Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2007)
Umatilla National Forest holds Fire and Fuels Career C amp By Autumn Morgan Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 The U m atilla N a tional Forest recently held their first annual Fire and Fuels C areer O rientation Camp. Fourteen students from Riverside, Heppner and lrrigon recently attend ed the w eek -lo n g cam p introducing them to Forest Service jobs w ith an empha sis on fire and fuel manage ment. The camp is in its first year o f a three year grant cycle funded by the Forest Service through the Fire kneel inj; (L -K ) - k m t Hill, Derrick Erickson, Joe Küpe, Drion Donner, and Daniel Hernandez. Back row (L -R ) - Rene Landerso Montes, M att McCabe, Bailley Keith lev, Kylie Doherty, Rick M artin, Vinnie Thomason, Megan M artin, and Amy Grider. -Photo h\ Autumn Morgan VOL. 126 NO. 44 8 Pages Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Health district purchases x-ray, lab machines By A p ril Sykes The Morrow County Health District Board ap proved $36,500 for purchase of a portable x-ray machine for Pioneer Memorial Hos pital that had been used as a demo machine. MCF1D Chief Financial Officer Ni cole Mahoney told the board that the selling com pany included a remote control device with the x-ray ma chine purchase and gave the d istrict $500 for the district's old machine. The board also ap proved $31,000 for purchase of a hematology analyzer for Pioneer Memorial labora tory to replace the district’s current machine which is beginning to have p rob lems with its hard drive. This machine was demo'ed tw ice with the district, said Mahoney. Following an execu tive session, the board also approved a motion to allow CEO Victor Vander Does to negotiate the purchase o f property for the district. In other business, the board: -learned from Vander Does that two doctors, both currently in residency, have indicated interest in working for the district, and Vander Does has received two ad ditional physician resumes from a recruiter. -heard the timeline for permits, bids and con struction o f the sw ing bed long-term unit at Pioneer Memorial. Vander Does said perm its applications will be completed in November and December, bids will go out in November, bids will be reviewed in the first part o f December for board ap proval in mid-December. -heard a report from Mahoney that an Air Life he licopter picked up a trampo line from a nearby residence, which came back to earth near the courthouse. The house where the trampoline was located was pelted with gravel, but no windows were broken. Mahoney said the resident was contacted w ith the procedure to file a claim with Air Life. "Generally Air Life is very good, very custom er orien ted ,” said Vander Does. -approved surplus- ing two old ambulances-a 1979 box style and a 1987 van ambulance. -learned that the dis trict had a $45,467 loss for the month, but still main tained a $171,264 year-to- date gain. -heard the follow ing report for September: Pioneer M emorial Clinic had 362 patient visits with 20 new p atien ts and 56 patients seen by a nurse; lrrigon Clinic had 169 pa tient v isits w ith 27 new patients, 35 seen by a nurse -Continued on page two HHS to recognize war veterans On Thursday, November 8, Heppner High School will host many war veteran guest speakers. From 8 -10 a.m. speakers from different war eras w ill be in v arious classes for a question and answer session. At 10:30 a.m. in the gym, guest speaker Jim Harmon will speak to the students, faculty, staff and anyone else who wishes to attend. Those attending from outside the school are asked to check in at the office. After the assembly in the gym, HHS will be serv ing a luncheon for the speak ers. After the school day is over, parent-teacher conferences will be held. Chamber director resigns Another successful hunt Executive Director of the Heppner Chamber of Commerce Terry Banker has resigned her position, the Chamber board o f directors was informed last week. The C'hamber is now searching for someone to fill the position. Chamber President Nancy Snider told the Gazette Tuesday. & Aviation M anagem ent Group. The camp objective is to give high school se niors looking ahead to post high school employment or college to better understand job options w ith the Forest Service. This free camp was open to high school se niors in the Morrow County School District and was held at Tupper Work Center on the Heppner Ranger District O ctober 21-26. Each day was filled with discussions and different activities that taught the campers about various aspects involved in Forest Service jobs. M onday m orning began w ith a welcome from U m atilla N ational Forest supervisor, Kevin