Heppner experiences coldest
March on record
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 14 8 Pages
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Wind blades - meet sheep herd
According to prelim-
inary data received by
NOAA’s National Weath-
er Service in Pendleton,
temperatures at Heppner
averaged much colder than
normal during the month of
March. This was the cold-
est March on record. The
previous coldest was 37.0
degrees in 1917.
The average tempera-
ture was 35.1 degrees which
was 9.1 degrees below nor-
mal. High temperatures av-
eraged 44.4 degrees, which
was 10.5 degrees below
normal. The highest was
64 degrees on the 23 rd . Low
temperatures averaged 25.7
degrees, which was 7.8
degrees below normal. The
lowest was 6 degrees, on
the 5 th .
There were 21 days
with the low temperature
below 32 degrees. There
were six days when the high
temperature stayed below
32 degrees.
Precipitation totaled
1.09 inches during March,
which was 0.43 inches be-
low normal. Measurable
precipitation, at least .01
inch, was received on eight
days with the heaviest, 0.62
inches reported on the 24 th .
Precipitation this year
has reached 5.35 inches,
which is 1.24 inches above
normal. Since October, the
water year precipitation
at Heppner has been 9.36
inches, which is 1.19 inches
above normal.
Snowfall totaled 5.5
inches with at least one inch
of snow reported on three
days. The heaviest snowfall
was 3.0 inches reported on
the 6 th . The greatest depth
of snow on the ground was
13 inches on the 1 st .
The outlook for April
from NOAA’s Climate Pre-
diction Center calls for
above normal temperatures
and above normal precipita-
tion. Normal highs for Hep-
pner rise from 59.0 degrees
at the start of April to 64.0
degrees at the end of April.
Normal lows rise from 36.0
degrees to 40.0 degrees.
The 30-year normal precip-
itation is 1.51 inches.
Photos by Cathy Smith
What happens when three semis hauling three wind turbine blades meet a sheep
herd on the road past Cecil? Just ask Cathy Smith who spent 45 minutes in a “sheep
jam” last Friday.
Cathy, who lives in Goldendale but spends quite a bit of time in Heppner visiting
her friend Gary Schonbachler was good enough to share these photos with the Heppner
Gazette-Times.
She also had a good sense of humor about the incident saying: “300 to 400 sheep
heading west; three semis hauling three wind turbine blades heading east; six escort
vehicles; three sheep dogs; two sheep herders – and me” she wrote. “45 minutes in a
Sheep Jam. Priceless”
CREZ II dollars awarded to Morrow County organizations
The Columbia River
Enterprise Zone II (CREZ
II) board of directors award-
ed a total of $3,242,545.71
to local services in Morrow
County on Jan. 28. The
following organizations
received funds:
Morrow Education
Foundation (Includes
Workforce Training &
High School Internship
Program), $545,000;
Boardman Police Depart-
ment (School Resource
Officer), $75,000; Mor-
row County Health District
(new ambulance monitors),
$100,407; Boardman Rural
Fire Protection District
(computer upgrades and
truck upgrade), $57,828.28;
Boardman Community De-
velopment Association,
$961,081.07; City of Irri-
gon, $837,865.54; Willow
Creek Valley Econom-
ic Development Group,
$665,363,82.
On February 14, the
CREZ II board of direc-
tors awarded a further
$176,207.95 as follows:
Boardman Police De-
partment, $50,000; Board-
man Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, $50,000;
Morrow County Health
District, $50,000; Mor-
row Education Foundation,
$26,207.95
The Columbia River
Enterprise Zone II (CREZ
II) was established in 2009
after the success of the
Columbia River Enterprise
Zone I. Enterprise zones
are a unique resource for
Oregon communities and
provide benefits both for
businesses locating with-
in an enterprise zone and
the region surrounding it.
CREZ II is sponsored by the
City of Boardman, the Port
of Morrow and Morrow
County.
Qualifying business-
es who locate or expand
within CREZ II must meet
certain criteria. If approved,
businesses will be exempt
from local property taxes
on new investments for
a certain amount of time,
typically 3-5 years. Incen-
tives are determined on
local approval and require
minimum levels of invest-
ment size, job creation and
employee compensation.
Benefits to the com-
munity include increases in
economic activity, property
tax income over time and
employee compensation. In
addition, in-lieu payments
and bond payments within
CREZ II are used to en-
hance local services with a
primary focus on education,
community enhancement,
emergency services and
infrastructure, and housing.
These two actions have
disbursed the monies that
were collected in 2018 in
accordance with agree-
ments made with various
businesses and the CREZ
II Board.
The CREZ II Board
requests that the entities
receiving these awards pro-
vide a written report at the
end of 2019 as to how the
funds were used. The CREZ
II manager will notify the
entities when the report is
due.
Contact Greg Sweek,
CREZ II manager with any
questions or concerns at
ezmanager@co.morrow.
or.us or 541-945-9064.
Fire destroys Heppner home
Alleged armed robber requests
a new lawyer
Deng Peter Makuey, to remove himself from
25, of Portland recently re- the case,” Nelson said of
quested a new court-ap-
the defendant.
pointed attorney and the
“The term he
judge granted his request.
used when we
Makuey was arrested on
had court on this
June 23, 2018 by the
motion to with-
Morrow County Sher-
draw from the
iff’s Office for allegedly Deng Peter
case was that he
taking part in an armed Makuey
couldn’t com-
robbery of the Sinclair
municate with
station in Boardman.
his attorney – that they
According to Morrow weren’t understanding each
County District Attorney other.”
Justin Nelson Makuey was
Nelson said it will take
moving towards a settle- time for the new attorney to
ment conference when he be brought up to speed on
requested a new attorney. the case and it appears that
“He asked his attorney
a settlement is off the table.
Charges against
Makuey include first-de-
gree robbery, three counts
of unlawful use of a weap-
on, three counts of menac-
ing, three counts of harass-
ment, one count of disor-
derly conduct, one count of
third-degree theft (less than
$100) and fourth-degree
assault. His bail is set at
$405,000.
An Immigration and
Naturalization Service hold
has also been placed on
him. His country of birth is
not known.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
An early morning fire destroyed a Heppner house Monday and there were no reported injuries
from the blaze. The house at 485 Linden Way, and owned by Megan Futter, was completely
destroyed by the 2:30 a.m. blaze. Futter was reportedly out of town at the time of the fire.
There was also some minor damage reported to the neighboring home. -Photo by David Sykes.
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