Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2008)
Vanpooling to begin in September llllllllllllllllllll• lllllllllll Bessie W et/ell Newspaper Library University o f Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 Starting in Septem ber, Morrow County resi dents will see a vanpool commuting from Heppner to B oardm an. The H ep p n er C h am b er o f C o m merce (contracted by Wil low' Creek Valley Economic D evelopm ent G roup) has been working to get some vanpools organized to assist the residents in south Mor row County w ho work in the north Morrow and Umatilla county areas to use the van- pool option and save the wear and tear and expense on their own vehicles and share the ride. VPSI will be deliv ering the seven-passenger van on Friday. The first vanpool will begin on Sep tember 2. The cost for riders is $198 per month plus the cost o f gas. The chamber w ill be putting vanpools together to help local residents w ith their work commute. To add your name to the vanpool list or for more information call the Chamber office at 676-5536. Victor Spencer of VPSI, Inc. shows one of the vans that the company provides for vanpooling. Vanpooling w ill begin in Morrow County on Tuesday, September 2. -Photo by David Sykes Health district board approves sending levy to voters this fall VOL. 127 NO. 35 10 Pages Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Morrow County Sheriff’s Office investigates fires On August 19 at 9:06 p.m., Deputy Jon Lehman was advised that Gilliam County was experiencing multiple fires that appeared to have been set by person or persons unknown. As Dep uty Lehman was patrolling west on 1-84 toward Gilliam County, he was dispatched to a report of a person whose vehicle was stuck on a dirt road just off Tower Road near Boardman. This person was also reporting that there was a fire at the location and he was worried that the fire was getting closer. Deputy Lehman ar rived to find a vehicle stuck in the soft sand. The vehicle operator was identified as Joshua Lee Kent, 21 years o f age, from Irrigon. Sub sequent investigation by Deputy Lehman on scene resulted in the arrest o f Kent for DUII. Kent was transport ed to Boardman Police De partment where Sgt. Randy Studebaker o f the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Lehman interviewed Kent about the fires. These interviews culminated in the additional charges o f Crimi nal M ischief II, Criminal Trespass II, Reckless En dangering and Arson II. During the investi gation, an additional suspect was identified that had fled the scene prior to Deputy Lehman arriving. This per son was identified as Jona than M ichael Parrish, 22 years o f age, out o f Irrigon. P arrish was located and interviewed by Sgt. Stude baker and Deputy Lehman. These interviews resulted in the arrest of Parrish for Arson II, Criminal Mischief II, Criminal Trespass II, and Reckless Endangering. Both o f these men w ere lodged at U m atilla County Jail. Gilliam County will also be charging both men with crimes that oc curred in Gilliam County. Additional investigation is ongoing. The fire in Morrow County was approximately five acres in size and was extinguished by Boardman Fire Department. This investigation is still in progress and more details may be available in the next few days. Algae advisory lifted for Willow Creek Reservoir The algae advisory issued in July for Willow Creek Reservoir has been lifted, the U.S. Army Corps o f Engineers announced. Recent water sam pling confirms reduced lev els of a species o f blue-green algae that can produce toxins harmful to humans and ani mals. State guidelines rec ommend waiting two weeks after algal cell counts fall below state-specified levels before lifting advisories re lated to algae blooms. The Oregon Depart ment o f Human Services advises people who recre ate in Oregon reservoirs to alw ays be alert for signs o f algal bloom s. People and their pets should avoid A fisherman enjoys a day of fishing at the W illow Creek Reser voir. -Photo by David Sykes w ater contact if there are visible clumps o f algae in the water. For local inform a tion, contact The Dalles, John Day, W illow Creek Project at (541) 506-7802. For health information, con- tact D eanna C o n n ers at DHS, (971)673-0444. Additional informa tion on blue-green algae can be found on the DHS Web site at http://oregon.gov/ DHS/ph/envtox/maadviso- ries.shtml. The Heppner Gazette-Times will be closed on Monday, September 1, in observance of the Labor Day holiday. Deadline for all news and ads will be Friday, August 29, at 5 p.m. By April Sykes and CFO Nicole Mahoney Facing a $33,82 1 have worked to obtain a loss for July, a $72,725 different status (swing bed) roofing bill and other costs for the district which will involved in the general op ensure that long-term care eration o f the hospital in costs are met. The renova Heppner and clinics in Hep tion allows for private and pner and Irrigon, the Mor semi-private rooms. Vander row County Health District Does said that completion Board, at their regular meet of the project is geared for ing Monday night, approved mid-November. a resolution to put a five- In other business the year local option tax before board: the voters. -learned that the re The b o ard v o ted modeling costs may rise