W L celebrates agriculture day
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The Oregon Wheat League celebrated National Agriculture Week with a booth at Central Red Ap
ple Market.
Geri Grieb, Morrow County
Wheat League president (left in
photo) and Shannon Rust,
Morrow County Wheat League
public relations committee
chair, celebrated National
Agriculture Day with a booth at
Central Red Apple Market in
Heppner.
VOL. 115________ NO. 14________ 8 Pages Wednesday, April 3, 1996,________ Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
County has no authority to allow Boardman withdrawal
By April Hilton-Sykes
The Morrow County Court
told the city of Boardman in a
letter, dated March 28, that the
court does not have the au
thority to let the city out of the
Morrow County Health Dis
trict.
The city wrote to the court
March 27 requesting the court
to remove the city from the
health district.
The Boardman City Council
told the court that the council
"unanimously resolved" to
seek the withdrawal of the area
of the City of Boardman from
the district.
The letter further stated that
"m ore than sufficient" regis
tered voters signed the peti
tion" and the council con
ducted public hearings concer
ning the issue.
In reply, the court said that
the task of removing the city
from the district "clearly be
longs to the initiators of the
proposed action" and added
that the court believes that such
action would constitute an "im
proper intrusion" on behalf of
the county to initiate such a
process, "particularly when the
county may ultimately be re
quired to serve as an objective
hearings board regarding some
aspect of this m atter." They
further stated that the county
is a third party to matters bet
ween the Morrow County
Health District and the city of
Boardman.
The county did, however,
direct Morrow County counsel
to research questions concern
ing the withdrawal.
The action of the Boardman
Council follows a proposal
from the Morrow County
Health District to put a bond
issue before the voters to build
a new, larger clinic in Board-
man and to build a clinic in Ir-
rigon. Boardman Clinic em
ployees and other citizens from
the Boardman area said that the
proposal was unnecessary.
However, they earlier said that
the clinic was too small.
The Boardman Council's let
ter to the court said that "it
would not be in the best in
terest of anyone to proceed
with any proposals for bond
financing issues by the Health
District at this time" and obli
quely threatened a lawsuit if
MCHD did proceed.
At the core of the issue is the
MCHD's strained relations
with Dr. Robert Boss who has
a contract with the district to
provide medical services at the
Boardman Clinic. The district at
one point offered Boss a con
tract to become a district em
ployee, similar to a contract the
district has with Drs. Ed and
Jeanne Berretta, who staff Pio
neer Memorial Clinic and
Pioneer Memorial Hospital in
Heppner. Unable to resolve
certain issues with Boss,
MCHD then offered him a one-
year extension on his current
contract, which spells out a
$130,000 a year salary for Boss
to keep the Boardman Clinic
open four days a week, six
hours a day. Clinic employees
say, however, that Boss keeps
the clinic open much more than
the minimum 24 hours a week.
In the agreement with MCHD
Boss keeps the receipts on the
clinic and MCHD provides the
clinic to him free of charge, in
addition to paying an addi
tional amount for clinic ex
penses.
MCHD had earlier sought an
audit of Boss' operations, say
ing that since he is using public
funds, an audit is appropriate.
MCHD previously offered Boss
$154,000 (an additional $2,000
a month) if he agreed to the
audit.
Boss, however, maintains
that as a private contractor, he
is under no obligation to pro
vide an audit.
Some Boardman residents
said that they are happy with
Dr. Boss and fear that the com
munity will lose him if MCHD
and Boss cannot come to a con
tract settlement. Some Board-
man residents have accused
MCHD of trying to "get rid" of
Boss.
The next MCHD meeting is
set for Monday, April 8, at 7
p.m. at the Boardman ambu
lance hall.
Grieb and Rust gave
customers samples of this
year's Wheat League cake.
The recipe for the pumpkin
cake with cream cheese frosting
is as follows:
Oregon Wheat Growers
League Pumpkin Cake:
Vz cup shortening
U/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2Vi cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
V 2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
V 2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup solid pack pumpkin
V 2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350° F. Beat
shortening and sugar until fluf
fy; blend in eggs. Sift together
flour, baking powder, salt, bak
ing soda and spices. Add dry
ingredients alternately with
combined pumpkin and milk,
mixing well after each addition.
Spoon into two greased and
floured 8” pans. Bake 30-35
minutes or until cake tests
done. Cool 10 minutes; remove
from pans. Cool completely on
wire racks.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
V 2 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 oz. cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar
Combine melted butter and
cream cheese and blend
thoroughly. Add sugar, salt
and vanilla and beat well. If the
mixture is too thick to spread
easily, add milk V 2 teaspoon at
a time.
Easter egg hunts set for Saturday
The annual Easter egg hunts
for area children will be held
this Saturday, April 6, in Hepp
ner and lone.
lone's hunt, for children up
to the fourth grade, will be at
10 a.m at St. William Catholic
Church.
The egg hunt at Heppner,
sponsored by the Elks Club,
will also begin at 10 a.m.
