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The Dalles, OR (updated July 15, 2024) - Firefighters from the Oregon Department of Forestry's Central Oregon District, U.S. Forest Service, local fire districts and landowners have quickly responded to a wildfire in Wasco County. Firefighters are under initial attack and will continue operations into the night. The fire is currently burning with moderate-to-high spread, estimated at 1500+ acres in grass and timber fuel types at this time. Containment is at 0%. The Larch...
LONE ROCK, OR (4:40 PM July 14, 2024) — A fire in Gilliam County, Oregon has grown significantly this weekend and area residents near Lone Rock are under a Level 3 Evacuation Order from the Gilliam Co. Sheriff's Office. An Emergency Alert was sent out by Frontier Regional 911 at 3:58 PM on Sunday, July 14, urging local residents in the town of Lone Rock and those who live nearby to evacuate. The Memorial Hall in Condon is serving as an evacuation center and will have l...
PENDLETON, OR (3:15 PM July 15, 2024) — Multiple agencies are responding to the Lone Rock Fire and officials have ordered a Complex Incident Management Team which will transition with the current Type 3 Incident Management Team. The fire is approximately 9 miles northwest of the Bull Prairie Campground and approximately 8 miles northwest of Fairview Campground in Gilliam County and is growing towards Wheeler County. Forest officials are temporarily closing all Umatilla N...
CONDON, OR (11:45 AM, July 15, 2024) - A rapidly escalating grassland fire near the town of Lonerock, in Gilliam County, has necessitated significant emergency response efforts since its outbreak on Saturday, July 13. Initially spanning 4,200 acres, the fire surged to over 50,000 acres within a mere 24-hour period. In response to the escalating threat, the Gilliam County Sheriff's Office issued a Level 3 "Go Now" Evacuation order for the town of Lonerock on Sunday, July 14,...
Grant Wilkins is preparing to join the Gilliam County Court as County Commissioner next week. Wilkins won the election for the position in May with more than 68% of the vote. Normally, Wilkins would start his term in January. But the seat for Gilliam Co. Commissioner has sat vacant since the special recall election ousted former Commissioner Pat Shannon on April 30. Judge Cris Patnode offered the appointment to Wilkins during the June 26 court session, but Wilkins asked for...
Heppner, OR - Bank of Eastern Oregon (BEO) has been named one of the country's top agricultural lenders in 2024 by the Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA). BEO ranks 18th on the list of community banks with $300 million to $1 billion in assets and is the only Pacific Northwest Bank based agricultural lender on this list. The article in Independent Banker magazine includes photos of BEO personnel visiting Painted Hills Natural Beef in Fossil, Oregon; a customer who...
HEPPNER, OR - BEO Bancorp (OTCBB:BEOB) and its subsidiary, Bank of Eastern Oregon, announced second quarter 2024 consolidated net income of $3,755,000 or $3.06 per share. Total assets were $852.3 million; Net loans of $563.3 million; Deposits were at $754.7 million. Shareholder equity was at $71.76 million. "Second quarter earnings are up 13.1% compared to the same period in 2023; earnings per share increased 10.9%. Total assets increased 3.9%; deposits up 1.7%; net loans...
Condon, OR - The Condon Community Food Pantry is excited to announce the successful completion of its first-ever raffle drawing, held to raise essential funds for the construction of a new building. The grand prize of $650 was awarded to JoAnn Peterson, whose support, along with the contributions of many others, will help the Pantry in its mission to serve the community better. The Condon Community Food Pantry Board, consisting of Kolona Morin, Randy Anderson, Susan Walters,...
This year's Grand Marshal (Kathy Burres) love of volunteerism and giving back to her community stems from a very patriotic family. Her Grandpa Bernhard Galle drove an ambulance in World War I, her father Geb Galle was in the Navy during World War II and is a Pearl Harbor Survivor who fought in all the major battles in the Pacific except for one. Her father in-law Jack Burres also fought in World War II as did her Uncle Louis Galle. Kathy's brother Gabe Galle fought in Vietnam...
SPRAY, OR - Emily Reed participated in the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary "Get Excited for the Red White and Blue" competition. She submitted a Youtube video of herself singing the US National Anthem. Emily placed First at the VFW State Convention in the 9th to 12th grade level and received a certificate and a $500 check. The check and certificate were presented to Emily in June by the VFW Dexter Fincher VFW Auxiliary members from Prineville, Oregon after a...
A group gathered at the A-Town Station in Arlington to celebrate the anniversary of the Co-Starters class that brought them together. Pictured are (L-R): OFCC Board Member Diana Kirkham, OFCC Exec. Director Brittany Dark, Several entrepreneurs gathered at the A-Town Station last Wednesday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the entrepreneurship class known as Co-Starters. Co-Starters is a product of the organization Reinventing Rural, which was founded by CEO Brad Attig....
FOSSIL, OR - Overnight, the town of Fossil will be transformed into a haven for bluegrass music lovers from all over the country. Starting Friday, July 5, the Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival will kick off its twenty-second year. The festival is known for bringing marquee talent to Oregon's smallest county seat, and this year will be no different. Headliners on Friday and Saturday will include Skillethead, a modern yet traditional five-piece band from Eastern Oregon that brin...
