Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2005)
Heppner moves to semifinals Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 photo by Whitney Matthews VOL. 124 NO. 48 8 Pages Wednesday, November 30,2005 Dave DeMayo begins position as City Manager D ave D eM ayo began his second week as city manager for the city of Heppner. DeMayo recently m oved here from Vale, where he was also employed as city manager. According to the Vale Argus Observer newspaper. Vale residents say that he w as a hard w orking leader with excellent skills in the area of fiscal responsibility. DeMayo has retired from the military where he was resp o n sib le for recruitment in the Pacific Northwest. Eastern Oregon was part of his recruitment area. D eM ayo said that when it was time to retire, eastern Oregon was a natural ch oice. D eM ayo has his master’s degree in public administration and brings with him e x te n siv e governmental experience. N eva D eM ayo is remaining in Vale to sell their Matt McCabe runs against Blanchete player during game Saturday. Heppner won and will move on to state semifinals this Saturday. More sports pictures and story on pages 4 and 5. West Union) go 0.2 mile, The Heppner High bear right onto the ramp to adults and $5 for students. School vs. Vale High School Hillsboro Airport/Hillsboro N yssa w ill play sem ifin a l State P la y o ff go 0.1 mi., and bear right at D ayton at 3 p.m . and football game will begin at N.W. Cornelius Pass Road Sherw ood w ill play noon on Saturday, go 0.6 mi. Turn right at N.W. Scappoose at 6 p.m. Tickets December 3, at the Hillsboro Evergreen Parkway go .6 mi. are good for all three games. stadium. Turn right at N.W. 2 2 9 ,h H illsb oro Stadium w ill The H illsb oro Ave.. go .2 mi. The stadium charge a $3 parking fee for Stadium is part o f the will be in view on the south all cars. Advanced tickets Gordon Faber Recreation side o f Hwy. US 26. will be on sale at Heppner Com plex located at 4450 The game will also High School and Heppner N.W. 229lh Ave. in Hillsboro be broadcast on KQFM TV. Those planning to attend next to Highway US 26. To 100.5 radio in Hermiston. are advised to buy tickets Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon locate the stadium, travel early to avoid waiting in long The tickets for the west on Highway US 26 to games are priced at $7 for lines at the game. Exit 62 (C ornelius Pass/ lone welcomes exchange student from Czech Republic On Tereza Sintakova arrived at the home o f Joe and Donna Reitmann in lo n e where she will reside for the entire City Manager Dave DeMayo hom e. T hey recen tly purchased a home here in Heppner. DeMayo says he is looking forward to “getting his feet on the ground” and learning about the city. Everyone will get a chance to meet Mr. DeMayo at the Open House at City Hall on Dec. 1 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Willow Creek Symphony plans holiday concert The Willow Creek Symphony and Singers will present a holiday concert on Sunday, December 4, at 4 p.m. at the Heppner High School Cafeteria. The singers will perform several songs, including “Mary’s Son,” “Sing a Jubilant S on g ,” and “Unto You This N igh t.” The symphony will perform a variety o f music including “Isle o f Capri,” Blue Nocturne,” and “Brigadoon,” a collection o f Irish tunes. Joining the symphony and singers for a joint performance o f “Within These Hallowed Halls” will be members of the Heppner Jr. High and High School band and choir. The school students recently performed this piece at the Veteran's Day service. It includes arrangements of “Amazing Grace” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, along with narration. The Willow Creek Symphony and Singers will also perform at the high school in Athena on Friday night, December 2, at 7 p.m. This concert was originally scheduled for Saturday evening, but was changed due to the Heppner Mustangs’ semi-final play-off game at Hillsboro. Conductor o f the symphony and singers is R. Lee Friese of Athena. The groups consist o f students and adults from throughout Umatilla and Morrow counties. They are affiliated with Inland Northwest Musicians, 966-6649, or info@inwm.org. Both concerts are free to the public. The Morrow County Unified Recreation District sponsors the concert in Heppner. Corporate sponsor o f Inland Northwest Musicians is the Bank o f Eastern Oregon. A ugust 4 27, . Jr ‘ 0 o’ & Tereza Sintadova school year. She is affiliated with the American Swedish S can d in avian E xch an ge (ASSE). When asked why she wanted to come to America, she said because English is very important. She also wanted to learn the culture. She feels that practicing her English skills will enable her to get a “good jo b in Europe.” Tereza thinks that lo n e is “a w eso m e.” She describes lone as a “friendly and nice small town.” Her hometown, Karlovy Vary, has 50,0 0 0 people, much different that the population o f lone. S in tak ova k eep s very busy with sch o o l events, playing basketball, volleyball and tennis. She likes spending time with her host family. They recently took a trip to the Grotto in Pasco. When Tereza returns home she will have one more year o f school to finish. Fair meeting date changed The Morrow County Fair Board meeting has been changed to Monday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. Red H at In d ies to meet The Red Hat Ladies w ill m eet at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at RJ’s Steak House in Lexington. