Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2003)
Flood commemoration event to be held 3c33ie .ïetzall U o l j t i e « a pa e r L i b : " Eug en e, JH "J 97 4 33 Massive damage from Heppner's 1903 flood VOL. 122 NO. 5 8 Pages Wednesday, January 29, 2003 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Health district, Dr. Boss agree on contract T h e M orrow C o u n ty H ealth D istrict and Boardm an physician, Dr. Robert Boss, have agreed on a contract after over a year o f negotiations. Dr. Boss operates the privately ow ned Boardm an Health Care Center, but is subsidized by the health care district to provide m edical care in the Boardman area. A ccording to the term s o f the contract, Dr. B oss will re c e iv e $ 1 4 0 ,0 0 0 from th e district for the first year o f the three-year contract and increases according to the consumer price index for the second and third years. In o th e r b u s in e s s , M CHD Board: -le a rn e d from C h ie f F in a n c ia l O f f ic e r N ic o le M ahoney that the district lost $ 5 7 ,6 9 1 fo r th e m o n th o f D e c e m b e r w ith an a v e ra g e Library patrons can check Inter-library books from home out Heppner librarian. Barb Orwick, prepares Interlibrary loan materials to be mailed back to their home libraries. If y o u ’re looking for an early Nora Roberts romance, the latest Steve Martini legal thriller or a recent book on fibromyalgia, g e ttin g th e m th ro u g h th e interlibrary loan program will be easier starting Feb. 3,2003. Beginning Feb. 3, adult O regon Trail Library D istrict c a rd h o ld e rs w ill be a b le to request their own materials, place and cancel holds on materials at the library, or from home or work through the Internet. T h e r e a re o v e r o n e million items available through the 70 libraries that belong to the Pioneer System . Patrons will need to com e in to the library for some training on the system and to r e c e iv e th e ir p e rs o n a l identification number. A lso beginning Feb. 3, patrons w ill be charged $2 per item arriving from a library outside the Oregon Trail Library District (H eppner and Boardman). This fee will be charged whether the item is picked up or not. The fee is due to rising costs o f m ailing books back to their home library. For m ore inform ation c o n ta c t B arb O rw ick at the Heppner library, 676-9964. Garden Club to hold meeting T he H eppner G arden C lub will hold their m onthly m eeting, Feb. 3, at St. P a t’s Senior C enter in Heppner, at 7 p.m. Jan Stroeber and JoAnn Burleson will host the meeting, which will include a yard o f the month video. m onthly loss o f $25,000 for the year. - le a r n e d fro m C E O V ictor V ander D oes th at he received information that zones w ithin the health district are illegal. The board postponed any action on dissolving the zones and electing board members at large until the board receives a legal o pinion on the issue. B oard m em ber Ed Glenn, Boardm an, said he is c o n c e rn e d ab o u t representation and believes that the district would be “ill served” by disso lv in g the zones and electing at large, w hile board m em bers Larry Mills, Heppner, and John Prag, Boardman, said they favored changing to an at- large board. The district is under the gun to make a decision as the deadline for candidates to file for the M ay election is M arch 20. Board m em bers Linda LaRue, lone, and M ills will be up for election. -learned from Vander Does that according to the latest figures from the state, the Pioneer M e m o ria l N u r s in g H o m e residents believed to be in danger o f losing their M edicaid monies are now not believed to be in danger o f losing their funding. A c c o r d in g to p re v io u s in fo rm a tio n from th e state, several residents at PM NH did not meet state criteria to be able to keep getting their M edicaid funds, so that they could remain at PM NH. -learned from Vander Does that even w ith the passage o f Measure 28, the nursing home is expected to lose $ 13 a day per resident, w hich w ill becom e another negative im pact on the district’s bottom line-to the tune o f around $ 100,000 a year. The district is still exploring a way to change the way nursing hom e beds and hospital swing beds are c o u n te d , w h ic h c o u ld dramatically increase revenue. -approved a flex-lease for $67,000 for three years to fund purchasing o f two pieces o f laboratory equipment. -learned that tw o full time registered nurses have been hired at the hospital. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: ___ MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. “ The F lo o d : We R em em ber,” a special flood com m em oration show will be held, Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m., at the C atholic Parish Hall in Heppner. No adm ission charge will be charge, but donations are welcome. “ S h e n a n ig a n s ! ” - a group o f young musicians from M orrow County, is joining with th e F lo o d C o m m e m o ra tio n Committee to present an evening rem em brance o f the great flood o f 1903. The show will include narrative reading accom panied by photo slides, background m u sic a n d d a n c in g as th e audience is taken on a journey into history. O n Ju n e 14, 1903 a cloudburst over the area drained by Willow Creek and Balm Fork dum ped over an inch and a half o f rain onto a 20 square mile area in a very short period o f time. This huge volume o f water rushed down the steep canyons descending on unsuspecting Heppner a little after 5 p.m., that afternoon. It left alm ost total destruction in its wake. The total count o f victims is uncertain, but it is generally accepted that at least 247 people died, som e o f whom could not be identified before burial. The show will open at 7 p.m. w ith a few fiddle tunes by Mulligan Stew, another group of y o u n g m u s ic ia n s . D u rin g interm ission, the m