Three Mustangs selected
for nine-man all-star game
50¢
VOL. 145 NO.18 10 Pages
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Courthouse update shows rising costs
County seeks options to lower price tag for circuit court
By Andrea Di Salvo
At its April 16 meet-
ing in Irrigon, the Morrow
County Board of Commis-
sioners again received some
bad news about the cost
of the planned new circuit
court building in Heppner.
The project design
team, including represen-
tatives from DLR Group,
Bouton Construction, and
Alliance Management, told
the BOC that cost estimates
had risen above the proj-
ect’s $35 million cap during
the schematic design phase.
However, they also
assured the commission-
ers that this is common
in large-scale construc-
tion and requested input
from the board on potential
cost-saving options moving
forward.
The schematic design
phase is the initial stage
of the architectural design
process in which the overall
concept, layout and scope
of a project are established
through preliminary sketch-
es and plans. Right now,
the Morrow County Circuit
Court is undergoing value
engineering to get costs
lower before it enters the
final design phases.
According to prelimi-
nary designs, the public will
enter the Heppner court-
house from the south via a
bridge over Hinton Creek.
The site is divided into pub-
lic and staff parking areas
and includes flexible space
for rodeo trailer parking
during events.
The building is oriented
to the south to maximize
daylight and community
connection, while circula-
tion has been designed to
separate public, staff and
in-custody individuals.
The sloped terrain is
being used to eliminate
the need for an expensive
holding elevator, allowing
for staff and in-custody
access on the north (second
floor) and public entry on
the south (first floor).
The building is dived
i n t o t w o p r i m a r y g a-
ble-roofed masses—one for
courtrooms and the other
for support functions —
joined by a central “bridge”
housing a prominent stair-
case and lobby. The design
aims to blend civic presence
with a residential scale to
suit the surrounding neigh-
borhood.
The layout supports
complex courthouse circu-
lation needs, with separate
entrances for judges, staff,
jurors, the public, and in-
mates.
“Having all those peo-
ple enter the courtroom
from their own special
doors quite tricky when
you’re also giving them
spaces in the building too
that they need to get access
to,” said DLR Group Proj-
ect Architect Kelli Stewart.
The designs are impres-
sive, but it was during the
financial part of the discus-
sion that problems arose.
The team presented
a detailed breakdown of
the $35 million project
budget, dividing it into
soft costs (estimated at 30
percent, or $10.5 million)
and hard construction costs
(the remaining 70 percent,
or $24.5 million).
Soft costs include items
like design fees, permits,
inspections, and project
contingency. Two separate
hard cost estimates were
conducted—one internal
and one by a third-party
estimator—with results
differing by about six to
seven percent, though both
parties agreed on the overall
project scope.
Cost escalation factors
such as inflation, tariffs
and labor premiums were
discussed, especially due
to the remote site and chal-
lenging terrain, including
the need to excavate basalt
and build retaining walls.
To reduce cost over-
runs, the team identified
several value engineering
options, including switch-
ing from concrete to asphalt
in parking areas, reducing
square footage and simpli-
fying finishes. These chang-
es could potentially reduce
the overage from around
$5.1 million to roughly $2.5
million.
Commissioners ex-
pressed concerns about
more potential cost increas-
es due to the national eco-
nomic climate, with dis-
cussions about the realistic
possibility of the project
reaching $40–44 million.
“Let’s say we bite the
bullet and we’ll just take
a couple of things off and
we’ll probably be over bud-
get,” said Morrow County
Commissioner Gus Peter-
son, “and given the nature
of the national environ-
ment, let’s say we ended
up with something that was
closer to 40 million—and
then tariffs, trade wars,
whatever, bump costs up
another 10 percent, then
we’re looking at 44 million.
“And we went from
where we had a meeting
where 50 million was some-
thing that this board consid-
ered to be an unacceptably
high number to 35 million
and then all of a sudden
we’re at 44,” he added.
Peterson said he recog-
nized that no one involved
in the project could control
national levels but that he
wanted to know how to
move forward realistically.
“How can we move
forward with this in a way
that makes us feel at least
somewhat confident that
we’re not going to just
skyrocket this number? Or
-Continued to PAGE SIX
Candidates forum showcases plans for the Health District
L-R Scott Ezell, Annetta Spicer, Russ Nichols, Molly Rhea, Janet Greenup, Donna Rietmann, Laura Torres, Jason Hanna
and Raymond Seastone. - Contributed Photo
By Chris Sykes
On April 23, the Gil-
liam Bisbee Building in
Heppner became a focal
point for frustrations and
future plans as nine candi-
dates for the Morrow Coun-
ty Health District board
addressed more than 30
in-person Morrow County
residents and many online
viewers.
Hosted by the Heppner
Chamber of Commerce and
moderated by Erin Heide-
man, a Gilliam County res-
ident with deep local ties,
the two-hour forum fea-
tured Raymond Seastone,
Jason Hanna, Laura Torres,
Donna Rietmann, Janet
Greenup, Molly Rhea, Russ
Nichols, Annetta Spicer
and Scott Ezell. Each can-
didate delivered a detailed
introduction, answered four
key questions, responded to
audience queries via note-
cards, and offered closing
remarks, with Madison
Rosenbaum timing respons-
es and Dale Bates running
the tech.
Wi t h t h e M a y 2 0
election approaching, the
event showed the district’s
challenges—leadership
turnover, staff shortages,
financial opacity, and a
North-South divide—while
showcasing plans to ad-
dress these issues. Every
candidate brought unique
insights.
The Morrow Coun-
ty Health District, which
oversees Pioneer Memo-
rial Hospital, clinics in
Heppner, Ione, Irrigon and
Boardman, and services like
home health and hospice, is
facing serious hurdles.
