HHS/IHS Senior Girls' Luncheon held
Pf
U
JS I Ï
OF
E T Z F. 1 1
W
0 it E
n e ws p a p e r
j ^ î E N t OK
LI S
S» 7 4 0 3
Glo Baker (left) and her daughter Sarah, both front, and Nola Binschus and her daughter Mindy (right)
prepare to enjoy the annual Senior Girls' Luncheon, April 2.
The luncheon, for Heppner and lone senior girts and their mothers, is sponsored by the Soroptomist Inter
national of Heppner.
This year’s speaker was Melissa Lindsay. Entertainment was by Julie Howard.
The event is catered by All Saints Episcopal women.
Heppner, Boardman agree-they want their doctor
VOL. 117
NO. 14
10 Pages
Wednesday, April 8, 1998
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
G ary M arks resigns as H eppner city manager
Heppner City Manager Gary
Marks has submitted his
resignation to the Heppner City
Council.
Marks, who has been Heppner
city manager for seven years, has
accepted a position as city
manager for North Bend, a town
of around 9,000 people.
Marks announced his
resignation at a special council
meeting held May 1. He will
begin work in North Bend on
May 11.
Marks says that he accepted the
position with mixed emotions.
"It's been seven great years," said
Marks. "This is a wonderful
community and I will always
have a special place in my hear
for Heppner. You can't live here
seven years without setting down
roots. It's a special place. You
don't find this type of place very
often. It just makes leaving all
the more difficult."
Marks said that it was time for
him to make a move to advance
Bowl-a-thon
nets $ 5 7 8
his career and to take on some
new challenges. He said that
North Bend has some exciting
new projects in the works.
Marks said that he did not
apply for the North Bend
position. "They sought me out,"
he said.
Marks said that while Heppner
will have some new challenges in
its future, the city has "a strong
council, a supportive community
and a reputation in the state for
having a unique quality of life."
He said that it was because of
these assets that he believed
Heppner would have some good
candidates trying out for the city
manager's position.
Prior to accepting the Heppner
city manager's position, Marks
was self employed as a
consultant and a full-time student
and was a member of the
Tualatin City Council. He
graduated from George Fox with
a degree in human resources in
December of 1990.
Marks, 35, and his wife,
Laurie, have three children,
Benson, eight, Adam, six, and
Aimee, four months.
Candidate's Forum slated April 15
A candidate's forum will be
held on Wednesday, April 15, at
7 p.m. at the Morrow County
School District Office in
Lexington.
The forum is sponsored by the
city of lone, the lone Community
A g ric u ltu ra l
B u sin e ss
Organization (ICABO), the town
of Lexington and the Heppner
Chamber of Commerce.
Everyone is invited to attend
and ask questions of the
candidates.
lone egg hunt 10 a.m. Saturday
The lone Easter egg hunt will be
on Saturday, April 11, at 10 a.m.
Babies through kindergarten-
age children will hunt eggs at
the Catholic church and grades
one to four will hunt at the lone
City Park.
The hunt will begin promptly at
10 a.m., so children are reminded
not to be late.
By Merlyn Robinson
The Strike Out for Kids" bowl-
a-thon held at Heppner's Willow
Lanes on April 4 and 5 netted
$578.
The event, sponsored by the
Heppner and Condon Elks
Lodges, was a means of helping
kids with visual, hearing and
speech impairments. Proceeds
go to the Elks Children's Eye
Clinic at the Casey Eye Institute
in Portland and the Meadowood
Springs Speech and Hearing
Camp near Pendleton.
Individuals who obtained the
most dollars in pledges were
Marti Brannon, Heppner, and
Karen
Petterson,
Condon.
Participants.
Merchants who supplied prizes
and individuals who helped with
this bowl-a-thon are to be
commended for their support of
this worthy cause, said a
spokesperson.
Hole-in-one
at W illow
Run
Bill Steagall got a hole in one
at the Willow Run Golf Course
in Boardman on Thursday,
March 26. He was on the 117
yard fourth hole with a wedge.
This is Steagall's first hole in
one in 33 years of golfing.
Easter Bunny plans visit
The Easter egg hunt, sponsored
by the Heppner Elks Lodge, will
be held this Saturday, April 11,
beginning promptly at 10 a.m.