Martin, who gave an overview o f the Umatilla National For est. The group traveled to the site o f the Monument Complex Fire that burned approximately 54,000 acres where resource specialists taught the group about the role o f fire in ecosystems. Resource specialists talked to the group about fire ecol ogy, wildlife, fisheries, hy- drology/soils, entomology, and archeology. On Monday night the group participated in an infrared dem onstra Rick M artin sets a pile on lire while his group looks on. More pictures of the students performing the prescribed burn can be found on page three. -Photo by Autumn Morgan tion. O n T u e s d a y th e campers were taught about fire prevention. A BMCC representative also spoke to them about financial aid and scholarships available for those interested. Later in the day, the campers, di vided into four groups, were dispatched to a mock fire location and were trained in the use o f maps, a compass and CiPS equipment. Wednesday brought an e x c itin g day for the groups as they were able to participate in a prescribed fire activity. The students helped to com plete a 54 acre burn unit adjacent to Pendland Lake (Pendland Wildland Urban Interface P roject). The p rescrib ed burn involved non-commer cial thinning that was piled up and then burned. The students were outfitted for the activ ity with Nomex, a fire resistant clothing. On Wednesday afternoon, Elly Young from the Deschutes National Forest talked to the group about approaches for students interested in seasonal or permanent em ployment through the Forest -Continued on page three City council member resigns Heppner city coun- cil mem ber Glenn Baker has resigned citing personal reasons. In a letter to Mayor Les Paustian Baker said it had been a pleasure working w ith the mayor. City Manger DeMayo, the council and the public works. The resignation is effective immediately and Baker said I w as for "per- sonal reasons.” Paustian said Tues- day he would appoint some- one to fill B aker’s vacant position, Two local teens prepare for missions trip to Rwanda Bv A u tu m n M o rg an Nathan and Kristen Van C leave are m aking preparations for a big trip. The two will be leav ing on December 15 to join their grandparents in Rwanda and help them with their work on an orphanage. They plan to return on December 31. They are the children ofTim and Myma Van Cleave. Their grandparents, Elroy and Nancy Pankratz, are short-term missionaries that have been working for the past five months on an orphanage called "Home of Hope Rwanda” that is be ing sponsored by a church in Alberta, Canada. Nathan will be helping his grandfa ther with construction while Kristen will be helping her grandmother with medical assessments and records. "I have a l wa y s wanted to go to A frica," said Kristen. “This is a good opportunity. I am excited to meet new people and help people in another country." Nathan said he has never been on a mission's trip before but has wanted to go on one before gradu ating. Nathan and Kristen have already heard from a Rwanda native named Rich ard. Richard has graduated from high school and plays the piano. He is looking forward to playing the piano w ith Kristen and Nathan. Rwanda is a small country in central Africa that is recovering from a civil war and genocide in which at least 800,000 people were killed. Between that and the AIDS epidem ic, Rwanda currently has over 600,000 orphans under the age o f 14. The Van Cleav es are hoping to travel to Goma. Congo where their grand parents worked on an or phanage two years ago. The c o st for the plane tickets is ap p ro x i m ately $2,400 each and Nathan and Kristen have been doing various jobs to earn money. A yard sale to raise money for the tickets will be held on Saturday, November 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Christian Life Center. Anyone wishing to donate items can call the Van Cleaves at 676-5448, no clothing please. Nathan and Kristen are also collecting items to take with them as Christmas gifts for orphans. Items such as pencils, pens, crayons, notebooks, stickers, beads or play jewelry for little girls, and matchbox cars would be ap p reciated . H ayden Dentistry has agreed to do nate 200 toothbrushes and toothpaste to be taken to the orphanage. For more informa tion contact the Van Cleaves at 676-5448. At the MCGG GREEN FEED STORE in Heppner: WGRNER FIBERGLASS STEPLADDER Dustin Jones of M cMinnville shot his six-point elk in the Heppner Unit near the O H V Park. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. 6 foot * 2 50 lb. capacity Reg. $107.99 ON SALE $75.00 M orrow County d ra in G rowers Green Feed & S eed 242 W. Linden Way. H eppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
