Sheryll Bates named
Woman of the Year
50¢
VOL. 141
NO. 22
8 Pages
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Mail votes all counted, Sykes & Wenholz
win county commissioner positions
The mail-in ballots
have all been counted and
Jeff Wenholz and David
Sykes are the winners of the
two open Morrow County
Commissioner’s positions.
There was a delay in
the county clerk announc-
ing the vote totals. The
election was held May 17,
however because of new
Oregon law, any ballots
postmarked on election
day but not received by the
clerk, must still be counted.
To accommodate this new
law, the clerk waited one
week until May 25 before
counting and releasing a
total vote count, including
all mail-in ballots. The vot-
ing was close enough any
late ballots still in the mail
system could have changed
outcomes announced on
election night, however it
turned out they did not.
Wenholz won three of
Jeff Wenholz
David Sykes
the five county precincts to
beat Melissa Lindsay 1,312
to 1,285, and Sykes won
four precincts to come out
on top with 1,284 to Gus
Peterson’s 479 and Mike
McNamee’s 788 votes.
Since it was a three-way
race Sykes needed 50 per-
cent plus one vote to win
outright in this primary
election and avoid a runoff
in the fall general election.
He did this by receiving
50.24 percent of the total
votes.
Lindsay is currently
holding commission po-
sition three but decided
near the filing deadline she
would instead switch and
file for position two. She
has been on the commission
for one term. The two new
commissioners will both
be sworn in and take office
next January.
Other local elections
held were Michael Gorman
re-elected county assessor
and Justin Nelson re-elected
district attorney. Both were
running unopposed. The
Morrow County School
District also forwarded a
$138 million bond issue
to voters for approval. The
money would have been
used for new construction at
schools around the district,
however, it failed in every
district by a total of 1,478
no to 883 yes. Ione precinct
did not vote because it has
its own school district.
The clerk stipulated
that this vote count is still
not considered final until
it is certified on June 13,
however no changes are
anticipated.
Sheryll Bates was named as Woman of the Year at the annual
Town and Country event held May 19. “She is an asset for the
community and is always willing to help out,” the speaker at
the event told the audience. “If it wasn’t for Sheryll, we would
not have all of the events in town that bring us together,” Alicia
Doherty continued. Pictured (L-R): Sheryll Bates, Alvin Liu
and Alicia Doherty. -Photo by Tylynn Cimmiyottie.
Morrow County
receives signatures
to put Greater
Idaho on the ballot
The chart below is a breakdown of county voting by precinct.
County wide vote count by precinct
Boardman Irrigon Lexington Ione Heppner Total Percent
Position 2
Lindsay
245
264
177 119
480 1285 49.37%
Wenholz
371
430
91 144
276 1312 50.40% Won
Position 3
Sykes
Peterson
McNamee
287
91
212
192
77
398
150 121
70 97
53 45
534 1284
144 479
80 788
50.25% Won
18.75%
30.84%
School Bond
Yes
No
213
422
211
501
103
153
356 883
402 1478
37.40%
62.60% Failed
County names tax break negotiating
team for new solar project
Will locate on 10,900 acres 15 miles northeast of Lexington
the company to apply for a
site certificate in early 2023.
Construction is expected to
begin in the fourth quarter
of 2024 and be completed
by the end of 2026. The
company estimates there
will be an average of ap-
proximately 400 employees
on-site during construction,
with an anticipated peak of
up to 1,200 at one time.
The facility will in-
clude arrays of solar panels,
battery storage, substations
and operations and mainte-
nance facilities, as well as
roads and fencing around
the project, and, when
operational, will produce
1,250 megawatts of power,
control systems, meters
and other equipment. The
battery storage containers,
to be dispersed throughout
the solar arrays, will be con-
tainers up to 9 feet wide, 53
feet long, and 8.5 feet tall.
The new facility would
send its power out of the
area through a new sub-
station on five acres at the
-See SOLAR PROJECT/
PAGE TWO
The Greater Idaho
movement submitted a pe-
tition to force a ballot ini-
tiative onto the November
2022 Morrow County ballot
yesterday at the Morrow
County Courthouse. 287
signatures were submitted
although only 226 valid
signatures are required.
So far, nine eastern
Oregon counties have voted
for the movement’s ballot
measures: two in November
2020, five in May 2021,
one in a special election in
November, and Klamath
County last week.
The purpose of the bal-
lot initiative is to show state
legislators that voters want
them to begin talks with
Idaho to move the border.
The movement is asking
Oregon state legislators for
hearings and for cosponsors
for a resolution that would
invite Idaho to begin talks
with Oregon on moving the
border.
When asked why the
Oregon legislature would
be motivated to give up
a part of the state, Mike
McCarter, the leader of
the movement, pointed to
a January SurveyUSA poll
that shows support for the
move from voters of north-
western Oregon.
The area of eastern Or-
egon proposed to join Idaho
voted 70 percent Republi-
can in the 2020 presidential
election, while Idaho voted
64 percent Republican and
Oregon 40 percent, ac-
cording to the movement’s
website greateridaho.org.
McCarter said “Our
representatives would be
heard in the Idaho Legisla-
ture because they would be
a part of the majority party
there. Idaho respects rural
values and rural industries.
Idaho has a lower cost of
living and lower taxes.”
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
The proposed Echo Solar project will include generating
panels and battery storage.
NEW
2022
FOR
By David Sykes
Local government is
gearing up for a big new
solar electrical generating
project proposed for Mor-
row County. Iin preparation
at its May 25 meeting Mor-
row County Commissioners
picked a negotiating team
to work on property tax
abatement deals with the
new business. The project
is currently in the permit-
ting phase but, if approved,
would locate on 10,900
acres on mostly dryland
wheat ground 15 miles
northeast of Lexington.
Called Echo Solar Proj-
ect, the facility will be
owned by Pine Gate Re-
newables out of Asheville,
NC. The project is currently
under review by the Ore-
gon Energy Facility Siting
Council with an intent for
The Greater Idaho Movement delivered 287 signatures to the
Morrow County court house last week.
for more
information
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