Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1977)
ft lr I fx FTJiri VOL. 94 NO. 28 Byrnes With two weeks on the job behind him, Pioneer Memor ial Hospital's new administra tor Robert Byrnes is moving into the early stages of a process aimed at establishing a health service district to facilitate hospital funding. The district, with boundar ies emcompassing Morrow County and parts of both Wheeler and Gilliam Counties, would, according to Byrnes, give the hospital "Complete . autonomy and allow us to establish a new tax base." He added it would also clean up the administrative process by removing the county court as another level of management.' "It would be my opinion that to carry out expansion plans we will have to find other funding sources and the dis trict concept is one option," Byrnes said. The establish ment of the district arrange ment is an involved process and Byrnes estimated it would require a minimum of 10 months. ; At present, inquiries have been sent to various commun ity organizations regarding the district possibility. If the response is favorable, Byrnes said the hospital board would proceed in that direction. "Everyone involved is pos itively directed toward deliv ering the best system of health care with the resources av ailable," he said. "Obviously remodeling and expansion has a high priority with us because until we get more space to work with, we are somewhat limited." Byrnes brings his enthus iasm to Heppner from Lincoln City where he served as administrator of North Lin- School board to meet July 18 Morrow County School Dis trict will hold their first meeting of the new fiscal year on July 18 at A.C. Houghton Elementary School in Irrigon, the meeting will be at 9 p.m. Prior to the meeting the Board is expected to tour several properties which are being considered as future school sites. " In regular session the Board will select a new Chairman and Vice Chairman. Currently John Matthews from Irrigon is Chairman and Pauline Winter from Heppner is Vice Chairman. rmrrniT-i ft HEPPNER. OREGON seeks hospital Town Hall meet; focus on welfare Welfare is the topic and public response is the target as the Town Hall Meeting concept comes to Heppner to elicit views on the nation's income maintenance policies. The meeting, entitled "Wages, Welfare or What," is scheduled for Thursday, July 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the Heppner Elementary School multipur pose room. It is one of 33 similar meetings to be held across to answer basic ques tions concerning economic security for Americans. Cathy Peck, Lexington, the Legislative Affairs Chairman of A.A.U.W., will moderate Ullman optimistic about Carter Rep. Al tJllman offered words of praise for the new ' man in the White House and hopefully a sympathetic ear to the plight of local ranchers during a luncheon held Wed nesday, July 6, at West of Willow Restaurant. "Jimmy Carter has done away with the imperial pres idency," Ullman told the crowd of approximately 40 diners. "I talk to him several times a week, and I think his approach is refreshing in this post-Watergate era." The U.S. representative for Eastern Oregon, on his annual visit to Heppner, called Carter a man who is "strong-minded yet flexible," adding that it is an exciting challenge to work with the man. "If he does what he propos es, and I think we have a good chance of doing it in eight years, it will be somewhat of a miracle," Ullman said, citing Carter's ambitious programs in the areas of tax reform, welfare reform, energy plan H !! THURSDAY. JULY 14. 1977 coin Hospital. He has taken up residence in Heppner with his wife Mary and their twin daughters Cindy and Debbie. Cindy is currently attending Lewis and Clark College, majoring in International Af fairs and Debbie is attending school at Eastern Oregon State College. the Heppner version of the state-wide Town Halls which are sponsored in the interest of community education, by a broad coalition of business, labor, academic, civic, public interest and social service organizations in Oregon. In a statement issued by Gov. Bob Straub urging cit izens to attend, Straub states, "Social welfare and income maintenance policies are among the most crucial issues facing our country today." The conclusions drawn from the meetings will be summar ized in public opinion surveys and sent to Pres. Carter, the Oregon Congressional Deleg ning and government re organization. Regarding his work with the House Ways and Means Com mittee, which he chairs, Ullman said, "This year we're working together as a com mittee and I'm pleased with the results." "We're spending a lot of time on problems you have here. We're trying to get a better drought relief program going but the problem is that programs are tailored to the entire country instead of specific regions." After Ullman's brief ad dress, the floor was turned over to questioners and Don Peterson, president of Oregon National Farmers Associa tion, took the opportunity to read a prepared statement on the current situation faced by ' cattle and wheat ranchers. "We are in a crisis situation and we wanted to have a house full of farmers today," Peter son told Ullman. HEPPNER VII M 8 PAGES IS c funding Byrnes has previously serv ed in administrative positions in hospitals in Seattle, Wash, and Anchorage, Ala. He is a delegate to the House of Delegates of the American Hospital Association and a past member of the Regional Advisory Board with jurisdic tion over hospitals in the Western states. ation and to special Congres sional hearings scheduled for later this summer. Clearly, something has to be done to overhaul the welfare system before it hauls our country over the brink of financial disaster," Straub said of the spending programs which by 1980 will reach $550 billion. A discussion of the problems concerned with economic sec urity, employment and gov ernment intervention will fol low the film and then partici pants will have the opportun ity to complete the public opinion survey. "We are alarmed about the current price levels being discussed in the proposed H.R. 7171. The last Oregon State cost study, for this area, places our cost of production at $4 per bushel, and this