Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2014)
I Bessie Wetzel I Newspaper I ibrar\ University of Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 Cardinals fly into state playoffs this week HEPPNER lone takes second in districts imes VOL. 133 N 0. 9 10 Pages Wednesday, February 26, 2014 The lone Cardinals took second place in the recent Big Sky district tournament, earning them a slot in the first round playoffs in the IA state championship tournament. -Photo by Paula Emmet. Morrow County, Heppner, -See fu ll story PAGE SIX Health district to welcome new doctor Governor appoints By April Sykes The Morrow County H e a lth D i s tr i c t B o a rd a p p r o v e d Dr. D a n i e l Hambleton's credentialing and his appointment to the medical staff at their m e e tin g M onday night in lone. CEO Da n Grigg said that Dr. H a m b l e t o n w ill b e g in w o rk in g for the district on Tuesday. March 11, and is expected to work two days per week at Pioneer Memorial C lin ic in H e p p n e r and two at the Irrigon Medical C linic. G rig g said that the district plans to host a “ m e e t and g r e e t ” to welcome Dr. Hambleton to the community. G rig g said th at the district also plans to host a public open house for Dr. Ed Berretta, who will be retiring. “Given his many years o f service to the health district and the community, we would like to give the public an opportunity to thank him and to wish him well,” said Grigg. Board Chair Larry Mills named several members of the communities served by the district to be appointed to a P o l i t i c a l A c t io n Committee to work toward passage of a supplemental tax levy. If passed, the new levy will replace the current levy which expires. Board Chair Larry Mills stressed that the levy will not increase, but will remain at the .39 cents per thousand assessed valuation as in previous levies. He reiterated that the levy will ensure that the district can continue to provide existing se rvices for em ergency services. Home Health and Hospice. Morrow County voters first passed a three-year supplemental levy for the district eight years ago and, then, a fte r a gap, passed the current five-year supplemental levy. A s a r e s u l t o f the last levy, th e d i s t r i c t accomplished remodeling o f th e I rr ig o n C lin ic , purchased an ambulance for Irrigon and continued to s t a f f I r r i g o n a n d Boardman with full-time paramedics, in addition to maintaining services. With passage of a new levy, the district hopes to be able replace ambulances for the communities o f Boardman and Heppner. T h e d i s t r i c t h e a rd good financial news this month, with a $240,737 profit for January. C hief Financial Officer Nicole Mahoney told the board that a $100,200 payment from M edicaid for electronic h e a lth re c o rd s cost reimbursement, the second payment in a three-year phase, aided the bottom line, as did over $75,000 in community service fees from wind farms in lieu of taxes. J a n u a r y ’s financials showed $669,014 in gross patient revenue, a small increase over December’s $668,410, $43,393 in total rev e n u e d e d u c tio n s for $625,620 in net patient revenue, $127,629 in tax revenue and $116,002 in other operating revenue, which includes the Medicaid p a y m e n t , $ 7 1 4 ,0 5 1 in o p eratin g e x p e n se s and $85,536 in a non-operating gain, which includes the wind farm payments. In other business, the board: -learned from Grigg th at the s e a rc h for an ex ecu tiv e d ire c to r o f primary care to manage the clinics and develop primary care service is still ongoing. He said the district brought one candidate to the district the previous week for interviews. Grigg said that it was more important to find the right candidate that to be in a rush to hire. -discussed the possibility o f using the c o u n ty annex b u ild in g near P ioneer M em orial Clinic for either physical therapy or for health district administrative offices. The annex building is currently used for Morrow County financial department offices, which will be relocated when the new county annex building is completed. The Gilliam-Bisbee building, which c u rrently houses th e M o r r o w C o u n t y Health D e partm ent and C om m unity C ou n se lin g Solutions offices, was also Salem, OR—Governor K i t z h a b e r last w e e k announced the appointment o f Kelsie Davis McDaniel as Union County District Attorney to fill the vacancy created by Tim Thompson’s retirement. “ K elsie Davis M c D a n i e l ’s b road experience in the public s a fe ty c o m m u n ity will s e rv e h e r w e ll as she leads the Union County District Attorney’s Office,” s a id K i t z h a b e r . “ He r com m itm ent to bringing t o g e t h e r p e o p l e and collaborating across the public safety spectrum , from law enforcement to community corrections to mental health and human service professionals, will help keep our communities safe and reduce victimization.” McDaniel received a Bachelor of Arts from the University o f Washington and a Juris Doctorate from -Set HEALTH DISTRICT Gonzaga University School PAGE TEN of Law. CREZ to deal direct with communities on housing programs Bv David Sykes The Columbia River Enterprise Zone (CREZ) will forego any alliance with Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation (GEODC), and instead deal directly with communities and c o mmu n i t y g roups over housing programs, the CREZ said at its meeting Monday morning. Last O c t o b e r the CREZ committed $ 150.000 towards a housing program aimed both at increasing the number o f workers buying homes in the county and stimulating the creation of rental units, both identified as problem s in M orrow County. The C R E Z had contacted GEODC about formulating and running the program. However, after several meetings, a draft plan and a public forum on housing, the CREZ decided not to move forward with a GEODC partnership. The CREZ did not make a formal announcem ent about the c h a n g e o f direction; however, several members felt the public forum was the wrong way to proceed with