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