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Morrow County's Award-Winning Weekly Newspaper
VOL. 97, NO. 26
HEPPNER, OREGON
THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1979
12 PAGES
20 cents
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End of the road
A truck owned by Harold Beckett and parked on S. Court Street in Heppner was pushed into a
power pole early Monday morning about 1:10 a.m. by a car driven by Robert Riddle, 19, Heppner.
Riddle was treated and released from Pioneer Memorial Hospital and the pole had to be replaced
by a crew from the Columbia Basin Co-op.
Traffic accidents result in minor
injuries here over weekend
A rash of traffic accidents
occured last weekend in the
Heppner area. Robert Riddle,
19, was treated at Pioneer
Memorial Hospital for injuries
sustained when the car in
which he was driving struck a
pickup parked on South Court
Street about 1:10 a.m. Mon
day. The collision pushed the
second vehicle, owned by
Harold Becket, into a power
pole.
The pole had to be replaced
by a crew from Columbia
Basin Co-op.
Riddle's vehicle received
extensive damage, according
to Heppner City Police.
Police officer Chuck Holt
reported that a truck over
turned above CHtsforth Park
on a 20 m.p.h. curve Sunday.
One of four boys riding in
the truck driven by Steve
Marlatt, Darwin Ansotegui
received a cut on the eye.
Chuck Walsingham and Lee
McCarl were also passengers
in the vehicle.
On Saturday night, a colli
sion occured between a car
driven by Robert Turpin, 17,
Arlington and a pickup driven
by Paula J. Lindstrom, 17
about 1 :25 a.m. on Highway 74
near the Bunker Hill Rd.
A passenger in the Turpin
vehicle, Cindy Griffiths,
Arlington and Turpin were
treated and released from
Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
The Turpin vehicle was
totaled and the Lindstrom
vehicle received an estimated
$900 damage, according to the
Morrow County Sheriff's Department.
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County Court give nod to
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appealed Jrpoarciiiiaii uiioiviio
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The Morrow County Court
supported the county planning
commission's approval of the
SJ-2 subdivision, half a mile
west and south of the city of
Boardman, Wednesday des
pite an appeal by Arnold
Braat.
Representing the opinion of
the board, County Judge D.O.
Nelson said, "I would sustain
the findings of the planning
commission. They acted in
good faith."
The decision came after an
hour of arguments presented
by Braat and Ed Glenn, an
attorney representing the sub
division's developer, Dewey
West.
Braat, who owns farming
operations adjacent to the
future development of two to
three acre farm-residential
property, argued before the
court that the subdivision
"would be a serious detriment
to my farming operation",
because of possible com
plaints from the residential
owners about the dust blowing
off his fields, noise created by
his farm machinery, and crop
dusting planes flying over at
five a.m. in the morning plus
the spotting , effects from v
crop-dusting chemicals.
Insisting that a road assess
ment through the subdivision
was not wide enough to handle
both residential and harvest
time traffic, Braat cited other
possibilities which he felt
would come with increased
population density.
"The more people you get
the more dogs you will have,"
Braat said, and said the dog
problem would' increase as
result of the subdivision.
He felt the number of
residences, 18 instead of 10 if
the county restricted the
subdivision to five acre lots in
the 50 acre subdivision, would
also present a greater vandal
ism problem than before by
increasing the number of kids.
"We've lost things," Braat
said.
Half a mile away, Braat
said, children could be elec
trocuted from a pivot switch
box.
Judge Nelson said he had
encountered the same prob
lem and installed locks to
protect unwanted snoopers.
Besides environmental ef
fects of locating the subdivi
sion close to farming opera
tions, Braat expressed con
cern about taking agricultural
land out of production and
argued that land is available
closer to Boardman.
"Eighteen houses that close
is definitely a detriment to
intensive farming," Braat
said. '
Attorney Ed Glenn told the
court that the development is
the second addition of an
existing subdivision, SJ-1 and
the role of that body is to
question the wisdom of the
planning commission except
in the "event of clear abuse or
plain illegal action."
"They were not beyond their
authority, not arbitrary and
capricious," Glenn added.
As for dust problems, Glenn
Cont. on page 10
PMH levy downed by 5 votes;
County levy passes by 111 margin
The Pioneer Memorial Hospital levy
failed to gain a simple majority by five
votes in Tuesday's election in Morrow
County, receiving 620 yes votes and 624
no votes.
The Morrow County tax levy request
was accepted by the voters with 678 yes
votes and 567 no's, according to a voting
tally by Morrow County Clerk Sadie
Parrish.
It was the second try for both levies
and this election produced a greater
turnout with over 400 more voters casting
ballots at five voting areas. A little over
800 voters turned out for the first dual
levy election May 22 and over 1,200
showed up at the polls Tuesday.
The vote was heavily in favor of the
$549,077 hospital tax levy with an
estimated tax rate of $1.22 per $1,000 true
value from voters in Heppner, Lexington
and lone, and its heaviest opposition
came from the Irrigon and Boardman
areas. The PMH levy received 362 yes
votes compared to 219 no's from
Heppner, 80 yes and 41 no votes from
Lexington and 130 yes and 55 no's from
lone. Irrigon voters cast 13 yes and 141
no's against the measure and Boardman
voters registered 35 yes and 168 no votes.
Included in the levy proposal were
funds in the amount of $157,000 for
operation of the North Morrow Medical
Clinic in Boardman.
