Health district Booster Club set for auction
losses down
B e s s ie f f e t z e ll
U o f 4 Ne»»pa ;*r Library
E u g en e, OR 9 7 4 0 3
VOL. 121______ NO. 40
8 Pages
Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Creative Care Preschool
plans open house
Creative Care Preschool
in lone will hold an open house
on Sunday, Oct. 6. The preschool
has recently completed a major
renovation of their classroom
space in addition to improvements
in the rest of the building. These
improvements included removing
walls to create one classroom out
of two classrooms and a hallway,
and replacing light fixtures,
windows, exterior doors and floor
coverings throughout the building.
The open house is an
opportunity for com m unity
m em bers who do not have
children attending Creative Care
Preschool to come and view the
preschool's new classroom space
as well as the improvements to
the rest of the building. According
to Lisa Rietmann, Creative Care
Preschool’s treasurer, it is also an
opportunity for the preschool to
thank those individuals and
organizations who made the
renovations possible.
All o f the demolition,
construction and painting was
completed by Mark Bruno; the
electrical work was done by
Loyal Burns and the new floor
coverings were installed by Tim
Hedman. The work was paid for
by grants from United Way of
Morrow County and the Baker-
Morrow Regional Partnership as
well as funds from the preschool’s
recent “Gently Used Dress Sale”
and other preschool funds.
Smith pleaded no contest
From the Hermiston Herald (9-20-
02 edition)
By Joyce Hensley
StaffWriter
State Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Heppner, pleaded no contest in
July in Morrow County Circuit
Court to a misdemeanor charge
of harassment involving his 7-
year-old son.
Morrow County District
Attorney David Allen charged
Sm ith w ith unlaw fully and
intentionally harassing the boy by
subjecting him to an offensive
physical contact by striking him.
The incident left bruises
on the boy’s buttocks, according
to Allen.
“ He said he was
disciplining him,” said Allen. “I
took a different view on that.”
The investigation began
in Deschutes County.
“He was detained in The
• Dalles by an Oregon State Police
detective,” said Allen.
After Smith pleaded no
contest. Morrow County Circuit
Court Judge Jeff Wallace ordered
him to obey all laws and court
orders to not use any form of
physical discipline or corporal
punishment upon any of his minor
children and to attend regular
family counseling sessions.
Sm ith
issued
the
following press release Thursday:
“ O ver the last three
years, I went through a very bitter
divorce, at the end of which. I was
aw arded sole custody of my three
young sons. As any single parent
know s, raising children by
yourself is a challenge, but I have
alw ays worked to be a good
father.
“This past M arch, I
spanked my middle son after
being informed that he had broken
a window at school and then lied
about it. My former wife notified
the D epartm ent o f Human
Services, who consequently
contacted the Morrow County
District Attorney. I was initially
charged with harassment by the
Morrow County District Attorney
for spanking my son. The Circuit
Court Judge and the D istrict
Attorney believed that it was best
interest of the state of Oregon and
the welfare o f my children, to
discharge the case w ith the
condition that I continue the
family counseling that my boys
and I had sought throughout the
divorce. I was never indicted or
convicted of any crime.
“This is a personal family
matter. The timing of this issue—
being made public just weeks
before a general election— is
clearly an effort to hurt me
politically.”
If Smith completes the
conditions of probation, the charge
w ould be dism issed w ithout
“adjudication of guilt and is not a
conviction for purposes o f
disqualifications or disabilities
imposed by law upon conviction
of a crime.”
If Smith violates any of
the probation terms, the court
“may enter an adjudication of guilt
and proceed as otherw ise
provided.”
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
New mechanic
in town
By Katie Wall
D arren B radford, 31,
recently moved to Heppner and
started a new mechanic shop
c a l l e d
Heppner
Auto Service,
located at 238
C hase
St.
The shop is
open Monday
through
Friday 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Ifafii
his
w ife Darren Bradford
B elinda,
who
does
his
bookkeeping and scheduling, and
th eir two children came to
Heppner from Pilot Rock. Before
living in Pilot Rock, Bradford lived
in Unity where he had his own
mechanic shop from 1991 to 1995.
Bradford went to Blue
Mountain Community College for
two years w here he studied
mechanics and participated in
their diesel program. However,
Bradford said that he grew up
working in a shop with his father.
Bradford offers Napa
auto parts and can work on a wide
variety o f car problems. He is
hoping to get computer diagnostic
equipm ent some tim e in the
future.
When not working on
cars, Bradford enjoys spending
time with his family, taking his kids
out into the mountains, as well as
fishing and hunting.
You can reach Heppner
Auto Service at 676-8984.
lone girl to speak
on experiences in
India
Sheena C hristm an, a
senior this year at lone High
School, will speak about her
experiences helping at an
orphanage in India, at the United
Methodist Church in Heppner on
Sunday, O ct. 6. She is the
daughter of Kelly Christman and
Carl Christman.
She will speak during a
potluck following the worship
service, which begins at 10:30
a.m.
Everyone is invited to
attend.
