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Local family’s invention a breakthrough
C. T •!
Computer system to aid emergency response
With the click of a computer
“ mouse” button, emergency
response coordinators in Morrow
County will soon be able to know
what resources are available and
where to send that help during an
emergency. Morrow County
Emergency Management has an
nounced it will purchase a
Geographic Information System,
or GIS.
The GIS is a computer-
generated map with many layers.
A GIS map can show not only
where roads are, but also the
location of buildings, water
mains, utility lines, and the
number of beds available at the
hospital.
In a com m unity crisis,
emergency response coordinators
have to know immediately what
resources are available. The GIS
can be programmed, for exam
ple, to show the location of
vehicles needed to evacuate
students and residents, or the
whereabouts of food that is re
quired at an emergency shelter.
D uring
an
em ergency,
emergency responders also need
to know where to send help. At
the click of a mouse, the GIS will
display the populations of local
schools and businesses. It will
also show where special needs
people live, what their needs are,
and the nature of the assistance
they have requested during an
emergency. In the coming year,
Em ergency
M anagem ent
employees will survey county
residents iiving in the vicinity of
the Umatilla Army Depot for this
information.
The GIS was purchased with
funding from the Chemical
Stockpile Emergency Prepared
ness Program, or CSEPP, but the
GIS won’t be used just by
Emergency Management. The
GIS will also provide new plan
ning capabilities for other coun
ty departments to support their
participation in CSEPP. For the
cost of a few pieces of computer
hardware, these departments will
Alzheimer’s series to be aired Ch. 3
Morrow County Medical Ser
vices will air a five part series on
Alzheimer’s Disease through the
public access channel of Heppner
TV, Inc. The series begins July
11 and will run through July 15.
Each one-hour program will be
shown on channel 3 at 7 p.m.
“ These programs have been
provided to us by the Columbia-
Willamette Alzheimer’s Associa
tion and are full of ideas and
resources for dealing with this
debilitating disorder,” says Pam
Sagely, grant coordinator for
Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
Sagely says each show will ad
dress a different Alzheimer’s
related topic. Viewers can expect
to learn how to identify normal
forgetfulness
from
early
Alzheimer’s Disease, what to ex
pect as the disease progresses,
current treatment advances, how
to help someone suffering from
Alzheimer's Disease and how to
cope with this disease as a
caregiver.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the
fourth leading cause of adult
death in the nation. Approximate
ly four million Americans are
currently afflicted. With the
rapidly increasing aged popula
tion, estimates are that between
12 to 14 million people will be af
fected by the year 2040. “ Unless
a cure is found, Alzheimer’s
Disease will become a reality for
many of us, either as a victim or
as a caregiver for an Alzheimer’s
victim,” said Sagely.
Sagely says Morrow County
Medical Services is pleased to be
able to expand its community
health education efforts to include
a televised format. “ Heppner TV
has been very supportive of this
undertaking and we anticipate air
ing programs on a variety of
health related topics,” she adds.
She encourages anyone interested
in a second showing of the
Alzheimer’s series to contact her
at 676-9133 or Heppner TV at
676-9663. Suggestions for future
programs are welcome and may
be submitted to Sagely.
Babe Ruth All Stars selected
All Stars for Columbia Tri-
County Babe Ruth were selected
June 24 by area coaches. Five
kids from Heppner, lone and
Lexington were named to the 13
year old all star selection. Derek
Gunderson, Tim Dickenson. Jefl
Waterland. Shane Matheny and
Danny Coiner began district tour
nament play in Boardman July 5.
The tournament runs through July
10 .
Selected for the 14-15 year old
all star team were Josh Coiner,
Eric S chonbachler, Donny
Pointer. Dan Burnside and Tim
Sumner. The tournament will be
held in The Dalles July 12-17.
South Morrow County coach
ed by Rick Johnston won the
league championship with a 13-2
record.
be able to program information
and produce GIS map layers of
their own.
Morrow County Emergency
Manager Casey Beard says,
“ This system will enhance our
ability to respond to CSEPP
emergencies or any hazard, while
providing a valuable planning
tool to other departments so they
can assist us.”
Scheduled for installation in
October, the GIS will augment
the department's rudimentary
automated response system cur
rently in place. The GIS will also
enhance
another planned
autom ated response system
known as the Federal Emergen
cy Management Information
System, or FEMIS. Together,
these systems will help Morrow
County officials respond to an
emergency.
For more information contact
Geoff Tyree Public Information
Officer at 503 564-5792 or 503
567-2084 or 503 922-4133.
