Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon
‘Surfin USA’ theme for school dance
Pictured Left to Right: Kami Holtz, Nicole Myers and Jorden Sweeney are Hanging 10 with
their surfboard.
Heppner Elementary School families will “Hang 10” on April 18 during the
school's annual school dance. “Surfin' USA” is the theme and Mrs. Gentry has been
busy teaching students great beach dances like The Twist, The Freddie, and The Swim.
Desert Sounds Music will provide the tunes from 7-9 p.m. Snacks will be served and
items will be raffled, including a Mini iPad. The dance will be held at the school gym
and hosted by the Parent Teacher Club and is free of charge.
Power from wind farm will
tie into the BPA substation
Comment period on project ends Monday
By Patty Nance
When farmers see iO
miles of wide open space
they might think of grain
or hay. When hunters see
the same 10 miles, they
no doubt think o f game
birds, mule t,.er and even
cougars.
But wh n A ndrew
O ’Connell, president o f
Wheatridge Energy looks
at the very same land he
sees hundreds of wind tow
ers and miles and miles of
power transmission lines.
The Wheatridge Wind
Energy project, located in
both Morrow and Uma
tilla counties, covers over
59,000 acres and comes to
within two miles of Willow
Creek Country Club and
two and one-half miles of
Lexington.
O'Connell, who is no
stranger to wind develop
ment projects in Oregon,
says the company is in the
early stages o f project’s
development. A Notice of
Intent was filed in mid-
March by the company with
the Oregon Dept, of Energy
and the comment period for
that first step of the project
ends Monday, April 15.
O ’C onnell said the
maps for the project that
would include turbine and
power line placements are
in the development stage
but there are no layouts
yet.
He did say the 10 miles
of power transmission lines,
which connect Wheatridge
West and Wheatridge East,
will go into the BPA sub
station located North o f
Stanfield.
Public comments are
due by April 15 and must
be submitted in writing by
mail, e-mail, hand delivery
or fax. Please send com
ments to: Andrea Goodwin,
Siting Analyst, Oregon De
partment of Energy, 395 E.
Highland Ave., Hermiston,
OR 97838. E-mail: andrea.
goodwin@state.or.us.
Wednesday, April 10,2013
- FIVE
Health district board
interviews CEO candidates
The Morrow County
Health District Board in
terviewed eight candidates
for the d istrict’s CEO ’s
position at their meeting
held April 3.
Following the interview
of the eight using Skype in
executive session, the board
narrowed the field down
to two or possibly three
candidates for personal in
terviews. Human Resources
Director Patti Allstott said
that the district originally
received over 50 applica
tions for the job.
The new administrator
will take the spot left vacant
by former CEO Michael
Blauer who left the district
to take an administrative
position in Seaside. Former
CEO Victor Vander Does
has agreed to fill the posi
tion in the interim.
Also at the meeting, the
board approved a resolu
tion which will enable the
district to borrow up to
$95,000 from the Greater
Eastern Oregon Develop
ment Corporation.
Chief Financial Officer
Nicole Mahoney released
the profit/loss statement
for the month of February
which showed a $106,147
gain for the district, with
$725,712 in gross patient
revenue, less $20,436 in
bad debts and $102,540
in contractual and other
adjustments for a total of
$122,977 in revenue de
ductions; $116,118 in tax
revenue and $38,895 in
other operating revenue for
$757,748 in total operating
revenue; $644,360 in total
operating expenses, and
a $12,758 non-operating
gain.
Mahoney reported that
the financial office has got
ten the accounts receivable
down to less than 50 days,
which was somewhat of an
accomplishment.
Interim CEO Vander
Does commented on the
state of the district, saying,
“Things look pretty good.
The plant looks pretty good.
There are some infrastruc
ture things.” “It’s interest
ing how little things change
in four years,” he added.
Vander Does left the district
four years ago, but served
as adm inistrator for 10
years prior to that. Blauer
was CEO for four years.
The board briefly dis
cussed district goals, com
menting that quality care
and patient safety were the
most important issues for
the district.
Mahoney told the board
that the Irrigon Clinic re
modeling project is now
complete. The board plans
to schedule a grand opening
in the near future.
In other business board
Chair Larry Mills com
mented that the board needs
to commence discussion
about the proposed levy.
Also at the meeting,
the board:
-received the following
report: Pioneer Memorial
Hospital had six admissions
for February, five swing bed
admissions, nine admitted
for observation, one swing
nursing facility admission,
425 outpatients, 54 total
emergency room encoun
ters, 1,432 lab tests, 106
x-ray procedures, 21 CT
scans, 22 EKG tests, one
treadmill procedure, seven
colonoscopy procedures,
two endoscopy procedures,
one colon/endoscopy pro
cedure, 127 respiratory
therapy procedures; Home
Health had 96 patient visits;
Hospice had two adm is
sions; pharmacy had 1,832
drug doses for $ 104,268 in
revenue; Pioneer Memorial
Clinic had 412 patient vis
its, 26 new patients, 28 seen
by a nurse and 11 no-shows;
Irrigon Medical Clinic had
181 patient visits, 21 new
patients, 54 seen by a nurse
and five no-shows; Hep
pner Ambulance had 22
total page-outs w ith 17
transports for $22,478 in
revenue, Boardman Ambu
lance had 21 page-outs with
10 transports for $ 12,847 in
revenue and Irrigon Ambu
lance had 19 page-outs with
17 transports for $19,711
in revenue; there were two
flights.
