John Day elementary principal new
Morrow County superintendent
Be33ie Wetzoll
U of 0 News pa p* ir L
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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
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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
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