formulating a plan to deal with the county’s housing issues. Most board members also felt the GEODC-sponsored forum focused too much on “ livability issues” o f Boardman and not enough on the immediate housing problems at hand. A b o u t 20 p e o p l e , including property owners, bankers, city officiais and the media, attended the Feb. 4 forum at the Riverfront C e n te r in B oardm an to d isc u s s c h a lle n g e s and solutions to developing new housing in Morrow County. The forum w as led by Phil Nachbar, project m anager with G E O D C . Most o f the discussion was about Boardman and how to keep more Port employees living in the community. It is estimated that 800 of the 1,400 employees at the Port o f Morrow live o u tsid e B oardm an, and with the Port o f Morrow and the Enterprise Zone having great success in locating businesses here, jobs and employment are only expected to grow over the coming years. ConAgra is in the middle o f adding a new processing facility t hat will e m p l o y o v e r 100 w orkers, Tillam ook Cheese is adding a new facility and Vadata. which is associated with Amazon, com, is building new server farms at the Port. A ll o f t h e s e n e w f ac i l i t i e s , pl us o th e r s , are lo cating wi t hi n the Enterprise Zone and are paying fees instead o f taxes to the C R E Z , whi ch is expected to take in at least $23 million in fees over the next 15 years. The CREZ is using the money to mitigate the impact of the expansion on effected communities and taxing districts. At the public forum several developers voiced a negative impressions of Boardman over its lack of retail and entertainm ent choices, and Boardm an Community Director Barry Beyeler was even quoted as saying “demand isn’t the issue, livability is.” A bout a w e e k after the forum an Op-Ed piece by Pendleton real estate MustangWrestlers Head to State See Pages 5 & 6 ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Kelsie McDaniel as Union County DA b ro k er Kalvin Garton a p p e a r e d in t he E a s t Oregonian addressing the forum and criticizing the city o f Boardman for what he said were past and present planning mistakes. G a r t o n ’s ar t i cl e e nde d by sa y in g “ only m ajo r changes in B o a r d m a n ’s city government and city employees can turn around these negative perceptions.” Focusing the forum on Boardnian’s livability and bringing out past disputes, instead o f dealing with immediate housing issues, went against the C R EZ board's desires, and they decided not to proceed with the GEODC partnership. In other business at the me e t i n g t he b o a rd heard a financial report from its fiscal agent, and also received an updated lease purchase agreement from Marc Rogelstad o f the Boardman Rural Fire District. The CREZ had earlier comm itted funds and authorized Rogelstad to mo v e fo rw a r d wi t h purchase of a new fire truck for the district. She began her legal c a r e e r in th e M o rr o w County District Attorney’s O ffic e . She is m a rrie d to H eppner native Kyle McDaniel, a 2001 Heppner High graduate, and the son o f S cott and Joan ( C h r is tm a n ) M c D a n ie l o f Heppner and grandson o f B etty C h r is tm a n of Lexington. Kyle works for the U.S Forest Service. After Morrow County, McDaniel served as deputy district attorney in the Union County District Attorney’s Office, where she handled a wide range o f cases from minor thefts to homicides. She has se rv e d on the board of the Mt. Emily Safe Center, volunteered with the Classroom Law Project and the Oregon State Bar New Lawyer Mentoring Program Committee, and presented to v a r i o u s c o m m u n i t y g r o u p s , i n c l u d i n g th e La Grande Police Youth Public Safety A cadem y and the Center for Human Development. Remembrance walk/ run to benefit area ambulances C o o rd in a to rs o f the annual Remembrance W a ! k / 5 K Run have a n n o u n c e d that this y e a r ’s proceeds will go to purchase HoverM atts for both H eppner-based ambulances. In the spirit o f keeping d o n a ti o n s local and benefitting local healthcare and the elderly, Friends Helping Friends committee members approached staff at Pioneer Memorial Hospital earlier this year and asked if the hospital needed any equipment that the annual fundraiser could help obtain. When sta ff members put their heads together over the question, the HoverMatt became the answer. A c c o r d i n g to P MH Director o f Nursing Molly Rhea, the HoverM att is, simply put. an inflatable air mattress transfer system. “ T he H o v e r M a t t is positioned on the gurney, so when the patient needs to be transferred from the a m b u l a n c e g u rn ey , we will be able to inflate the mattress using a portable air compressor and actually float him or her on a cushion o f air onto the emergency room gurney, or directly onto a x-ray or CT table,” Rhea said. Currently, when t he a m b u l a n c e b r i n g s s o m e o n e t o t h e l ocal em e rg en c y de p a rtm e n t, Rhea said it takes five to six people to simpl y transfer the patient from the ambulance gurney to the emergency room gurney. The H o v e rM a tt a llo w s two to three caregivers to safely and c o m fo rta b ly transfer patients, even those w eighing well over 500 pounds. “ More often than not, patients c o mi n g in by ambulance are in pain and una bl e to t r a ns f e r themselves from gurney to gurney,” said Rhea. “ W h e n we m ove patients from our ambulance s tr e tc h e rs onto ou r ER stretchers, it can be very difficult for the patient, very painful for the patient,” added EMT Intermediate Pennie Miller. “ For the patient, the H overM att m akes these transfers much more comfortable, and safer. For the Em ergency M edical -See FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS/PAGE TWO AT MCGG SHOP IN LEXINGTON Doing Auto Repairs & Service. Call Lewis for an Appointment 541-989-8221 GENERAL REPAIRS M orrow County G rain Growe L e x in g t o n 9 8 9 -8 2 2 1 • 1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 2 - 7 3 9 6 For fami equipment visit our web site u wtvw.mecg.net
