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VOL. 143
NO. 35 10 Pages
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Gentry wins MoCo Rodeo All-Around
The Heppner Ga-
zette-Times will be closed
Monday, Sept. 4, for the
Labor Day holiday.
The deadline for all
news and ads for the Sept.
6 edition will be Friday,
Irrigon Council says no
to truck route exceptions
Pictures and results page 7
By Andrea Di Salvo
The Irrigon City Coun-
cil voted this month to
maintain the current city
truck ordinance and not
allow exceptions.
Irrigon City Manag-
er Aaron Palmquist told
the council at the Aug. 15
meeting that the issue came
up because a new resident
had asked the city council
to review and consider
amending the existing truck
route ordinance so he could
drive his semi-truck home
to SE Kristen Dr.
Because of the amount
of community discussion
around the topic, the Irrigon
Planning Commission was
asked to weigh in on the
issue. The planning com-
Tate Gentry (left) won the buckle for Morrow County Rodeo All-Around Winner Sunday, July 20. Morrow County Rodeo
Board President Tanner Britt is presenting the buckle, which was sponsored by Heppner Les Schwab. See more Morrow
County Rodeo photos and results on PAGE SEVEN. -Photo credit: Alexis Cady, Wild Red Rodeo
Heppner student wins state art contest
“The calendar contest
is a great project for teach-
ers and students to cultivate
creativity while celebrat-
ing agriculture’s beauty
and bountiful lessons,”
said Brittany Capell, AITC
Education Programs Coor-
dinator.
Each month in the cal-
endar features one of the
winning students’ pieces of
art, and each day of the year
has a fact about agriculture.
The 13 students se-
lected to be featured in
the 2023-2024 calendar
received a $50 award and
certificate to commemo-
rate this honor. The win-
ning artwork is displayed
on our website and at the
Oregon State Fair, which
runs through Labor Day in
Salem. Calendars are free
to Oregon teachers, and can
be ordered for just $4 on
oregonaitc.org/shop.
Oregon Agriculture in
the Classroom Foundation
is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to helping stu-
dents grow through their
educational lessons, activi-
ties and resource materials
to Oregon educators to
support the integration of
agricultural themes into
academic subjects such as
math, science, history and
language arts. For more
information, visit the AITC
website at www.oregonaitc.
org.
mission’s recommendation
was to maintain the truck
route designations and re-
strict trucks to those routes.
The existing ordinance
has been in place since
2015. Palmquist said the
ordinance had gone through
a lengthy process when
it was developed, and he
was concerned with the
consequences of making
exceptions.
“When you make ex-
ceptions, then you’re go-
ing to have some dispari-
ties that concern me,” said
Palmquist. As an example,
he said, if the city charged
for permits, one trucker
might be able to afford a
special permit while anoth-
-Continued to PAGE TWO
Boardman councilor faces
misdemeanor sex charges
The Morrow County
District Attorney’s office
is bringing misdemeanor
sex crime charges against
Boardman City Councilor
Isaac Williams.
Morrow County Dis-
trict Attorney Justin Nel-
son said the allegations
pertain to a relationship
Williams reportedly had
with a 17-year-old prior to
his time on the city council.
Nelson said the Board-
man Police Department
had referred the case to
Oregon State Police for
investigation on June 13 of
this year. Morrow County
Chief Deputy DA Zach
Williams—no relation to
the defendant—reviewed
the case.
The district attorney’s
office filed the preliminary
charge of third-degree sex-
ual abuse against Williams
on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
Arraignment is scheduled
for Oct. 5.
Williams, 36, has been
a member of the Boardman
City Council since 2021,
when he was appointed to
fill a vacancy. He was elect-
ed to an at-large position in
2022 for a term that expires
in December of 2026.
Third-degree sexual
abuse is a Class A misde-
meanor in Oregon.
Lexington council discusses
water concerns
Heppner Student Hadlie Duncan displays her artwork at
the calendar art contest reception at the Oregon State Fair,
where she and 12 other winners were honored last Friday.
