M erkley blames speculators, big oil for
high gas prices
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
Wants strategic oil reserve opened up
By David Sykes
O re g o n S e n a to r
Jeff Merkley says high gas
prices are caused by specu
lators who are not taking
delivery o f oil but simply
t
VOL. 130
NO. 21
14 Pages
Wednesday, May 25,2011
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
buying and selling delivery
contracts, as well as big oil
com panies who are g e t
ting tax subsidies and still
m aking huge profits. On
the other hand, he said he
wants to see the country’s
727-m illion-barrel strate
gic oil reserve opened up
to increase supply, which
he says would drive down
prices.
H igh school stu
dent Joe Armato asked the
first question at a town hall
m eeting M erkley held in
Heppner on Sunday.
“We are subsidiz
ing big oil and they are
making huge profits. Sub
sidizing them did not lower
prices,” Armato said.
“When oil goes to
$60 or $80 per barrel, these
companies don’t need in
centives. The tax incentives
should be ended,” Merkley
said.
However, Merkley
was m uch more in favor
o f making the country less
dependent on oil than in
creasing supply, giving a
list of things that could be
done, including air foils on
trucks and-converting to
'Heppner water safe Burrows retires on
1 » i
,
;to drink
nign note
Over the weekend,
fHeppner city officials de
c la re d the to w n ’s w ater
supply safe to drink again,
.liftin g last w e e k ’s boil
warning.
R e s id e n ts w e re
warned to boil their water
or used bottled water after
the city’s water tested posi
tive for fecal coliform or E.
coli bacteria last Wednes
day. T hose b a c te ria are
usually present when water
has been contaminated by
hum an or anim al w aste,
officials said. W ater can
become infected if a well
becomes contam inated, a
distribution line breaks or
•the c h lo rin atio n system
¡fails.
The b acteria can
make people sick, particu
la rly if they have weak im
mune systems. Symptoms
include diarrhea, cramps,
■nausea or headaches.
The bacteria was
^discovered during the city’s
routine testing o f the wa
t e r last week. City m an
a g e r David DeM ayo said
¿samples are taken from the
{city water every week and
fsent to Box-R Labs, a state-
.certified lab in Prineville.
When results came
back positive for bacteria
Wednesday, the city took
actio n and im m ed iately
notified the residents. Then,
according to public works
d ire c to r B rian H arm on,
city w orkers chlorinated
all three o f the city’s res
e rv o irs and flu sh ed the
to w n ’s hydrants to draw
the chlorination through
the system. They then took
five samples and sent them
for testing; all five samples
came back clear o f E. coli
and fecal coliform.
City officials said
the problem probably oc
curred during the recent
storm , when runoff from
the rain may have entered
an underground reservoir.
Harmon said that the city
has taken special preventa
tive measures at reservoir
#2, ordering a new top for
the reservoir so no water or
debris can enter. The other
p rev en tativ e m easure is
simply routine chlorination,
which has worked well in
the past.
“I’ve been here 11
years,” said Harmon, who
added that the city had been
chlorinating water before
he started as public works
director. “I don’t remember
ever having an E. coli hit.”
New name, new face
at local sewing shop
Retiring MCSD superintendant Mark Burrows gave an
impromptu speech after being awarded the Doug Flatt Me
morial Leadership Award at the 12th annual Crystal Apple
Awards this month. -Contributedphoto
Mark Burrows will
retire on a high note after
winning the Doug Flatt Me
morial Leadership Award
during the 12th annual Crys
tal Apple Awards recently.
The Doug Flatt Memorial
Leadership Award honors a
school district administrator
for outstanding leadership
in education.
B u rro w s, w ho
has been Morrow County
School District superinten
dent since 2004, is a former
teacher and contractor who
began his adm inistrative
career in 1997 as an e l
ementary school principal
in John Day. His school
achieved some o f the top
marks in the state during his
time there.
B u rro w s m oved
from John Day to Morrow
County, where he solidified
and provided vision for the
district. He gained a reputa
tion as an “outside the box”
thinker and a team player
who wasn’t afraid to make
tough decisions.
U m atilla-M orrow
ESD Superintendent Dr.
Mark M ulvihill said Bur
rows’ “presence and strong
leadership will be sorely
missed in the future” as he
retires from education at the
end o f this month.
B u rro w s, w ho
was not aware he had won
the award until it was an
nounced during the c er
emony, said he was honored
to receive the aw ard. In
an impromptu speech, he
provided some advice to
other educators and admin
istrators.
“ We need to re
m e m b e r w hy w e h av e
school b u ild in g s in the
first place,” Burrows said.
“T hey’re for kids. T hat’s
why we’re all here. We need
to remember that.”
B urrow s and his
wife, Anita, plan to travel
after his retirement. He says
they are talking about Tus
cany, and also look forward
to getting better acquainted
w ith th eir tw o -y ear-o ld
granddaughter, Livia, who
lives in Portland.
Gazette-Times closed
Memorial Day
Sew On Et Cetera owner Marlene Pointer works on a proj
ect for a customer In her shop on Willow Street. Pointer took
•over the location in April. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
iBy Andrea Di Salvo
T hose w ith p e s
ky sewing projects but no
sew ing e x p e rie n c e w ill
welcome one o f Heppner’s
I newest businesses. Sew On
jEt Cetera.
The small sewing
shop on Willow Street is
a continuation o f the shop
ow ned by recent retiree
Helen Troxwell. The new
ow ner is long-tim e lone
resident M arlene Pointer,
who has operated the sew
ing shop since April.
