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.
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-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
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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