New circuit court site
met with mixed feelings
By Andrea Di Salvo
The new two-story
Morrow County has se- building is anticipated to be
lected a site for the planned about 21,280 gross square
new circuit court building, feet. Two parking lots are
a decision that has met with planned, a private parking
mixed feelings among Hep- lot with a north access and
pner residents.
a larger, public parking lot
The county already accessed from Hwy. 74.
owns the 2.2-acre lot, which
The planning for the
is near the Morrow Coun- new site for Morrow Coun-
ty Fairgrounds within the ty Circuit Court has been a
Heppner city limits. The project spanning months,
property is currently zoned maybe even years. Former
VOL. 143 NO. 28 8 Pages
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
residential, so the county Morrow County Commis-
will need to get a condition- sioner Melissa Lindsay had
al use permit from the city. been the lead on building a
tion where you’re one of school, but I didn’t wres- The building is expected to
-Continued to PAGE SIX
the best,” he recalls, “and tle,” says Payne. “All my break ground in 2025.
then you go to college, and younger brothers wrestled,
everybody’s the best where so I had some familiarity
they’re from.”
with it.”
He finished his educa-
He stopped coaching
tion at Eastern Washington baseball after only a year,
University, where he played but he taught in Tonasket
as offensive lineman for the for nine years, coaching
Savages, later renamed the football and wrestling the
Eagles.
entire time.
“Everybody just gets
He moved to Heppner
a little bit better as you go in 1977. He says he finally
along,” he says of playing got to use his major when
at the university level. “I he was hired to teach health
loved it. If I could do it all at Heppner High School, as
over again, I’d do it.”
well as continuing to teach
Though he loved the social studies.
game, it was never his plan
He also took on the role
to go pro. Rather, he grad- of assistant coach for the
uated from Easter Washing- Heppner Mustang football
ton in 1968 with a Bachelor team, a position he has held
of Arts in education, with a ever since. There was no
major in health and physical wrestling program in Hep-
Les Payne, assistant football coach for the Heppner Mus-
education and a minor in pner at the time, but he also
tangs, hit his 55-year coaching milestone this year.
social studies.
served as assistant baseball
-Contributed photo
He took a teaching po- coach to Dale Holland for a
By Andrea Di Salvo
Heppner football team to sition right out of college, couple of years.
Earlier this year, when the state championship. Or, starting as a social studies
Payne credits head
the Oregon Athletic Coach- he might even have been teacher in Tonasket, WA. coach Greg Grant with
es Association handed out your social studies teacher. He also took the role of the success of Mustang The Lexington fire on July 1 as seen from the yard of Mark
plaques recognizing years
He was born in the head baseball coach, and football, but football is and Alaina Lemmon of Lexington. -Contributed photo.
of service, only three coach- 1940s in Auburn, WA, at thought he was going to be a team sport, and there’s By Andrea Di Salvo
was apparently started by
es in the state were rec- the foot of Mt. Rainier. He the assistant football coach. no doubt that includes the
The 2023 fire season a four-wheeler spraying
ognized for reaching the played baseball and football When the head coach left, coaches. In Payne’s time has started with a bang, with weeds on the creek bottom.
55-year mark—and one of growing up, but there was though, the school gave as assistant football coach, wildfires already wreaking Driven by the wind, the fire
them hails from right here never any doubt about his him the roles of head coach the Mustangs have made it havoc in Morrow County jumped Hwy. 74 and burned
in Heppner.
favorite sport.
in football, wrestling and to the state championship and the surrounding areas. toward town on both sides
The fire hitting closest of the highway. It burned
Les Payne has been
“I’ve been a football baseball.
more than once. In the last
to
home
for Morrow Coun- between 80 and 100 acres
coaching since 1968, and nut from the time I was a
“I was a little bit appre- decade alone, the Mustangs
ty
residents
so far is the July before firefighters arrested
much of his career has been little kid,” says Payne.
hensive,” he says. “I had to have brought home two
1
fire
on
the
western out- it on the outskirts of Lex-
spent as assistant football
He graduated from Au- pay the bills. I was looking state championships and
skirts
of
Lexington.
