Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1992)
> ***•* unzar t»*» Biological control program underway U DiSSI O F OR E N E'A'SPAPER EUGENE OR W E T 2 E L L L I B 9 7 4 0 3 35C azette imes VOL. 111 NO. 24 8 Pages Wednesday, June 24, 1992 Morrow County Heppner, Oregon Physician’s assistant hired at clinic looking for a more rural environ ment when he learned of the Heppner position through an agency. He said he also con sidered a position in Idaho, “ but this was my favorite. I’d like to make this my home. I’d like to shoot an elk,” he added. Besides hunting, Goodboy has a penchant for bungee jumping and recently dove off a crane at the Portland Rose Festival. While crane jum ping “ will do” he says he prefers bridge jum ping and rock climbing. Marc Goodboy Marc Goodboy, of Rochester, New York, began working at Pioneer Memorial clinic as a physician’s assistant on Monday, June 22. Goodboy, 25, will assist Drs. Ed and Jeanne Berretta at the clinic and at Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Goodboy graduated with a bachelor of science degree in medical science from Temple University at Philadephia. He earned a physician’s certification at Hahnemann Physicians Assis tant School in Philadelphia last June. He has worked the past eight months as physician’s assistant at Genessee Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital at Rochester, New York. He will be working as a “ physician’s extender,” doing hospital workups and seeing pa tients under the supervision of a physician. Goodboy said that the East coast is “ too congested” and was Medical Board discuss Pioneer Memorial clinic expansion The Morrow County Medical Board discussed expansion of Pioneer Memorial Clinic in Heppner at its monthly meeting Monday, June 22. According to board president Jackie Bergstrom the proposed expansion will add three new ex am rooms and house the offices of the newly-hired physician’s assistant, physical therapist, Sharia Erich, public health nurse Laura McElligott and possibly Home Health director Molly Rhea and Bob C lark, psychologist, in addition to physi cians Ed and Jeanne Berretta. The public health office is currently located at the Pettyjohn Building and Home Health office and Bob Clark’s offices are at Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Bergstrom said that the addition will be of wood construction and will also have a basement. She said that the addition will “ hopefully generate enough in Irrigon nine-year old struck and killed by pickup A nine-year-old girl Sara Erickson, Irrigon, died as a result of injuries suffered when she and a friend were hit by a pickup truck on Friday, June 19. Sara and her friend Tara Dirks were on their bicycles when they were struck around 1 p.m. by a pickup driven by Benito Ramirez, 76, Irrigon. The girls were stop ped on their bicycles on Division Street near the California Street intersection. According to reports, Sara had apparently bent over to put her shoe on when she was struck and thrown into the other g irl.. Sara was airlifted to the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, arriving shortly after 6 p.m. She died at 11:45 p.m. according to a hospital spokesperson. Her in juries included a compound depressed skull fracture, a broken leg and broken pelvis. Tana was transported to a hospital where she was treated and released. Police so far do not believe that alcohol or excessive speed were Goodboy said that he had traveled on the West coast several times but had never been to Heppner except for the job inter view. He is orginally from Pitt sburgh. Heppner, at 1,400 peo ple is quite a change for Good boy. Rochester has a population around one m illion and Philadelphia’s population is around eight m illion. The emergency room at Rochester saw between 50 and 70 thousand patients a year. involved in the accident, accor ding to Morrow County Under- sheriff Verlin Denton. The acci dent is still under investigation, but no citations have been issued at presstime. According to Denton, an of ficer said that there was a dip in the road which may have conceal ed the children somewhat. A witness said he didn’t think the driver saw the children until it was too late, said Denton. Sara was the daughter of Lloyd and Rita Erickson, Irrigon. Funeral services were Tuesday, June 23 at the Columbia View Community Church in Irrigon. come to pay for itself.” Target date for completion is November. Peter Baer of Bend is architect. In other business the board: * discussed a new insurance proposal for hospital employees; * reviewed financial reports; * discussed a new payment col lection system which would tie overdue accounts into a bank. Bergstrom said that the bank would pay the hospital and clients with overdue accounts would make arrangements to pay the bank; * instructed PMH director Kevin Erich to renew the board’s contract with Dr. Robert Boss, who operates a clinic in Boardman; * approved a 60-day extension on the contract with Drs. Berret ta in order to complete contract details; and * elected officers. Bergstrom will remain president, Paul Sumner, vice-president and Bill Sheirbon secretary. State requirement snags library district M orrow County officials received word last week from the Oregon Department of Revenue that a little known provision of Oregon Law requires newly formed library district boundaries to be filed within the Department of Revenue prior to March 31. The result of this ruling is that the county assessor is not allow ed to place the $140,684 on the district’s tax roll until the 1993-94 tax year. County officials and library proponents were caught off guard by this requirement since there is no mention of the provisions in the statutes under “ the formations of library districts” nor is there reference to the requirement in ORS Chapter under “ Assessment of Property for Taxation.” Coun ty Judge Louis Carlson noted that at least one other district and several annexations have run in- M orter earns 4-H nomination Nancy M orter, lone, is Oregon’s nominee for one of four trips to the 1992 National 4-H Congress next fall, reports Bill Broderick, Oregon State Univer sity Extension agent in Morrow County. Morter, daughter of Perry and Kathy Morter, was nominated for the honor on the basis of her overall 4-H record and personal interview. The trips, arranged by the National 4-H Council, are sponsored by Friends of National 4-H Council. The 1992 graduate of lone High School plans to attend M ethodist to honor Etchisons Rev. Gerry Etchison and his family will be honored by the United Methodist Women during a coffee time June 28 following worship. This will be the Et chisons' last Sunday in Heppner as they are moving to Union on The Morrow County Weed Control District, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Agriculture Research Service at Bozeman, Montana, are join ing forces to control