Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 1991)
TOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner. Oregon Wednesday, July 3, 1991 The Official Newspaper of the ----- City of Heppner and the County of Morrow J O N PA = The Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper U S.P .S 240-420 Publish'd c>ery Wedncsdiy and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at Heppner. Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1874. Second class postage paid at Heppner. Oregon. Office at 147 West Willow Street. Telephone (503) 676-9228. Address communications to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Hepp ner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $15 in Morrow, Wheeler, Gilliam and Grant Counties; $23 elsewhere. Joyce H u g h es............................................................Office Manager, Typesetting April Sykes ........................................................................................... News Editor Carol Atherly ....................................................................... Graphics Department Becky Evans .........................................................................Graphics Department Monique P a r r e l......................................................................................Distribution Penni Keersemaker........................................................................................Bindery Bob S m ith ........................................................................................................Printer David and April Svkes. Publishers Letters to the Editor Takes issue with article on Pioneer Memorial Hospital To the Editor: We cannot help but respond to last week’s article in the Gazene-Times, “ North End Favors Hospital Closure” . The Health Care Goal Setting Session from which this goal was derived is part of a study design ed to gather opinions and ultimately focus on solutions to county-wide health issues. Certainly the citizens of North Morrow County are entitl ed to their opinions as freedom of speech is an inalienable right. We must however take issue with the second priority item which was to close Pioneer Memorial (PMH) ' based in large measure upon the in ordinate high cost of maintaining PMH compared with its lack of abili ty to care for patients requiring hospital treatment.” First, all medical care is expensive and prices at PMH are competitive. Rural hospitals and doctors have been receiving less reimbursement than their urban counterparts even when they provide exactly the same services. This has created so much furor among the medical communi ty that laws will soon be enacted to rectify this discrepancy. As any small business in a rural communi ty can attest to, in today’s economic environment and for many reasons operational costs can be oppressive. However, the second part of the reasoning to close PMH was even harder to fathom and could be inter preted as libelous. We took it per sonally and, so did every other self- respecting PMH employee we’ve talked with. Perhaps the writer in tended to say that PMH couldn’t take care of a wide variety of hospital pa tients, which is true. We do not do obstetrics or surgery and most of our cardiac patients are transported to Portland. But there are many medical illnesses that are handled here including nonsurgical trauma, infections, pneum onia, gastroenteritis, diabetic emergencies and gastrointestinal hemorrhages to name a few. To imply that the staff is incom petent cannot go unanswered. All RN’s are ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and trauma certified as are all physicians, in cluding doctors who cover for us when we are not here. Our laboratory and X-ray technicians are all certified by federal and state credentialling processes. All LPN’s. nurses aids, etc. attend regular inser vices to upgrade their skills. We are surveyed each year by the State Trauma Survey team and the Oregon Health Division and are in good standing with both. We would go on but suffice it to say we are proud to work in this atmosphere. The entire staff takes pride in the quality of its work as well as a professional and personal interest in the outcome of its patients. Recently we received an un solicited letter from a neurosurgeon who is director of the trauma com mittee at his hospital: ESTATE AUCTION Ed Gonty 135 N. Gale Heppner, Oregon 97836 Sat. & Sun. 1:00 p.rp. July 13-14, 1991 H eppner Businessman - 80 year family business. Com plete radio, T .V .(som e new), & shoe repair business, tools o f all kinds, antiques. & m iscellaneous items. Too many items to list. This is a BIG SALEH Open Satur day morning 10:00 a m. All sales final day of sale and becomes your responsibili ty immediately Auctioneer - Gary (John) I urgent (503) 670-9915 Owner - Eleanor Gonty 676-9264 "W e want to forward to you our congratulations on the excellent job that you did in Heppner of evaluating, stabilizing, and transfer ring the patient. This was as good a job as we have seen in a peripheral hospital since we have been review ing trauma cases.” In south Morrow County medical services provided include a clinic, hospital, nursing home and home health service. Two ambulances are based in Heppner and first respon dent vechicles are located in Lex ington and lone. It has been our understanding that tax money is fair ly evenly distributed, between north and south Morrow County but this will be discussed elsewhere. It has been our experience the past three years working with the Mor row County Court, the Morrow County Medical Board and Mr. Wick, Morrow Co. Health Ad ministrator, that all efforts have been made to provide optimum medical services to the entire county. Hopefully, we will continue in a cooperative manner