MORO, or — Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, celebrated the grand opening of its National Training Center (NTC) in Sherman County, Oregon on June 25. The NTC is a world-class facility located near Moro, where many of Avangrid’s operating wind and solar farms, and will serve as a centralized location to train and upskill technicians working across Avangrid’s onshore renewable energy portfolio. “It was a pleasur...
Starting July 15, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) will construct a new bridge on Highway 206 over Rock Creek on the Condon-Heppner Highway. The project will take at least four months to complete and all traffic will be diverted to other routes for at least three weeks. ODOT will replace the 90-year old Rock Creek Bridge – which sits 10.6 miles east of Condon at milepost 51.67. A significant portion of the highway will be closed on both sides of the bridge and a...
HEPPNER, OR - Bank of Eastern Oregon has been named one of the top-performing community banks of 2023, by Capital Performance Group and American Banker. BEO is ranked 13th nationally in the list of the 20 top-performing publicly traded banks with under $2 billion in assets. Capital Performance Group completes the ranking using data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. "These banks usually best their colleagues in a variety of financial metrics, such as loan growth,...
Boardman, OR - The Boardman Chamber of Commerce is excited to present the highly anticipated BAM Trail Boardman Pro-Am, an event organized by Bass Angler Magazine (BAM). This bass fishing competition is set to take place from June 28th to 30th on the scenic Columbia River in Boardman, Oregon. The Boardman Pro-Am promises to be a fun experience, featuring some of the finest bass anglers from the West. Against the picturesque backdrop of the Columbia River, competitors will vie...
A Cowboy Goes to War Bud Fairclo was a cowboy who loved running wild mustangs and the open spaces of the High Desert. After the Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor, he went off to war and returned home as one of the most decorated soldiers of World War Two. Following in the footsteps of the Greatest Generation came the Baby Boomers. Bud's son, Larry, finds himself adrift in an era of civil unrest and the prospect of having to go overseas and fight in an unpopular war in Vietnam....
The Oregon Frontier Chamber of Commerce (formerly the Condon Chamber) is happy to welcome new leadership to the organization. On June 6, Brittany Dark started as the organization's Executive Director. Dark has been involved with the Oregon Frontier Chamber as a Community Ambassador and as a teacher for the entrepreneurship classes. Brittany grew up in Southern and Eastern Oregon having graduated from Burns High and Eastern Oregon University as well as Grand Canyon University...
Wheeler County District Attorney Gretchen Ladd provided this report for March through June 2024. On March 8, 2024, Judge Wolf accepted the guilty plea of Mr. Ethan Moore, Grant County, to Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Police Officer, a Class C Felony, for a pursuit that occurred on Highway 19 between Service Creek and Winlock Lane on November 10, 2023 at speeds over 100 miles per hour. Mr. Gums of Columbia Gorge Defenders in The Dalles represented Mr. Moore. The matter was...
The Biden Administration announced the formation of the Columbia River Task Force on June 18, following the release of a report on the river's past and future impacts on Native American Tribes. Nik Blosser, the former Vice President of Portland General Electric and chief of staff for Gov. Kate Brown, was appointed Executive Director of the task force. The report on the Columbia River was completed by the US Dept. of the Interior. The report is highly critical of federal dams...
At the regular board meeting held on June 11, 2024, the Condon Community Food Pantry provided an update on its recent activities. The Coordinator Report revealed that the pantry served 70 households and 171 individuals in the past period. This was made possible with the help of 10 dedicated volunteers who collectively contributed 76.5 hours of service. In terms of food donations, the pantry received significant support from various sources. Safeway donated 154 pounds of food,...
To say that Stacy Bird enjoys life on her family's farm would be an understatement. A fifth-generation resident of Sherman County, Stacy grew up and lives near Starvation Point, not far from Cottonwood Canyon State Park. Stacy's deep roots on the farm and in the county have guided her journey as a photographer. This is evident in a series of photos that are currently on display at the Sherman County Historical Society Museum in Moro, Oregon. Bird says that she first became...
Customers lined up on opening night for the Wild Sage Restaurant on Friday, June 14. Located inside the Hotel Condon, the restaurant is owned by Aly Sedlock, of Mayville. The Wild Sage is the product of many years of effort and hard work in the culinary industry for Sedlock. Raised in Salem, Aly Sedlock says that she aspired to work in business while she was in high school and as a young adult. But instead of looking for a degree in business administration, Sedlock instead...
Kara Davis came to Gilliam County in 2023, after winning the election for District Attorney. Davis took over after longtime DA Marion Weatherford was elected as a Circuit Court Judge. Now, Davis is set to return to Wasco County after winning the primary election for Wasco District Attorney against sitting DA Matthew Ellis. Davis narrowly defeated Ellis in the May primary election, and the vote was only certified last week. Davis won by just 160 votes and will take office in Ja...
By Alex Baumhardt Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon's state animal has for years been classified as a "predator" by the state fish and wildlife agency, and that's meant that the North American Beaver has lived largely unprotected from private landowners who can kill them at will. That will change July 1 when new rules go into effect under House Bill 3464, the "beaver bill." The bill passed the state Legislature in 2023, and the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, which crafts r...
