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VOL. 144
NO. 14 8 Pages
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
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Morrow County
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John Bowles, Commissioner David Sykes, JOP Glen Diehl,
County Administrator Matt Jensen, and Transit manager
Ben Tucker, cutting the ribbon at the Loop ceremony.
-Photo by Annalynn Black
By Annalynn Black
the Heppner Chamber of
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mand transit service, re-
cently celebrated the launch
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in Morrow County with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony
on April 1st. The event
took place at the city park
in Heppner and marked the
introduction of three new
routes: the green route from
Heppner to Boardman, the
blue route from Boardman
to Heppner, and the red
route that loops around
Boardman and the Port of
Morrow.
A number of key in-
dividuals were present at
the ribbon-cutting event,
including Patrick Keely, the
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Supervisor, Ben Tucker
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er, County Commissioner
David Sykes, County Ad-
ministrator Matt Jensen,
Justice of the Peace Glen
Diehl, and Sheriff John
Bowles. Other attendees
included John Doherty the
Heppner City Manager,
Madison Rosenbalm from
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Grogan with the County.
The loop also had driv-
ers and dispatchers attend,
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patcher, Audrey Durfey
bus driver, Joe Shelley the
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Cage Keely dressed up as a
comical cow for this event.
The ceremony com-
menced with Commissioner
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gratitude to their partners,
ODOT and Kayak Transit,
followed by the ribbon
cutting, and ended with a
courtesy ride to showcase
the stops along the Heppner
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are equipped with ASA
standard wheelchair opera-
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for bicycles, strollers, and
other belongings. Addition-
ally, a pull string runs along
both sides of the bus to
allow passengers to request
stops as needed.
The discussion about
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bus system for South and
Gage Keely, dressed up as a
cow for the ribbon cutting
ceremony. -Photo by Annalynn
Black
North Morrow County be-
gan some time ago, and
Transit Manager Ben Tuck-
er said, “We are picking up
the pieces and getting the
ball rolling.” The buses,
which were funded by Mor-
row County, consist of three
routes. The Blue route starts
at 7 am in Boardman and
ends at 9:15 am in Heppner,
with a repeat schedule at 7
pm. The Green route begins
at 4:45 am in Heppner,
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and Ione, and concludes
at 6:45 am in Boardman.
This route repeats at 10:30
am and 12:15 am. The Red
route runs from 1:15 pm to
1:57 pm in Boardman, with
additional trips at 3:15 pm,
4:15 pm, and 6:15 pm.
Transit Operations
Manager Patrick Keely
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with ASA access issues can
be picked up within a 3/4th
mile radius from the desig-
nated bus stop if they call
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time dispatchers and four
drivers, with plans to hire
one more person. The main
objective of the new route
system is to connect North
and South Morrow County.
Keely also mentioned that
ODOT has been instrumen-
tal in securing and main-
taining state and federal
grants for the operation and
acquisition of equipment,
with Kayak serving as the
local transit provider to en-
sure access to public transit
for all Morrow County
residents. Furthermore, it
is worth noting that the new
bus route is not sponsored
by any private entities.
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trators have established
strong relationships with
the Port of Morrow and
the Boardman Chamber
of Commerce. They have
collaborated with various
entities and community
representatives from all the
cities in Morrow County to
develop the routes based on
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input. Initially, the feed-
back indicated a need for
more stops in Boardman,
resulting in the doubling in
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Additionally, the adminis-
trators aimed to facilitate
a hassle-free commute for
those working at the Port
of Morrow. For the north
end, the number of stops is
limited due to the smaller
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Heppner. It is important to
note that the “Dial-A-Ride”
car service and the weekly
shopper bus will continue
to operate alongside the
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New allegations emerge beyond original
BOC recall petition
By Chris Sykes
Recently, in February,
Stewart Dick filed a re-
call petition against three
Morrow County Commis-
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Drago, and David Sykes.
In his petition, he listed
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Stewart recently posted
on the Morrow County
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Justice Facebook page.
Dick added a new reason
to the recall list, accusing
Retired Commissioner Don
Russell of orchestrating a
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say and Doherty. Dick stat-
ed, ‘...Commissioner Rus-
sell orchestrated the lynch
mob against Lindsay and
Doherty. That disgraceful
manipulated recall is a
main reason for this BOC
recall. And trust me, it will
happen.”