em bers o f “Shenanigans!” will have CDs for sale (their first release) and will also have raffle tickets available for a hand made quilt, a bike and a D V D /V C R p lay e r. A fte r intermission “Shenanigans!” will present an old time fiddle show. This group is w orking to raise money for a study trip to Ireland w here they w ill attend an Irish fiddling school. The F lo o d Commemoration Committee will have desserts available for sale at the end o f the show. They are raising m oney for a perm anent m em orial to the flood victim s, which will be placed in Heppner. R eaders for the show include Dan Brosnan, Andrew Johnson. Robanai Disque, Katy West, Bob Jepsen and Paul Clay. M em bers o f Shenanigans are Brynna Rust, Kate Kendrick, Eric Jepsen, Matt Holland, Kara Clay arid Alex Carlson. They are in fifth, sixth and seventh grade and have been playing their instruments betw een four and six years. Morrow County awarded grant for ATV park The O regon Parks and R e c r e a tio n C o m m is s io n aw arded a $1.72 m illion All- terrain Vehicle (ATV) Program g ra n t to M o rro w C o u n ty , Thursday, Jan. 23, to purchase land for a county park dedicated to o ff-h ig h w a y v e h ic le and motorcycle recreation. Morrow County will use the grant to buy 6,200 acres o f property known locally as the K inzua R eload for the park, m uch o f which will border the M orrow-G rant county line and Umatilla National Forest. “ We are excited about the opportunity to develop a safe environm ent for the grow ing num ber o f ATV users seeking places for recreational off-road driving,” said M orrow County Public Works Director Burke O 'B rien . “ Local user groups have already volunteered to help build trails, bridges and anything else we may ask o f them to help develop the park.” O 'B rien explained that the land is well-suited for ATV recreational use, especially since the adjacent national forest land is open to ATV riding. “ The terrain is diverse,” said O ’Brien. “It will provide a wide-variety o f ATV riding experiences. We plan HHS Drama Club to present Alibis T h e H e p p n e r H ig h School D ram a C lub will be performing their first play o f the year, “Alibis,” by Peter Kennedy. The play is a comedy that is based upon solving a murder. The play w ill keep you gu essin g and laughing all at the same time, said a play spokesperson. S o m eone has been murdered in a mansion at Seven O aks and it is up to Mr. E.S. S o lv e d d , p la y e d by T y le r Henderson, to figure out w hich o n e o f th e s u s p e c ts is the murderer. O ther cast m em bers are Kyler Lovgren, Courtney N elson, Tylynn Smith, Shanna R ie tm a n n , C o d y W a lto n , M adison Bailey, Sarah Barrow, A leshia Geer, Colton Helfrect and Blair Keithley. The play is directed by Sarah Barrow. Linda Dutcher is AM Aadv isor. The play will be shown two different times in the month o f February at the Heppner High S c h o o l. T h e firs t wi l l be presented on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 3:30 p.m. and the second on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 3:30 p.m. rhere is no admission; however, donations would be appreciated. Hardman Community Center elects officers for 2003 The H a rd m a n C o m m u n ity C e n te r held its annual meeting Jan. 7, at John's Other Place in Heppner. O fficers for 2003 were ele c te d and are as follow s: p resid en t- B ob A llen; vice- p r e s id e n t- Tom W ilso n ; tr e a s u r e r - B e tty C a r ls o n ; secretary- Sylvia A llen; and advertising-Archie Padberg. Volunteers for the Oyster Feed were accepted. Plans were made to rem ove the building at the Hardman IOOF Cemetery to be replaced w ith a cem ent slab bench and table. It was also decided to level o ff the graves and mow the grass. The late 1800 pictures o f the Hardm an area have been enlarged and returned to the HCC so that they can be framed and placed in the main hall by mid-May. The next meeting o f the HCC will be in April. to use existing logging roads and skid trails left on the land for recreation trails, and develop new' ones only to create trail loops.” T h e la n d , O 'B r ie n added, includes a large, flat area, w hich he c a lled " id e a l” to r cam ping and for loading and unloading ATVs. "The location c o u ld a ls o be u se d fo r snowmobiling and cross-country skiing in the w inter," he said. “Excellent access” to the property exists from Highway 2 0 7 , s a id O 'B r ie n . T h e property's original owner, the Kinzua Lumber Company, used the site as a “ log deck,” w here lo g s w e re u n lo a d e d by specialized logging equipm ent then reloaded onto regular log trucks. A laige machine shop with electricity and well water still stands on the property, which is n o w o w n e d by P io n e e r Resources o f Oregon. G lennys Lindsay, the O regon Parks and Recreation D e p a rtm e n t's (O P R D ) ATV grants and education coordinator, said the grant to Morrow County will help narrow the gap between the growing number o f ATV users and the places to ride. "This park has the potential o f being one o f the prem ier riding areas in the state,” said Lindsay. "Finding h ig h - q u a lity lo c a tio n s is important right now in meeting the increasing demand for riding areas and the safety o f those w ho use them." The state ATV' grants are funded by ATV permit sales and un-refunded gas tax revenue. A seven-m em ber ATV Allocation C om m ittee appointed by the O regon Parks and Recreation Com m ission adv ises OPRD on the dispersal o f grant awards. For m ore inform ation about Morrow C ounty's park p la n s , c o n ta c t th e M orrow ' Countv Public W orks at 989- 9 5 0 0 .' JOIN US FOR CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY and PANCAKE BREAKFAST on Saturday, February 15, from S a.m. to noon Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 Fir tam rquipmrnt mil Mr m t u» >t m meg M!