Sixty-five-year-old
Pointer was a career teach
er, but seamstress work was
no leap for this long-time
sewer, who has been plying
needle and thread since the
age o f nine. She started out
under the tutelage of mentor
Ruth McCabe.
“My mother didn’t
have the patience to teach
me, so she sent me to Aunt
The Heppner Gazette-Times office will be closed
Memorial Day, May 30 for the holiday. All news and ad
deadlines will be the previous Friday, May 27, by 5 p.m.
The newspaper office will reopen on Tuesday, May 31.
R u th ,” says P o in ter. “ I
did my first 4-H project at
home, then my mom took it
to Aunt Ruth and she tore it
all out. That’s a heartbreak-
er when you’re nine.”
Ruth McCabe may
have been a stick ler for
detail. Pointer said, but she
was a good teacher who
instilled a life-long love
o f sew ing in her young
-See SEWING SHOP/
PAGE FIVE
Senator Jeff Merkley, speaking to a crowd of about 55 at a
town hall meeting in Heppner Sunday, said the downturn in
the housing construction is the reason for high unemployment
in Oregon. -Photo by David Sykes
natural gas as ways to cut
our use of fossil fiaels.
“We send $1 billion
per day to foreign countries
for energy. Lots o f wealth
is going to the Middle East
countries. We need to lower
our demand for imported
oil,” he said. In reference
to the theory o f man-made
global warming, Merkley
said the country also needs
to “put less carbon in the
air.”
C o n c e rn in g th e
lack of domestic oil produc
)
-See MERKLEY TOWN
HALL/PAGE SIX
Morrow County Health District
breaks profit streak, loses
nearly $112,000 for the month
A f t e r a th r e e -
month streak o f gains. Mor
row County H ealth D is
trict broke its profit streak
last month, losing nearing
$112,000 in April, accord
ing to figures released by
Chief Financial Officer Ni
cole Mahoney at the regular
meeting held Monday night
in Heppner. The district
showed a $58,325 profit in
March, a $47,162 gain in
February and a whopping
$216,680 gain in January.
As o f A pril 30, M CHD
showed a $9,251 average
monthly year-to-date gain.
The d istric t also
held a h earin g M onday
night on its $10 m illion
proposed 2011-12 budget.
Mahoney told the board that
she still may have some ad
justments to the budget.
Board member Da
vid Burns told the board
that he and CEO Michael
Blauer did a walk-through
o f the Irrigon Clinic and
met with the staff regard
ing what they would like to
see concerning a possible
clinic remodel. Blauer said
he plans more research on
clinic needs and remodel
costs.
In other business,
the board:
-received two bids
to clean and repair the de
teriorating concrete stairs
and w alkw ay at Pioneer
Memorial Clinic: a $ 17,728
bid from Concrete Resto
ration Technologies, Inc.,
Seattle and a $12,300 bid
from Concrete Restoration
Technologies, West Linn,
OR. The board asked for
additional references on
outdoor restoration work
done by Concrete Resto
ration Technologies, but
tentatively approved their
bid if outdoor references
are received. Mahoney told
the board that she had also
investigated replacing the
concrete, but that proved
to be “hugely costly.” She
added that finding concrete
restoration companies had
also been difficult.
-heard from Blauer
that med students are con
tinuing to work with pro
viders at Pioneer Memorial
Clinic and a physician’s as
sistant has been scheduled
to work with physician's as
sistant Sheridan Tamasky.
-learned from Blau
er that the federal mandate
to change from paper to
electronic records through
Healthland is progressing,
albeit slowly.
-h e a rd a re p o rt
from Blauer on current state
and federal budget concerns
with respect to hospitals.
A ccording to B lauer the
state is looking at cuts to
M ed icaid fu n d in g . “ On
our end it’s not any cause
for concern or panic yet,”
said Blauer. Board Chair
Larry M ills said that the
state is discussing raising
the hospital tax in order to
create more money to lever
age more federal matching
funds. Currently, Pioneer
Memorial, as a small hos
pital, is not required to pay
the state hospital tax.
-heard from board
m em ber Leann Rea that
the Veterans Administration
is seeking a 1,000-2,000-
foot place in which to hold
VA clinics. Rea said she
b eliev ed th at the clinic
could draw people from a
larger area than just Mor
row County and suggested
that MCHD consider the
possibility o f working with
the VA in establishing such
a clinic.
- l e a r n e d from
Mahoney that upon board
ap p ro v al, the d istrict is
m oving away from hav
ing two check signers and
instead requiring only one
signer. Mahoney said that
the au d ito rs had ea rlie r
expressed concern that she,
as chief financial officer,
approved expenditures and
also signed the checks.
With the change, Mahoney
will approve the payment
vouchers, Blauer will sign
the checks and a backup
document will be attached
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE SIX
AT MCGG GREEN FEED & SEED IN HEPPNER:
Premium W ild Bird Diet
25 lb ONLY $9.99
All MCGG locations dosed Monday- Memorial Day 1
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
24^2^lnd*r^W ay/H e££n«r^^76^942^^981L 8222j[M C G ^naif^fl»c«^
\
i
tion, Merkley again blamed
the oil companies, saying
they are- simply sitting on
many off-shore oil leases in
the Gulf of Mexico. “They
should use them or lose
them," he told the crowd.
Joe Miller o f Hep
pner asked w hy federal and
state governm ents were
subsidizing the wind in
dustry, w hich is not an
economical form of energy
production.
t