Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2011)
fllflllllllllllllll, lllIJlll)lll Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library University of Oregon y Eugene, OR 97403 Health district signs three-year contract with Nichols; reports great month in June By April Sykes At th e ir reg u lar meeting in lone Monday night, the Morrow County Health District Board ap proved a new three-year 5(K VOL. 130 NO. 30 8 Pages Wednesday, July 27,2011 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon SWCD welcomes new staff member By Andrea Di Salvo * Jake Gelineau is the latest addition to the staff at the Morrow County Soil and Water Conservation District. The 27-year-old joined the Morrow SWCD early in July as the office’s new habitat technician. Gelineau was bom in Wenatchee but raised in Burlington, in Washington’s Skagit Valley. He graduated from Burlington-Edison High School in 2002 and went on to attend Wash ington State U niversity in Pullman. He graduated from WSU in 2007 with a bachelor of science degree in wildlife ecology. After college, Ge lineau moved to Lewiston, ID, where he worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. While there, he worked to accomplish habi tat improvement on public lands, as well as working closely wjth landowners to improve habitats on private lands. About three years ago, he moved from Lewis ton to Kamiah, ID, where he continued to work for Idaho Fish and Game as a wild life technician. One of his main duties in Kamiah was to conduct ongoing stud ies o f elk/wolf predation. Basically, Gelineau says, he used collared popula tions of wolf, elk and other contract with Dr. Russ Nichols with no salary in crease. The board, however, approved four additional vacation days for Dr. Nich ols, from 20 to 24, to bring his contract more on par with the district’s contract with Dr. Betsy Anderson. Drs. Nichols and Anderson work at Pioneer Memorial Clinic and Hospital in Hep pner and also at the lrrigon Clinic. The board also heard from Chief Financial Officer Nicole Mahoney, who reported that the dis trict had “a great month” in June with $665,192 in gross revenue for the month and a $49,237 monthly gain. The district rebounded from a $160,036 loss the previous month. Also at the meet ing, MCHD CEO Mike Blauer told the board that the first cardiology clinic scheduled in Heppner, coor dinated through MCHD and Oregon Health Sciences University, went well. A proposed schedule for a monthly cardiology clinic at Pioneer Memorial Clinic for the next year and a half is already in the works. Blauer also report ed that the federally man dated change from paper to electronic medical records is progressing. He said that MCHD staff training by Healthland, the company selected by MCHD to pro vide hardware and software, is planned this fall. Blauer said the district is working on Phase 1 of the federal plan, but, he noted that the federal government may back off on the deadline for compliance in Phase II be cause of complaints and un certainty over what the fed eral government is actually requiring. Mahoney said that one big question that has not yet been resolved is what the feds determine is actually reimbursable in the plan. Blauer said that issue will not impact MCHD’s current anticipated federal reimbursement. In other business, the board: -heard from Blauer that the sidewalk renova tion at Pioneer Memorial Clinic has been completed and “looks good.” -learned from Blau er that he has spoken to an architect concerning plans and costs for a proposed renovation of the lrrigon Clinic. -discussed a plan ning meeting to be held this fall, which would include providers and department heads. -learned from Blau er that he recently attended a Hospital Association meet ing that included discussion on topics such as bills in the legislature, funding for ru ral hospitals and a managed care program, Coordinated Care Organizations, which has been passed by the state legislature. Through this program, hospitals, for example, would get a -See HEALTH DISTRICT/ PAGE FIVE Harvest continues to meet expectations SWCD’s newest staff member, Jake Gelineau, says he’s anx ious to get out from behind the desk and interact with the community...especially if it means getting to use new tools like this no-till drill. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo species to study the effects the wolf population had on other wild animal popula tions. “ We did a lot of helicopter trapping, wolf management,” he says. His duties at the M orrow SWCD will be somewhat different, deal ing mostly with creating wildlife habitats. “ My main job is to improve and increase upland bird habitats,” Ge lineau says. “I’ll work with organization like SWCD, NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service), the ODFW (Oregon Depart ment of Fish and Wildlife), Pheasants Forever, hunting organizations and landown ers to get better bird habitats established in and around Morrow County.” Part o f that will involve working on CRP contracts for the NRCS and getting more hunting access on private lands, which he says will be accomplished partly through incentive programs being developed by the ODFW and NRCS. While much of the habitat will be on CRP ground, he says he will also work with landowners who have range land or other acreage they would like to improve as wildlife habitat. H e’s also excited about some of the equipment he has at hand, especially a tractor and no-till drill and a truck Harvest is well underway throughout Morrow County. Some growers anticipate a possible record-setting harvest, with 60 to 80 bushels per acre expected. -Photo by Anne Morter Field fire contained on Pettys Canyon Lane « A wheat fire that occurred on Pettys Canyon lane outside of Lexington last Saturday was quickly contained. The fire started about 4 p.m. on land owned by Myrtle McMillan and farmed by Chuck Nelson. According to Tim Holtz, who was doing custom -See SWCD STAFF/PAGE cutting on the property, the FOUR fire was started by a tractor pulling a grain wagon. He theorizes that a hot brake may have been the cause. The fire destroyed about 40 acres o f wheat before the harvest crew and several neighbors were able to put it out. I’he crew called the fire department but, since the fire went within a couple of yards of Myrtle McMillan’s house, protecting the house was the department's first prior ity, said Holtz. He said that was all right, since they had all the help they needed. “ The n eig h b o rs showed up with a couple discs, and it didn’t take Summer fun in full splash at Willow Creek Water Park A wheat fire that raged on Myrtle McMillan's land outside of Lexington was quickly contained when neighbors gathered to help. -Photo by Jason Thompson long to put it out at all,” weapon you need to fight a said Holtz. “The disc is the [field] fire.” L'lHWH With hot weather finally here, kids and adults alike are beating the heat at Willow Creek Water Park. -Photo by Megan Futter
