SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Lexington woman echoes
Lexington logo with home
grown “Jack Rabbit Candle
Company”
By Hannah Finch
Last summer, Julie
Baker of Lexington taught
herself how to make can-
dles, and thus Jack Rab-
bit Candle Company was
born. After creating her
business later in the fall,
Julie says she was lucky to
have her candles take off
with the holidays, and ever
since she has found suc-
cess selling her homemade
candles in Eastern Oregon.
“I really didn’t intend
to have a business with
it,” Julie says. “I’ve just
always been interested in
learning new things and
trying different things, so
I started making some can-
dles at home and testing
them. I either gave them
away or used them myself,
because I like to burn them
myself all the time.”
Julie has spent many
nights in her kitchen,
where she makes all of her
candles herself, experi-
menting.
“I’d say I’ve learned a
lot through trial and error,
such as adding fragrance
at the correct temperature,
and making sure the wax is
not too hot when you pour
it.”
“As I was giving away the
ones I was testing and still
figuring everything out,
people started asking me
about them,” Julie says.
“So that’s what got me
thinking ‘Oh, people are
interested in this.’”
Julie has sold her can-
dles in some holiday ba-
zaars here around town
and in surrounding coun-
ties. “I do have some re-
tailers interested here, but
so far I haven’t committed
to anything yet. I’m trying
to slow down and do the
business stuff correctly be-
Julie Baker holding one of
her nine ounce Honeysuckle
candles.
fore I get too far along,” Ju-
lie says. “I do have candles
in the Condon Chamber
of Commerce currently. I
want to be selling locally.”
Julie is not only about
selling locally, but buying
locally as well.
“All my fragrance
oils are made in the USA,
which I try to stick to as
much as I can.” Julie says
her most popular scents are
Pear and her Leather Shop
fragrance. “Everything is
all natural,” Julie explains.
Jack Rabbit Candles
are soy candles with cotton
wicks. Julie explains how
soy candles burn cleaner
than candles of other wax-
es and don’t put as many
chemicals in the air. Soy
candles also don’t get quite
as hot, which enables them
to hold their fragrance and
burn for longer.
Julie makes all of her
candles in small batches.
She says she does it this
way because it improves
the quality of each candle.
Right now, Jack Rabbit
Candles come in 12 ounce
jars (with two wicks), nine
ounce jars, and five ounce
tins.
“One other thing I’ve
started that’s been a good
opportunity is working
with Reinventing Rural,”
Julie explains. “They have
a group of us from Eastern
Oregon and they’re having
weekly classes with us,
helping us on how to set up
a business, how to market,
and walking us through the
different steps. That’s been
really cool. I’ve been ex-
cited to get to be a part of
that.”
Living in Lexington
and having grown up in
Heppner, Julie says she al-
ways thought it was cool
that the jackrabbit was the
Lexington school mascot.
“It just seemed like a fit for
the candles,” she says.
When asked what she
enjoys most about her
craft, Julie answered with
“Honestly, I think it’s re-
ally relaxing. Melting the
wax and putting the can-
dles together is stress re-
lieving, and it’s calming
and fun to create, too.”
Julie Baker in her kitchen,
where she makes all of her
candles. She hopes for a
studio space in the future.
“I’ve been really ap-
preciative of everyone’s
support,” Julie says. To
learn more about Julie and
her candle company’s mis-
sion, please visit her web-
site and Facebook page.
Port of Morrow, BMCC
announce partnership to
offer new training at
Boardman campus
The Port of Morrow
has announced a new part-
nership with Blue Moun-
tain Community College
to offer free noncredit
classes and forklift train-
ing. Classes will be located
at the BMCC Workforce
Training Center and open
to the public. Participants
do not need to be regis-
tered as a BMCC student
to attend.
New courses include
Microsoft Word and Ex-
cel as well as computer
applications for beginners.
BMCC is also offering
a new language learning
platform you can access
remotely.
In addition, the new
forklift simulator is avail-
able for training during
regular business hours.
The simulator is available
in multiple languages and
provides a safe and free
training environment for
anyone interested in build-
ing additional skills.
All course schedules
have been set through
May and include evening
and morning class times.
Bilingual options are avail-
able in English and Span-
ish. More information and
the link to register can be
found online at https://
www.portofmorrow.com/
workforce-training/home.
“We have heard from
employers and job seekers
that there is a need for short
term bilingual training,”
says Director of Workforce
Development Kalie Davis.
“We are excited to partner
ESTATE SALE
for Eddie Gunderson
with Blue Mountain Com-
munity College to make
these opportunities easily
accessible and free.”
“This partnership with
the Port of Morrow offers
some really exciting op-
portunities for local res-
idents. We at BMCC are
excited to welcome new
students into the building
to learn new or refresh ex-
isting skills, all at no cost
to them.,” says BMCC
Workforce Training Cen-
AMAZON
-Continued from PAGE ONE
duce that same amount of
revenue as an offset com-
ing to the district with no
gain in funding for local
education.
“I talked to
Dirk Dirksen (Morrow
County School Super-
intendent) and he said it
would affect the equaliza-
tion formula,” Russell said
if the money was given
directly. “I hate to see it
just be a pass through and
just go back to Salem and
not be a benefit locally,”
he added. Gorman said he
was not sure how money
given to the districts would
affect equalization, saying
the districts already get
money directly from both
the CREZ and the SIP. “I
don’t know if would affect
equalization.” He said the
schools have gotten SIP
and enterprise zone money
in the past. “They receive
other large sums of money
other than tax money and
somehow they get around
their equalization,” he add-
ed.
