MCHD receives positive audit report I M t iliiili|,l| | | l l l l l | | l |l " || Ij'of O 'Vetzel1 N '» spap« Library tugene. • >R «7403 VOL 123 NO. 48 8 Pages Wednesday, December 1, 2004 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon lone students learn from mock crash Students watch as Sgt. Phil ¡Morris checks the victims of the mock crash held in lone. Students in grades 7- 12 at lone Jr/Sr High participated in a mock crash event on Tuesday, Nov 23. Four students were “involved” in the crash and the other students watched the events play out “Driving” the car was Kayla LaRue and “injured” inside of the car was Alan Rietmann, Taylor M cElligott and Ashly Grams Students watched as police arrived and LaRue was handcuffed and placed into the cruiser, while Sgt Phil Morris assessed the other victims in the car To complete the scene, lone and Heppner Fire Departments and lone and Heppfier ambulance crews arrived to help remove students from the vehicle The top of the vehicle was also removed so that victims could be easily removed They were then placed into an ambulance and transported around the block After the mock crash scene, students went to the gym where the four crash victims, deputies, EMTs and others spoke to the students on the seriousness of driving and the consequences that can come from reckless driving “We wanted to bring an awareness of the Kayla LaRue tries to w ake up victims of mock crash before police arrive. safety of their passengers or responsibility of driving,” said lone Schools Superintendent/Principal Bryn Browning “We want to stress the seriousness of their age and driving ” “I set the crash scenes up to raise the awareness to with the kids that they have choices to make The kids need to realize they have a very large impact on their lives and lives of other friends and families,” said M orrow County Sheriff's Deputy Randy Rayburn. “The crash scene is not just about drinking and driving, it's about driving to fast, speed racing, running a stop sign or making any decision to do something that may jeopardize their safety or the other drivers.” Also helping with the mock crash were Howe’s Pizza in Heppner, who provided pizzas for the crash victims; Lexington Auto Body, who towed the car to the site, and Dean Robinson, who helped set up the scene Gazette-Times to hold Open House The Heppner Gazette-Times will be holding an Open House on Thursday, Dec 9 from 1-5 p m. Cookies, punch and coffee will be served Free scratch pads will be given away and enter to win door prizes The new office location is 188 W. Willow, Heppner_____________ ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Morrow County Health District accountant Michael Bell told the MCHD Board at their regular meeting Monday night that he was pleased with the job that Chief Financial Officer Nicole Mahoney and CEO Victor Vander Does were doing and his firm made no recommendations for change Bell, whose firm specializes in accounting services for medical districts and other health care facilities, told the board that MCHD is doing what they need to be doing “It’s a rarity that we don’t really have any suggestions in terms of controls,” said Bell According to the report, the district’s bottom line for 2004 is approximately the same as for 2003, despite the fact that the district received $213,506 in Pro Share payments (a governmental program, which has been discontinued) in 2003 and none in 2004 and $391,794 in private donations for $2003, compared to only $9,273 in donations for 2004, which, said Bell, shows good financial management The district showed $4,373,067 in total assets for 2003 and $4,082,364 in total assets for 2004 In 2003, the district lost $893,653; in 2004 MCHD lost $878,341 MCHD received $684,068 in property taxes for 2003 and $675,796 for 2004 Bell also told the board that closing Pioneer Memorial Nursing Home was prudent because the district received less in Medicare and Medicaid than it cost to operate the facility Also at the meeting, the board voted to give Dr Kenneth Wenberg, a private physician with an office in Heppner, 30 more days to find a malpractice insurance carrier to insure his private office practice If Dr Wenberg is not able to locate a carrier at the end of the 30 days, the board voted to terminate his admitting privileges In that case, he would no longer be able to admit his own patients to Pioneer Memorial Hospital However, even if the district does terminate Dr W enberg’s admitting privileges, he can still provide emergency room care because he would be covered under the district’s malpractice insurance policy In other business, the board -heard from board member Ed Glenn, Boardman, who suggested to the board that he felt it would be prudent for the district to make approximately the same payments to a proposed migrant health care facility that it is currently paying Dr Robert Boss, a physician with a private practice in Boardman The district pays Dr Boss a stipend of around $ 140,000 per year to provide medical care in the Boardman area The proposed migrant health clinic project has received notice that it has been continued /xige 3 Heppner Holiday festivities kick off on Dec. 2 “Picture Postcard Christmas” tree, just one of the many unique creations for the Chamher/Hospice Christmas Tree Auction. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Heppner’s new City Hall They have graciously allowed the Heppner Chamber and Hospice to hold the third annual Christmas Tree Auction there Stop by for the City Hall Open House for refreshments, pictures with Santa and the opportunity to view the 15 unique trees Raffle tickets will be sold for one of four selected trees The winner will be drawn prior to the auction after which the 14 remaining trees will be auctioned off by auctioneer Ken Grieb at 6:30 p m Those viewing the trees are encouraged to vote for People’s Choice There is a tree to suit everyone and all ages and tastes Trees donated this year are: “Cliff the Toolman’s Hardware Tree” sponsored by Heppner Hardware and crated by Bev Harris and Cliff Green “Smokey Bear” (and he talks) sponsored by Forest Service Employees “Birds of a Feather” sponsored by Bank of Eastern Oregon and created by Babette Wall “The Wine Tree” sponsored by BEO Mortgage Department and created by Melissa Lindsay and Carri Grieb “Picture Postcard Christmas” sponsored by Wheatland Insurance and created by Kim Bach and Terri Schaber “A Real Country Christmas” sponsored by Sherrell Insurance “Roses are Red” sponsored by the U S Postal Service and created by Sally Larsen “Animals ‘R Us” sponsored by Pioneer Humane Society and created by Margaret Flaherty and Melissa Jo Monaco “Christmas Ball Bonanza” sponsored by Central Red Apple Market and created by Kim Houweling “ W i n t e r Wonderland” sponsored by Peterson’s Jewelers and created by Gail Arbogast and Randall Peterson “Red Hat Extravaganza” sponsored by Red Hat Rowdies “Peace on Earth” sponsored by Murray’s Drug and Country Rose and created by Tarina Foster, Roseanne Crum and Trish Sweeney “The Tractor Tree” (“The only difference between men and boys is the price of their tractors ”) sponsored by Morrow County Grain Growers and created by Andrea Denton, Tawny Miles and Becky Ripple “SMART” (Start Making a Reader Today) sponsored by Heppner Elementary and created by Tracie Bunch “Mustang Pride” sponsored by HHS Student Body and created by Shanna Rietmann and Kyle Huddleston Chamber Light Parade committee members say there’s still time to enter the annual Light Parade Rumor has it that Archie’s Red Hat Rowdies will be participating for the first time in Heppner’s history Santa’s helpers will be entering and even Santa will be out and about Entries will be taken by Sharon Harrison at the Bank of Eastern Oregon, Barb Hayes at Kuhn and Spicer or Claudia Hughes at the Heppner Chamber The parade will line up at 5:30 p m , Thursday, Dec 2 by Heritage Plaza and will go through the route twice Participants and viewers are encouraged to warm up prior to the parade by visiting the local businesses and afterwards at the City Hall for the Tree Auction and raffle Light parade entries still accepted 4-H club to hold bake sale The Equine Elegance Horse 4-H Club will be having a bake sale at Les Schwab in Heppner on Thursday. Dec 2 from 4-7 p m The club will be giving free coffee with donations 10% OFF irrpw C o u n t y G r a in G r o w e r s .exington 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 - 8 0 0 -4 5 2 - 7 3 9 6 For farm rqutpmont. vialt our w tb lit* at www mcgg.not