to unanimously to ask the vot $920,000-$950,000 by the ers to continue a .39 cent per time the whole project is thousand o f assessed valua completed with the inclusion tion property tax before the o f several items that had to voters. The previous local be purchased separately and option tax expired this year a change order for heating and the district is no longer and air conditioning in the operating w ith additional tax downstairs section o f the monies. The district will use hospital, which is currently the tax revenue, if approved w ithout air conditioning by voters, to maintain and and is “heated poorly,” said improve the present level Vander Does. The nursing o f services. Health District director’s office is located CEO Victor Vander Does downstairs, as well as of said that the tax request was fices for Home Health and due to increased supply and Hospice. -approved purchase labor costs, the need for full tim e em ergency services o f security system compo and am bulance staff and nents that were not included increased unpaid care pro in the remodeling bid for vided by the district. He said $15,649. The key-pad sys that the permanent tax rate tem will ensure that long was insufficient to continue term care residents will be to fund district operations at secure and that the facility will also prevent unauthor the current level. The tax,ifapproved ized persons from entering by voters, w ill generate the facility. -approved purchase $357,800 per year through 2013 and $381,200 through o f a c a u te riz in g a tta c h 2014, according to infor ment for the new colonos mation received from Mor copy equipment at a cost row County Assessor Greg o f $11,250. Vander Does Sweek. The levy is same as said that the equipm ent the one approved by voters has been set up and he an ticipates being able to offer in 2004 Also at the meeting, colonoscopies very shortly. Vander Does took the board He said that Dr. R ussel on a tour of the hospital ren Nichols, a physician new to ovation currently underway. the district, w ill conduct the He said that the majority of procedures. -heard a report from the wiring and plum bing Vander Does that the county has been com pleted with insulation scheduled to start court rejected a request from Wednesday. The renovation the health district to bor will allow the hospital to row funds from the county once again offer long-term equity fund. A motion to ap patient care, similar to the prove the request by Com nursing home the hospital missioner Ken Grieb died had previously. The dis for lack of a second by Com- trict was forced to close m issioner John Wenholz. the nursing home because County Judge Terry Tall man M edicare and M edicaid abstained from voting be payments were not enough cause his wife is employed to cover costs and the hos- by the health district. pital w as losing money. -heard a request from Since then, Vander Does Vander Does for funds from 115 Volt FP130 HIG/Fllix Welding System and NIG Welding tan Welds up to 1/4” mild steel. Features four-position welding power control, heavy duty wire drive, infinite wire speed, thermostatic heat protection and more; while the welding cart makes it easy to move your portable MIG welding system to the job. Welding System - $768. Your Price $650 / Can - $isi Your Price $128. I Hre l d im g Morrow County Grain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 » the hospital Foundation that had previously been ear marked. Board Chair Larry Mills said that the founda tion had agreed to donate $20,000 for remodeling o f the long term care w ing and another $20,000 for remod eling of Pioneer Memorial Clinic and will transfer the funds to the district. -approved an addi tional $10,000 for reroofing the hospital. The project was initially bid at $62,725, but when the roofing company realized that the workers had to be paid the prevail ing wage because the dis trict is a government entity, they requested an additional $13,000. The roofing com pany, Palmer Roofing, sub sequently agreed to do the project for an additional $10,000 rath er than the $ 13,000. “ 1 don’t know what else to do,” said Vander Does. “ 1 can’t get anyone else to bid.” “As much as I hate to, I think w e’d bet ter bite the bullet and do it, instead of piece-mealing it,” said Mills. -heard that the dis trict had $566,702 in gross patient revenue for July w ith a $33,83 1 loss for the month. -received the follow ing report: Pioneer Memo rial Clinic had 440 patient visits with 31 new patients, 46 seen by a nurse and 15 no shows; Irrigon Clinic had 184 patient visits w ith 26 new patients, 49 seen by a nurse and seven no show s; Heppner Ambulance had 15 page-outs with 14 transports for $19,682 in revenue; Boardman Ambu lance had 32 page-outs w ith 16 transports for$ 16,608 in revenue; Irrigon Ambulance had 21 page-outs with 15 tran sp o rts for$ 14,607 in revenue: Pioneer M em o rial Hospital had six ad missions, nine admissions for observation, 481 total outpatients, 58 emergency room encounters, 1735 lab tests, 94 x-ray procedures, 40 CT scans, 25 EKG tests, two treadmill procedures, 20 respiratory therapy pro cedures, 206 Home Health visits, four Hospice admis- sions and 1844 drug doses for $104,920 in drug rev enue. For farm equipment flail our web site at wwwJKff not Ì