Candidates described a
district unsettled by a CEO
resignation, accusations
of widespread staff losses
that have curtailed services,
declining patient numbers,
and budgets lacking trans-
parency.
A divide between the
industrial North, centered in
Boardman, and the farming
South, rooted in Heppner,
has sparked tensions over
resource equity, with north-
ern tax contributions fuel-
ing perceptions of imbal-
ance. Each candidate pre-
sented their vision, paired
with pointed critiques and
specific actions to rebuild
the health district.
Raymond Seastone,
a banker for the Bank of
Eastern Oregon in Morrow
County since 2017, envi-
sions a financially stable
district anchored by strong
leadership. To fix the dis-
trict, he proposes hiring a
CEO who embraces rural
Oregon’s unique needs,
boosting employee morale
through recognition and
support, recruiting addi-
tional providers to increase
revenue and expand ser-
vices, rehiring local staff
to restore community ties,
promoting transparent fi-
nancial reporting by sharing
audits publicly, and uniting
the county through com-
munity outreach like health
fairs to rebuild trust and re-
duce North-South tensions.
He disputes claims of
MCHD collapse but ac-
knowledges the district is
“stuck in the past,” citing
outdated board practices
that erode confidence and
fuel rumors.
“First hire a CEO…
somebody that’s going to
love rural Oregon… make
the employees up there hap-
py… we need providers,”
he said. “People are saying
it’s the Titanic. It’s not. I
had a meeting three weeks
ago with Nicole. It’s not.”
He urged, “Don’t be-
lieve everything you hear
out in the public… look at
the end of the year audit.”
Seastone also said,
“You got to praise those
people… they’re our local
heroes.” He added, “The
hate in the community,
that needs to stop.” In his
closing, he emphasized, “I
find it a pleasure to… live
here… me wanting to give
back.”
His fixes, grounded in
a recent meeting with the
MCHD CFO, offer a prac-
tical, community-focused
approach to reform, em-
phasizing financial clarity
and unity.
Jason Hanna, a lifelong
resident and former volun-
teer firefighter and EMT,
draws on his mother’s 40-
year career at Pioneer Me-
morial.
To fix the district, he
proposes a 90-180-day
evaluation of interim CEO
Burke to ensure competent
leadership, rehiring local
staff to rebuild capacity,
implementing transparent
practices like open board
responses to public ques-
tions, balancing resources
to address North-South
tensions by ensuring north-
ern tax contributions are
visibly utilized, engaging
the community through
town halls, and reviewing
past leadership decisions to
prevent repeat failures.
L-R: Zac Brown, Jaime Cavan and Nick Wenberg have all
been selected for the first nine-man all-star football game to
be played in La Grande in June. -Contributed photo
The Heppner Mustangs
will be well represented at
the first annual nine-man
all-star football game to be
played in La Grande, OR on
June 20. Nick Wenberg, Zac
Brown and Jaime Cavan
have all been selected to
play in the game.
Seniors from the nine-
man football schools in the
state have been selected
to East and West teams of
20 players. The nine-man
game will be held in con-
junction with the existing
eight- and six-man football
all-star games.
“This is an awesome
thing for small school foot-
ball,” stated past coach
Greg Grant. “I actually
coached in the first eight-
man game in 1990; it is
great that they have added
a nine-man game.”
Each player will be
seeking sponsorship to cov-
er the cost of the game.
The players will train in La
Grande June 16-20. The
exact date and time of the
nine-man game has yet to
be determined.
Lexington to host fifth
annual May Day
Celebration this weekend
The Town of Lexing-
ton is gearing up for a full
weekend of community
fun with its fifth annual
May Day Celebration, set
for Friday and Saturday,
May 2–3. This year’s event
features a new addition: a
Friday Night Kickoff Party
and benefit dinner to sup-
port local fire departments.
The Friday evening
event will include a catered
dinner by Broken Spoke,
live music and a no-host
bar. The evening will take
place at the Lexington Fire
Hall and event area, begin-
ning with cocktail hour at 5
p.m. Dinner will begin at 6
p.m., with live music from
7-10 p.m.
Tickets are $40 per per-
son, with proceeds benefit-
ing the Lexington, Heppner
and Ione fire departments.
Saturday’s festivities
are centered around family
fun and kids’ activities. The
day kicks off with the tradi-
tional May Day Parade at
11 a.m., followed by crowd
favorites like the soapbox
derby, axe throwing trailer,
laser tag, bouncy houses,
and more.
All Saturday activities
are free, thanks to generous
support from the Morrow
County Unified Recreation
District (MCURD) foun-
dation.
For more information
on any of these events, con-
tact Lexington Town Hall at
541-989-8515.
Heppner Youth Baseball
home schedule
April 30: Coach Pitch
(John Britt Logging) 6 p.m.
at Hisler Field. Minor soft-
ball, 6 p.m. at Bob Kilken-
ny Field. Major baseball
(Gray) 6 p.m. at Waterland
Field.
May 2: Coach Pitch
(John Britt Logging vs
Yellow).
May 3: Major baseball,
10 a.m./11:30 a.m./1 p.m.
-Continued to PAGE FIVE at Waterland Field. Majors
softball, DH 11 a.m. at Bob
Kilkenny Field.
May 5: Minor soft-
ball, 6 p.m. Bob Kilkenny
Field. Coach Pitch (John
Britt Logging) 6 p.m., His-
ler Field.
May 7: Minor softball,
6 p.m. Bob Kilkenny Field.
May 8: Majors baseball
(Gray) 6 p.m., Waterland
Field.
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information