Circuit court placement
still top of mind for
many residents
50¢
VOL. 143
NO. 31 10 Pages
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Life at the top: Local man recounts his
time as a mountaineer
Edmundson descending the
south side of Mt. Hood with
Crater Rock in the back-
ground during a climb he
made with his son, Jeff, and
Greg Sweeney. -Contributed
photo
By Andrea Di Salvo
“The mountains don’t
care if you live or die.”
For Heppner man John
Edmundson, that line has
formed a mantra for much
of his life, a life spent
among the crags and cliffs
of the mountains of the Pa-
cific Northwest.
“The Oregon and
Washington Cascades have
been my playground,” says
Edmundson, 87.
Edmundson’s life-long
love for mountaineering
developed early in life. His
family moved from New-
burg, OR to Hood River,
OR in June of 1944.
“From the front yard of
our home in Hood River, we
could see Mt. Hood to the
south and Mt. Adams to the
north,” Edmundson recalls.
Edmundson’s father
had done a little mountain
climbing as a Boy Scout in
Salem, so it was pretty nat-
ural for him to connect with
the local mountain-climb-
ing and search and rescue
(SAR) group, the Hood
River Crag Rats.
The Crag Rats are
America’s oldest Search
and Rescue organization,
formed in 1926. The mem-
bers still wear their sig-
on July 4, 1946. The Crag
Rats were having a family
outing at the Spirit Lake
campground on the north
side of Mt. St. Helens. He
was 10 years old.
“I realized later that
it was special because the
Crag Rat members had
just returned home from
fighting in World War II,”
Edmundson says. “They
were reconnecting with
what they had previously
enjoyed doing before the
bers the sense of pride he
had as he returned to the
parking lot at the timberline
with his ice axe and pack.
“The people coming
up the access trail looked
at me and asked, ‘Did you
climb the mountain?!’ I
thrust out my small chest
and proudly exclaimed,
‘Yes!’” he recalls.
In the following years
Edmundson would climb
the north side of Mt. St.
Helens five more times, as
By Andrea Di Salvo
Even with a packed
agenda at its July 19 meet-
ing in Irrigon, the Morrow
County Board of Commis-
sioners still found that the
site for the new Morrow
County Circuit Court build-
ing was at the forefront of
many residents’ thoughts.
Concerns range from land
value to child safety to the
future of the fair and rodeo.
Tim Collins of Heppner
owns land that adjoins the
newly-selected site. He
told the commissioners he
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Two men injured in
Irrigon-area shooting
Two men are out of
the hospital after being in-
jured in a possible drive-by
shooting in the Irrigon area
last Wednesday.
Morrow County Sher-
iff’s Office Communica-
tions Center got the 911
call reporting a possible
drive-by shooting in the
Depot Lane area just out-
side of Irrigon just after 8
p.m. July 26.
One patient was air-lift-
ed to a Tri-Cities hospital.
The other was transported
to Good Shepherd Medical
-Continued to PAGE TWO
County commission
hears update on mental
health topics
By Andrea Di Salvo
A later climb of St. Helens with his good friend, girlfriend and eventual wife, Pat, along with
The Board of Com-
his sister and friends from Hood River. They were joined by three brothers from the Valley,
missioners
heard an up-
whose father took the photograph with Mt. Adams in the background. “It was a routine but
very enjoyable climb up the Lizard Route,” says Edmundson. “Pat likes to say she did mountain date regarding Communi-
climbing until she caught me.” -Contributed photo
ty Counseling Solutions’
nature black and white
checkered shirts, adopted
in the 1920s, and remain
active at their primary focus
of search and rescue on Mt.
Hood and in the Columbia
Gorge.
E d m u n d s o n ’s f i r s t
climb was on Mt. St. Helens
war.”
Edmundson remembers
being impressed by the fact
that, even though it was
summer, there were some
snowflakes falling from the
light cloud cover over the
mountain as they reached
the peak. He also remem-
(CCS) work in the region,
especially opioid settlement
funds and the need for acute
care, at its July 19 board
meeting in Irrigon.
During her quarterly
report, CCS Executive di-
rector Kimberly Lindsay
addressed the board con-
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT cerning the Janssen opioid
settlement funds that were
announced earlier this year.
Janssen, a subsidiary of
Johnson & Johnson, was
one of several companies
involved in national set-
tlements for their role in
well as one climb up the
south side after its eruption
in 1980. He can still picture
the scene from the top of
that last climb.
“I peered over the edge
to the 1,500-foot drop-off
to the crater, with its lava
4-H members compete in pre-fair competitions
4-H junior Tenley Rosenbalm prepares for the Quick and
Easy Ground Beef contest last week in Heppner.
-Contributed photo
Morrow County 4-H
members participated in the
county pre-fair contests on
Wednesday, July 28.
The pre-fair consists of
two cooking contests for
the junior level members,
fourth through sixth grade,
and presentations by all
member ages and levels.
The cooking contests
featured at pre-fair are the
measuring contest, in which
first-year members are giv-
en a list of different ingre-
dients to measure using
correct techniques specific
to the ingredient, and Quick
and Easy Ground Beef,
sponsored by the Morrow
County Livestock Growers.