On how to spend
the $11 million, Doherty
asked if the money came
to the county as tax mon-
ey “or is it just an $11 mil-
lion check written to the
county?” Doherty said he
talked to both the Oregon
Department of Revenue
and the county assessor,
and both said it was not
considered tax money. “It
will be up to commission-
ers to determine how it is
spent,” Doherty said. He
added that Gorman’s email
message to commissioners
said Amazon’s “gift pay-
ment arrived today. This is
something they don’t have
to do, they are not obligat-
ed to pay,” Doherty relat-
ed.
“If it is strictly a gift
(the Amazon windfall), and
I believe it is a gift, I think
we should write a check
to every registered voter
in the county to the tune
of about $1,800,” he said.
Short of writing everyone
a check, Doherty suggest-
ed another plan for the
Amazon windfall would be
to update the health build-
ing in Boardman, buy city
hall in Heppner and move
county offices there and
then fix the “dilapidated”
courthouse building. He
also suggested paying the
county finance people and
nurses more money. “We
continue to do this. When
we get a dime in, we con-
tinue to give it out then we
wonder why we are ser-
vicing all these additional
things that are coming in
all the while. If it is go-
ing to come in as a gift it
should go out as a gift,” he
emphasized. Russell asked
if Doherty’s argument was
to make sure every taxing
district in the county got
a share of the windfall.
Doherty answered simply
“Yes”.
In making the case to
spread the money around
the county, even to districts
that would not have re-
ceived it normally, Doherty
said the entire county has
been affected by Amazon
locating here so the entire
county should share in the
money. “We know that
the entire county is affect-
ed whether it is the rising
rates that UEC (Umatilla
Electric Co-op) charges
because it is now buying
power on the open market,
or it’s the B2H (Board-
man to Hemmingway ID)
line they desperately need
so they can have more of
these Amazons.” He said
the Amazon data facilities
use large amounts of pow-
er from UEC and will need
more in the future when
additional planned data fa-
cilities are built, forcing up
power bills even more. He
said Amazon is the reason
for the need to build the
B2H line.
In answer to the argu-
ment the B2H power line is
being built mainly to feed
Amazon server facilities
with power, Russell point-
ed out that the B2H line
was put on the fast track
the first year of the Obama
administration. “It’s been
around for 15 years and
predates the data centers
by 10 years, so to keep
throwing that out there that
the data centers that have
come to North Morrow and
Umatilla counties are the
reason for the B2H is not
fair,” Russell said. Doherty
Morrow County
Republicans to meet
April 5
The Morrow County Re-
publicans will meet at 6
p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at
the Bartholomew Building
in Heppner, Oregon. PCPs
and anyone interested in
the county Republican Par-
ty are invited to come and
join the discussions. Coun-
ty Clerk, Bobbi Childers,
will be present to tell us
about the election process
in Morrow County and an-
swer questions from those
in attendance.
Plans will be made for
upcoming
events related
ter Director Anne Morter.
to
the
primary
and mid-
“We are thrilled to have the
term
elections.
There
will
Workforce Training Center
be the regional training
hub for Morrow County
residents.”
DEADLINE:
MONDAYS
AT 5PM
Birthright of Morrow County
is seeking volunteers.
We are a pregnancy resource
810 Hep-Spray Hwy
April 1st & 2nd from 8am to 3pm. center located on Willow Street of
Heppner. 2 or 3 hours a week.
Misc.household items, furniture, fridge, Weekly volunteers and subs need-
shop tools/items, sewing machine, etc...
ed. If interested, please call:
541-676-0530.
All priced to sell!
said Amazon may not have
been the reason B2H was
started, but it is the reason
it is now being built.
Doherty also said Am-
azon and Umatilla Electric
Co-op (UEC), and one
other entity he refused to
name, had traveled to Sa-
lem in an effort to thwart
his recent appointment to
the Energy Facility Siting
Council (EFSC), which
decides where power lines
and energy facilities are
built. “I can tell you that
the governor appointed me
to the EFSC and there were
three entities that went
down there (to Salem)
and lobbied to get me off,
Robert Echenrode, (Gen-
eral Manager and CEO of
UEC), I won’t say who
was the third one was, and
Amazon. Why was Ama-
zon down there lobbying?
Because they were scared
to death that I would get
in there and shut down the
B2H line,” he said. In the
future when they come to
the county and ask us to do
something nice for them,
that is going to be an in-
teresting
conversation,”
Doherty said.
Russell said there
were others that also did
not want Doherty on the
siting council. “There are
other groups that lobbied
against your appointment
to EFSC, because I was
called,” Russell said. “And
some of those groups
talked to me. Renewable
Northwest is one of those.
Their concern was you
have been vocal on every
energy project already and
they didn’t think you were
going to be fair and unbi-
ased because of your vocal
outbursts on every energy
project.”
While the commission
did vote to spread the Ama-
zon funds more around the
whole county, they appar-
ently will revisit the matter
at their Wednesday March
23 meeting. That meeting
is after the Gazette-Times
deadline so will be report-
ed in next week’s newspa-
per.
be several opportunities to
meet the candidates over
the coming months. A Can-
didate’s Forum is planned
for Thursday, March 24,
2022, 6pm at the Pendleton
Convention Center.
The Republican Party
is open to individuals who
are interested in conser-
vative ideals and values,
according to the news re-
lease. The Republican Par-
ty platform may be found
at https://oregon.gop/ For
more information on the
Morrow County Republi-
cans contact mocoreps@
gmail.com