97403
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
HEPPNER
Small-town values motivate soldier
in Iraq
By Staff Sgt. Patrick
Caldwell
American small
towns are often d istin
guished by their similari
ties.
Each community
radiates parallel ethics but
also defines itself by its own
personality, and Capt. John
Qualls can recognize those
unique distinctions easier
than most.
Qualls, the person
nel officer for 3rd Battalion,
116,h Cavalry Regiment,
77th Sustainment Brigade,
310th Expeditionary Sus
tainment Command, grew
up and still lives in Hep
pner. While he said there
are items that separate each
small town across the arc of
rural Oregon, he also said
there is a common current
that flows through the 3rd
Bn. from those tiny settle
ments.
“We are all from
a similar area,” he said.
“Our morals, our families
are similar. We probably
played against each other
in sports. We have a lot in
common.”
Those small-town
values play a crucial role in
the 3rd Bn.’s success in
Iraq, Qualls said.
“We’ve brought all
these values of those little
towns and applied them
here,” he said.
Like a large per
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon centage o f the 3rd Bn.,
50 *
azette
unes
VOL. 130
NO. 26
8 Pages
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Heppner native Capt. John Qualls (left), a personnel officer
with the 3rd Battalion discusses business with Sgt. Luke True
of Gresham in the office of the S-l personnel section at the
Tactical Operations Center for the 3rd Battalion on Joint Base
Balad, Iraq. Qualls is serving his second tour in Iraq. -Photo
by Staff Sgt. Patrick Caldwell
Qualls is no stranger to in 2004.
Iraq. He served as a platoon
-See SMALL TOWN VAL
leader in the battalion when
UES/PA G E S IX
it deployed to northern Iraq
Child molester gets Heppner songwriter Health district considers
five years in prison gets new beginning Irr,gon Clm,c remodel
through song
Child molester Ste minimum sentence.
As part of the deal,
ven Clayton Rollis was
the state was al
sentenced to five
lowed to ask for
years in prison after
a five-year prison
making a plea deal
sen ten ce, w hile
with the state the
Rollis could ask for
day his trial was to
a year-and-a-half in
begin.
state prison. Rollis
T h e
also admitted the
38-year-old Hepp Steven
victim was espe
ner man had been in Clayton
cially vulnerable.
the Umatilla County Rollis
Circuit
Jail in Pendleton
since the Morrow County Court Judge Dan Hill opted
Sheriff’s Office arrested for the state’s recommenda
him on July 28, 2009. The tion of five years (a two-
state charged Rollis with year, eight-month sentence
six counts of first-degree and a two-year, four-month
sodomy, four counts of sentence to run consecu
first-degree sexual abuse tive).
Oregon D epart
and two counts of incest,
ment of Justice spokesman
all felonies.
On June 21, Rol Tony Green said Rollis
lis pled no contest to two also will serve 10 years of
counts of first-degree at post-prison supervision and
tempted sodomy, one count will have to register as a sex
for each alleged incident. offender.
Other standard sex
The charge of first-degree
sodomy carries an eight- offender conditions will
year, four-month mandatory also apply, including pro
minimum sentence. Sexual viding samples for DNA
abuse carries a six-year, profiling and HIV testing.
three-month mandatory
Nella Britt of Hep
pner has a new CD on
sale at Murray’s Drug in
Heppner. For the 66-year-
old widow, though, “A
New Beginning” is more
than a collection of songs
she’s written...it’s a jour
ney through heartache and
into healing.
The CD debuted on
Valentine’s Day of this year.
Britt says they threw a party
in a large hotel right on
the beach in Daytona, FL.
All of the recording artists
featured on the CD were
there, including guitarist
Jimmy Jack Whitaker, folk
singer and guitarist Sheryl
Paige and folk singer Chris
Kahl. Helena Jackman, who
toured with Bob Hope for
many years, contributed her
vocals in the songs “Where
Was I” and “Back to Ba
sics.”
Britt herself sang
two of the songs, “The Briar
Rose” and “A New Begin
ning.” According to Britt, a
new beginning was exactly
RED, WHITE & BLUES CRUISIN’ TO THE BLUES
4TH OF JULY IONE, OR 2011
FRIDAY JULY 1
11:00 Am-2:00 PM - Bank of EO customer appreciation BBQ - Main Street
Topic club book sale- all four days - lone Legion Hall - All day
5:00 PM - Pulled pork meal & Back 2 Beecher’s - lone Legion Hall
6:00 PM - Texas hold 'em & cribbage tournament - lone Legion Hall
SATURDAY JULY 2
9:00AM-1:00PM & 3:00PM-7:00PM JLT Paintball - Saturday, Sunday
and Monday
11:00 PM-4:00 PM - All school reunion - lone City Park & lone Legion Hall
3:00 PM & 5:30 PM - Missoula Children’s Theatre (funded by MCURD) - lone
School
Reunion evening event - lone Legion Hall - 7:00 pm - 12:00 am
Wine & beer tasting 7:00pm-9:00pm • No host bar 9:00pm-12:00am
Music by Matt Howard 7:00pm-12:00am
SUNDAY JULY 3
7:00-9:30 AM - Breakfast in Paris - lone legion hall
9:00 AM - Golf tournament - Willow Creek Country Club
10:00 Am - Interdenominational church service - lone City Park
Early PM - All school reunion/ice cream social - lone City Park
6:00 PM - Talent show - lone City Park
Following - Music by Arsenal - lone City Park
MONDAY JULY 4
US NAVY FLY OVER
7:00 AM - Fireman's breakfast - lone Fire Hall
7:00 AM - 7:30 AM - sign-up - preschool 5k walk/run (donation requested) -
Main Street
Food vendors & merchandise vendors open
11:00 AM - Fish pond, frog jump, bike raffle - lone Fire Hall/City Park
11:00 AM - Altar society pie sale - lone Fire Hall
1:00 PM - Red, White & Blues Parade (grand marshals: lone Education Foundation
Board of Directors)
1:00 PM - Blues Cruise car show - lone City Park
1:00 PM - Park activities begin - featuring a petting zoo!- Fun games!