Preschool children will hunt
eggs in the Heppner City Park;
first and second graders at the
middle school playground; and
third and fourth grade children at
Hager Park.
The Easter Bunny will make
his annual visit to the city park at
10 a.m.
Museum to be site of "invasion"
If you stood in line in 1977 to
see "Star Wars" when it first
came out - and then saw it 17
times in the days before video; if
you know what level of what
deck of the Enterprise houses
sickbay (G deck, level 7); if you
know more about John Sheridan.
Han Seldon and Gort than you
do about your relatives, then you
need to loiow what's going on at
the Morrow County Museum.
SCI-FL FANtastic III, the third
annual exhibition of local science
fiction-related collections is open
now at the Museum in Heppner
and will remain on display
through the month of Apnl. The
Invasion, a special gathenng of
fans, will take place in the
afternoon and evening of
Saturday, Apnl 18, beginning at
2 p.m. at the museum.
The public is invited to view
the collections, enter trivia and
costume contests and talk about
their favonte works of science
fiction with collectors and fans of
all media-pnnt, film and tv.
Special guests of the Invasion
will be Capt. Lea Morgan and
the crew of the USS Rubicon
(NCC-71816), official Starfleet
International Star Trek Fan Club
of Kennewick, Washington. An
intergalactic passport will guide
visitors through downtown
Heppner
and
will
allow
participants to be eligible for the
costume contest and other prizes.
A silent auction of science
fiction-related
treasures,
including-among other things-
old, new and upcoming movie
posters, scripts and books, will
take place during the afternoon.
At 5:30 p.m. everyone is invited
to regroup in the upstairs dining
room of the Elks Club for a no
host dinner and the awarding of
prizes.
SCI-FI FANtastic III exhibit
and the one-day Invasion are
open to the public and there is no
admission charge. Costumes are
encourage (but not required).
For more information, call the
mùseum, (541) 676-5524, 1-5
P.M. Tuesday through Saturday.
North and south Morrow
County residents may not agree
on much, but they do agree that
they want to keep their doctors.
Heppner and Boardman
contingencies appeared before
the Morrow County Health
District Board at its regular
meeting Monday night in
Boardman demanding why the
board hasn't negotiated contracts
with Dr. Ernie Atkins for Pioneer
Memorial Hospital and Clinic in
Heppner and Dr. Robert Boss for
the district's Boardman Medical
Clinic.
The board was in the process of
reviewing its contract with Dr.
Atkins, which originally was to
expire
May 31, when
negotiations broke off. The board
did, however, extend Atkins'
contract to June 30.
"Now you know how we feel,"
said Tom Meyers, Boardman. "A
year ago this board wouldn't
make a deal with our doctor (Dr.
Boss)." Meyers, a member of the
Boardman City Council, is
married to Sharron Meyers, a
MCHD Board member
and
former employee of Dr. Boss.
Both Dr . Boss' attorney and
the board said that they
attempted negotiations and, at
one time, both parties believed
they had a contract, but then
negotiations broke off.
"We
came to an impasse that couldn't
be overcome," said Dan Grant,
MCHD chief financial officer,
concerning Dr. Boss' contract.
Since then, the district hired
another physician for their
Boardman clinic, Dr. Shanilka
DeSoyza, and Dr. Boss opened
up a private clinic, the Boardman
Healthcare Center, next door to
the district's medical clinic.
Ken Schmidt, MCHD and
PMH chief executive officer,
said that evening that Dr. Boss
has asked to reopen negotiations
and the board indicated that it
would be open to a proposal.
Supporters of Dr. Atkins said
they were feared that they would
lose their only doctor. "There's a
lot of concern coming out of
Heppner. We've had three very
good doctors and lost two of
them," said Jackie Allstott,
Heppner, who attended the
Boardman meeting.
Drs. Jeanne and Ed Berretta,
who
were
employed
as
physicians at PMH and PMC,
moved from Heppner in 1996 to
establish a practice in Walla
Walla. Dr. Atkins began working
for the district in 1995. A nurse
practitioner, Wendy Haack, came
on board in 1997.
The Heppner contingency
criticized the board for not doing
enough to retain Atkins and
asked if he was getting enough
time off and
was paid
sufficiently.
"It's not the salary," said Susan
Atkins, the doctor's wife. "I know
Dr. Atkins works hard and a lot
of times Dr. Atkins worked on
weekends when doctors didn’t
show up."