Justice Court Report
Morrow County Justice of the Peace Ann Spicer has released the following Justice
Court Report.
- Gary A. Liesegang, 46, Estacada, OR, wildlife violation reduced to violation,
pleads no contest, $454 fine, $250 restitution. Hunting privileges suspended for one
year.
- Justin R Howey, 19, Heppner, littering, $454 fine.
- Richard G. Peck, 78, Lexington, permit unlawful operation of vehicle, $260
fine.
- Trent Cannon, 19, Heppner, fail to obey traffic control device, $260 fine.
Farmer’s market Despite risks, more Oregonians
organizational
discover the joy of beekeeping
meeting set
Beekeepers nationwide
have seen record losses in
their hives in recent years,
and Oregon is no exception.
That has not discouraged
newcomers from giving
it a try, however, either as
hobbyists or with an eye on
making it a business.
This weekend in south
west Oregon, more than 60
people attended “Beginners
Bee School,” where mem
bers of the Southern Oregon
Beekeepers A ssociation
shared their knowledge.
Carl Lorenz, a member of
Bee School sponsor South
ern O regon B eekeepers
Association (SOBA), said
the benefits of beekeeping
outweigh the challenges.
“I’m finding that most
of the people have heard
about the hive collapse and
the problems with bees, and
they want to give it a shot
themselves,” he said. “They
want to have pollinators for
their own garden - maybe
Willow Creek Farm er’s Market will soon return to Heppner
for a fifth season. File Photo
Spring is in the air and it’s time for gardeners, crafters
and other interested in participating in the Willow Creek
Farmer's Market to begin planning for season.
An organizational meeting will be held April 18 at
Heppner City Hall at 5 p.m. A discussion will be held
about location, day, times and other related topics.
For more information contact Margaret Flaherty at
541-676-5972.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem,
help is available and that help Is FREE of charge.
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Community Counseling Solutions (C C S ) @ 541-678-9161
Ellis said he has lost nearly
two-thirds of his hives and
didn’t have enough to fulfill
this year’s
po11 i n a -
tio n c o n
tracts with
almond
growers in
California.
T h e re is
d e fin itely
room fo r
more bee
keepers on
th e W est
C oast, he
said.
“ A l
monds alone require 1.5
million hives of bees,” Ellis
said. “In the United States
on a good day, we only have
two million hives - and we
haven’t had a ‘good day’ for
quite a while.”
Beekeepers in Colora
do, Florida and New York,
and several environmental
groups, are also plaintiffs
in the lawsuit. Last year,
beekeepers across the coun
try reported losses o f 40
percent to 50 percent o f
their hives.
Lorenz said O regon
beekeepers are concerned
about an o th er hot, dry
summer, and he suggested
something anyone can do
now to help their local bees
survive.
“Drought has a horrible
effect on bees,” Lorenz said.
“When there’s a drought,
it’s really important that
you plant bee-friendly flow
ers around your house and
keep them irrigated. It’s re
ally landscaping that causes
bees to survive hard times
like that.”
More inform ation is
available on the Oregon
State Beekeepers Associa
tion website, www.orsba.
org. Click on “Beekeeping
Schools and Events.”
Rep. Smith welcomes Heppner High to Capitol
Today, about 40 stu
dents from Heppner High
School enjoyed a tour of
the Capitol, the Oregon
Supreme Court, and mem
bers of the choir sang dur
ing the Opening Ceremo
nies of the Oregon House
of Representatives. Rep.
Smith also spent an hour
with the students explain
ing exactly how the legis
lative process works.
During the Opening
Ceremonies of the House
of Representatives, choir
members led by Mr. Rich
ard Drake sang music enti
tled, “Al Shlosha D’varim.”
The translation of this is:
The World is Sustained by
Three Things: Truth, Jus
tice and Peace.
Patrick Collins, a stu
dent from Heppner High
School said, “It was a great
visit. We learned about our
history and the opportuni
ty to sing in the House of
Representatives was awe
some.”
Mr. Drake, the Hep
pner High School K-12
Music Director said, “We
appreciate Representative
Smith rolling out the red
carpet for us. This is an op
portunity o f a lifetime to
both sing and see our gov
ernment in action.”
“It was a pleasure to
meet with these young
people from Heppner High
School. They represented
their community very well.
I believe they left with a
better understanding of
their responsibilities and
rights as citizens of Or
egon," said Representative
Smith.
Have a news story or photo for the Gazette?
e-mail editor@rapidserve.net, call 541-676-9228 or stop by
the office on Willow Street, Heppner
DEADLINE- MONDAY AT 5:00 pm
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I
have more cucumbers, you
know. It does increase your
cucumbers and a number
o f different
crops strong
ly, i f you
have bees.”
L o re n z
said renting
out hives to
farm ers for
crop pollina
tion can also
be profitable.
However, the
list o f p o s
sible hazards
for bees in
cludes pesti
cides and bacterial infec
tions, wildfires and drought
- and not all cities allow
hives in neighborhoods.
Steve Ellis is part of a
national lawsuit claiming the
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is not doing
enough to keep bee-toxic
pesticides off the market.
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