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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2004)
John Day elementary principal new Morrow County superintendent Be33ie Wetzoll U of 0 News pa p* ir L *•;/ t 'J 3 E u g e n e , . o s VOL. 123 NO. 17 10 Pages Wednesday, April 28, 2004 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon The M orrow County School B o a rd v o te d unanimously M onday to hire Mark Burrows o f John Day as the new superintendent. B u rro w s , w h o is c u rre n tly the p rin c ip a l o f Humbolt Elementary in John Day. will assume the reigns o f the M orrow C ounty D istrict on July 1. T h e b o a rd v o te d unanim ously for B urrow s, however, board members Julie W eikel and Pat M cN am ee were not at Monday’s meeting. B urrow s, w ho is a w id o w e r w ith tw o g ro w n daughters, graduated from the University of Oregon in 1968 with a bachelor o f science degree in social sciences. He then w en t on to o b ta in a m aster’s degree in education from University o f Oregon in 1974 a n d th e n h is b a s ic adm inistrator's license from Lewis and Clark in 1997. He obtained his adm inistrator’s license from Oregon in 2001. H is p r o f e s s io n a l experience is with the G rant C ounty School D istrict as elem entary principal from 1997 to the present. Burrows said he was “delighted to be here. Kids are n u m b er one and m y first priority is academics,” he told the board. “I ’m convinced there is a lot of energy here in this district, and I want to get Cement truck goes through Heppner bridge pjchJ'Ms-jì me Blbat ; E r - YPfspt pjjf j j t m ,JM h mmr* *» • y ëfrjtq ¡U % jpg! i * Miller and Sous Excavating use a track hoe to remove a cement truck that went through a wooden bridge in Heppner. O n Friday, A pril 23, a M iller and Sons Excavating cement truck tried crossing the wooden bridge at M ain and Campbell streets, in Heppner, b u t w o u n d up in H in to n C re e k . M o rro w C o u n ty Sheriff’s Office, Heppner Fire D e p a rtm e n t, th e C ity o f H eppner crew and O regon D e p a r tm e n t o f F is h an d W ildlife responded to the scene. There were no injuries in the accident, as the truck’s back end w ent through the bridge and into the creek. B efore the truck could be ex tracted , the cem ent w as transferred into another truck and taken to the intended w ork site. M iller and Sons then extracted the truck from the bridge with their track hoe. Elks gathering service addresses for care packages calling 676-9181 or by mailing T h e H e p p n e r E lks the address to the H eppner Club is looking for addresses Elks Lodge, P.O. Box 494, fo r H e p p n e r, lo n e an d Heppner, OR 97836. Lexington service m en and w om en w ho are cu rren tly serving at hom e or abroad. The Elks are will be sending Ballots for the M ay c a re p a c k a g e s to th e s e 18 primary will be mailed out individuals. Friday. April 30. The last day C u rre n t a d d re s s e s to register for voting in this can be given to Tony Clement election was M onday, April at the Heppner Elks Lodge by 26. Ballots to be mailed out The was a sign posted at the bridge that said, “ No loaded trucks.” M iller and Sons was unavailable for com m ent at time of publication. The bridge was ju st rebuilt a little less than tw o years ago, said City M anager Jerry B reazeale. The c ity ’s in s u r a n c e c o m p a n y is investigating the incident and will make recommendations to the city on how to proceed once that is com plete, stated Breazeale. Local son returns from Middle East Petty O ffice Joseph R. Baker has returned from a tw o-year tour in Bahrain. He is the son o f Robert Baker, lone, and Robin Baker Krebs, lone. W hile in Bahrain he w as stationed on the U SS D e x tro u s, a m in e sw e e p er deployed in the Persian G ulf and A rabian Sea. Baker is a mineman trained for seamine detonation. He has been in the US Navy for eight years and plans to m ake it a career. His next duty station w ill be Ingleside. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. TX where he will be based for the next two years. Senior Class to hold car wash The Senior C lass o f 2004 is having a car wash on Friday, April 30, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Les Schw ab’s. There will also be a bake sale, running at the same time, at the Heppner Post Office. everyone pulling in the same direction.” School b o a rd chairman John Renfro said he was "impressed” with Burrows and his attitude. Burrows’ hiring comes after the district and Reedsport superintendent Duane Yecha w e re u n a b le to re a c h a g re e m e n t on a c o n tra c t. Reports on why Yecha, the d istrict’s first choice, did not end up with job range from an ex p lanation that he turned down the job because financial