Rural Alliance founder hopes to influence legislation
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Bessie Wetzc.’i Newspaper Library
University o*' Oregon
Eugene, OP 97403
4
HEPPNER
Meg Murray (left) discusses an issue with Judge Pryor
unes
VOL. 124
NO. 5
10 Pages
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Lexington Grange donates dictionaries to HES
*
Clarence Buchanan (right), with the Lexington Grange, hands out dictionaries to HES teacher
Cara Osmin and the third grade students.
The Lexington Elementary School for their teachers Cara Osmin and
Grange recently donated {^nd Srade students The Sue Gibbs by Clarence
dictionaries to Heppner dictionaries were presented Buchanan ot the Grange
to the students and HES
Gilliam County
Judge Laura Pryor said last
week that much o f the
legislation detrimental to
rural areas of Oregon comes
out of Salem by “accident .”
As the founder and
recently appointed chairman
of the Eastern Oregon Rural
Alliance, Pryor said that
urban legislators in Salem
who produce laws that
damage rural Oregon do it
by accident “They don’t set
out to hurt us,” she told the
W illow Creek Valley
Economic Development
Group annual meeting last
Thursday. “They just don’t
understand us.”
Pryor said this
misunderstanding is one of
the reasons she started the
Rural Alliance. The
A lliance’s purpose is to
review legislation for rural
com patibility before it
becom es law. “This
legislature needs solutions,”
and she said the Alliance will
help them find those
solutions She said the
Alliance meets around the
state six times a year, and
even suggested that the
group may schedule a
meeting in Heppner
Pryor also talked
about
econom ic
developm ent in Gilliam
County. She pointed out
research that is being done
for new uses of wheat grown
in the county, and also the
waste disposal business
located near Arlington
provides good paying jobs.
She encouraged WCVEDG
to keep trying to establish
new business in south
Morrow County “Take risk
within reason, but most of all
I encourage you to keep
going Stick with it,” she
said
In other business,
WCVEDG elected Heppner
Gazette-Times publisher and
real estate agent David
Sykes as 2005 president
Sykes was also last year’s
president and at the meeting
he laid out last year’s
accomplishments and the
coming year’s goals.
“We really only have
two goals,” Sykes said
“Attract new business into
the Willow Creek Valley, and
help the businesses that are
here remain viable and
grow ” He then spelled out
the “tasks” the board had
adopted to accomplish those
goals.
Task#l Market the
area to potential new
businesses
a Maintain solid
relationship with Port of
Morrow and work with the
Port when a business is
“looking” at the valley.
b Continue web
page updates marketing
livability and available
industrial land
c. Continue with
mailings and other
advertising
Task #2 Complete
the
planning
and
construction of new 5,000
sq ft metal building at
industrial park Have the site
ready when a new business
is looking at the area
Task #3 Develop
advertising materials for new
metal building Print flyers
and construct new web site
pages
Task #4 Re-contact
all of the businesses that have
responded to mass mailings
and contacted us over the
internet during the past
sev era l
years.
Apposinaek
1 2 7
businesses
have
answered
m ailings
o
r
responded
on the
internet in David Sykes
the last WCVEDG
three
2005 president
years Attempt to find
funding for paid staff to
follow up on business leads
and contacts
Task #5 Attend at
least one trade show to hand
out advertising about the
Willow Creek Valley and the
industrial park.
Task #6 Place
advertising in trade
magazines and newsletters
of targeted business types.
To help businesses
already here, the WCVEDG
board of directors adopted
the following tasks:
Task #1- Help Sell
or Keep Local Businesses
a Board member
will personally contact local
businesses that would like to
sell or need finances to
continue to operate
b WCVEDG will
help with a financial package
and/or develop business plan
c. Pursue funding to
the medical staff is pending, help prospective “new”
however, he is still covered
by the district’s malpractice continued page 2
insurance when he provides
emergency room coverage at
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
-approved a request
from Vander Does to go out
for bids for a new x-ray
machine for PMH Vander
The case against
Does said that plans are to Sandi Day,
Heppner, who
purchase a standard x-ray has been of charged
machine that could be em bezzlem ent, will with
be
adapted to provide digital x- entering into the r re-trial
rays The machine, which phase within the month,
would require no x-ray film, according
to Morrow
would enable x-rays to be County District
Attorney
sent via computer to David Allen
physicians and other
The
District
facilities Vander Does said
that around $190,000 has Attorney’s office has
Day and her
been budgeted for the presented
lawyer
with
a
agreement
machine, which is expected and will hear plea
their
decision
to save the district money on at the pre-trial conference
x-ray film He said that a the agreement is not If
purely digital machine, accepted, trial arrangements
will be discussed, said Allen
continued fwge 2
Health District approves funding Boardman Migrant Clinic
The Morrow County
Health District Board
Monday night approved a
request by MCHD CEO
Victor Vander Does to give
him two additional months
unpaid vacation time with
the stipulation that he not
take two months off
consecutively.
Vander Does told the
board that he was
considering retirement, but
would agree to remain on as
CEO o f the district if he
could increase his time off
Vander Does already has
four weeks paid vacation
through the district.
Vander Does and the
board agreed that Chief
Financial Officer Nicole
Mahoney and Director of
Nursing Services Molly
Rhea would be able to
conduct operations in
Vander Does’ absence. The
board asked Vander Does to
inform them of increased
compensation for Mahoney
and Rhea
The board credited
Vander Does with the
survival of the district, which
was in extreme financial
distress and near closure
when he took the helm
around five years ago The
district, while much more
stable financially, still faces
financial problems, with a
loss o f $14,168 for
December and an average
year-to-date loss of $21,771
per month, for a $130,624
loss for the year
In other business, the
board approved giving the
newly-established Boardman
migrant clinic $70,000 for
operations for the year to be
paid in monthly installments
by June 30, the end of the
district’s fiscal year The
board earlier agreed to the
expenditure to support
continuing health care in the
Boardman area MCHD had
previously been in a
$140,000 per year contract
with physician Dr Robert
Boss to provide Boardman
area-health care through his
private clinic, however Dr
Boss and the district agreed
that that contract would be
dissolved once the
Boardman migrant clinic
was established
The new clinic
serves the general
population, not just migrant
workers
Some
initial
problems with the new
clinic’s cash flow, billing and
clinic-patient relations were
also discussed
Also at the meeting,
the board appointed Leann
Rea, Boardman, to board
position number three,
replacing John Prag who
resigned as he moved out of
the district Rea said she has
lived in nearly every
community in Morrow
County She was born and
raised in lone and has lived
in Heppner, Lexington and
the Boardman areas and
added that she has a cabin in
Hardman Rea indicated that
she plans to file for the
position
Board member Ed
Glenn, who was recently
elected Boardman mayor,
said that he definitely will not
run for re-election to the
health district board Board
member Ken Matlack,
Irrigon, indicated that he
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t
does not plan on running for
re-election Matlack was
recently elected Morrow
County Sheriff and is a
member o f the Morrow
County School Board and
numerous other boards
Both Glenn and Matlack said
they would search for board
candidates from their
respective areas Matlack
said that he plans to remain
on the school board
In other business, the
board
-learned
from
Vander Does that Heppner
physician, Dr Kenneth
Wenberg, has located
malpractice insurance for his
private Heppner clinic and
will fax proof o f that
coverage to the district Dr
Wenberg's
hospital
admitting privileges were
suspended until he provided
proof o f coverage His
reinstatement as a member of
Embezzlement
case proceeds
with pre-trial
conference