Dick then posted a re-
sponse to a claim that the
recall was motivated by
revenge. He stated, “This
recall has nothing to do with
revenge. If it was purely
about revenge, I wouldn’t
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a solution with our Board
of Commissioners. This
recall is about standing up
for liberty and justice, and
seeking to correct a case
of mis-justice that Jim and
Missy have faced.”
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contacted the three current
commissioners, as well as
retired commissioner Rus-
sell, to seek clarification
regarding his statement and
inquire about their involve-
ment in the last recall.
Retired Commissioner
Don Russell denies having
anything to do with the
last recall, saying, “Stuart
Dick’s post was pointed
out to me by a friend. I’m
retired now and I try not
to be involved. I had my
turn to be involved when
I was commissioner. I can
tell you that I didn’t make
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people and didn’t go to any
meetings about the recall. I
didn’t gather signatures for
the recall or call people and
encourage them to sign pe-
titions. I’m aware of some
of the people who gathered
signatures and none of them
are related to me or, as far as
I know, associated with cor-
porate farms or any industry
at the Port of Morrow.’”
Commissioner Drago
said, “Stewart has been
claiming there is no trans-
parency from the county
and here he is not being
transparent with his inten-
tions. It’s very telling about
hypocrisy. I want to ignore
the rhetoric and do my job
for the people of Morrow
County.”
“There is irony over
Stuart Dick’s admission, the
true reason for this recall is
his need for vengeance over
the last recall,” said David
Sykes, Chair of the Morrow
County Commission. “The
most contentious issues he
is using against us are both
tough problems we inher-
ited from the previous ad-
ministration. Instead of tak-
ing on these tough issues,
the previous commissioners
chose to delay and stall any
decisions that needed to
be made. The previous ad-
ministrators had two years
to deal with the ambulance
issue but refused. Previous
commissioners should have
sited the new circuit court
building by the time they
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again they refused to deal
with the hard decisions their
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on siting the new circuit
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the county was on the verge
of losing state funding for
the building. “With Stuart
Dick’s revelation of the
true reason behind the cur-
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urge all Morrow County
residents to give us time to
work through these issues,”
Sykes continued. “We are
dealing with these matters
openly and honestly. Do
not be part of one man’s
personal lust for vengeance
over the past.”
Commissioner Wen-
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told me in 2022 that there
would be a recall against me
and that was before I was a
commissioner. So, I knew
the real motivation behind
the recall.”
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on the curent recall petition
are.
1) The three Morrow
County Commissioners
(BOC) have been uncoop-
erative and lacking trans-
parency when it comes to
working with the Morrow
Egg-cellent ex-travaganza!
Heppner kids go hopping
mad for easter egg hunts!
By Chris Sykes
On Easter Saturday,
Market Fresh and the Elks
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hunts for children. The
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in Market Fresh, where
kids eagerly formed a line
down the aisle, anticipating
the opportunity to find a
plethora of eggs. Following
this, at 9am, the second hunt
took place at the Heppner
Fair Grounds, providing
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the kids. In addition to the
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arranged a special Easter
Bunny photo session, al-
lowing parents to capture
moments with their kids.
For more images of the
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to page seven.
Berkley Hanna proudly
displayed her impressive
egg collection from Market
Fresh on Saturday.
- Photo By Chris Sykes
Men’s golf opening day
April 7 th
Entrance to the Willow Creek Country Club.
- Photo by Chris Sykes
The Willow Creek men will
open their 2024 season on
Sunday April 7 th at the Wil-
low Creek Country Club.
The day will start with
breakfast at 7:30 and play
will begin around 8:30. The
event will be a blind draw
2-man scramble. The board
asks you to remember to
have dues paid by this time.
Wednesday night play will
begin on April 17 th . There
is a sign-up sheet posted in
the clubhouse. Hope to see
you all on Sunday.
Trout stocking schedule
for Willow Creek
Northeast Oregon –
With spring getting under-
way, ODFW are stepping
up their trout stocking
schedule. For April, 13,000
legals and 1200 trophies
are bound for 13 water-
bodies across the North-
east Oregon District, for
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reference, the Northeast
Oregon District compris-
es the entirety of Gillam,
Morrow, and Umatilla
counties, the majority of
Wheeler, Grant, Union,
and Wallowa Counties,
along with portions of
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son, and Harney counties.
The April trout stocking
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follows:
Date: April 1 – April 5
Waterbody: Willow Creek
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Trophy: 0
Total: 500
Date: April 1 – April
Waterbody: Willow Creek
Reservoir
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Trophy: 750
Total: 750
-Continued to PAGE TWO
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
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information