Manhole problem fixed due to two local girls
While at her aunt’s
house on Morgan Street, Tori
Lankford, 9, daughter o f
Steve and Susan Lankford, fell
knee deep(about a foot and a
h alf) into an unm arked
manhole while retrieving a
stray ball. The manhole sits in
a grassy patch along the side
of the road and is unnoticeable
until on top o f it. It also had a
b roken lid that caused
Lankford to get stuck between
the lid and the ground.
Lankford’s cousin. Amber
Gray, 9, daughter ofTerry and
Kelli Gray, ran to the rescue
and helped pull Lankford from
the hole. A cco rd in g to
Lankford, she had some
scraps and bruises, but was
unharmed other than that.
3osiio ïotüall
U of o N««*p*per Lie; a ry
Eu^en 3 , OR *9 .'4 .»3
Tori Lankford, 9, got some help from her cousin, Amher
Gray, 9, after Tori fell in a manhole.
There are now orange
marker cones around the hole,
which is only supposed to be
temporary, to help prevent any
one else from getting hurt.
Lankford’s family is
glad no one got seriously hurt
and is proud of both girls for
working together to help each
other.
Secession fever strikes health district
VOL.122
NO. 18
10 Pages
Wednesday, April 30,2003
Morrow County Fair and
Rodeo Court kick-off busy
schedule
The 2003 Morrow County Fair and OTPR Court
have begun their busy schedule o f promoting the county at
various parades and other functions around the state.
Princess Megan McCabe and Princess Lexi
Kennedy along with their Pennant Bearers traveled to the
Cherry Blossom Festival in The Dalles on April 26, where
they participated in the parade. This was their first parade
on horseback and it went very well. The court came home
with a first place blue ribbon. After the parade, the court
along with their families enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in the
park.
The court will be busy this weekend helping out
with the Columbia Plateau Bike Race and attending the
Arlington parade and rodeo on Saturday, May 3. The court
will be rounding out the month of May with appearances
in Waitsburg, WA and at Spray.
Memorial Day dinner to be
held in Heppner
The Willow Creek Valley Memorial Day dinner
will be Sunday, May 25 in the dining room o f St. Patrick’s
Senior Center in Heppner. Dinner will begin at 2 p.m. A
time to meet and greet friends and relatives is planned.
Also planned is a program honoring the victims of Oregon’s
most devastating flood that occurred 100 years ago in
Heppneron June 6,1903.
Many churches o f the Willow Creek Valley,
students from Heppner High School and members of the
St. Patrick’s Senior Center will provide the food and serve
the dinner. Cost is $6 per person and $3 for those under
six years of age.
Any proceeds from the meal will go to the Senior
Center to provide for continued activities and programs
during the year.
It’s time to register for soccer
Soccer registration will be at the Heppner
Neighborhood Center on Thursday, May 8 from 5:30-7:30
p.m. and on Saturday, May 10 from 9-11:30 a.m.
The 2003 season will begin on August 1 and run
through October. Children who are at least four years old
by Jan. 31,2003, and under 12 through July 31,2003, are
eligible to play. Registration is $31 for the first child and
$28 for additional children in the same family household.
Late registrations will be subject to a late fee. Games will
be held in Hermiston
The Willow Creek Soccer Camp is sponsoring a
clinic to be held in South Morrow County on Saturday,
June 14. There is a $5 registration fee.
Hermiston will also have a camp from July 21 -25,
through Major League Soccer. Information is available at
registration.
Birth certificates are required at time of registration.
If you have any questions please call Tina or Darrell
Raver, 676-8710
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Laughlin
retires from
MCGG after
36 years
Butch Laughlin
Butch Laughlin, 62,
started working for Morrow
Country Grain Growers in the
summer of 1963. He continued
to work summers until he
began full time in 1967. He
started out driving truck for the
company, and now 36 years
later, he is re tirin g as a
machinery salesman. He has
also w orked in the parts
department and as a service
manager. Laughlin’s last day at
MCGG is Wednesday, April
30.