knapweed in Morrow County. Instead of chemicals, they are using a tiny little weevil native to Greece. According to Eric Coombs, biological control entomologist with the ODA in Salem, knapweed is also originally from the Mediterranean. The weed was spread to the U.S. by immigra tion, but during that process, the knapweed’s natural enemies were left behind and the weed was able to proliferate, much to the distress of area ranchers and farmers. Mary Mayer, biological techni cian with the ARS at Bozeman, said that while the seed head weevil w on’t com pletely eliminate the knapweed, it will control it. Coombs said that biological control is perfectly suited for the rangeland in Morrow County because spraying such an area with chemicals is cost prohibitive. While biological control may take Dave Pranger (back), (l-r) ARS lab technician Scott Barndt, Eric 10 to 20 years, it has proven to Coombs and Mary Mayer set up insect cage. be very effective. Dave Pranger will be tested on knapweed on the tion will increase as long as there of the Weed Control District sites Claude and Happy Graham place are no natural enemies. Mayer the effectiveness of using the cin several miles out of Heppner, will said the insect has over wintered nabar moth and the ragwort flea be set out in cages that will be successfully in the severe winters beetle in controlling tansy staked to the ground. According of Montana. While the cost of such a study ragwort which was a severe pro to Mayer, the test will include may seem excessive--$200,000 to blem in the western part of the control cages, and several test state. Research is now being con cages-some of which will include $500,000 from the time research begins in a foreign countgry, it ducted on with a root-boring bee seed head flies which have tle on knapweed and a defoliating already been introduced. Pranger cannot compare to the cost of get said that his tests have shown that ting a chemical label, said moth on poison hemlock. around 50 percent of the seed Pranger. “ For each dollar spent, Before an insect is even im heads have already been infested the savings is around $6,” add ported to the U.S., extensive by flies and only 25 percent are ed Coombs, who is involved in testing in the bug’s native coun try eliminates the possibility that producing seed. Twenty four testing at around 700 sites in it would switch plants after the cages will be set out, four sets of Oregon. After research is completed, napweed is controlled. In effect, six combinations, a control cage with no bugs, a cage with flies follow-up is crucial, said said Coombs, the insect would alone, two cages each with flies Coombs. “ Because if we control choose to die out rather than and one beetle and two cages each one weed it will be replaced by switch host plants. He said that with one beetle alone. another w eed ,” he said. once the knapweed population is The beetle destroys the plant by Overgrazing, crop rotation, type lessened the insect population laying its eggs on a leaf. The lar of soil, type of animals on the would be lessened too, but if the land, chemicals and placement of plant population increases so vae then migrate through the stem water are all part of an integrated would the insect. The insects are and emerge at the seed head which they devour. It will take pest management model,” said cleaned and inspected before around three to five years for the Pranger. Pranger will map out leaving their native country so insect population to increase knapweed locations on a com that all of their natural enemies enough to be harvested and puter and computerize the results are left at home. released. The insect will over of the study. This study is one of The seed head weevil, which winter in the soil and the popula the first being conducted in Oregon. July 1. The Rev. Robert Dowrey will lead his first worship service in Heppner on July 5. Sunday wor ship service begins at 10:30 a.m. Everyone is invited to attend. Washington State University to study animal science. A 4-H member for nine years, Morter has had a variety of 4-H projects including foods, clothing, beef, sheep, swine and tole painting. She has been a club officer, camp counselor and junior 4-H leader. In schol, Morter was active in sports and served as a PEER helper. Her study and use of dairy foods in her 4-H foods and nutri tion work brought her the nomination. to the same problem this year. In the past, districts running in to the ORS 308.225 tripwire have been fortunate enough to do it in a year when the legislature was in session. The statehouse has routinely solved those individual problems by special legislation but has never provided a general solution. Further com plicating the district formation was the require ment that the boundaries of the library district had to be in the hands of the department of revenue even before the district was approved by the voters of Morrow County. A task force composed of two county commissioners and two members of the Oregon Trail Library District Board of Direc tors met last Thursday afternoon to deal with the problem. Recom mendations met last Thursday afternoon to deal with the pro blem. Recommendations to the task force included requesting Governor Roberts to place on the agenda of the special legislative session in July, an amendment to Oregon Law clarifying the “ vague interpretation” of the ORS Chapter dealing with special district formations. Under Oregon Law, the gover ning body or county court is responsible for complying with the provisions of the district for mation. Judge Carlson said that “ the court is clearly responsible for this error even though coun ty legal counsel as well as legal counsel for the library district failed to catch the vagueness of the law.” In the meantime, the task force is developing an interim financ ing plan to keep the libraries open and functional until a resolution to the problem is completed. County receives road funds The Oregon Transportation Com m ission approved the distribution of $500,000 in state highway funds to four Eastern O regon counties: M orrow, Gilliam, Sherman and Malheur, recently. The funding by the Oregon Department of Transportation is the first ever under a new special county program. It was enacted by the last Legislature to compen sate counties receiving the lowest road revenues per equivalent road mile. Under the program , $500,000 will be distributed on July 1 and another $500,000 on January 1. Gilliam County will receive the most from the distribution with $238,614.40, followed by Sher man with $149,450.62, Malheur with $69,094.28 and Morrow with $42,840.70. The funds are placed in a special account administered by ODOT to be used by the counties for local road projects. Loans For All Reasons Loans For All Seasons nANK or D 12 a ste rn O reqon Arlington • Heppner • lone ) m tt h k h /k 'tk lc tit H tk tu O sw h'tl Htnik
