Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2013)
5<K HEPP Mustangs advance to state semifinals B essie W etzell N ew sp ap er Librarv University of O regon ^ /E u g e n e , O R 97403 \ ette Mustang Senior Jordan Bailey avoids a tackle during the quarterfinals game in Heppner last Saturday. The victorious Mustangs advance to the semifinals in Hillsboro this weekend. -Photo by Sandy Matthews VOL. 132 N O . 45 10 Pages Wednesday, November 20, 2013 -See the fu ll story on PAGE SIX. Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Pioneer Memorial Hospice to present ‘Lights of Hope’ As Cover Oregon crumbles, health district works to help consumers pick up the pieces * W Y NO W FOR C O V E R A G E STARTING JA N U A R Y 1ST The much-publicized Cover Oregon website remains at zero enrollments since its Oct. 1 launch. By Andrea Di Salvo A month and a half after the much-touted launch of Cover Oregon, a healthcare exchange website designed to help Oregon residents navigate the new healthcare m a rk e tp la c e u n d e r Obamacare, the website has yet to enroll a single person. C over O re g o n enrollment remains at zero not because there have been no ap p licatio n s— there were around 25,000 applications as of Tuesday according to Michael Cox o f C over O regon— but because the website itself does not work. C over O regon was largely a result of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber’s “grand vision” in response to the Affordable Care Act (A C A ), or O bam acare. W h ile s ta te s had the option to use the federal g o v e r n m e n t’s h e a lth insurance exchange website or create their own, Oregon lead ers d ete rm in e d to create a “one-stop shop” for residents to sign up for insurance, whether they qualify for M edicaid or need commercial insurance. M ost states opted for a s e p a r a t e e n r o ll m e n t process for people who appeared to qualify for Medicaid. Despite technical difficulties, though, Oregon officials have stuck to their vision of a single healthcare portal. However, the Cover O regon w ebsite, w hich launched Oct. 1, has failed to live up to expectations. According to the Associated Press, Cover Oregon’s risk consultant firm, Maximus, warned months ago that the project was in danger of missing the Oct. 1 deadline to go live. Despite concerns. the program launched, only to grind to a halt. The online system still doesn’t work, and the exchange has yet to enroll a single person in health insurance. Oct. 31, Cover Oregon released a statement that Oregonians who want to get health insurance coverage by Jan. 1,2014, will still be able to get it through Cover Oregon. “We’re going to make sure that every Oregonian who wants coverage at the beginning of the year gets it,” said Kitzhaber. “There have been ch allen g es. There often are when new ideas are put into action, but we’re going to get this done.” For many Oregonians, however, the situation has become less a “want to” than a “need to.” According Those whose loved ones have passed away in the past year will have a special way to remember them this Christmas season, thanks to Lights of Hope, a new project by Pioneer Memorial Home Health and Hospice. On Dec. 5 at 6 p.m., -See COVER OREGON shortly after H eppner’s CR UMBLES/PA GE FOUR tree-lighting ceremony on Main Street, the hospice will conduct a tree-lighting ceremony of its own at St. County school district hears of school conference success By April Sykes The Morrow County School D istrict heard a presentation by Heppner H igh S chool te a c h e rs co ncerning the new ly- im p lem en ted plan for conferences for all HHS freshmen and their parents at their regular meeting held Nov. 12 at Heppner High School. HHS head teacher Greg Grant and language arts teacher Jeannie C ollins touted the success o f the p la n , w h ich in c lu d e d inform ation on diploma requirements, state testing for diplomas, including the PSAT, SAT, SVAB and ACT tests and how to prepare, e d u c a tio n , co n ce rn in g potential career interests and direction, sophomore year schedule planning, the Eastern Promise plan, whereby students can earn college credits while still in high school, and the best communication practices for student success. Grant also informed the board o f junior high acad em ic co n fe re n c e s and s e n io r tr a n s itio n conferences, both scheduled for Nov. 7. The board also heard details of the Ag students’ trip to the national FFA c o n v e n tio n fro m Ag teacher Beth Dickenson and students Kenzie Gumb and Kaelyn Lindsay. The board received the following report from S u p e r in te n d e n t D irk Dirksen: -“the Morrow County Education Foundation will be providing some money to the school district in the foreseeable future” with the tim ing and am ount currently unknown. He said the m oney w ould “ g re a tly im p ro v e our ability to address our lack o f wireless infrastructure district wide”; - th e d