Primary election
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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.
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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