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
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