-Contributed photo
Heppner Elementary
fourth-grade student Hadlie
Duncan was selected as one
of 13 winners in a statewide
annual calendar art contest
sponsored by Oregon Ag-
riculture in the Classroom
(AITC).
Hadlie’s artwork was
selected from among 1,722
entries submitted to the
contest showcasing Ore-
gon’s diverse agricultural
and natural resource com-
modities. The winners were
honored at a reception on
Friday, Aug. 25, at the Or-
egon State Fair in Salem.
This year, artwork was
submitted by students kin-
dergarten through sixth
grade across the state in
public, private, charter and
homeschool education sys-
tems. The entries received
celebrated Oregon’s diverse
agriculture with artwork
depicting a wide variety of
the state’s 220 agricultural
commodities.
H a d l i e ’s a r t w o r k ,
which can be viewed on the
May page of the calendar,
featured a field of canola
with wind turbines in the
landscape.
“When driving back
home from Hermiston,
I saw fields of beautiful
yellow flowers blooming,
which was the inspiration
for the artwork,” Hadlie
said in describing the art-
work.
Sept. 1, at 5 p.m. Normal
business hours will resume
Tuesday, Sept. 5.
The G-T wishes every-
one a safe and happy Labor
Day.
Hadlie Duncan’s artwork, which features a field of canola with
wind turbines, can be seen on the May page of the Oregon Ag-
riculture in the Classroom 2023-24 calendar. -Contributed photo
Boardman brewery
closes its doors for good
Ordnance Brewing in
Boardman closed its doors
for good this past weekend,
Aug. 26. The brewery and
Boardman Tap House, lo-
cated at 405 N. Olson Road,
had reopened in February
after a pandemic-related
closure.
The company an-
nounced the closure on its
Facebook page, but did not
indicate a reason for the
sudden closure.
“The Ordnance fam-
ily can’t thank everyone
enough who came out to
support your local brew-
ery,” the Facebook post
stated. “Whether it was a
Bingo, Trivia, Lotería, Ka-
raoke, paint class or game
day; we appreciate each and
every one of you for coming
to enjoy our cold beer and
our ‘Cheers’ atmosphere!”
Several comments on
the post expressed sadness
on the closure—several
commenters called Bloops
“awesome” or “the best
beer in Oregon.”
“So sorry to hear this.
We have been going to
Ordnance for several years
while camping at Board-
man,” Joyce Harrison Stiff
wrote. “We’ll miss all your
great beers (that we liked
lol) and your wonderful &
friendly staff!”
Ordnance will also
be closing its Wilsonville
brewery, though that loca-
tion will remain open as a
taphouse.
By Andrea Di Salvo
Town water—or the
lack of it—were concerns at
a Lexington Town Council
meeting earlier this month.
The town council
learned that the town’s
engineering firm, Ander-
son Perry & Associates,
had submitted Lexington’s
water system master plan
to the Oregon Health Au-
thority’s Drinking Water
Services (DWS). DWS sent
a letter to Anderson Perry
confirming the master plan
met all the Oregon Admin-
istrative Rule criteria.
One of the main con-
cerns of the water master
plan is securing a second
water source for the town.
The town currently has
only one water supply well,
which is limited during the
late summer months due to
a lowering of the water lev-
el in the aquifer. The town
also cites insufficient water
storage volume.
The town’s current wa-
ter system has 127 water
connections—107 residen-
tial, 15 commercial and
five other. Its annual usage
is 31,500,000 gallons of
water.
According to the town,
the existing well must run
nearly 22 hours a day to
meet peak demand. With
demand expected to in-
crease in coming years,
that makes a second water
source a high priority.
Through its work with
Anderson Perry, Lexington
is laying the groundwork
to seek funding for a new
well and pump station for
the town, as well as a new
300,000-gallon storage res-
ervoir.
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information