Laughlin was bom in
Heppner and he and wife,
Judie plan to stay in Heppner.
Laughlin also plans to help out
part-time at MCGG Laughlin
is also active on the Heppner
Water Conservation District
Board, the Farm Museum
Foundation Board, and Elks.
He has also served as a past
Heppner City Councilman.
Babe Ruth
baseball
signups begin
Babe Ruth baseball
signups have begun. Anyone
ages 13- to 15-years-old can
signup and needs. Signups
need to be completed by May
9.
Anyone interested in
registering should call Rick
Johnston at 676-5562.
Secession fever— it’s
not a virus, but it seems to be
spreading throughout Morrow
County. Right on the heels of
lone’s bid to secede from the
M orrow C ounty School
District, the city of Boardman,
via Morrow County Health
District Board member Ed
Glenn, has indicated its desire
to withdraw from the Morrow
County Health District.
Glenn, who lives in
Boardm an, presented the
city’s proposal at the regular
M CHD m eeting M onday
night in Lexington. MCHD
CEO Victor Vander Does and
the other board members,
Larry Mills, Heppner, John
Prag, Boardman area, and
Ken Matlack, Irrigon, did not
ap p ear su rp rised by the
re q u e st and sch ed u led
discussion o f the issue for a
goal planning session in the
near future, hopefully the
w eek o f M ay 12-14.
According to law, Boardman
cannot w ithdraw without
approval of the district.
One issue in particular,
the d istrict’s difficulty in
working out a contract with
Dr. Robert Boss, a private
Boardman physician who is
subsidized to the tune o f
$140,000 per year by the
district, has contributed to
Boardman’s dissatisfaction,
according to Glenn, and Prag,
both long-time friends of Boss.
Prag said that the city o f
Boardman is “rich” and would
be able to provide health and
emergency services for that
area. A cco rd in g to the
proposal, the new Boardman
district would have to ask
voters for a new tax rate and
MCHD and the new district
would have to come to an
agreement over long-term
debt.
Prag said that if
Boardman withdraws, it might
also be financially beneficial to
the district, since MCHD
would not have to pay Dr.
B oss and M CHD could
possibly receive additional tax
m onies. O ne co n cern ,
however, is the possibility of
the city of Boardman annexing
additional property, which
could financially hurt the
district. The fact that several
businesses in the Boardman
area are currently in enterprise
zones and th e re fo re tax
exempt, could also affect a
possible split. W hile not
currently taxed, these entities
may enter the tax rolls within
the next several years.
A lso in clu d ed in
Boardman’s proposal is the
resignation of the Boardman
representative from MCHD-
cu rren tly Ed G lenn. See
B o ard m an ’s W ithdraw al
Proposal at the end o f this
article.
In other business, the
board:
-le a rn e d that the
d istrict lost $54,365 last
month, despite a greatly-
im proved g ro ss p atien t
rev en u e o f $ 4 3 9 ,6 9 9 ,
compared to last m onth's
gross patient revenue o f
$2 8 1 ,0 6 9 and a loss o f
$ 130,383. Glenn reiterated at
the Monday night meeting that
the district cannot continue to
support all the services it
provides, with the losses it is
experiencing.
-learn ed o f an
im pending d o n atio n o f
$300,000 from the estate of
Velva Bechdolt, a former
Heppner resident.
-received a request
from Dr. Boss to reimburse his
expenses o f around $300 for
re c ru itm e n t o f a new
physician’s assistant for his
office.
-learned from Vander
Does o f a plan to join other
h ealth d istric ts to seek
matching federal funds for
existing tax monies for clinics
operated within districts.