An invention by a Heppner
man, Lowell Gribble, and his
sons, Stuart and Douglas, may
revolutionize maintenance at the
PGE Coal Fired Plant near
Boardman.
The invention, called the Ultra-
Lube, consists of a aviation
headset which is placed on the
end of a grease gun and allows an
operator to determine by sound
whether bearings are over or
under-lubricated and if the bear
ings are defective. The machine
indicates
hard-to-detect
mechanical noises and conditions
in gearboxes and other rotating
equipment that can precede
breakdowns.
Lowell Gribble said that Stuart
and Douglas earlier spent three
days testing equipment at PP&L.
They had found one motor that
they believed was in critical con
dition. The next week, said
Lowell, the motor in question did
go out and the whole plant was
shut down. “ This is a tremendous
breakthrough in the field of
maintenance and lubrication,”
said Lowell. Prior to their inven
tion, there was no way to deter
mine if a bearing was lubricated
enough. Gribble says that over-
lubrication is as dangerous as
under-lubrication, because an
over-lubricated bearing can
overheat and blow a seal. “ There
is no end of the potential (of the
Ultra-Lube) for big business,
down to little business,” said
Gribble.
The Gribbles delivered the first
$1,850 Ultra-Lube to the coal
fired plant on June 20. PGE
workers will use the Ultra-Lube
to check the bearings of coal con
veyor belts.
Gribble first developed a ser
vice company, UPM (Ultrasonic
Predictable Maintenance) through
which he was able to test bearings
for wear and lubrication. Then
around eight years ago, Doug
came up with the idea to put a
dectector on the end of a grease
gun and the Ultra-Lube and
. WUra-Vibe Lubrication Monitor
ing System (UVLM) was bom.
Now Gribble says that they plan,
with the assistance of Merrill
Lynch and Randy A. Edgerton of
Decision Dynamics of Lake
Oswego, to come out with a soft
ware program which will com
bine UPM and UVLM. Decision
Dynamics writes software pro
grams for maintenance systems.
Gribble says that the marriage of
the UPM, UVLM and Decision
Dynamics will create a “ com
pletely new approach to
maintenance” and will give Deci-
Dr. Boss opens new clinic within
Dr. Robert Boss has announc
ed the opening of a new “ clinic
within a clinic” at the Boardman
Health Care Clinic. The new
clinic. Desert Wind Clinic, will
operate in the same location on
Kinkade Ave., Boardman, with
essentially the same personnel but
will be considered a separate en
tity for scheduling and accounting
purposes.
Desert Wind Clinic is in the
process of being certified as a
Rural Health Care Clinic which
will make the two clinics better
able to serve patients now being
seen at the Boardman Health Care
Clinic, said Dr. Boss. “ Patients
need not worry about which clinic
they should make appointments
with,” Boss said, “ since staff is
being trained to assist in that mat
ter.”
Boss has operated the Board-
man Health Care Clinic since
1990 and is assisted by physician
assistant Tony Carabba. Dr.
Donald Rose provides fill-in
relief. The combined Boardman
Health Care Clinic and the new
Desert Wind Clinic will continue
to provide family practice and in
ternal medicine for the Boardman
and Irrigon communities.
Medicare consumer guide available
Consumers shopping for in
surance to supplement their
Medicare benefits will soon get
help from the latest edition of the
Oregon Consumer Guide to
Medicare Supplement Insurance
and HMOs.
The guide is a detailed com
parison of the benefits and
premiums of every Medicare sup
plement plan currently approved
for sale in Oregon. The publica
tion also contains detailed com
parison of the state’s Medicare
Health Maintenance Organiza
tions (HMOs).
“ This guide offers Oregonians
a chance to have all the facts
when choosing a Medicare sup
plement policy,” said Kerry
Barnett, department director.
“ We’re pleased to make the
guide available for the sixth
year.”
M edicare supplem ent in
surance is private health in-
surance sold to supplement the
federal government's Medicare
program. Sometimes known as
“ Medigap” insurance because it
fills all or part of the gaps bet
ween Medicare beneficiaries’ ac
tual expenses and the amount
Medicare pays.
To get a free copy of the
brochure, write: SHIBA. Oregon
Insurance Consumer Advocacy,
Department of Consumer and
Business Services. 470 Labor and
Industries Bldg., Salem, OR
97310.
L-R: Lowell, Doug, holding Ultra-Lube and Stuart Gribble
sion Dynamics a more complete
picture in maintenance systems.
In communicating with Grib
ble, Eugene Bryan, president of
Decision Dynamics, writes,
“ You have in Mr. Doug Gribble,
a son you can be proud of. He has
an all-too-rare combination of
high intelligence, creativity, am
bition and rock solid integrity.