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
The M orrow County
Health D istrict narrow ed its
losses down to $5,930 for the
month o f August, even with a
temporary reduction in Medicare
reimbursements and additional
costs for supply RNs because of
a nursing shortage, according to
a report from Nicole Mahoney,
chief financial officer. Mahoney
said that the August financials also
included a grant for a defibrillator
and a donation from the Pioneer
Hospital Auxiliary for a new
vehicle for the district. Losses for
the year are $38,094.
Mahoney also reported
that the district is also paid up to
date with its vendors.
V ictor Vander D oes,
MCDH CEO, said that the
auxiliary, which recently received
a sizeable donation, will also
provide patio improvements and
enlargement, patio area fencing,
a sta ff patio w indbreak with
furniture, vinyl for a clinic exam
room and carpet for the hospital
office at a cost of $12,600.
In other business the
MCHD board:
-referred the decision to
switch retirement plans to the
employees;
-voted to expense assets
under $5,000 rather than
depreciate them, on the advice of
their accountant, Michael R. Bell
& Company, because Pioneer
M em orial H ospital is now a
Critical Access Hospital and is
reimbursed based on costs. The
district had previously expensed
items under $1,000.
-approved a list of items
to be surplused and agreed to let
district em ployees have first
chance at the items, which include
old nursing home beds, a wood
cabinet, chairs, refrigerator,
laundry cart, riding lawn mower,
piano, organ, a phlebotomy chair
and three vehicles, among other
items.
-learned from Vander
Does that the nursing home
passed inspection with two items
to c o rrect-a deadline for
fingerprinting an employee was
missed and doors in the nursing
home need painting. Last year’s
inspection was perfect.
-heard an update from
Vander Does on the district’s
marketing plant, which includes
redesign o f the district’s website,
information posted on cable TV
in Heppner and Irrigon, scheduling
of a customer service training,
providing health and EMS classes
and attendance at chambers of
commerce and service clubs.
-learned that the district
plans to initiate breast cancer and
pro state cancer aw areness
programs.
-approved a plan to
report any unlawful conduct by
employees to local authorities.
The district is required to inform
specific agencies and in the event
that those agencies were not
available to call 911.
Angie Hanson of the Heppner Booster Club shows some of the items to be
auctioned off. They include autographed blazer basketball, stadium
blanket and quilt.
The Heppner booster Club will
hold its annual steak feed and
auction on Saturday, October 12
at the Elks Club in Heppner.
Dinner is from 6 to 8p.m. with the
auction to follow. Some of the
items to be auctioned include a
rifle, jewelry, hunts and college
football tickets.
Dinner this year will feature
BBQ New York steak and baked
potato with salads and homemade
bread and desserts. Cost o f the
dinner is $10 each. For more
inform ation contact Angie
Hanson at 676-9041.
HHS Site Council needs to fill
two vacancies
E lections to fill two
vacancies on the Heppner High
School Site Council will be held
at the Oct. 9 Site Council meeting
to be held at HHS library at 6:30
p.m.
C andidates m ust be
parents o f students enrolled at
Heppner Jr Sr High School and
are required to attend monthly
m eetings held on the second
Wednesday of the month at HHS
library . Candidates w ill be elected
two a tw o-year term and are
elected by other parents o f
students attending Heppner Jr/Sr
High.
Site Council is a group
composed of parents and staff
whose purpose is to: develop plans
to im prove the sc h o o l’s
instructional
program s;
researching, developing and
implementing professional growth
opp o rtu n ities for the staff;
assisting in the communication
between the community and the
s ta ff w ith regaid to school
improvement issues and efforts;
and presenting plans for school
improvement to the board of
directors. Currently, Site Council
is researching issues such as
class offerin g s. D istance
L earning, and TAG classes/
programs.
Any questions can be
directed to the Heppner High
School, 676-9138.
Hardman throws annual feed
Skill Building Funds
and training available
Pat G rose, program
m anager w ith the O regon
D epartm ent o f C om m unity
C olleges
and
W orkforce
D evelopm ent, will present a
bidder’s informational session
from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Oct. 10,
at the Tamastslikt Institute near
Wildhorse Casino in Pendleton.
The session is open at no
cost to any employer or agency
wishing to submit an application
for the new round of $1 million
discretionary Oregon Workforce
Investm ent
Board
Skill
Development funds.
For m ore program
in fo rm atio n ,
link
to
w w w .w o rk fo rc e .sta te .o r.u s/
wfprograms/cws/cwrfp/
cwrfp.htm and click on rfp.
Coffee and brunch items
will be served. RS VP prior to Oct.
4 to the Morrow and Umatilla
County (Region 12) Workforce
Investment Board at (541) 276-
9050, ext. 230.
Shirley Rugg volunteers serving at the annual salmon and oys
ter feed Saturday night in Hardman. The crew served 400 people
this year. All the proceeds will he used to repair and upagrade
the Hardman community center where the feed is held. Every
thing was especially fresh this year as John Gochnauer of
Heppner drove to Coos Bay and picked up salmon and oysters
on Fridav.
GET READY FOR COLD WEATHER!
N O W IS THE TIME
T O FILL YOUR HEATING O IL TANK
s | s . ' - 1%
V*
Call Morrow County Grain Growers
#
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
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