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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2021)
Primary election ballots go out soon 50¢ VOL. 140 NO. 15 8 Pages Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Groundbreaking held for new sheriff storage building A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sheriff Office Storage building was held last week in Heppner. Participating were left to right: Undersheriff John Bowles, County Planner II Stephanie Case, Heppner Mayor Jim Kindle, Witness Tree Surveying Stephen Haddock, Morrow County Soil & Water Conservation District Manager & Natural Resources Specialist Kevin Payne, County Commissioner Melissa Lindsay, Commissioner Jim Doherty, County Administrator Darrell Green, Commission Chair Don Russell, Heppner Chamber of Commerce Interim Executive Director Sheryll Bates, Allstott Construction General Con- tractor David Allstott and Howard and Beth Bryant Trust Administrator Kim Cutsforth. By David Sykes A groundbreaking cer- emony for the new Mor- row County Sheriff stor- age building was held last Wednesday in Heppner with many of the people who made the new struc- ture possible in attendance. Local builder David Allstott is general contractor on the project which will see a 60- X 80-foot wooden structure built at a cost of $564,702. The new building will be constructed on city-donated land between Riverside and Hwy 74 behind the Devin Oil facility The new storage facil- ity became necessary after the county lost its lease on a similar building at the old Kinzua Mill site. The sheriff had been storing equip- ment, the mobile emergen- cy command center vehicle Ione school selects new superintendent Kevin Dinning with wife, Heidi, six-year-old Sofie and four- year-old, Henry. The Ione School Dis- trict Board has announced the selection of Kevin Din- ning as the new Superinten- dent/Secondary Principal of the district effective July 1, 2021. According to Ione School District Board Chair Rob Crum, Dinning was one of three finalists who spent a day in the district in late March. Following extensive reference check- ing, Dinning was the unan- imous selection by the Ione board. Crum said, “We are looking forward to Kevin bringing strong leadership and growth opportunities for our students.” Most recently, Dinning has served as the principal of Bonners Ferry High School and Bonners Ferry Middle School in Idaho. He has considerable teaching experience, even serving as a teacher coordinator in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Dinning received his master’s degree from Concordia University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho. When asked about coming to Ione, Dinning said, “We are looking for- ward to joining the commu- nity, excited to work hard and committed to getting better every day.” “The Ione school board is pleased to have Dinning as our new superinten- dent/secondary principal and look forward to many successful years working together,” said Crum. Ione-Arlington Middle School football team ends season 4-0 as well as other vehicles at the storage facility located there. The Port of Morrow, which owns the old mill site as well as the storage building, is in the process of selling that building to local businessman Jay Coil. When the sale is completed, Coil plans to move his fab- rication business there from its present location on Riv- erside in Heppner. The sale is for a reported $100,000 but the deal has reportedly not yet been finalized. The county did have the right to match the offer and buy the port building but instead, in the interest of economic development at the mill site, opted to find a new spot and build its own storage building. Subse- quently the city of Heppner was approached and agreed to donate a lot next to the Rural Fire District firehall. The Soil and Water Con- servation District, which has an office nearby, also agreed to donate a parcel of land to make the new facility possible. Devin Oil Company also granted an access easement across its property. As of last week, some preliminary site work had been done on the new stor- age building, however a final completion date was not announced. DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5PM Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers reported that the ballots for the May 18 primary election will begin to go out Wednesday, April 28 and should start to arrive in mailboxes soon af- ter. The last day to register to vote is April 27. Remember, ballots are not forwarded. Those who didn’t receive a ballot, but believe they should have, should contact the Morrow County Clerk’s office at 541-676-5604. All ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, May 18. Ballots must be received, not sim- ply postmarked, on that day. Ballot return envelopes will include prepaid postage for business reply mail, which takes longer to be delivered than first class mail. May 11 is the last day to safely return your ballot by mail. After that date, voters must use an official drop site. For voter convenience, 24-hour drop boxes are lo- cated throughout the coun- ty. All drop boxes close at 8 p.m. on election day. Drop sites are available at: Heppner: Behind the Bartholomew Building, in the parking lot. Open 24 Official drop boxes are located throughout the county. hours. Ballots may also be dropped at the Morrow County Clerk’s office inside the courthouse. The clerk’s office will be open from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m., M-F and election day (May 18) from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Lexington: 365 West Hwy 74 (Morrow County Public Works parking lot). Ione: Spring St. (in front of the turn to 3 rd Street). Boardman: NW Boardman Ave. Irrigon: 205 NE 3 rd St. (Irrigon Annex). Heppner’s COVID-19 vaccine event cancelled Reports surface of blood clots in six women Heppner’s COVID vac- cine event was cancelled Tuesday after federal health officials called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after reports surfaced that six women in the U.S. who got the vaccine developed blood clots afterwards. Morrow County Com- missioner Melissa Lindsay sent out an email early Tuesday morning announc- ing the cancellation. The vaccine event was the last of several over the last two weeks put on around the county giving the vaccine to residents for free. Vac- cine sessions had already been held in Boardman, Irrigon and one Monday in Heppner before the reports came out and the cancel- lation called for. Reports were coming in of other vaccine events that were also being cancelled across the United States. “The FEMA vaccina- tion event scheduled in Morrow County at Heppner for today April 13, 2021 has been cancelled due to the FDA recommendation that the Johnson and John- son COVID 19 vaccine be placed on hold out of an abundance of caution. Mor- row County will continue offering alternate vaccines at our clinics; please com- plete the interest forms,” Lindsay said in her email. “The safety and well-being of the people who use our products is our number one priority. We are aware of an extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in com- bination with low platelets in a small number of indi- viduals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine,” Johnson & Johnson said in a prepared statement also issued Tuesday. The Centers for Dis- ease Control, CDC, and the Federal Drug Agency, FDA, issued a joint state- ment on the CDC website that said more than 6.8 mil- lion people have received the vaccine in the United States, and they were “re- viewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine.” The statement said anyone who has received the vac- cine and developed “severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.” The CDC and FDA did not call for a halt to the vaccines in the state- ment, however. Going On Now! 30% off Select UTV/ATV Winches Contact Lexington Parts Department The Ione and Arlington Middle School football team ended their season Monday, April 5, with a win over Lyle. The Cardinals ended their shortened season undefeated for the year. Pictured (L-R) front row: Alex Cave, Wyatt Licence, Jayden Havins, Marty Medina, Mason Orem, Jordan Havis, Carter Dennis, Nick Ferguson; back row: Coach Matt Orem, Carter Eyenitch, Malikie Carroll, Holden Sifford, Colt Gronquist, Elijah Scott, Blake Vandeuver, Hunter Scoggin, William McElligott, Coach Eric Orem. -Contributed photo. 350 Main Street Lexington, Oregon 97839 541-989-8221 mcgg.net