Prschoolers will hunt at the ci
ty park next to the museum;
first and second graders at the
Heppner Elementary lower
field; and third and fourth
graders at Hager Park near
Willow Creek Dam.
Easter "SonRise" service April 7 Gutierrez to run for treasurer
An Easter "SonRise” service
will be held at the Morrow
County Fairgrounds in Hepp
ner on April 7, at 7 a.m. The
service is sponsored by the
South Morrow County Minis
terial Association, a consortium
of 12 local churches.
The Reverend Andrew John
son of the First Christian
Church will give the message.
The Reverend Tim Van Cleave
of the Christian Life Center is
in charge of music and several
other area ministers will be in
volved. Everyone is invited to
attend.
Remember, daylight saving's
time begins on Sunday.
Angus breeder recognized
Kathryn Healy, Heppner,
has been recognized national
ly by the American Angus
Association for having one re
gistered Angus cow included in
the American Angus Associa
tion's (AAA) 1996 Pathfinder
Report.
Only 1,647 of the more than
29,000 members of the AAA are
represented in this year's re
port, according to Richard
Spader, executive vice presi
dent of the AAA.
The Pathfinder Program
identifies superior Angus cows
based upon recorded perfor
mance traits that are economi
cally important to efficient beef
production. These traits include
regular caving and heavy
weaning weights, reports John
Crouch, director of perfor
mance programs for the AAA.
All registered Angus cows that
meet the strict Pathfinder stan
dards are listed, along with
their owners, in the Pathfinder
Report, which is published an
nually by the AAA.
Heppner Little League tryouts set
Tryouts for the Heppner Lit
tle League major league teams
(nine to 12 year olds) will be
held this Thursday, April 4, at
5:30 p.m. and Saturday, April
6, at 10 a.m. at the George
Waterland field at the dam.
Players must attend at least
one session to be on a major
league team.
Math contest slated April 10
The annual Morrow County
School District elementary
math contest will be held on
Wednesday, April 10, at Sam
Boardman Elementary School
at 6:30 p.m. in Boardman.
The public is welcome to
observe the contest. Theresa
Proctor-Reece is in charge of
local arrangem ents at the
school. Refreshments will be
served at the end of the
competition.
Gayle Gutierrez, Heppner, is
running for the office of Mor
row County Treasurer.
Gutierrez, a long-time resi
dent of the county, graduated
from lone High School and
Blue Mountain Community
College. She is currently em
ployed by the Morrow County
Accounting office.
Gutierrez has a working
knowledge of several different
county offices as she has work
ed in the treasurer/tax collec
tor's office, the assessor's office
and the public works office.
Her husband, Kim, is em
ployed at the Morrow County
Grain Growers as a mechanic
and their two children, Jessica,
12, and Joshua, 9, attend Hepp
ner schools. Her parents, Lloyd
and Shirley McNary, live in
lone.
Gayle Gutierrez
Denise Betsinger, Lexington,
is Gutierrez's campaign mana
ger.
Fair Board plans barn project
The Morrow County Fair
Board is organizing a steering
committee to oversee a new
4-H and multi-purpose barn
project. The plan is to have a
facility that can be used year-
round and is safe for children
and animals. The Fair Board is
also accepting donations for the
project.
The board is currently accep
ting applications for two at-
large positions. Anyone in
terested in serving on this com
mittee should contact the Mor
row County Fair office,
676-9474.
Jay Gibbs
joins
NRC Service
Jay Gibbs
A new face can be seen
around the Pettyjohn Office
Building these days. Jay Gibbs,
National Resources Conserva
tion Service (NRCS) team lead
er for the John Day Umatilla
Basin has moved to Heppner
from Condon with his wife,
Sue, and two-year-old son,
Garrett.
Gibbs grew up on a farm in
Helix, but has also lived in
Prineville, Madras, Redmond
and Lakeview. His father, J.C.
Gibbs, worked as a range con
servationist for the NRCS (for
merly the Soil Conservation
Service) before becoming a
plant materials specialist for the
western region.
Jay attended Oregon State
University and worked sum
mers for the NRCS as a co-op
student. Upon graduation in
1989, he went to work full-time
as a soil conservationist in Pen
dleton. Three years later, he
moved to Condon and became
the district conservationist for
Gilliam County. In January
1995, he took on the new role
as NRCS team leader for the
John Day Umatilla Basin, an
area comprising Morrow, Uma
tilla, Gilliam, Grant and
Wheeler counties.
Gibbs hopes his recent trans
fer to Heppner will be his last
move for awhile. The Gibbs
have purchased the Pettyjohn
place just south of Heppner
and are busy remodeling the
house. Sue has started a day
care in their new home and is
an active barrel racing member
of OBRA and GCBRA.
"W e have really enjoyed
Heppner," says Jay, "especial
ly the openness and friendli
ness of the people."
SNAPPER LAWN MOWER SA LE
Continues thru April 15th
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-452-7396