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)