EASTERN OREGON
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
herMIsTOnheraLd.cOM • A9
New faces join races for Morrow County commission
hermiston herald
Both seats on the Mor-
row County Board of Com-
missioners up for election this
year will be heavily contested.
Position 2 incumbent
Melissa Lindsay switched to
the open Position 3 race and
will face competition from
Jeff Wenholz of Irrigon.
Wenholz, who lists him-
self as self-employed, serves
on a number of volunteer
committees for the county,
including Morrow Coun-
ty’s planning commission,
budget committee and solid
waste advisory committee.
Lindsay, the owner of
Turner Ranch in Heppner,
was elected to a special
six-year term as Morrow
County government was
transitioning from a court-
style government to a board
of commissioners. Lindsay
was elected judge but was
sioner in 2021.
Position 2 was an open
race due to the retirement
of incumbent Commissioner
Don Russell, but Lindsay’s
switch meant Position 3
became the truly open race.
Three men are competing to
fill the void.
Mike McNamee is an
Irrigon farmer with expe-
rience serving on the Mor-
row County Soil & Water
Conservation District. Gus
sworn in as a commissioner
for Position 3 and is now up
for a standard four-year term
for Position 3.
The son of former Mor-
row County Judge Terry Tall-
man, Jonathan Tallman of
Boardman dropped out of the
race for Position 3 ahead of
the filing deadline. He made a
couple of runs at local offices
before, having lost races for
Boardman mayor in 2020
and Port of Morrow commis-
Peterson is an Ione farmer
who graduated from Oregon
State University in 2020,
and David Sykes is a Hep-
pner business owner who
operates publishing and real
estate companies.
Because there are only
two candidates in the field,
Morrow County voters will
decide between Lindsay
and Wenholz for Position 3
during the May 17 primary.
In the three-way race for
Position 2, the winner will
need to amass more than
50% of the vote to avoid a
runoff held during the Nov. 8
general election.
The only other county-
wide race on the ballot is for
county assessor. Incumbent
Mike Gorman is running
unopposed, and because the
position is considered a con-
stitutional office, his name
won’t appear on the ballot
until November.
Three Hermiston chess players are going
to state following successful tourney
hermiston herald
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
A toppled and burned mobile home sits in Irrigon on Thursday,
March 10, 2022, days after a fire.
Investigation ends
with no known cause
of Irrigon home fire
By ERICK PETERSON
hermiston herald
Fire officials do not know
the cause of a fire late Monday
night, March 7, that destroyed
a mobile home in Irrigon.
Mike Hughes, Boardman
Fire Rescue District chief,
said when firefighters arrived
they found the fire to be “fully
involved,” meaning the fire
and smoke were so great
firefighters could not enter
the structure until water was
placed on it.
According to the chief,
the fire was threatening three
other structures.
“Irrigon Fire and Board-
man Fire basically surrounded
the fully involved structure
and protected the other ones
from igniting,” he said.
He added that Umatilla
Rural Fire Protection Dis-
trict also helped put “a good
stop” on the fire and pre-
vented it from torching other
structures.
“There were no civilian
injuries or firefighter inju-
ries,” the chief said, but the
mobile home was “fully
destroyed.”
Hughes and Deputy State
Fire Marshal Casey Kump
said they do not know the
cause of the fire. Kump said
there was an investigation in
which experts were brought
in to determine a cause. They
did not, Kump said, find any
reason to think it was arson
that started the blaze.
There was no insur-
ance covering the property,
Kump said, so his office will
not investigate the fire any
further.
Hermiston students had
a big day at a recent tourna-
ment, according to chess club
volunteer Delia Fields.
According to Fields, who
is also the Hermiston School
District librarian, highlights
included excellent play from
a young strategist, as well as
a trio of high schoolers who
took big victories to earn their
way to the state competition
next month in Portland.
Beau Neddo, a second
grader at West Park Elemen-
tary, played well, scoring 4.5
points in the five rounds of
match play to become the top
Region 23 player for grades
kindergarten through fourth
grade.
Baker City had several
students score well and third
grader Sylvia Rich was the
top player for Region 24,
scoring 3.5 points. Baker
City had the winning elemen-
tary and middle school teams.
Neddo will represent Herm-
iston elementary youth on
April 9 when other individual
qualifiers from other regions
Hermiston High School/Contributed Photo
Students compete in the Hermiston High School library for the Region 23 Chess for Success
tournament on Feb. 26.
meet at the Expo Center in
Portland for the statewide
competition.
The older local contin-
gency will be three Herm-
iston High School players
who each scored four points
in match play on Saturday
to wind up in a three-way tie
for overall Region 23 grades
9-12 champion.
There is no team option at
the high school level, so the
stakes are high for the play-
ers because usually only one
overall regional champion
gets to advance.
Sophomores Luke Gray
and Elijah Robinson and
junior Pride Shelley will
play at the state contest for
two days, April 8 and 9,
because for the high school
division, match play is
divided over two days, three
matches on Friday and two
matches on Saturday.
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