Vander Does said that if the
bid were successful, based on
$9 million in taxes received by
the combined districts, Oregon
could access as much as $ 13
million for those clinics and
MCHD could be allocated in
the n eig h b o rh o o d
of
$900,000. The amount would
be determined by the state,
how ever, and w ould be
vulnerable to decimation by
the financially strapped state.
-learned that MCHD
plans to implement a courier
service between the Irrigon
Clinic, operated by the district,
and Heppner. The service
w ould en ab le P ioneer
Memorial Hospital to run lab
tests for the Irrigon Clinic,
rather than having all of them
sent out, and would increase
MCHD revenue. Some tests
that PMH does not have the
capability to conduct would
still be sent out. The board
discussed the possibility of
asking Dr. Boss if he would
consider using the service to
have the tests he orders
completed at PMH rather than
sent e lsew h ere. New
laboratory equipment was
purchased during the last year
and the district plans to invest
in a new coagulation machine
during the coming year.
-unanimously
approved a two percent cost-
of-living contract the third year
o f a three-year contract with
hospital union employees,
effective July 1. The contract,
w hich w ill have to be
re n e g o tiated next year,
includes certified nursing
assistants, but not RNs. The
board also approved a two-
percent cost-of-living increase
for non-union employees,
including RNs.
-h eard
and
unanimously accepted a report
from H om e H ealth and
Hospice director Molly Rhea.
-unanimously
accepted a proposed budget
o f $7,161,946 for 2003-04.
Last year’s adopted budget
was $6,341,056; the budget
for 2001-02 was $7,375,268;
and the budget for 2000-01
was $6 ,1 2 0 ,6 7 9 . The
proposed budget includes
$6,577,857 in revenues,
donations and grants and
interest income, and $584,089
in taxes. Taxes for previous
years are as follows: 2002-03,
$629,565;
2001-02,
$578,136; and 2000-01,
$592,854. C hief Financial
Officer Nicole Mahoney said
that the am ount o f taxes
budgeted to be received during
the com ing year was
“conservative.” Next year’s
proposed budget includes no
monies from operating and
cap ital loans and has a
$50,000 ending fund balance
available for operations, the
same as the previous year. In
2001-02 the ending fund
balance was $1,088,315; in
2000-01, the ending fund
balance was $905,521.
The loss for the year
ending June 30, 2003 is
estim ated at $392,000.
M ahoney told the board,
however, that she bel ieves that
the district can survive without
borrowing money until the next
taxes are received, mainly due
to the sizeable estate monies
the district expects to receive
shortly.
-receiv ed
the
following statistics for the
month o f March: Pioneer
Memorial Clinic-509 doctor/
physician assistant visits, with
22 new patients and 61 nurse
visits; Irrigon Clinic-218
doctor/physician assistant
visits, with 32 new patients
and 3 1 nurse visits; Pioneer
Memorial Hospital-28 patients
and 89 patient days, compared
to 14 patients and 38 days in
F eb ru ary ;
H eppner
Ambulance-20 runs with 13
tra n sp o rts;
B oardm an
Ambulance-16 runs w ith six
tra n sp o rts;
Irrigon
A m b u lan ce-1 4 runs, II
transports
-heard from Vander
Does that the assisted living
now has seven occupants,
despite losing one occupant
who was transferred to the
nursing home, up from five
previously.
Boar dman' s
withdrawal proposal
MEMORANDUM
TO: Morrow County
Health D istrict Board o f
Directors
FROM: Director Ed
Glenn
DATE: April 28,2003
RE: Withdrawal of the
City of Boardman
In order to promote
health care services in all of
continued page two
CEN EX - LAND O ’ L A K E S
L aw n a n d G a rd e n F ood
1 6 - 1 6 - 1 6 w ith 1.5% ir o n
50 lb
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
M O N D A Y S AT 5:00 P.M.
bag
ONLY $7.99
ft. I
Ulorrow County C rain Grow ers
c °v»rs
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
*0.000
*9
For farm equipment. visit our w tb tit* at w ww.m cff.nat