i s t r i c t h a s met with Western Land Consulting, a subcontractor working with American Tower, which would like to -See SCHOOL DISTRICT MEETING/PAGE EIGHT City considers ordinance allowing liens for unpaid utility bills By David Sykes The city o f Heppner is considering adopting an ordinance allowing liens to be placed on properties with overdue w ater and sewer bills, the Heppner City Council was told at its monthly meeting Monday night. Other cities have such an ordinance. If adopted it would give the city a chance to recover unpaid water and sewer bills that sometimes run more than $ 1,000, City M anager Kim Cutsforth told the council. Cutsforth said it gives the city a tool to collect bills when owners sometimes leave town with unpaid bills. If the home has a lien on it, the unpaid bills will be paid when the property is sold. She said the ordinance should also help with collections even when not enforced. The council authorized Cutsforth to meet with the city attorney to work on the new ordinance. In o th e r b u s in e s s the council was told that the city’s street sweeper is back in service after having repairs done over the last couple of months, and is doing a good job. The sweeper, which originally cost the city $40,000, was sent to Portland several months ago for an estimated $20,000 in repairs. The repair company, however, revised the repair estimate once the sweeper was in shop up to $32,000. That amount was subsequently negotiated down to $28,000 and the sweeper is now back in Heppner “doing a great job,” says Cutsforth. The city uses the sweeper about twice per month, she told the council. In o t h e r a c t i o n th e c o u n c il to o k th e recommendation of Barnett & M oro PC, the c ity ’s auditor, and changed the way checks are signed at city hall. In their annual audit report the accounting Firm recom m ended that “the employee preparing an d p r o d u c in g b a n k Robanai Disque and Carmelo Di Salvo of Pioneer Memorial Home Health and Hospice sit in the spot where the Lights of Hope tree will stand as they discuss details of the upcoming ceremony. -Photo by Mallorie Jones checks should not also be an authorized check sipner or reconcile bank accounts.” The accountant found no e v id en ce o f mismanagement, and made the recommendation only to strengthen the city’s internal accounting controls. After hearing the report the council voted to remove the city treasurer Judy -See CITY COUNCIL DIS CUSSES LIEN/PAGE FIVE Patrick’s Senior Center in Heppner. While the tree in the senior center lobby will already be decorated as usual with multi-colored lights and a variety of ornam ents, D irector of Pioneer Memorial Home Health and Hospice Robanai Disque and Home Health and H ospice C haplain Carmelo Di Salvo say the -See LIGHTS OF HOPE/ PAGE FIVE County programs among 30 to receive Wildhorse grants Pendleton, OR—The W ildhorse Foundation, a co m m u n ity b e n e fit fund established by the C onfederated Tribes o f th e U m a tilla In d ia n Reservation (CTUIR) to support organizations in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, announced th e ir grant awards for the third quarter of 2013 last week. A total of $ 176,476 was awarded to 30 recipients, bringing the total for 2013 to almost $630,000. Of that, $17,000 was awarded to Morrow County recipients, with another $12,636 to program s that work in Morrow County. Local organizations fu n d e d in th e th ir d q u a rte r for 2013 are: Neighborhood Center o f South Morrow County in Heppner, to reconstruct the old, d isin teg ratin g cinder-block building on site, $10,000; Irrigon Little League in Irrigon, OR for a youth sports field com plex ex p an sio n to include backstop, chain link fe n c in g , d u g o u t, benches and a scoreboard, $7,000; Inland Northwest Musicians, Hermiston, OR for music education and performance opportunities for youth o f U m atilla, M orrow and W allow a C ounties, $3,000; and SMART of Portland, OR for Umatilla and Morrow C ounty SM ART PreK program expansion, $9,636. The W i l d h o r s e Foundation Board consider grants that cover the areas of public health, public safety, education, the arts, historic preservation, gam bling addiction services, salmon restoration, environmental protection, and cultural activities. Hie quarterly deadlines for applications to thé foundation are Jan. 1, April 1, July 1 and Oct. 1. For more information on Wildhorse Foundation guidelines or to receive an application, visit www. wildhorseresort.com or call Tiah DeGrofft at 541-966- 1628. r p owerheat Infrared Q uartz Heater Duraflame Heaters & fti cc • Enersy E ^ c > e n t i J ^ Oil • • & W a rm s up to 1 0 0 0 sq ft ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. I Í Several M odels to Choose From V Safe fo r kids fa m ily M o rro w C ou n ty G rain G row ers G reen F eed A S e e d 242 W . L in d e n W ay, H e p p n e r • 676-9422 • 989-6221 (MCOG main office) l
