There’s a new
Sheriff in town
Bowles sworn in
50¢
NO. 44
8 Pages
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Mustangs take Conference
title, defeat Vikings
Cameron Proudfoot (34) escapes tackle against
Vikings
The Heppner Mustang as the third quarter ended.
As the fourth quarter
football team defeated the
Umatilla Vikings 20-12 started, Umatilla was driv-
to win the Blue Mountain ing and went for it on fourth
Conference championship. down. Landon Mitchell
With the win, the Mustangs made a big stop as he tack-
will host the Monroe Drag- led the Viking quarterback
ons, the second-place team for an eight-yard loss to
from Special District 2, at give the Mustangs the ball
noon on Les Payne Field back. Heppner took the
ball right down the field
this Saturday.
The highly anticipat- for a score when Ty Boor
ed game with the Vikings punched the ball in from
started with the Mustangs four yards out for the touch-
kicking off and the Vikings down. George then ran the
scoring on their first posses- ball in for the two-point
sion. The extra point was conversion to make the
missed and the score was score 20-12 in favor of the
6-0 with less than a minute Mustangs.
On their last possession
gone off of the clock.
After the ensuing Uma- of the game, the Vikings
tilla kickoff, the Mustangs drove the ball all the way
went on their own drive down to the Heppner 22-
for a score. A thirteen-play yard line when Mitchell
drive ended when Caden intercepted a pass with just
George scored a touchdown a minute left in the game.
on a three-yard run. That The Mustangs ran the clock
tied the score at 6-6 at the out and got the big win by
the score of 20-12.
end of the first quarter.
The statistics of the
A long drive by the
Vikings that ate up most game were as close as the
of the time in the second game was. Both teams ran
quarter ended in a score and the ball for 206 yards. The
gave Umatilla a 12-6 lead at Mustangs passed for 66
yards and the Vikings only
halftime.
The Mustangs scored 11. The Mustangs had 272
on their second drive of total yards in the game and
the third quarter when they the Vikings 217. The Mus-
put together a 68-yard drive tangs had 18 first downs and
that ended when George Umatilla 17.
Leading the Mustangs
threw a 24-yard touchdown
pass to Tucker Ashbeck. in rushing was George with
That tied the score at 12-12 81 yards on 18 carries. He
Top-David Cribbs (2)
ready to assit. Mustangs
in huddle
also scored a rushing touch-
down. Cameron Proudfoot
was next with 59 yards on
eight carries and Hayden
McMahon rushed for 40
yards on four carries. Da-
vid Cribbs carried the ball
for 15 yards, Saul Lopez
had six and Boor finished
with five rushing yards and
scored a touchdown.
George was 3-6 passing
the ball for 44 yards and a
touchdown. Lopez threw
one pass for 19 yards and
Boor was 1-1 for three
yards.
Leading the team in
receiving was Ashbeck with
two catches for 31 yards
and a touchdown. Cribbs
caught one pass for 19
yards and Jake Lentz had
a reception for 13 yards.
George caught one for a
three-yard gain.
On the defensive side
of the ball, Boor led the
team with 14 tackles. Ash-
beck recorded 11 and Cade
Cunningham had 10 in the
game. George had eight
tackles, and Cribbs and
Mitchell finished with five
each. Mitchell also had
the big interception in the
game. Lopez and Proudfoot
each recorded four tackles
and with three each were
Lentz and Jaime Cavan.
Landon McMahon finished
the game with one tackle.
County ballot measure makes
international spotlight
A news team from Sweden’s TV4 interviews Ga-
zette-Times publisher Chris Sykes on the Greater
Idaho movement and other issues dividing the U.S.
-Photo by David Sykes
By Andrea Di Salvo
Morrow County has
landed in the international
spotlight as one of two
Eastern Oregon counties
set to vote on possible
secession from the State of
Oregon next week. A film
crew from Sweden showed
up in Heppner, document-
ing a vote they consider a
“microcosm” of larger di-
vides in the U.S. Articles on
the issue have also appeared
on websites like Fox News
and the UK’s Daily Mail.
A news team from Swe-
den’s TV4 came to Heppner
Tuesday as part of a larger
story on the current polit-
ical divides in America.
TV4 correspondent Tomas
Kvarnkullen is based in
Washington, D.C., but said
he knew he needed to get
out of the city to get a feel
for what Americans are
thinking. He and photog-
rapher Claes Isander are
covering the election for the
Stockholm, Sweden-based
network. He says the news
piece that includes Heppner
should air next Monday. It
can be streamed on https://
www.tv4.se.