Although Dr. Atkins did the
scheduling for doctors himself,
she said that he stepped in to
work weekends and holidays if a
scheduled doctor cancelled or
didn't show.
The board was also criticized
for not recruiting new doctors to
help Atkins. "We are recruiting
to get more doctors here," said
Schmidt.
Meg Murray, MCHD Board
member, said that part of the
delay resulted from the district's
application for a rural health
clinic designation for Pioneer
Memorial Clinic. If a clinic is
designated under-served by
physicians, it can get more
monies back in reimbursements.
After a clinic receives the
designation, the number of
doctors serving that clinic can be
inci eased without reduction in
the amount of reimbursement.
Schmidt told the board later
that evening that, "as of today,
Heppner
doesn't
qualify"
because at the time of the review
in 1990, Heppner had more
physicians,
exceeding
the
number for rural health clinic
designation. Boardman and
Irrigon did qualify, however, he
added.
Another issue of contention
between the board and Atkins is
a stipulation in his contract that
he
negotiate
with
the
administrator. Atkins has refused
to negotiate with Ken Schmidt.
Bernice Lott, a Heppner resident,
asked if there was a personality
conflict between Atkins and
Schmidt.
"I don't know what the problem
is," said Schmidt. "Dr Atkins has
never come to tell me what the
problem is."
The board had met earlier with
Atkins in executive session
without Schmidt at Atkins'
request.
"We met with him over an
hour," said Murray. "We asked
him point blank what we could
do. And he didn't have an
answer. He's written three letters
stating that he doesn't wish to
negotiate."
The board agreed at the
Monday meeting that while they
would not negotiate with Atkins
without Schmidt present, they
would agree to have several
board members sit in on the
negotiations.
Since Dr. Atkins traveled to
Boardman, but remained outside
during the meeting, several
people attending the meeting
suggested that he be asked for his
input. "Let's ask Dr. Atkins to
step in and say what's wrong,"
said Laura McElligott, Morrow
County Public Health director.
Shane Fntz, a member of the
Boardman
community
volunteered to speak with Atkins,
but after a brief conversation
with him, relayed the message
back to the board that he
wouldn't make a public statement
without his lawyer.
Susan Atkins said, ”1 think a
lot of times people don't talk
because they're afraid of
litigation."
A Morrow County Health
District budget meeting was held
prior to the regular board
meeting.
Grant said that recent union
negotiations would increase
salaries by two percent and
health insurance costs by nine
percent.
Budget member Gene Allen of
Boardman said that he did not
feel that enough information was
made available through the
budget
and
requested
a
breakdown of salary by position
or individual.
Allen also
requested more detail in the
capital expense fund.
EOSC releases
dean's list
Eastern Oregon University has
announced its 1998 winter quar
ter dean's list. To qualify for the
dean's list, students must have a
minimum of 12 graded credit
hours and a grade point average
of 3.5 or better.
Local students who qualify in
clude: Brent Martin and John
Qualls from Heppner: and Tina
Kemp and Becky Wagenblast
from Lexington.
Tourism group
plans meeting
The Morrow County Tounsm
Committee
will
meet
Wednesday, Apnl 15, at 4 p.m. at
Beecher's Restaurant in lone.
Agenda items include: progress
on the Columbia River/ Lewis
and Clark Trail; topics presented
at the Governor's Conference on
Tounsm; 1998 direction of the
Hentage Tourism Partnership;
distnbution of the 1998 Eastern
Oregon Visitor Guide; status of
the Morrow County Panel at the
1-84 Visitor Info-Centre; and
other items.
Community representatives,
visitor related businesses and
interested individuals are invited
to attend the quarterly meetings
of the committee.
Future Morrow County Tounsm
meeting dates and locations
include: July 15, Dnftwood RV
Park. Boardman; and September
16, Port of Morrow, Boardman.
Committee meetings begin at 4
p.m.
For more information or
directions to the April 15
meeting, contact Carol Michael,
chairman. 481-3014
14 Gallon 12 Volt Portable Sprayer
$177.49
_____
GET IT AT
__
M orrow C o u n t y G r a in G rowers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1 -800 -45 2-7 396
For farm «quipmtnt, visit our wtb sit* at www mcgg.iwt