to be supportive of each others particular needs to en sure that a broad spectrum of high quality medical services are provid ed to all citizens of Morrow County. Respectfully submitted, (s) Edward S Berretta Jeanne S Berretta MD (Editor's note: The article refer red to was an article published in the Columbia Valley Chronicle, Board- man , written by one o f their staff and reprinted in the June 26 Gazette-Times.) Chamber Chatter By Claudia Hughes, Chamber Manager I’ve often thought about putting together a slide presentation entitl ed “ Follow the Byway to Hepp ner...our town". For a minute, put yourself in the picture and envision the slides that would accompany the following or a similar version. Our tow n...it’s about people: small businesses and improvements; parades and celebrations; combating the negative with the positive; work ing together on projects such as the hotel, Cycle Oregon, clean-up pro jects, St. Pat's weekend and the fair and rodeo. It's about putting the past behind us; good schools; music, art; recruiting new businesses and sup porting existing businesses. It’s about year round recreation swimming, fishing, camping, hik ing, hunting, snowm obiling, mushrooming; being welcome in the church of your choice; belonging to a variety of organizations. It’s about ranchers and farmers raising our food; protecting our industries; doc tors and medical facilities; govern ment involvement; working toward what we believe in; keeping our town clean and attractive; preserv ing our history. It’s about friend ships; its about being there for each other; it’s about dreams becoming reality. It’s about all of us and future generations. Aren’t we fortunate to live in a small community. Thought for the week: “ As you think, so shall you be.” Mike Nelson gets an ‘A’ plus To the Editor: Now that the political dust is beginning to settle over the capital in Salem, Eastern Oregon can take a long awaited breath of fresh air and turn to damage control as it does every two years. Of course most legislators would like to think that their best efforts at Salem were productive and some cases proved that they could repre sent thieir constituents. Case in point, The Regional Strategies Program survived the budget ax and even picked up some support among lawmakers. Eastern Oregon has benefitted immensely from this pro gram and we give the legislature a plus on this one. True there have been some growing pains in the Morrow/Umatilla County Regional Strategy program especially within the Marketing fund of our strategy after $100,000 was diverted to the Continental Flour Mill project which caused a stir among those of us in Morrow County. Latest word from the Oregon Department of Economic Development is that this marketing fund has been reimbursed the full amount of $100,000. This is a plus for Morrow County. The legislature should get a scolding for not addressing the pro blems of Measure 5. School funding should have been a number one priority of the legislature and they failed to come to grips with this issue. It reminds me of an old dead fish; the longer it lies around, the more it stinks. For this the legislature gets a minus. One of the most difficult issues that the legislature addressed was whether or not to increase the state's gas tax. No politician in his right mind would want to go on record as increasing taxes, especially coming from a conservative agricultural county. Sure enough, most of Eastern Oregon’s legislators cast a no vote on this sensitive issue and with some good reasons. But as the East Oregonian editorial of June 24 explained, the legislators aren't the ones who have to answer to the local wheat haulers and log truckers and ranchers complaining about pot holes and deteriorating highways wiping out wheel alignments, blown tires and rerouting because of poor ly maintained roads. It's the local county commissioners, mayors and city managers that hear about the problems. Good roads and highways are the lifelines of rural communities to pro fitable markets. Thank goodness Representative Mike Nelson, Mor row County’s representative, took the lead on this one. Because of his leadership, the legislature passed this bill which will fund the much need ed improvements on Eastern Oregon state highways and assist in funding Morrow County roads as well. We agree, no one wants to pay higher taxes and it’s the safest route for any politician to vote no on such issues, but when it comes to long term tough decisions that will impact Eastern Oregon residents for many years to come. Representative Mike Nelson is on the right track. That’s a plus for Mike. Sincerely, (s) Louis Carlson Morrow County Judge 4-H News Marriage Licenses The Clerk’s office at the cour thouse in Heppner reports issuing the following marriage licenses during the past week: July 1: Guillermo Ramos, 52, Kennewick, WA.; and Margarita Sanchez, 42, Grand view, WA. Justice Court Report The Justice Court office at the courthouse annex building in Hepp ner reports handling the following business during the past week: Gregory Ralph Sweeney, 28, Heppner-Disobeyed Stop Sign, $20 fine; Budd Richards-Allowing Dog to Run At Large, $37 fine. Health Dept. The Morrow County Health Department lists the following mon thly schedule for July: July 9: blood pressures and im munizations, 1-4 p.m. Irrigon. July 11: blood pressures and im munizations, 8:30 a.m .-4:30 p.m. Heppner office. July 16: blood pressures and im munizations, 1:30-4 p.m. Boardman City Hall. July 17: blood pressures, 2-3 p.m. Bank of Eastern Oregon kitchen, lone. July 18: blood pressures and im munizations, 8:30 a.m-4:30 p.m., Heppner office. July 23: blood pressures and im munizations, 1-4 p.m. Irrigon coun ty office. July 25: blood pressures and im munizations, 8:30 a.m .