MCHD receives
positive audit
report
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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
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