. The proposed county tax levy of
$494,410 outside the six percent limitation
was approved in a 111 vote margin,
678-567. Heavy voting in favor of the levy
proposal in the south end of the county
carried the levy against voting opposition
in the Irrigon and Boardman areas. In
Continued on page 8
Pioneer Memorial consultant:
Community committee advised
With the outcome of the
second hospital levy request
unknown, Morrow County
Hospital Board members
were urged Tuesday, June 19
by Ron Ellingson of the
Oregon Hospital Associations
to appoint citizens to a
community advisory commit
tee. A "mission statement" was
adopted by the board stating
that Pioneer Memorial Hos
pital is a county-owned facility
operating under O.R.S. (Ore
gon State Statute) 440.110 as a
not-for-profit health care pro
vider; its mission is to provide
through coordination of hos
pital and clinic services, the
primary and geriatic care
needs of Morrow County and
to portions of Gilliam and
Wheeler counties and to co
operate with other health
care providers in meeting
secondary needs; and to
provide health education.
The ultimate goal of the
hospital, according to the
mission, "is to upgrade the
level of health in its service
area through preventative and
curative measures."
The board delayed appoint
ing community members to
the advisory committee until
July 2 but a number of persons
were suggested as possibili
ties. Board member, Alice
Bartlett, suggested John Jep
son, Evelyn Black and Ray
Alsup and Chairman Fred
Martin mentioned June Lind
strom, Don Peterson, lone
Mayor Linda LaRue or Mrs.
Steve Peck from the lone
area. Ed Dick said he was
waiting to hear from Dan
Sweeney, another board
member, before making rec
ommendations. As outlined by Ellingson, the
purpose of the community
advisory committee and two
other committees, medical
staff and hospital employees
would be to undertake long
range planning for the hos
pital's future.
Formation of the planning
committees is required by
federal law and Ellingson,
based in Portland, was hired
to help in the technical
planning for the makeup of the
advisory groups.
Ellingson advised the board
to select about 12 people to the
committee and not more than
15 people. Each of the three
committees will be headed by
a board member. Another
recommendation was to
secure representation from
the Tri-County Health Board
which oversees health care
needs in a 3 county area.
Each group will draft writ
ten recommendations setting
long range goals and conduct
ing a community survey of
health care needs. In Union
County, Ellingson said, survey
results indicated that 196
problems were not being
treated because people were
afraid or embarrassed to
come into the hospital for
treatment.
Hospital Administrator Bob
Byrnes reported to the board a
24 percent decrease in hospital
admissions from the previous
year and a 36 percent decline
in patient days. A financial
statement of current revenue
and expenses shows that the
Cont. on page 3
Tri-county agency gives
health care at home
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"We are there to help
people," says Sheridan Tar
nasky, director of the Tri
County Home-Health Care
Agency and a registered nurse
serving patients in Heppner,
lone and Lexington.
The young agency has been
in existence for a year and a
half and served over 90
patients in the home-oriented
program, according to Mrs.
Tarnasky. Its goal is to treat
patients recovering from sur
gery outside nursing homes
and hospitals.
Staffed by five nurses in
cluding Mrs. Tarnasky, the
agency's service area in
cludes Morrow, Gilliam and
Wheeler counties. Lori Sulli
van of Arlington covers the
Boardman-Irrigon ... area,
Marie Waters is the nurse
covering Condon and Fossil,
Pat Bond, the tip of Wheeler
County and Joyce Hickerson
based in Arlington.
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Help at home
The most important part of home-health care is caring for
people, says Sheridan Tarnasky, director of the Tri-County
Home-Health Care Agency as she checks the heartbeat of
Thomas Healy, Heppner. The programs offer health care
outside hospitals and nursing homes.
All patients are referred to
the agency by physicians and
Tarnasky said a great deal of
the nursing responsibility is
reinforcement of the doctor's
advice. The nurses are under
physician supervision within
the home setting.
Funding for the program
comes from private insurance
and Medicare with a normal
caseload of patients at 10-17.
Mrs. Tarnasky said the
agency needs funds to con
tinue and has applied for a
federal grant from the Health
Systems Agency, part of the
federal superstructure linked
to a regional health services
program.
"We need outside financial
support," Tarnasky said and
advised that private donations
may be mailed to the agency
office in Heppner, Box 525,
676-5133.
When first formed, the
agency was part of the
Tri-County Health Agency but
when funds were cut back, the
home health care unit broke
off and has survived thus far
from its service to persons
outside the health-care insti
tution. Most patients are short
term cases with 18 months as
the longest duration in which a
patient has been treated. The
oldest patient served is 94.
The agency has handled sick
children, taken care of babies,
undertaken dietary teaching
of diabetics, done surgical
dressings and performed
many other treatments. It has
also offered part-time physi
cal therapy.
The treatment and educa
tion given, says Mrs. Tar
nasky, depends on the patient.
Asked what reaction the
families had to the home
treatments, Tarnasky said,
"They have all raved about
the help. It gives the patients
the teaching and support they
need."
On the board of directors of
the agency are Mark Murray,
lone, Carleen West, lone,
Elizabeth Curtis, Heppner,
Foster Odom, Arlington and
Pat Woelke, Fossil.
The home-health care con
cept of nursing is not new to
the nation and it was started in
Portland in the 1900's for
treatment of polio and tub
erculosis. It also costs less
than care provided by nursing
homes and hospitals, says
Tarnasky.
Nurses attached to the
agency are members of the
national Visiting Nurses As
sociation and the agency has
met state and Medicare
license requirements.
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