tidiness
to the city. They also liked
the doggie bag stations
available around town. She
said the town had some
“pocket parks” and places
for kids to play, historic
buildings and awnings on
some of the businesses.
Other areas that were
deficient in the downtown
area were no “blade” signs,
she said. Blade signs are
ones that stick out from the
buildings and allow people
down the street to see what
is down there before they
walk the block to get there.
“People need signs to show
them if they should walk
down that street,” Mitch-
ell said. She said neither
side of the Heppner’s Main
Street had blade signs, but
some on the side street do.
The team also noted
that Heppner had “lots of
trash cans but no recycling
bins.” It was also noted that
although the tops of the
public trash cans had sham-
rock covers, many were in
bad need of a paint job and
look shabby. She said the
public water fountain on the
corner of Main and Willow
“did not look good.” She
said the team liked the
bike racks available around
downtown.
It was also noted by
the team that Heppner
had a mix of services and
restaurants but no bakery
or bookstore. On the look
of local businesses, the
team’s observation was
that there were too many
signs, many placed there
Historical Society appoints
new president
The Morrow County but has roots that go back to
Historical Society appoint- 1921 when her mother was
born in Boardman.
ed Kay Proctor as the
Her extended fam-
new president at their
ily homesteaded in
annual meeting held
the area after the
last week. Proctor
irrigation project
previously served as
opened up.
president of the Union
MCHS plans to
County Historical So- Kay Proctor
continue the work
ciety in LaGrande pri-
that they have done
or to moving to Hep-
pner. She has only lived in in the past including the
Morrow County since 1986, number one priority of
publishing the Chronicles.
Contributions of stories
and/or photos from the pub-
lic are being sought. Proctor
noted that a Facebook site is
in the works where people
can post, share and enjoy
the history of the county.
New and returning
members are welcome.
For additional information,
contact Kay at kayproctor@
gmail.com.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
for advertisement of events
and happenings by the pub-
lic, in the store windows.
“People like to look in the
store windows,” Michell
said. “They want to know if
there are other people in the
store before they decide to
go in. If they can see there
are people in the store, they
are more likely to go in.”
The team also sent a
team of secret shoppers
into town to buy at local
businesses. She said all
the employees they met
were friendly and cour-
teous, but some were not
knowledgeable of the area.
She said the visitors asked
about hiking and biking
and store employees did
not have much information
on those activities. She said
the businesses had unique
merchandise for sale.
After the presentation
the groups of locals broke
up into four groups to come
up with suggested “action
and implementation” plans
for Heppner. Those cat-
egories were wayfinding
and business signage: re-
strooms, parks and visitor
amenities. The built envi-
ronment: business façade
refresh/empty storefront
opportunities. Business and
retail mix; incentives/en-
trepreneur support for new
niche retaining. Bicycle/
experiential tourism: Scenic
Bikeway and bike friendly
business.
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Jett Stewart competes in rodeo while doing school work online
Jett Stewart is a fresh-
man at Heppner High
School. He takes classes
like math and language arts.
Stewart also just competed
in team roping in the Junior
National Finals Rodeo in
December in Las Vegas.
He placed third in the world
in open team roping and
fourth in #10 roping. How
does he do both? He is a
student at Morrow Acad-
emy, the online program
of Morrow County School
District.
Last fall, Jett’s parents
realized that the amount of
time he had to spend on the
road traveling with Junior
Rodeo was not going to be
possible with a tradition-
al school schedule. After
talking with district admin-
istrators, they decided to try
the online program.
Sybil Stewart, Jett’s
mom, said that initially she
was hesitant about Jett not
going to a regular class-
room, because education is
their first priority. However,
considering Jett’s team rop-
ing goals, they had to step
outside their comfort zone.
They were introduced
to Betsy Shane, the dis-
trict’s Morrow Academy
teacher. “Mrs. Shane was
amazing! Several times, I
was worried that we didn’t
do what was best for Jett’s
education, but he gained
lots of ‘real life’ education
when it comes to being
your own advocate and
time management. Mrs.
Shane was really helpful
with struggles and kept
encouraging me and Jett
and helped us through some
growing pains,” Sybil said.
Jett said that at first the
program was intimidating
because you don’t see your
teachers face to face, but
with help from Mrs. Shane,
his mom and Marie Shimer,
MCSD Director of Educa-
tional Services, he made it
work. “What makes it really
work for me is the flexi-
bility and getting the one
on one with Mrs. Shane.
Staying on top of the work
was pretty challenging be-
cause it continues at the
same pace and sometimes
you need to be your own
advocate and contact the
online teachers on your
own. This is especially
important when you are
struggling with something
that is difficult,” Jett said.
This is the second year
Morrow County SD has
operated Morrow Acade-
my. Shimer said the online
program is a great option
for students who need some
flexibility in their school
schedule. This could be for
academic, medical, outside
activities or other reasons.
Shimer said the program is
positive because students
remain in their own, local
school district. This ben-
efits the student by being
able to participate in school
activities and benefits the
district because the district
retains the state money for
that student. “When Mor-
row Academy is a good
fit, it’s really a win-win for
everyone – we get to retain
our students and provide
an education that works for
them,” Shimer said.
-See ONLINE STUDENT/
PAGE FOUR
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington, OR
AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT SALES, PARTS & SERVICE
GRAIN, TRUCKING, ENERGY & ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENTS ● POLARIS SALES & SERVICE
HOURS
Mon -Fri 7am to 5 pm
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800-452-7396 OR
541-989-8221
FAX 541-989-8229