Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
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SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 16,2011 FSA livestock disaster program deadlines O re g o n U SD A Farm S erv ice A gency (FSA) State Executive Di rector Lynn Voigt reminds eligible ranchers and live stock producers who had livestock losses or grazing losses during the 2011 crop year that the deadline for applying for benefits under the Livestock Forage Disas ter Program (LFP) and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) is Jan. 30, 2012. “It is im perative that producers meet the deadline for disaster as sistance since there are no late file provisions for LFP and ELAP,” said Voigt. “To insure a smooth application process, producers should have all required supporting documentation with them at the time they apply for benefits,” he said. LFP provides pay ments to eligible livestock producers who have suf fered livestock grazing loss es due to qualifying drought or fire that occurred before Oct. 1, 2011. The National Drought Monitor index of drought level severity qual ifies a county for producer eligibility. Fire losses apply only to federally-managed rangeland. Eligible live stock under LFP include beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep and swine. ELA P p ro v id es emergency assistance to eligible producers of live stock, honeybees and farm- raised fish who have losses due to disease, adverse w eather or other condi tions, including losses due to blizzards and wildfires that occurred before Oct. 1,2011. ELAP assistance is for losses not covered under other disaster assistance programs established by the 2008 Farm Bill. Producers who ex perienced livestock death losses must file a notice o f loss 30 days after the loss is apparent, but no later than Dec. 29, 2011. Producers who suffered livestock grazing and feed losses must have filed a notice of loss no later than Oct. 31,2011 and have until Jan. 30, 2012, to submit an application for payment for livestock death losses and McCabe team member awarded Bronze Star Reprinted from America s North Shore Journal. Story by Sgt. Marcy Sanchez. A M arin e w ith I M arine Expeditionary Force, Cpl. Zachary D. Byron, received a Bronze Star with combat distin guishing device during an awards ceremony on May 20. Byron served as a mem ber of Heppner man Sgt. Michael McCabe’s team in Afghanistan. B yron, a Pashto linguist currently assigned to 1* Radio Battalion, was presented the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for actions while serving with 2nd Bat talion, 1“ Marine Regiment in November 2010. B y r o n ’s sq u a d was caught in an enemy ambush in the vicinity of Durzay, A fghanistan lo cated in southern Helmand province. “ You can never simulate that kind of envi ronment ever again,” said Byron, from Marion, N.Y. “It was a wakeup call for all of us. When the guy in front of me got hit I couldn’t see him, but I heard him yell ing. I immediately got up and moved toward him.” B y ro n , 23, was shot in the wrist and thigh as he tried to render aid on the injured Marine in front of him. “When I got shot in operate within official regu my leg everything kind of lations designed to carry out stopped,” Byron said. “I got federal laws. a feeling of straight fear— To be eligible vot fear that things were going ers, farmers and ranchers must participate or coop erate in an FSA program. Eligible voters who do not -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE receive ballots in the com -approved a wres ing week can obtain ballots tling cooperative sponsor from their local USDA ship between lone High service center. December 5 is the last day for voters to School and Heppner High submit ballots in person to School. -approved resolu local USDA service centers. Ballots returned by mail tions to accept $2,075 in must be postmarked no later unappropriated funds do than December 5. Commit nated by the Alliance for tee members will take office Community Traffic Safety in Oregon and adjust the January 1, 2012. budget. -received the fol lowing attendance report as of Nov. 1: A.C. Houghton Elementary School-271; H e p p n e r E le m e n ta ry School-188; Heppner High School-187; Irrigon El ementary School-216; Ir rigon High School-342; Riverside High School-416; Sam Boardman Elemen- tary-315; Windy River El- livestock grazing and feed losses. In order to qualify for LFP and ELAP, the applicant must have pur chased insurance coverage through FSA’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or the Pas ture, Rangeland and Forage Insurance-Rainfall Index for Grazing (PRF-RI) pro gram offered through the Risk Management Agency (RMA). Producers who meet the requirements of a socially disadvantaged, limited resource, or begin ning farmer or rancher do not have to meet the Risk Management Purchase Re quirement (RMPR). Program applicants should note that certain paym ent lim itation and adjusted gross income eli gibility requirements must be met in order to qualify for LFP and ELAP. For more informa tion on FSA’s livestock di saster assistance programs, contact the nearest county USDA Service Center. In formation can also be ob tained online at http://www. fsa.usda.gov. Farmers and ranchers urged to vote in committee elections The 2011 FSA county com m ittee elec tions will begin November 4 with the USDA mailing ballots to eligible voters. The deadline to return the ballots to local FSA offices is December 5. “The role and input of our county committee members is more vital than ever at a time when our country faces important choices regarding the fund ing and operation of our government,” said FSA ad ministrator Bruce Nelson. “New county committee members provide input and make important decisions on the local administration of disaster and conservation programs.” County committee