I
Health district board to
put levy before voters
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
VOL. 132
NO. 46 8 Pages Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Bv April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health D istrict, at their
regular meeting Monday
night in Heppner, voted to
put a six-year levy before
the voters for operating
funds at a rate of .39 cents
per thousand valuation. The
district’s current .39 cent
levy is set to expire and
board members agreed that
with an uncertain future,
especially the upcoming
closure of the coal-fired
plant in Boardman, which
puts around $200 thousand
in tax monies a year into the
district's coffers, it would
only be prudent to seek
another levy. The coal-fired
plant is scheduled to close
in 2020.
The board approved
contract changes with Dr.
Ed Berretta and an extension
to allow additional time for
the district and Dr. Berretta
to continue to negotiate
terms.
The d i s t r i c t a ls o
a p p ro v ed a p ro p o s e d
contract for Dr. Daniel
Hambleton, who has said
he intends to move from
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon A laska to re lo c a te in
CREZ discusses county-wide
housing shortage
Morrow County. MCHD Fam ily Care w ould be
CEO Dan Grigg said that staying in Morrow County
the district was looking at in 2014.
February as a possible start
“We also have several
date for Dr. Hambleton.
patients w ho have expressed
In th e p ro c e s s o f concern about the financial
n e g o tia tin g c o n tra c ts , hardship they would have if
Grigg has been working we followed through on our
to standardize the district’s plans to stop accepting that
contracts with physicians. plan,” said Grigg. So, after a
G rig g a n d C h ie f conference call with Family
Financial O fficer
Care leadership, and
N icole M ahoney
“ assu ran ces th at
told the board that
they would correct
th e d is tr ic t has
the problems that
agreed to continue
have plagued us
accepting Family
for many years—
C are or P rem ier
despite unfulfilled
Care, a M edicare Barbara Huwe prom ises in past
A d v a n t a g e
years,” the district
insurance plan. The district agreed to continue their
had earlier announced that re la tio n s h ip w ith the
they w ould not accept insurance company with
Family Care, effective Dec. numerous stipulations.
31, because of the difficulty
Barbara Huwe from
in communicating with the lrrigon attended the Monday
insurance company (the night m eeting as a new
district’s calls to Family board member, replacing
Care went unanswered), David Bums, lrrigon, who
d iffic u lty in receiv in g e a rlie r resig n ed citin g
payment from them and personal reasons.
other problems. The district
In other business, the
then learned that Family board:
Care had been advertising in
-approved a previous
the district’s area and finally
-See HEALTH DISTRICT
received confirmation that
LEVY/PAGE SEVEN
Local woman raising
aid for the Philippines
Not enough available rentals
By David Sykes
The Columbia River
E nterprise Zone board
held a lengthy discussion
Monday on the continued
rental housing shortage in
all parts of Morrow County.
The board agreed that the
problem is only expected
to get worse as more jobs
are added in the Boardman
area . T he b o ard also
discussed the dual problem
that 80 percent of the people
working in Boardman are
living elsewhere, mainly
in Hermiston and the Tri-
Cities, WA.
In response the CREZ
has funded a two-pronged
housing program not only
to aid developers wanting
to construct new rental
units in Morrow County,
but also to provide financial
assistance to home buyers
moving into the county.
The board has funded the
program with $135,000,
but the actual plan is still
in the development stages
and not yet ready for
implementation.
At the invitation o f
CREZ, two officials from
G reater Eastern Oregon
Development Corporation,
GEODC, which administers
housing programs, attended
the CREZ meeting to discuss
how the new program s
m ight be im plem ented.
The CREZ is considering
contracting with GEODC to
administer its new housing
program.
G EO DC E x ec u tiv e
Director Christine Nelson
questioned the wisdom of
establishing a financing
-See CREZ TALKS HOUS-
ING/PAGE FOUR
Murray family brings third
generation into pharmacy business
By Andrea Di Salvo
M urray’s Drug is a
long-established business
in Heppner, and now Laurie
Murray is continuing the
family business into the
third generation.