Members in the ground
beef contest have one hour
to prepare, cook, serve and
clean up a meal featuring
one pound of ground beef.
4-H members partici-
pating in the presentations
contests presented different
types of speeches, including
the 4-H Pledge, demonstra-
tions, illustrated talks and
impromptu speaking.
At the intermediate
level, Elizabeth Wallgren
claimed the champion rib-
appreciated the work that
had gone into keeping the
courthouse in Heppner, but
still had questions. A few of
the questions he presented
to the board included the
possibility of a privacy bar-
rier, preservation of existing
landscaping and trees, prop-
erty access from the east,
ability to keep horses on
properties, possible deval-
uation of nearby land, and
whether the county would
update water lines in the
Adams addition.
bon in both impromptu
speaking and the Celebrate
Our World presentation.
Ellie Sak swept the rest
of the champion spots in
the 4-H Pledge, individual
demonstration, FCS con-
sumer decision-making,
FCS Skill-a-thon and illus-
trated talk.
Audrey Sak took re-
serve champion in the 4-H
pledge and illustrated talk,
while Klynn McNamee
took the reserve champion
in FCS consumer decision
making and the FCS Skill-
a-thon.
For the juniors, Clay
Sak took the champion
ribbon in junior measuring.
Hadlie Duncan was cham-
pion in impromptu speak-
ing and reserve champion
in junior measuring.
Mikalie Duncan was
champion in the 4-H pledge,
illustrated talk and quick
and easy ground beef, as
well as reserve champion in
impromptu speaking.
Kinsley Hancock was
reserve champion in the
4-H pledge and illustrated
talk, while Harper Krebs
was reserve champion in
Intermediate Elizabeth Wall-
gren gives a presentation
during 4-H pre-fair contests
last week. -Contributed photo
Callahan Baker gives a
presentation during the 4-H
pre-fair contests. Callahan is
a junior in 4-H. -Contributed
photo
Quick and Easy Ground
Beef.
Other contestant plac-
ings were:
Senior—Arianna
Worden, FCS Skill-a-thon,
blue.
Intermediate—Audrey
Sak, FCS consumer de-
cision making, blue, and
FCS Skill-a-thon, blue;
Elizabeth Wallgren: 4-H
Pledge, blue, individual
demonstration, blue, and
illustrated talk, blue; and
Eva Worden: FCS Skill-a-
thon, blue.
Junior—Alexander
Wallgren, 4-H Pledge, blue,
illustrated talk, blue, im-
promptu speaking, blue,
Quick and Easy Ground
Beef, blue; Allison Crum,
Quick and Easy Ground
Beef, blue; Callahan Bak-
er, 4-H Pledge, blue, and
illustrated talk, blue; Clay
Sak, 4-H pledge, blue, FCS
consumer decision making,
blue, FCS Skill-a-thon,
blue, and Quick and Easy
Ground Beef, blue; Hadlie
Duncan, 4-H pledge, blue;
Jade Piel, junior measuring,
blue, and Quick and Easy
Ground Beef, blue; Jayden
Macias, illustrated talk,
blue, and Quick and Easy
Ground Beef, blue; Kamryn
Dickenson, 4-H Pledge,
blue, and Quick and Easy
Ground Beef, blue; Kinsley
Hancock, Quick and Easy
Ground Beef, blue; Kord
Dickenson, Quick and Easy
Ground Beef, blue; Made-
lyn Campbell, 4-H Pledge,
blue; Mataya Philpott,
4-H Pledge, blue; Ten-
ley Rosenbalm, Quick and
Easy Ground Beef, blue,
Wyatt Piel, junior measur-
ing, blue, and Quick and
Easy Ground Beef, blue.
manufacturing and distrib-
uting opioids. Of the $5
billion national settlement
from Janssen, Oregon will
receive $62 million over
10 years.
Last year, the Oregon
legislature created an Opi-
oid Settlement Prevention,
Treatment and Recovery
Board (PTR Board), ad-
ministered by the Oregon
Health Authority. The PTR
Board administers the
state’s 45 percent share of
funds. The additional 55
percent from each settle-
ment goes to Oregon cities
and counties and must be
used exclusively to address
substance use disorders.
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
Bill to fund work on
nitrate contamination
passes out of Senate
committee
A bill promising fund-
ing for Morrow County
wells has passed out of the
U.S. Senate Interior Appro-
priations Subcommittee,
U.S. Senator Jeff Merk-
ley announced last week.
The bill, if passed, would
include $1.32 million for
Morrow County for the
second phase of its work to
address nitrate contamina-
tion of private wells.
Funding would be used
to develop a preliminary
engineering report and for
vetting alternatives for pro-
viding well users with clean
water.
“Morrow County
thanks Sen. Jeff Merkley for
his efforts in securing this
funding. With his and Sen.
Ron Wyden’s help we will
continue our partnership in
first identifying, then im-
plementing long-term solu-
tions to providing safe and
clean drinking water for all
our citizens,” said Morrow
County Commission Chair
David Sykes.
Merkley, as Chair of
the Senate Interior Appro-
priations Subcommittee,
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information