Is Morrow County Courthouse haunted?
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Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
l University of Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
Do you see the ghostly image?
By Betty MacTavish
This time of year we
hear stories of haunting and
ghostly images. In our own
com m unity we have the
legendary Morrow County
C o u rth o u se that exudes
im ages o f sp irits in the
hallw ays, footsteps, and
bleeding walls.
Stories have been
told about the lost souls that
reside within the walls of the
courthouse. Some speculate
VOL. 124
NO. 43
10 Pages
Wednesday, October 26,2005
that it is the lost souls of
individuals who were tried
for murder in the upstairs
courtroom. Others believe it
is the souls of the 275 people
that lost their lives during the
Heppner Flood of 1903.
A recent sighting by
a te rrifie d co u rth o u se
em ployee, that occurred
about two weeks ago, was
of a ghostly image coming
off of the roof in the front of
the building by the left bull’s
eye window and entering in
the fro n t d o o r o f the
c o u rth o u se .
A n o th er
incident about the same time
occurred when the panic
alarm upstairs sounded three
times without anyone being
u p stairs. A cco rd in g to
employees. Morrow County
Sheriff’s Deputies responded
to the alarm and found no
cause for the alarm being
activated.
Employees and long
time residents have their own
ghostly stories to tell.
Happy Halloween
M acTavish as hired G-T editor
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Quilt made for local teacher in Afghanistan
Pam W orden o f
Heppner has made a quilt
that includes squares made
by Heppner Junior/Senior
High School classes for
junior high math teacher and
track coach, David Melville,
who is currently serving as a
Chinook helicopter pilot in
Afghanistan, and his family.
Following is a letter
Melville wrote to the school
on Septem ber 25, shortly
after a Chinook helicopter
w ent dow n in so u th ern
Afghanistan:
Betty MacTavish
“To all:
I know you have all
heard by now that an aircraft
w ent dow n in S outhern
Afghanistan. It was one of
ours and all five personnel on
board were killed. Due to
this event, it has become the
worst day in my life. Two of
the individuals were from Pictured with quilt are: seventh-grade class president, Jared Hedman, junior class president,
Pendleton with me and I had Aaron Allstott, senior class president, Mikel Britt, sophomore class president, Baillie keithley,
continued page four
and freshman class president Stephanie Rill. Not pictured is eighth-grade class president.
Chance Day.
Health district sees another month of profit
The Morrow County
Health District ended up in
good financial standing for
another m onth, finishing
September with a $71,348
profit and a $277,798 year
to date profit, according to
data released at the district’s
regular m eeting M onday
night in Lexington.
The month’s positive
outlook is largely due to
$259 ,3 3 7 in o u tp a tie n t
revenue, up over $45,000
from the previous month.
Tax revenues were $74,483
for the month. Net patient
revenue was $381,416. up
o v er $ 1 4 ,0 0 0 from the
previous month, and total
o p e ra tin g revenue was
$ 4 6 1 ,5 5 2 , dow n around
$1,500 from August. Chief
Financial O fficer N icole
Mahoney commented that
the district’s current financial
situation was “looking really
good.”
Also at the meeting.
the board voted to approve
an em ploym ent contract
w ith Dr. Ed B erretta,
authorizing M CHD CEO
Victor Vander Does to work
out remaining details with
Dr. B erretta prior to his
p rev io u s
c o n tra c t's
expiration date of October
31.
In other business, the
board:
-heard the following
report: Pioneer Memorial
Clinic had 377 patients for
the m onth, w ith 20 new
patients and 38 patients seen
by a nurse; Irrigon Clinic had
211 patients for the month,
with 42 new patients and 36
seen by a nurse; Heppner
Ambulance had 19 total runs
w ith 18 tra n sp o rts for
$ 1 5 ,3 7 0
in
rev en u e;
Boardman Ambulance had
20 to tal runs w ith 19
transports for $17,791 in
revenue; Irrigon Ambulance
had 19 runs w ith 15
transports for $15,370 in
revenue; Pioneer Memorial
Hospital had five patients
admitted and 21 admitted for
observation, 492 outpatients
and 79 em ergency room
encounters; 78 inpatient and
1427 outpatient lab tests
w ere c o n d u cted ; three
inpatient and 90 outpatient
x-ray p ro ced u res w ere
com pleted; 57 CT scans
were completed, along with
32 EKG tests, one treadmill
p ro ced u re
and
four
o u tp a tie n t
re sp ira to ry
th erap y sessio n s; Home
Health had 138 visits and
Hospice had one admit; and
the pharmacy administered
717 drug doses for $41,339
in drug revenue.
-ex ten d ed
an
invitation to providers to
attend the monthly board
meetings and hoped to hold
twice-yearly dinner meetings
with the board and providers
attending.
-discussed how to
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
im plem ent ed u catio n al
outreach programs to assist
people in selecting the new
Medicare drug plans. Sign
up for the new plans begins
November 15.
-heard a report from
M ahoney on her trip to
Kansas City to attend the
National Rural Health Clinic
and Critical Access Hospital
conference.
-heard a report from
Vander Does concerning
railings which were to be
installed at the hospital.
Vander Does said that the
contractor who had said he
co u ld do the w ork has
backed out, so the design
needs to be m odified
som ew hat so that local
contractors could complete
the railings.
Betty MacTavish has
been hired as the news editor
at the H eppner G azette-
Times, effective October 10.
M acT avish, who
moved to the area in April
2004,
has a strong
connection to the Heppner-
L e x in g to n -Io n e
area.
Originally from Lexington,
she is the daughter of Lonnie
and LaVerne H enderson.
Lonnie was a former mayor
of Lexington at one time.
H er g re a t-g ra n d p a re n ts
emigrated from Missouri on
a wagon train and ended
their journey at the end of the
trail in W eston. They
h o m estead ed at Sand
H ollow. M acTavish is a
descendent of the Olden-
McCabe families.
MacTavish attended
school at H eppner High
School before moving with
her family to Hood River,
where she graduated from
Hood River High School.
She attended Oregon State
U n iv ersity
and
then
transferred to Portland State
U n iv ersity , w here she
o b tain ed a b ach elo r of
science degree in elementary
education.
After graduation she
w orked fo r Mt. Hood
Community College in their
Head Start program. She
then moved for a brief time
to Everett, WA, where she
w orked for D eaco n ess
Children’s Services in their
family unification program.
From there she moved to
Portland w here she was
em ployed with the Early
Head Start Family Center as
a h o m e-b ased lite ra c y
manager.
Iro n ically , it was
M acT av ish ’s d au g h ter,
M arissa C o rn e tt, w ho
brought her back to Morrow
County. Marissa’s husband,
Kevin, who was employed
with PGE in Madras, was
transferred to the Boardman
C oal-Fired Plant. So, the
young couple m oved to
Heppner where Marissa got
a job in the Morrow County
Finance Department. At her
daughter’s urging and with
the im p en d in g b irth o f
granddaughter, Hailey, now
18 months old, MacTavish
got a job with the Morrow
C o u n ty D ev elo p m en tal
D isab ility P rogram and
moved back to Heppner.
MacTavish also has a
son, Jo se p h , w ho is a
com m ercial fisherm an in
Kodiak. Alaska.
In addition to her
jobs as a service coordinator
with Morrow County and as
G -T e d ito r, M acT avish
enjoys the ou td o o rs and
loves to travel.
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Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800*452-7396
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