M urray, 25, is the
d a u g h te r o f M u rra y ’s
D rug ow ners Ann and
John M urray. The lone
female in a family with four
brothers—Luke, Sean and
Ian in college or graduate
studies, and Kevin still
attending H H S— she is
the third generation o f
the Murray family to don
the title and uniform o f
the pharmacist. She is the
sixth pharm acist in the
family, after grandfather
Rod Murray, parents John
and A nn M urray, and
John’s siblings, Mark and
Maralee Murray. Sean, who
currently has two years left
in pharmacy school, will
make seven.
Murray started with
the p harm acy in m id-
S eptem ber, rig h t afte r
receiv in g the required
certificate from the Oregon
Board of Pharmacists.
“ You have to have
that paper certificate in
your hand,” says Murray,
adding that unlike some
c e r tif ic a tio n s , o n lin e
validation isn’t enough.
“As soon as that came, I
was working.”
M urray divides her
time between the family’s
Heppner and Condon stores.
working in rotation with her
parents and her grandfather
as well as spending two
weekends a month filling
in at St. Charles Medical
Center in Bend, OR. She is
a full-fledged pharmacist,
a title that did n ’t come
without effort.
M urray says being
a p h a rm a c is t u sed to
“only” require a Bachelor
o f Pharmacy, a five-year
degree, which is what her
parents have. Now, though,
the bar has been raised, and
pharmacists are required to
have a Doctor of Pharmacy,
or PharmD, degree, which
means a total of seven or
eight years of college.
Murray says part of this
is because of the changing
G-T Trophy Corner
role of pharmacists. While
the work always included
more than simply doling
out pills, she says pharmacy
w ork is m ore c lin ic a l
now; pharmacists have to
understand disease states
and how the drugs affect
diseases and patients, as
well as drug interactions.
Pharmacists may have to
give immunizations, and
some pharmacists even run
clinics and work closely
with doctors.
Murrays says pharmacy
work wasn’t a given for her,
but there was a natural
attraction.
“ I knew I w an ted
something in healthcare.
I like being with people
and interacting with them.
I considered nursing but
came back to pharmacy
because I grew up around
it,” she says. “I’m interested
in helping people know and
manage their medicines,
because that can be pretty
daunting at times. It can
get pretty confusing; there’s
a new drug on the market
every week, it seems.”
So, after graduating
from Heppner High School
in 2006, Murray headed to
Oregon State University,
w h ere she re c e iv e d a
Annabelle Dayandante Campbell
Annabelle Dayandante
C am pbell, H eppner, is
raising donations to aid the
people of the Philippines
who are suffering from a
devastating typhoon.
She has been in front
of the Heppner post office
for around a week seeking
donations. She says that the
response in Heppner has
been very good; she has
filled five boxes, which is
even better than when she
had been seeking donations
in Hermiston.
Cam pbell, 36, came
to the U .S . from the
Philippines in 1996, first
living in Hermiston and
then moving to Heppner
in 2003. She is married to
Robert Campbell.
She is from Montalban,
Rizal, The Philippines. Her
mother and one brother live
in Hermiston, but she still
has two sisters and one
brother in The Philippines.
C am pbell says that
LBC Cargo and Carrier
service will ship the items
and has said they will waive
the shipping costs. Melissa
A nn M a c a ru b b o wi l l
-See PHILIPPINE RELIEF/
PAGE TWO
Jfrom the 1944
arcfiibesi of the
GAZETTE-TIMES
Gazette
closed for
Thanksgiving
The Heppner Gazette-
T im es w ill be clo sed
in o b s e rv a n c e o f the
Thanksgiving Day holiday
Thursday, Nov. 28, and
Friday, Nov. 29.
Normal business hours
will resume Monday, Dec.
2 .
We wish everyone a safe
-See THREE GENERA
TIONS OF PHARMACY/ and happy Thanksgiving
PAGE THREE weekend.
BE CLOSED
T h u r s d a y 28 t h
f «FRIDAY 29 t h
SA
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TpPtanlcsflivinfl
Kenzi Hughes, 16, of Heppner took down this monster 6x6 bull elk on her family's property
in the Columbia Basin Unit. She shot the elk Friday, Nov. 15. with a 7mm Shooting Times
Westerner. Kenzi is the daughter of Kevin and Angie Hughes. -Contributedphoto
■ l V u « *
*
*urfs,
Ntorrow County Grain Gro'
Laxington 989-8221 • 1 -800-452-7398 for tarn equipment n*tt nur web me u www men net
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