is for an above average yield. Ob viously, drought conditions raise that cost even higher. Our family farm structre is headed toward oblivion and we don't believe this is what our country wants," Peterson siad. "We ask that parity prices be the goal of congress for agriculture. We ask for a loan tied to the parity calculation storage program without mandatory release levels be low parity, supply manage ment based on bushel control and payment limitations in the $20,000 per farmer range to protect the family farm." Ullman acknowledged the bleak outlook faced by Oregon ranchers but offered no prom ises or solutions at the time. Economic development association is formed Persons interested in the economic growth of Morrow County are invited to attend an organizational meeting of a group being formed to act as a citizen's advisory committee for land use planning. The Morrow County Econo mic Development Association (MCEDA) will meet next Tueesday, July 19 at 8 p.m. in Teacher hiring progresses With the 1977-78 school year still a month and a half away, Morrow County School Dis trict administrators are close to filling all of the 27 vacant teaching positions needed for the fall. Of the 27 openings, seven are new positions created by enrollment expansion and at tempts to equalize educational opportunities . around the county. All seven of the new posts will be added to the staffs of A.C. Houghton and Riverside Schools. The re maining hirings were neces sitated by six retirements, and 13 resignations. Assistant Administrator John Edmunson said the number of resignations was a little higher than usual but added that all were attributed to valid personal reasons such as advancement opportunities in other districts. Eighteen of the teaching contracts have already been accepted and an additional seven have been offered with the district office waiting m I l Congressman AI Ullman and wife Audrey (left) make their way through a crowd that heard the Representative speak g ft -.ate Aftf -'iifr'rffiiiil'' the West of Willow conference room. Birth of the organization came this week as proponents of a proposed road leading from Portland General Elect ric's coal-fired generating plant site to Southern Morrow Conty, met to discuss the road issue. Beecher Emert, an lone return. Administrators are still seeking appicants for the remaining three positions which includes a replacement for Chris Borgen, basketball coach and language arts teacher at Heppner High School last year who recently resigned to take a job at a larger school in Washington. A breakdown of the vacan cies from last year at each of the district schools includes : A.C. Houghton, 8; Heppner Elementary, 7; lone Elem entary, 2; Riverside, 4; Hep pner High, 4 and lone Jr. -Sr. High, 22. "Having been involved in quite a bit of the interviewing, I feel we have an excellent group of teachers coming in next year some beginners and some experienced," Ed mundson said. He added that the district office welcomes applications for substitute teaching posit ions for the coming year. Actions taken by the School See school page 3 mil I Lin ui ii iii mil -Liiiiiii niiimi in in 1 1 1 .1 .i mi in iiih,.. i n i. urn . i i n i n i .11,11 - V- . , 1 ? V I '? 1 i- Ullman visits here All the speculation about what kind of crop would be produced in this "year of the drought" is being put to rest as farmers move to the fields for harvest. Barley and wheat harvest is well underway in the areas north of Lexington and Morrow County Grain Growers General Manager Larry Mills says, "it doesn't look good." Mills said most farmers in that area are getting about half the yields they normally expect reaping little more than 10 bushels to the acre this year on wheat. Barley is coming off that good with about one-third production being the average about 450 pounds to the acre. Mills said dryland farmers in that area generally get about 20 bushels to the acre on wheat and between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds of barley. "As we move farther south the yields will be up a little bit, but still not good," said Mills. Harvest is expected to move into the areas south of Lexington and close to Heppner by the end of this week. "Even with crop insurance there isn't any way to come out on that kind of production," said Mills. businessman who started a petition drive asking for sulpport of the proposed road, told those at a meeting last Tuesday, "The road to Carty is a complex issue. ..one that needs the input and organiza tion of a group." The proposed road would cross land Boeing leases from the State of Oregon and would lead to PGE's plant. Boeing officials have expressed op position to the road. Emert and a half-dozen other Morrow County resid ents are seeking to form the MCEDA and have retained the services of Heppner attorney Michael J. Sweeney to draw up articles of association. The association will have a dues-paying membership; the monies to be used for an Class of '47 reunion here The Heppner High School Class of '47 will host a reunion of classmates this weekend with activities planned for Saturday evening and Sunday. A banquet will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday evening at the Wagon Wheel Cafe & Lounge, in the banquet room. The class will adjourn to live music and dancing in the lounge following the banquet. Friends of the class are invited to join in the evening's dancing. Sunday a class picnic will be held at Cutsforth Park. here last week at the West of Willow restaurant. In the inset Ullman makes a point in response to a question from- the audience. economic analysis of the proposed road, which is the group's first project. "We're not only looking at the Carty Road deal," said Emert, "but we think this association can continue to work for the economic benefit of Morrow County with the county court, the Chamber of Commerce and all the towns in the area." The association will elect offiers and a board of direc tors next Tuesday. Emert said the association would be non-profit in nature and would be controlled entirely by the voting membership. Persons interested in be coming members or who wish more information are urged to attend Tuesday's meeting.