Wheeler County is the
other county set to vote
on whether to look more
closely at the Greater Idaho
movement, while nine other
Eastern Oregon counties
have already voted to pur-
sue the idea.
The Greater Idaho
movement seeks to redraw
Oregon’s border so that the
eastern two-thirds of the
state become part of Idaho.
Proponents of the move
cite the political differences
between eastern and west-
ern Oregon—exacerbated
by the west side’s larger
population—and Idaho’s
more conservative political
leanings.
“We would welcome
the creation of a new state,
or kicking Portland out of
this state, but that would
-Continued to PAGE TWO
Update:
Recall
election
scheduled
for late
November
Above: Morrow County Clerk Bobbi Childers swears in John
Bowles as the new Morrow County Sheriff on Tuesday, Nov.
1, at the Morrow County Courthouse in Heppner. Bowles was
appointed as sheriff upon the retirement of previous sheriff
Ken Matlack. I’m humbled and honored,” said Bowles, who
is the 17 th county sheriff. “I have a great staff, and I’m looking
forward to leading them into the future.” -Photo by Chris Sykes
Morrow County Com-
missioner Jim Doherty has
decided to move forward
with a recall vote rather
than resign from office,
and Commissioner Me-
lissa Lindsay has until 5
p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2,
to make her decision, says
Morrow County Clerk Bob-
bi Childers.
Recall organizers had
earlier turned in enough
signatures to send the recall Below: Retiring sheriff Ken Matlack, center, with Morrow
decision to voters, with County commissioners Don Russell and Melissa Lindsay.
Childers expecting the bal- Matlack retired as sheriff on Nov. 1. -Contributed photo
lots to be mailed out some-
time around Nov. 7 and
an election date of Nov.
29. Doherty will be on the
ballot for sure. If Lindsay
decides to proceed rather
than resign, she also will be
on the ballot.
Ballots due Nov. 8
Postal
service
warns of
text scam
Heppner USPS Post-
master Roslyn George is
warning local residents of
a new text scam currently
circulating.
The text message,
which says it comes from
the United States Postal
Service, says, “The pack-
age is on hold and cannot be
delivered due to an incor-
rect address. Please check
and update. Otherwise it
will be returned.”
The text then gives a
link which, if followed,
leads to a page that tells the
consumer there is postage
due on their package and
that they need to enter a
credit card number to re-
ceive the package.
While the amount of
the “postage due” is small,
access to credit card infor-
mation allows such sites,
known as phishing sites, to
continue stealing from the
consumer.
George says she has
heard from 10 people who
have received the text mes-
sage in South Morrow over
the past two weeks, and
those are only the ones who
have asked about it.
“Don’t be shy about
asking before you do some-
thing like that,” George
says. “It’s not from the
postal service.”
Ballots may be dropped off or postmarked by Nov. 8 for this
year’s general election. Drop boxes are located throughout the
county for voter convenience. -Contributed photo
Ballots are due by next
Tuesday for the Nov. 8 Gen-
eral Election. Remember,
ballots are not forwarded.
Those who haven’t received
ballots but believe they
should have should contact
the Morrow County Clerk’s
office as soon as possible at
541-676-5604.
All ballots are due by
8 p.m. Election Day, Tues-
day, Nov. 8. Ballots must
be postmarked no later
than Nov. 8 to be counted.
For voter convenience, 24-
hour drop boxes are locat-
ed throughout the county.
Drop boxes close at 8 p.m.
on Election Day. Locations
are as follows:
Heppner: In the park-
ing lot behind the Bar-
tholomew Building (24
hours) or the Morrow Coun-
ty Clerk’s Office, Room
102 inside the courthouse.
Open 8 a.m. to noon and
1-5 p.m., M-F and Election
Day (Nov. 8) from 7 a.m.
until 8 p.m.
Lexington: 365 West
Hwy 74 (Public Works
Parking lot). Open 24 hours.
Ione: Spring St. (in
front of the turn to 3 rd
Street). Open 24 hours.
Boardman: NW
Boardman Ave. (24 hours).
Irrigon: 205 NE 3 rd
St. (Irrigon Annex). Open
24 hours.
E L E VAT E YO U R A DV E N T U R E
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
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