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Health district sees good audit report The Morrow County Health District got good news about its annual audit report at the district’s regular meeting Monday night. A ccord in g to the annual audit, the district had a decrease in net assets of $124,154 for 2005, which was reduced by almost half over last y e a r ’s lo ss o f $217,260. The district lost $691,986 from operations in 2 0 0 5 , com pared to an $ 8 7 8 ,3 4 1 lo ss from operations in 2004. MCHD reduced its bad debts to $286,916 for 2005, down over half from last year's bad debt d ed u ction s of $ 5 6 8 ,5 2 0 . W h ile the district’s operating revenue was $ 3 ,8 3 3 ,2 0 4 in 2005, dow n s lig h tly from $4,120,719 in 2004, the total operating revenue was up slightly to $3,624,463 in 2 0 0 5 , from $ 3 ,6 1 4 ,3 7 6 , largely because o f those reductions. C ertified Public A ccou n tant Konrad Capeller, with the Michael R. Bell & Company CPA firm, credited M C H D 's better fin a n cial ou tlo o k and financial stabilization with changing Pioneer Memorial Hospital to a Critical Access Hospital. When the hospital became a CAH. it allowed the district to be reimbursed at cost for serving Medicare patients. He said eliminating the nursing hom e and monitoring expenses for the district were also factors. When MCHD still had a nursing home, the district was not reimbursed at cost, with the district losing $70- $80 per day for Medicare patients. Capeller also praised C h ief F inancial O fficer N ico le M ahoney for her fiscal management, saying she did a “very accurate job.” He said that the district had reduced the number of days in accounts receivable to 62 days and added that “under 70 days was very good .” Reducing the number of days in accounts receivable to 62 means that the time between billing and payment was reduced to 62 days. He added that one area of financial concern is the district’s payment to the Boardman migrant clinic, now around $75,000 per year, because it isn't an “allowable cost.” Capeller also said that the d istrict had an “unqualified” audit, with no management letter indicating suggested changes. The MCHD board also discussed the Medicare Part D meetings the district is conducting at no charge to assist area resid en ts in evaluating their choice of p lans. M eetin gs are scheduled as follows: Ione- Wednesday, November 30, lone Schools cafeteria, 4:40- 7 p.m.; Heppner-Thursday, D ecem b er 1, Heppner Junior/Senior High School, Computer Room #11.4:30- 7 p.m.; Boardman-Monday, December 5. Junior/Senior H igh S ch o o l, Com puter Room #207, 4:30-7 p.m.; and Irrigon-W ednesday, December 7. Junior/Senior High S ch o o l, Com puter Room # 8 7 , 4 :3 0 -7 p.m . Those attending will receive personal assistan ce with Medicare's plan evaluation tool and custom ized plan op tion printouts to take home. They should bring their Medicare card and a list of prescriptions with them, alon g with their S ocial Security number and date of birth. Mahoney said that John and Ann Murray of Murray’s Drug have said that they w ill be on hand to answer questions, but north end pharmacies have not responded. In other business, the board: -learned from CEO Victor Vander D oes that concrete has been poured for Pioneer Memorial Hospital steps and the front entrance has a railing. -learned that the x- ray equipment has arrived and is in the process of being installed. Vander Does says that p h y sicia n s have commented positively on the x-rays. -learned from Vander D oes that the district’s contract with Dr. Ed Berretta underw ent minor adjustments after the board’s approval. -discussed outreach into the c o u n ty ’s com m u n ities, such as working with the school district, improving customer service, offering community health testing, health classes, p u blish ed new spaper articles, offering drug testing and ad vertising through direct mailing. -discussed storage n eed s and p o ssib le expansion at the Irrigon Clinic. -heard a report from Vander Does about replacing the current phone system which is “maxed” out. continued page two A ll KEY Clothing 20% OFF Hurry! Sale ends Saturday Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 * 1-800-452-7396 For farm equipm ent, v M t our w eb lite at W W W mcRj> net
