Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2013)
SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 18,2013 Tax aide volunteers sought PENDLETON, OR— With tax time just around the corner, RSVP o f Eastern O regon and AARP are gearing up to find volunteers to work at various tax preparation lo c a tio n s th r o u g h o u t U m a tilla and M orrow counties. “ We are looking for volunteers interested in preparing taxes using a computerized system,” says Scot Jacobson, volunteer P rogram M an ag er for C o m m u n ity A c ti o n Program o f East Central Oregon (CAPECO). “IRS training is provided and we will assist you along the way.” Volunteers are needed for all areas o f the tax p r e p a r a tio n s e r v ic e , including clerical reception, tax preparation, computer te c h n ic ia n , c o m p u te r tran sm itter and review staff. Volunteer tax sites are geared toward low-income individuals and seniors, BABY AT PMH a lth o u g h a n y o n e can participate in the services. Sites are tentatively scheduled for Pendleton, H e r m is to n , I r r i g o n , Boardman and Heppner. Each site is open one to two days per week depending on the location. Anyone interested in volunteering or obtaining additional inform ation, co n ta c t the V o lunteer Service Office at CAPECO. 541 -276-1926 or toll-free at 1-800-752-1139. STORM DAMAGES POWER LINES -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE along the highway needed had been restored to power, but power was still out at various locations in northern M o rro w and w e s te rn Umatilla County as repairs and damage assessments were underway. U m a tilla E le c tr ic crews worked through the night to restore power and clear Highway 207 near the Butter Creek power substation. Damage irt the area remained at 12 transmission poles ju st north o f the s u b sta tio n n e a r E cho Junction. In addition, at least 16 poles south of the substation replacement. Regionally, a clear line of damage could be followed from the far southw est r e a c h e s o f B o m b in g Range near Findley Bio and Cascade Specialties eastward through to Butter Creek. Hie squall line extended further east, which resulted in outages in the Mission, D espain and M issouri Gulch areas. A crew from Columbia Basin was called to replace eight distribution poles b ro k en n ear B om bing Range, which took out power to Findley Bio and Cascade Specialties; they were restored to power around 7 a m. Monday. By Monday morning, it was estimated nearly 50 poles were broken and in need of replacement. By Monday afternoon, about 380 Umatilla Electric custom ers remained out o f power, the company reported, m ostly in the Butter Creek area. In addition to Umatilla Electric line crews, a crew from Columbia Basin and three contract crews from the Portland-V ancouver area w orked to restore power to UEC customers. Prescribed burning in Heppner Unit could impact hunting and camping activities Pendleton, OR— Fire management staff on the Umatilla National Forest are p re p a rin g fo r fall prescribed burning, which could impact access and camping opportunities in several fall hunting units. Area, road and trail closures w ill go into effect ju st prior to, and during, bum operations, which typically take two to seven days. One o f the affected areas is the Gulliford Bum, located in the H eppner H u n tin g U n it, w h ich encompasses 3,500 acres on the North Fork John Day Ranger District west of State Highway 395 between forest road 5308 and forest road 5314. Forest o fficials are advising hunters to plan ahead and avoid camping in designated prescribed bum areas during this 2013 hunting season. P rescribed bu rn in g is highly dependent on p r e c is e w e a th e r and fuel conditions, and fall w eather provides some o f the best conditions— dry m aterial and cooler te m p e ra tu re s. B urning could occur anytime from late Septem ber through early November, which coincides with several big- game hunting seasons. Additional areas across the forest are also scheduled for prescribed burning but will not involve large area closures. “It’s important to note that not all proposed bums planned for this fall may be completed since typical weather conditions provide limited burn w indow s,” said Chris Johnson, Deputy Fire Staff Officer. Firefighters will ignite the bum perimeter by hand using drip torches. On the larger burns, the interior will be aerial ignited, via helicopter, using a plastic sp h ere d is p e n s e r th at drops ping-pong-like balls through the tree canopy that catch fire on the ground. For this reason, it is important that hunters avoid setting up camp within the designated bum perimeter. “ The safety o f our firefighters and the public are top p rio rity ,” said Johnson. While closures may inconvenience hunters, the long-term reward is worth the short-term restrictions on forest use. “ U n fo rtu n a te ly , hunting season coincides with prescribed burning season. We understand this will impact hunters, but prescribed burns are necessary to reintroduce fire to th e la n d sc a p e and encourage healthy v e g e ta tio n th a t w ill u l t i m a t e l y im p r o v e landscapes and forage for big game,” added Johnson. Partnerships with the Blue Mountain Elk Initiate. R ocky M o u n ta in Elk Foundation and Washington Department o f Fish and Wildlife provide funding and in-kind support for prescribed burning projects. A dditional inform ation and maps of the proposed p re s c rib e d b u rn s are available on the Umatilla National Forest website, www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla/ or at any forest office. For more information concerning the Umatilla National Forest Prescribed Burning program, contact C hris Johnson at 541- 278-3704 or Dale Boyd, Heppner Ranger District, 541-676-9187. Bank of ta* LENDER KM l MOW« Don’t stand on the side lines to get a taste of something good - call Joe or Russell today for all your ag & commercial loans/ -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE Brian (Thompson).” Her husband works for the Thompsons on their ranch. Brian then told his wife, Susie, to get Amy while he located Brian. Susie, who is a nurse, suggested that Amy go to the hospital in Heppner to be checked out prior to taking oft'for the Tri-Cities, which is about an hour and a half away. They checked in at PMH around 2:30 p.m., which was about the time that Brian got there, also. A little more than an hour from then, at 3:41 p.m.