Gazebo entertainment by Cory Peterson - Austin Morter & John Wambeke
3:00 PM - Blues bands on stage - lone Amphitheater
Tommy Hogan Band - Sonny Hess Band - Hookah Stew
The lone All-Stars featuring Jime Mesi A Jimmy Lloyd Rea
7:00 PM - Boat trip auction - on stage lone Amphitheater
Dusk - Firework display
lone's 4th of July celebration is sponsored in part by Morrow County Unified Recreation
District 4 Wildhorse Casino
Heppner songwriter Nella
Britt holds one of her previ
ous releases. Her songs focus
on family, faith and healing.
-Contributed photo
what the CD represented.
The time she spent writing
it—from June 2010 to Feb
ruary 2011—was a time of
healing and reflection after
the death of her husband,
John Britt.
“I’m a widow, and
I think God just used my
love of music to help me
recover. And it has,” she
says.
Nor is this the first
time music has helped Britt
through a difficult emo
tional time. She has previ
ously published three CDs,
two of which she wrote on
the themes of adoption and
foster care. Those are topics
close to Britt’s heart, since
she was forced to give her
son up for adoption at the
age of 17 and then later
adopted a daughter of her
own, Sarah.
Britt says family,
whether biological or ad
opted, is one of the most
-See HEALING THROUGH
SONG/PAGE TWO
By April Sykes
The Morrow Coun
ty Health District Board
toured the Irrigon Medi
cal Clinic at their regular
meeting in Irrigon Monday
night. The board is consid
ering remodeling the clinic
because of its cramped
quarters for staff and only
three small patient rooms.
CEO Michael Blauer told
the board that patient us
age of the clinic and pro
jected growth need to be
considered when planning
any expansion or improve
ments.
. Board member Da
vid Burns jokingly com
mented that Irrigon was
the fastest growing town in
Morrow County with the
addition of four residents.
The district has
budgeted $250,000 for ex
pansion of the clinic to
be funded by a flex lease/
loan.
Blauer also pre
sented a draft proposal for
board evaluation of the
CEO, which the board plans
on a regularly scheduled
basis. Burns brought up
the idea of tying the CEO’s
evaluation to the health of
people in the community.
One hospital staff member
later commented that be
cause of the small sampling
of the community served by
the district, even one bad
outcome could skew this
outlook.
Blauer reported
that negotiations with the
hospital employees’ union
went well and were “very
positive.” He said because
of the “skyrocketing price
of insurance” and the pros
pect of an 18% increase in
coverage the district has
switched insurance compa
nies. He said that the district
has increased its insurance
contribution for employees,
which will amount to a 25%
increase for the district over
three years; nine percent
the first year, eight percent
the second year and eight
percent the third year. The
district has also bumped up
the cost-of-living increase
for employees to about
three percent; revamped the
employee sick leave policy;
decreased the employee
probationary time from
six months to four months,
after which benefits begin;
and clarified the definition
of a temporary employee.
Nurses are not included in
the union.
“All sides came
to the table,” commented
Blauer. “We’re not just out
for ourselves. We’re here
for everybody.”
On a less than posi
tive note, Chief Financial
Officer Nicole Mahoney
reported a $ 160,036 loss for
May, which puts the district
into a $67,522 loss for the
year and a $6,138 average
monthly year-to-date loss.
“This puts us into
the red, year-to-date, for
the first time in several
months,” said Mahoney.
She said that gross pa
tient revenue, at $523,632,
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE FIVE
Gazette-Times closed Independence Day
The Heppner Gazette-Times office will be closed Independence Day, July 4
for the holiday.
All news and ad deadlines will be Friday, July 1, by 5 p.m. The newspaper
office will reopen on Tuesday, July 5.
Get your articles in for special Fair Edition
If you have an event or activity going on during this year's Morrow County Fair
and Rodeo, you will want to get an article into the Heppner Gazette’s Special Fair &
Rodeo edition.
The Fair &Rodeo is August 17-20 and the special edition will be published August
3. The deadline for news articles, photos is July 15. People may also want to publicize
their event with an advertisement, the advertisement deadline is July 22.
Submit your articles or advertisements by email to david@rapidserve.net, mail them
to PO Box 337, Heppner, OR 97836 or drop them by our office at 188 W. Willow. Fax
number is 541 -676-9211.
XT MCGG GRRRIM FRRD & SRRD IN HRPPNRR:
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p R IC E
Save $8
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on all large bags 301b & 351b
onday
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• H ave a
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221
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(MCGO main office)
V