-4:30 p.m. Heppner office. Market Report Compliments of the Morrow County Grain Growers Tues. July 2 Soft White July Aug. Sept. Oct. Jan. *3.39 *3.40/*3.41 *3.42/*3.43 *3.44/*3.45 *3.50/*3.51 Ewes R Us By Jenny Krein, Reporter On May 21 the Ewes R Us sheep club held a meeting at Kate’s Pizza at 6:30 p.m. Members planned transportation for Tygh Valley Judg ing, reviewed judging techniques and reviewed overall judging. Members discussed picking lambs; what to look for, shots that need to be given and what feed to start them on. Members weighed and sheared lambs on June 8. The members will need to help with the wool. A workshop on pigs wil be July 9 and one on sheep and beef will be July 20 . Heppner Police Report The Heppner Police department reports handling the following business during the past two weeks: June 18: 10 p.m.-request officer for Security Check. June 19: 10:32 p.m.-report of Fight; 11:50 p.m.-request officer for Security Check. June 20: 8:42 p.m.-arrest for Domestic Assault. June 21: 4:30 p.m.-report of Truck Blocking Driveway; 4:50 p .m .-assist M orrow County Sheriffs dept. June 22: 11:34 p.m.-request of ficer for Security Check. June 23: 10:12 a.m.-Emergency Message delivered; 11:08 a.m.- Animal Complaint; 9:36 -citation issued for 48 mph in a 25 mph zone and Open Container; 10:21 p.m- assist Morrow County Sheriff s dept. June 25: 7:55 a.m.-report of Criminal Mischief; 8:28 p.m.-civil matter; 9:15 p.m.-civil matter; 11:05 p.m.-Citizen Assist. June 26: 6:13 p.m.-citation issued for Permitting a Dog to Run At Large. June 27: 9:43 p.m.-assist Morrow County Sheriffs department. June 28: 11:20 a.m.-report of Assault. June 29: 1:40 p.m.-Motorist Assist; l:45-assist ambulance. What? Eat The Momma Cow? This is a test. And it will be graded. You can fail this test so you might con sider studying for it before you take it. Remember, this is a test. This test is to be given when the en tire family is at the dinner table. Ac tually any meal will do but the test must be given in the next 24 hours, then give the test the next available time and deduct one point. There is only one question and it is not for you, but rather for your children. If you have a child under five, add one point. Here's the Bv Ed Glenn question: Where does the food on your plate come from? If your child, any child, answers something like the famous Jimmy Stewart line about "W e planted it, we watered it, we harvested it, we cook ed it, but we thank you for it anyway, Lord,” then score three points. An equally good response would be "from the sweat of my brow.” If your child says something about the farm, the land, or some reference to the primary source of America’s agricultural production, then score two points. But if your child responds like thousands of others across the nation and answers “ the store,” worse, a specific store-Safeway-or a processor’s brand name like Campbells, well, your score is zero. So what? What do these scores mean? Well, if your kids think that food comes from the store, they are likely to experience a significant rise in the percentage of their income spent on food in their lifetime. Americans have the highest standard of living in the world, the most ski boats, the most personal automobiles, the fanciest homes, the nicest clothes for just one reason: Americans spend the lowest percentage of their disposal income on food or any nation in the world and it’s still declining. When food costs less than 18 percent of one’s after-tax income, there is money left for the other things that make for the good life. But that is true only because America has followed a cheap food policy for years. When we forget (or never know) that food comes from a farm or ranch somewhere across the nation, we run the risk of changing that cheap food policy. Take the grazing fee on federal lands, for example. Congressman Bob Smith says the bill to raise the grazing fee from $1.96 per animal per month to $8.50 was really motivated by the folks who simply do not want cattle grazing on Forest and BLM land. Why? Well, those lands are thought to be national treasures that should be locked up and preserved for future generations. And what about the cattle that used to graze on public lands? Well, they’ll just be sold off and ground into hamburger and be eaten up. But any kid who scored three on the test above can tell you that if you eat up the mom ma cow. that’s the end of it. There won’t be any more baby beef to come along to make hamburgers in the future. Well, sure there will be, but they’ll be pretty expensive. What about the business of knocking out the registration on all these farm chemicals? Well, a kid who scores three will tell you that fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides make farm crops like tomatoes, and beans and com grow better. When they grow better, there’s more of them and they are cheap to buy. Part of the cheap food policy. But when we take the chemicals away from the farmers, they don’t grow as much (maybe some crops not at all) and the price goes way up. The kid who flunked the test will be in the fore front of the movement to destroy those nasty chemicals to purify the planet. He’ll never know why the price of bread is so high he can’t afford a new car. So why is this a test of parents if it’s the kids who answer? One of the things parents should do is prepare their kids for the life ahead of them. If parents don’t teach kids about where their food comes from, and the kids suffer the inevitable decline in standard of living, well, it must be the parents who have failed. My kids got a three last night. Right after we got in out of the field. I IT Check'em B efore you go on vacation Flexible Radiator Hoses Easy to install. 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