—not time enough to get to the Tri-Cities, or even to Hermiston, 45 minutes away, or Pendleton, about an hour and 15 minutes away— Walker arrived. “I had him ‘au naturel,”’ said Amy. “ I asked if I could have an epidural, but they said ‘No,’” she said, laughing. “It was fast.” “ I was very scared when they told me I was going to have the baby here.” B ut, a c c o rd in g to all accounts, everything went very well. The baby w as d e liv e re d by Dr. Russ Nichols, assisted by Director of Nursing Molly Rhea and many of the PMH staff. Sheridan Tarnasky, PA, served as pediatrician. E veryone ju s t quit doing what they were doing and came to help, said Rhea. “Everyone was so excited.” Amy said she got about 2-1/2 hours of sleep on Thursday night. Amy and W alker were to be discharged from PMH on Friday evening. The new little family said they had relatives coming to help out. Michael Blauer, former M orrow County Health D istrict CEO, told the BMCC to offer retirement planning, investment classes Bl ue M o u n t a i n Community College will offer retirement planning and investment classes in Heppner beginning Sept. 30. T h e c l a s s e s a re designed to help attendees gain the skills to estimate how much money they need to retire, learn how to create retirement goals, review investment basics, and more. The series is being offered beginning Sept. 30 and will meet at the Pettyjohn Building, 430 West Linden Way in Heppner. The classes are from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and will be held on three consecutive Mondays, with Investment Basics on Sept. 30, Retirement Basics Part 1 on Oct. 7, and Retirement Basics Part II on Oct. 14. The instructor is Rita Van Schoiack, a financial advisor and owner of Blue Russell Seewald Loan Officer Heppner & lone 541-676-9125 541-422-7466 ■Ter n Loan» ‘Lines of C redit »Commercial Real Estate Loan* www.beobank.com Member KDIC ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. M o u n ta in In v e stm e n t Management LLC. The classes are free and include a downloadable w o rk b o o k . A d v an ce registration is requirec. Please call Anne Morter at 541-422-7040 or email her at am orter@ bluecc.edu. Students may also register online at w w w .bluecc. edu. Rita Van Schoiack is a financial advisor with C etera A dvisors LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Electric Co-op to begin utility pole testing C o lu m b ia B a s in Electric Co-op will begin its annual utility pole checking work for 2013 starting Sept. 16. CBEC will be checking all poles out of the Ruggs Substation. N a t i o n a l W ood Treating Company has been contracted to perform this work for CBEC. The pole checking will be conducted with a pickup and ATV, and all NWT vehicles will be marked with CBEC signage. The an n u al p o le -c h e c k in g process is necessary to stay in compliance with Oregon Public Utility Commission and National Electric Safety Code regulations. A ny q u e s tio n s or concerns, contact Brian Kollman or Josh Coiner at 541-676-9146. CREZ BOARD -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE are expanding at the Port. how approximately $30.000 not returned to the CREZ was accounted for, however no action was taken. In other action the board voted unanimously to hire Will Carey of Hood River as CREZ attorney. In a long career Carey has served as municipal ju d g e for Hood River, county counsel for Hood R iv er C ounty, county c o u n s e l for S h erm an County and city attorney for Arlington and Wasco. He s p e c ia liz e s in corporate law, municipal law, land use real estate, c o n tra c ts and g en era l business law, and w ill assist the CREZ in contract neg o tiatio ns and other business of the board. In other discussions the board talked about a housing program being formulated by CREZ and several upcoming job fairs planned by businesses that “ We need to be at these job fairs and put out the information about our housing programs,” said CREZ board member and Boardman City Manager Karen Pettigrew. She said C onA gra, which plans on adding up to 100 jobs with its new plant expansion located in the Enterprise Zone at the Port, has three job fairs planned for Hermiston in October, November and December. Although the CREZ has plans to im plem ent a home purchasing grant program for people moving to M orrow County, the program will not be ready before the first October job fair. CREZ board member and P o rt o f M o rro w M a n a g e r G a r y Ne a l encouraged promotion of the new housing program, which would see CREZ giving cash grants to people buying homes anywhere in the county, but he stressed that it should be the responsibility o f local econom ic developm ent groups to do it. “ We think i t ’s the economic development that should be pushing this,” Neil said. He did say, however, that it should be CREZ’s responsibility to make sure the economic development g ro u p s g e t a c c u r a te in fo rm atio n about the housing programs. “A good place to start (getting out the information) should be at these job fairs,” Pettigrew said. “Job fair is the place,” Neal said. “Maybe set up a booth that says ‘Live in Morrow C ounty.’ But putting a boo th to g e th e r is not CREZ’s responsibility,” he emphasized. T h e Landing Honrs Fall Hours Joe Perry Loan Officer Heppner Gazette-Times in 2010 that the last baby was bom at the hospital on February 14, 1986. The Gazette-Times confirmed that the baby was Courtney Nelson, daughter of Chuck and Lisa Nelson o f Lexington. The G-T also learned that Chuck Nelson was one of the first babies bom at the hospital at that location on August 8, 1950, and Justin Nelson, Chuck and Lisa’s son and current Morrow County District Attorney, was also born there. According to G-T archives, the next to the last baby bom at PMH on February 12, 1986, was Carl Miller, son of Debbie and Ray Miller. Obstetric services were discontinued in the mid- 80s when concerns arose over liability and other issues, such as the ability to provide anesthesiology and perform surgeries. F u ll se rv ic e d in in g T h u r s d a y M o n d ay 8 a .m . to 8 p .m . Dinner specials every w eekend Featuring Juniper Kelly’s Rubs, Spic and Marinates, Home made soups made daily 541 656-8760 - End o f season closing Nov. 10th .VIorrow/Cìrant ©Il V park 7IOOO FS Hd. H rppnrr. O H 97836