members provide a link between the agricultural com m unity and USDA. Farmers and ranchers elect ed to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judg ment to make decisions on commodity price support program s; conservation programs; incentive indem nity and disaster programs for some com m odities; emergency programs and eligibility. FSA committees Cpl. Zachary Byron (L) and Sgt. Michael McCabe (R). By ron requested that McCabe pin his bronze star on him at the ceremony in front of the entire battalion. Afghanistan was McCabe’s third deployment; he had served two tours of duty in Iraq. -Contributedphoto to get a lot worse.” As he fell in and out of consciousness from blood loss, he continued to translate enemy communi cations, allowing the squad to avert another assault. “I had a sense o f loyalty to my job and my troops to make sure 1 didn’t fail them,” Byron said. Sgt. Maj. A lbert Diaz, the sergeant major of 1st Radio Bn., compli mented Byron’s humbling personality and wasn't sur prised to hear of his heroic actions. “He is always go ing out of his way to help somebody,” Diaz said. “He is always sought out for advice.” Sgt. Michael J. Mc Cabe said the Bronze Star is well deserved and is wit- ness to Byron’s outstanding performance. _ “ H e’s very self less when it comes to his job and accomplishing his tasks,” said McCabe, a team trainer with Headquarters and Support Com pany, 1st Radio Bn., who servdd as Byron’s team leader in Afghanistan. “I don’t think there’s enough you can say about his performance. He’s by far the best Marine I’ve ever worked with.” “It’s a great honor, not just for me, but for 1st Radio Bn.,” Byron said. “There were a lot of Ma rines in the squad whose actions encouraged me to push on.” The Bronze Star is the fourth highest award received for combat actions in the U.S. Armed Forces. TECHNOLOGY GRANT Design Our Parade Float! The Winner Will Get Their Name On The Float And $100! Float Design Contest is open to anyone. The float will be featured in the December 15th holiday parade in downtown Heppner. To enter, draw a picture of your float idea and a paragraph describing it, keeping in mind that there are just four people putting it together and that the cost of supplies should not exceed $200. Turn your entry into the Heppner Branch of Community Bank by November 30th before 5:30 PM. Winner will be selected by a judge outside of the bank. Come join us for cookies and punch and the chance to win some door prizes at our Open House on December 1st from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Parade Float Contest Winner will be announced at 5:30 PM em entary-205; M orrow Education Center (MCSD s tu d e n ts ) - 4 1 ; M orrow Education Center (Uma tilla School District stu dents)-16; total-2,197. -received the fol lowing employment report: retirements-Karen Clough, Heppner Elementary School teacher, to finish the aca demic year; John Sebastian, A.C. Houghton Elementary School principal, to finish the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years; Rose Se bastian, Sam Boardman Elementary School Title I teacher, to finish the school year. Extra duty resigna- tions-Blaine Ganvoa, Ir rigon Junior High School assistant boys’ basketball coach; Jason Palmer, Hep pner High School assistant track coach. Employment- Cristela Olson, Irrigon El ementary School ed assis tant; John Thompson, Ir rigon Elementary/Morrow Education Center assistant custodian; Susan Reagan, Windy River Elementary assistant cook. Extra duty contracts-Jeremy LaFram- boise and Tyler Barrie, both RHS assistant boys’ basketball coaches. -h e a rd th e f o l low ing announcem ents: Thanksgiving holiday-No- vember 24-25; next board meeting-December 12, Irri gon Elementary, 7 p.m.; last day of school for students and staff-D ecem ber 16; Christmas break-December 19-January 2. South Morrow represents at state championships By Zech Hintz Last weekend Mor row County was rep re sented well at the State Volleyball 1A/2A Finals, hosted at Pacific University in Forest Grove, by both the Heppner Mustangs and the lone Cardinals. The Mustangs started the weekend with a win over North Douglas in five sets, 3-2. The Cardinals followed that up with a win in the afternoon against Adrian in four. These suc cesses gave both teams the advancement into the semi-finals. H eppner was up first with a tough match against the num ber-one ranked team in the state, Days Creek. Losing 3-0 was a tough blow for the M ustangs and put them in a finals match against Reedsport the next day to determine 3rd/5tf' place. lone faced off with the Hosanna Christian Lions in the semi finals taking the win 3-0 and advancing them into the championship finals. The M u s t a n g s seemed to come onto the court with a new-found energy after their loss the day before. In a tough fight against Reedsport, they came up short 3-1 taking 5th place. That night the lone Cardinals played what some could say was the toughest game of the year, going head-to-head with Powder Valley. The Lady Cardinals did not disap point, and came out on top to win the championship in 5 sets taking 1* place. Congratulations to both the Mustangs and the Cardinals. You did it. M o r r o w C o u n ty T r a n s f e r S t a t io n s . S o uth e n d 57185 H w y 74, L e x in g to n a n d N o r th E n d 6 9 9 0 0 F r o n ta g e L n , B o a r d m a n . W il l be c lo s e d for t h e F O L L O W IN G H O L ID A Y S immunity BANK Local Money Working For Local People www communitybanknet com Member FDIC Heppner 127 N Main St 541-676-5745 S at . and S un . D ecember 24 and 25, 2011 S unday J a n u a r y 1,2012 T h a n k y o u f o r y o u r c o o p e r a t io n it a l l o w s o u r a t t e n d a n t s t o b e w it h THEIR FAMILIES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. M o r r o w C o u n t y P u b l ic w o r k s 5 4 1 - 9 8 9 - 9 5 0 0 .