in c e n tiv e s w ere not good enough, to the fact that the M orrow County school board did not vote unanim ously to hire him. The board voted 4 to 3 April 12 to hire the former Riverside Principal before he turned dow n the job. B urrow s’ salary for the three-year contract will be a reported $90,000 per year, with 2 percent incentive raises New sup erin ten d en t M ark B urrow s built in each o f the next two years if B urrow s achieves favorable board evaluations. Health District approves $70,000 yearly donation to migrant clinic The M orrow County Health District Board, at then- regular meeting in Lexington M onday night unanim ously a p p ro v e d a d o n a tio n o f $70,000 a year for three years to the Colum bia River Health Services, the m igrant health clinic proposed for Boardman. The district’s approval h in g e d on a “ le tte r o f u n d e rs ta n d in g ” fro m Dr. R obert Boss to the district indicating that he would close his privately operated health c lin ic in B o a rd m a n a n d terminate his contract with the district if the m igrant health clinic project goes through. M C H D c u r r e n tly h a s a $140,000 per year contract with Dr. Boss with two years still remaining on that contract. A ccording to M CH D Board m em bers Ed Glenn and John Prag, Dr. Boss has indicated th a t h e is c o n s id e r in g retirement. Jim C a rlso n , grant writer for the migrant project, subm itted a budget to the district and initially requested $90,000 per year from the district. He told the M CH D Board that the project w ould have little chance of approval from federal authorities unless the project received district monies. According to Carlson, the feds favor projects that r e q u ir e o n ly a ro u n d 25 percent o f federal funding. This project’s budget includes around 41 -44 percent funding o v e r th ree years. C arlson s u g g e ste d th at th e b o a rd pledge $90,000 per year, but withdraw that pledge if monies were not available, but board C h a ir L a rry M ills w as emphatic in saying that he was n ot c o m fo rta b le w ith that scenario. “If were going to m ake a com m itm ent, then w e ’ re g o in g to m a k e a commitment,” said Mills. The board suggested that Carlson approach M orrow County, M orrow County Behavioral H e a lth , M o rro w C o u n ty H ealth D epartm ent (public- h e a lth ) a n d th e C ity o f Boardman to ask for additional m onies m ake up the $20,000 per year shortfall. Jo h n P r a g ’s w ife , Lynn Prag, C olum bia River Health Services Board chair, was also in attendance at the meeting, along with Dagoberto Hernandez, CRHS committee member. In approv ing less than the $ 9 0 ,0 0 0 re q u e s t, the board pointed to the district’s bottom line. The district lost $ 9 ,8 4 3 la s t m o n th an d $309,491 for the year. Board member Linda LaRue said that she had hoped that when the d istric t’s contract w ith Dr. Boss' expired, a portion of the $140,000 could be used for other necessities in the district. However, she emphasized the importance of providing health services in the Boardman area a n d a d d e d , “ I ’m n o t com fortable with the district being responsible for this grant not being issued,” C arlson, Glenn and Prag also reminded the board that they have a responsibility to provide health care services for Boardm an area residents and reiterated that if Boardman receives no benefit from the district (other than em ergency services), th o se re s id e n ts a re v ery unlikely to support a proposed tax levy. The b o a rd has determined that the district will need additional tax monies if it is to c o n tin u e o p e ra tin g w ith o u t m a k in g c u ts in services. Board m em ber Ken M atlack expressed concern that the Irrigon clinic operated by the district would be closed if services had to be cut and said in that event, he did not believe Irrigon voters would support a levy. M CH D CEO V ictor Vander Does replied that the Irrigon clinic was currently breaking even and the district would be reluctant to close it. "I w o u ld n 't m ess w ith Irrigon,” said Vander Does. “It’s pretty dam close to a break even.” He said that lab and other work ordered for Irrigon patients also benefit the d is tric t. H o w ev er, it w as previously recommended that funding to all clinics-Pioneer Memorial Clinic. Irrigon Clinic and the subsidy to Dr. Boss- be eliminated in the event o f a m ajor shortfall. Now Vander Does said that the district is loath to cut services unless the proposed levy fails. (Mills and I^aRue said they believed their respective continued page 4 5Va 125 HEAVY DUTY T -P O S T S $ 2 .6 0 each b y the p a lle t o f 2 0 0 Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396 fo r form equipment, visit our web site at www m tB .n e t il