We look forward to a long-term
win/win relationship with Doug,
Stuart and you as we bring our
receptive strengths together to do
great things.”
Gribble started out 25 years
ago with a Deleon Dectector,
m anufactured by Hew litt
Packard. The detector tested the
condition of the bearing, but
many times, the companies that
had the detectors didn’t know
what to do with them. So, Grib
ble built a service company
around the detector.
Gribble’s experiences are many
and varied. At one time he own
ed a service station in Pendleton.
Out of that came a district sales
manager position. He then went
to work for a farm chemicals
company at Athena and later
operated a farm chem icals
distributing company in Morrow
and Gilliam County called Inland
Chemical Services, bringing
Shell NH3 chemical fertilizer into
the area. He eventually sold out
to Shell around 17 years later. He
then came upon an ad for the
Hewlitt Packard detector and
became involved in that enter
prise. The Gribbles, who came to
Heppner in 1952, later moved to
Salem where they spent 12 years
before returning in 1990. “ We
love this community,” said Grib
ble, who, along with his wife,
Dolores (“ Dee” ), is an avid
golfer and was a key figure in the
formation of the Heppner golf
course. Gribble, who just turned
84, was also instrumental in
bringing irrigation to Morrow
County. He wrote a proposition
to Shell Chemical Company in
regards to irrigation in north
Morrow County. While Shell’s
system wasn’t implemented,
Gribble’s idea sparked interest
and what would evolve into a
multi-million-dollar industry.
During the Gribbles’ first sojourn
in Heppner, Lowell and Dee, 83,
both did a stint as Justice of the
Peace at the Morrow County
Courthouse.
Gribble credits God and his
close-knit family for their suc
cess. He is president of UPM and
a board member of UVLM. His
wife is UPM vice president;
Doug is secretary-treasurer of
UPM and president of UVLM;
Stuart is boardmember of UPM
and vice-president of UVLM;
daughter, Barbara D iggins,
boardmember of UPM. Doug has
been in the business 25 years and
Stuart, 23. The senior Gribbles
now have six grandchildren and
four great-grandchildren.
Ultra-Vibe, the instrument
Gribble uses in his service com
pany, has been copyrighted and
registered by UPM. UPM now
has stock which will be available
for sale soon in Oregon. Ultra-
Lube has been registered and
patented through UVLM. UVLM
stock is not available. Gribble
says that all 10 of the original
Ultra-Lubes and another 25 on
order have been sold. Plans on
the horizon for the companies in
clude developing export potential,
expansion, developing new
technology and creating new op
portunities for employment.
“ Morrow County's been good to
m e,” concluded Gribble, “ and I
think I’ve been pretty good to it.”
Wranglers trail ride July 9
The Wranglers annual Trail
Ride will be held July 9 starting
at 11 a.m. with a barbecue to
follow at approximately 3 p.m.
The ride will be on the Alder,
Skookum trails and will take
around four hours. Riders should
bring canteens.
Directions are as follows: Go
26 miles to Anson Wright Park,
take a left for nine miles to Tup-
per Guard Station, three miles
past Tupper to the Alder,
Skookum trail sign with a left off
the main road at the sign, 1A mile
to the barbecue site. It takes
around one hour to haul with a
total of 38 miles from Heppner.
Cost for the ride and barbecue
is $5 single and $15 family.
Those attending should bring a
salad or dessert.
Everyone is invited to par
ticipate. RSVP to Judy Barber
676-5037,
T erra
Adams
676-5819 or Judy Eckman
989-8498.
Coordinating Council to meet
The next meeting of the Hepp
ner Coordinating Council will be
held Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30
a.m. at the GEODC office.
Council members are nearing
completion of the rewriting of the
Heppner Strategic Plan. Goals
and strategies statements have
been completed. Specific action
plans designed to accomplish the
goals and strategies are being
formulated.
The public is invited to attend
Heppner Coordinating Council
meetings.
Hearing on health districts set
A public hearing concerning
the formation of two health
districts in Morrow County will
be held on Wednesday, July 6 at
7 p.m. at the Morrow County
School District Office in Lex
ington. The Morrow County
Court will hear public comment
on the issue.
The first such district is known
as the “ Boardman Medical
District” and the second district
is known as the “ County-wide
Medical District” . This meeting
is a continuation of the first hear
ing pursuant to the statutory
district form ation process.
Anyone may appear and be
heard.
Stop by and say HI
to Charlie Graybeal
Our new Tire Department Manager
Morrow County Crain Growers
Lexington, OR • 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396