Crews ington.
coach for the Heppner Mus- burn High School in 1963 for a job. Not necessarily one runner-up trophy in 2A,
responded
to
the
fire
around
The area to the west of
tangs. If his name seems and went on to attend Yaki- teaching and three head as well as being in the top
3
p.m.
on
the
afternoon
of
Lexington
is in the Ione Ru-
familiar, it might be be- ma Valley College for two coaching jobs, but that’s the 25 teams in the state three
that
“red
flag”
day,
a
day
of
ral
Fire
Protection
District,
cause you’ve seen it in large years. He played football at way it worked out.”
times.
low
humidity,
high
heat
and
but
Morgan
said
Heppner
letters over the entrance to the junior college, which he
He also says he didn’t
“The state champion-
firefighters were first on the
the football field named says was a bit of a change have any personal experi- ship years stand out above even higher winds.
Ione
Fire
Chief
Vir-
scene. Heppner Fire Chief
after him. You might have from his high school expe- ence wrestling.
everything else, but every gil Morgan said the fire
heard it in the list of Hep- rience.
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
“Auburn High School
pner coaches that took the
“You go from a situa- was a good wrestling
50¢
Payne recognized for 55 years of coaching
Fire season already
fraught with close calls
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
Heritage Trail on track to get new signage County hires new
administrator
The artwork of one of the existing Columbia River Heritage Trail interpretive panels. The
existing panels, which have been in place about 20 years, will get updated and replaced within
the coming year. -Contributed\
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Columbia River
Heritage Trail (CRHT) will
soon get a new set of inter-
pretive panels, the Morrow
County Board of Commis-
sioners decided at its July 5
meeting in Heppner.
The board of commis-
sioners voted to award the
contract to update eight
existing interpretive panels
for the Morrow County
portion of the Columbia
River Heritage Trail to Sea
Reach Ltd.
Sea Reach, based in
Sheridan, OR, was one
of two companies that re-
sponded to the county’s
request for proposals. The
contract also includes de-
veloping a new design and
content for one of the pan-
els, as well as a back-up set
of eight panels.
Sea Reach’s proposal
for the project was $27,510,
or $34,270 if the county
wanted a site visit and cus-
tom illustrations. Morrow
County Planning Director
Tamra Mabbott told the
board that the county has a
$10,000 AWS grant to fund
the project, as well as other
funding within the county
budget.
They expect to wrap
up the project by April of
next year.
Mabbott also told the
commissioners that the
county had digital files for
seven of the panels, but
that the eighth would have
to be created from scratch.
At the same time, all eight
would probably be updated
to some extent. Images of
all of the interpretive panels
are available for viewing on
the Morrow County Plan-
ning Department website,
which Mabbott says will be
updated periodically.
“It’s really interest-
ing. It looks like a great
project,” said Sykes. “It’s
going to be done first-class.
I like it.”
Morrow County Com-
missioner Roy Drago Jr.
asked what the life of the
panels would be.
“Is there any kind of
warranty for how many
years it stays legible, with
the sun and the wind and the
sand that we have, and the
area this is going to be at?”
Drago said. “I’ve seen the
ones out at Wells Springs,
and they’re pretty difficult
to read these days.”
Mabbott replied that
she didn’t know, but she
expected at least 10 years,
maybe longer. She said the
existing panels have been
in place for 20 years and,
while weathered, are still
legible.
“Unfortunately, van-
dalism has completely de-
stroyed one of them,” she
added. “That’s also why
we ordered duplicates and
budgeted, so if we have
something like vandalism,
we can just pull the top part
off and replace it.”
Also at the meeting,
Morrow County Public
Matthew Jensen
Morrow County has
hired a new county ad-
ministrator, the county an-
nounced this week. Mat-
thew Jensen will begin his
new position in Morrow
County Aug. 14.
“We’re excited about
it. The opportunity to en-
joy small town America
again is something we look
forward to,” said Jensen.
“There’s a hominess you
can enjoy in small town
America.”
-Continued to PAGE TWO
He will bring with him
his wife, Julie, and their
youngest son, who will
be going into eighth grade
this fall.
Jensen currently works
as the city manager for
West Haven, UT, a position
he has held since 2020.
Prior to that, he worked
for three years as adminis-
trator and treasurer for the
Village of Perry, NY. He
holds a bachelor’s degree
in political science and a
master’s degree in public
administration, both from
the University of Utah.
He says being in an ag-
ricultural-based community
with wheat and ranching
hearkens back to his own
childhood.
“I’m excited to come
serve the people in Morrow
County and hopefully work
on some good things,” he
said.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information