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It’s a grand slam...
HEPPNER
imes
VOL. 133
NO. 20
10 Pages
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Morrow County Sheriff’s Office responded after a driver crashed into the backstop at the
Heppner Little League field last Wednesday, May 21, leaving the structure a little worse for
wear. MCSO could not be reached for comment by press time. -Contributedphoto
Sherry Ewing retires from Health levy tops in every
home health and hospice
precinct; Russell wins
commissioner by 45 votes
Sherry Ewing sits at her desk in the Pioneer Memorial Home
Health & Hospice office in Heppner; she will hid farewell to
the office and her long-time coworkers this week. Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo
Bv Antlrea l)i Salvo
After nearly 24 years.
Sherry Ewing will leave
work for the last time this
Thursday, May 29.
E w in g , w ho tu rn e d
66 o v er M em orial Day
w eekend, has served in
the “Clerk IM” position at
Pioneer M emorial Home
H ealth & H ospice since
December o f 1990. It's a
position that required her
to wear the hats o f office
manager, clerical, billing
and a little bit more.
“ I was really lucky;
it’s been a great job,” says
Ewing. “We’re like a close-
knit little family.”
Ew ing was born and
raised in Selah, WA, in
the Yakim a Valley. She
says Selah is a small town,
similar to Heppner, so she
felt Heppner was a great fit
when she came here. She
didn't come here right away,
though. A fter graduating
from Selah High School in
1966, she went to work as a
dental assistant in Yakima,
WA. She lived there with
her family until 1984. They
then m oved to Spokane,
where she also worked as a
dental assistant.
It was w hile playing
on a co-ed softball team
in Spokane that she met
husband Bill Ewing. She
m oved to H ep p n e r and
started at Pioneer Memorial
in 1990, and the couple was
married in 1991. Her other
family mostly rem ains in
the Yakima and Spokane
areas, she says, with her
son Mark and his family in
Spokane and stepson Ben
a teacher in Newport, OR.
E w ing says she has
w orked longer for home
health and hospice than she
has for any other employer
in her life; leaving now is a
bittersweet transition.
“ It's sad. I’ll miss all
the p eo p le h e re . T here
are a lot o f great, caring
p eo p le h e re ,” she says.
“Home health and hospice
is really important in our
area, to the residents o f
Morrow County; it does a
great service for Morrow
County.”
At the same time, she
says, it’s time to leave.
“ My husband’s been
retired for a couple o f years.
We've got a new place and
enjoy w orking on th a t,”
says Ewing. “It’s time to
move on and do some other
things, do some travelling,
see family a little more.”
-See EWING RETIRES/
PAGE SIX
County-wide turnout at 39.7percent
By David Sykes
V o t e r s in e v e r y
community in the county
passed the health district
levy, and three out o f four
cities voted for Don Russell
over Ken Grieb for county
commissioner, results of the
recently-completed election
show.
County-wide the five-
year medical levy passed
1,391 yes to 373 no, a 79
percent approval rating.
M orrow C ounty H ealth
D istrict Board Chairm an
Larry M ills said he was
a p p r e c ia tiv e o f v o te r
support.
“The board of directors
o f the M orrow C ounty
H ealth D istrict w ant to
thank the voters for their
o v e rw h e lm in g su p p o rt
o f the levy request. The
board's goal is to keep the
equipm ent and facilities
o f the district updated to
provide the best possible
health care for the citizens filed for the position.
o f the area, and the passing
“ T h is w as a re a lly
o f the levy will certainly close race. 1 d o n 't think
h e lp us a c h ie v e
th a t w in n in g by
those goals,” Mills
45 votes or a four
told the H eppner
p e r c e n t m a r g in
Gazette-Times.
sends any mandate
D on R u s s e ll
to the rest o f the
and Ken Grieb had a
county court. 1 think
much closer contest,
th at it is hard to
with
R u s s e l l Don R ussell beat an incumbent,
winning by 45 votes wins county e s p e c ia lly w h en
commissioner
510 to 465. Russell
nomination in they are a genuinely
won in Boardman. three out of five n i c e pers on. I
Irrigon and lone, communities. need to thank the
and G rieb won in
people that allowed
H eppner and Lexington. me to use th e ir nam es
The election was for the publicly as supporters, and
Republican slot for county those that w rote letters
c o m m issio n e r. N o one o f endorsem ent. I think
ran for the D em ocratic that was the difference in
position; however, Russell the race,” Russell told the
won that also by write in Gazette.
ballots, so he will m ost
C o u n ty - w id e to ta l
likely run unopposed in the v o te r tu rn o u t w as 39.7
N ovem ber election. The percent, with 40.9 percent
only way Russell could face o f Democrats voting, 53.2
an opponent in November is
-See COUNTY ELECTION/
if an independent candidate
PAGE SEVEN
Heppner relay team places at
state
Getting to know your exchange
students
Johann “Jo h n n y ” M aier
Age 17, Junior, lone
How has the experience
been fo r you?
W here are y o u fr o m ?
“ G o o d . T h e re a re
N u r e m b e r g , B a v a r ia , alw ays sm all problem s,
Germany
but you always have small
H o st P a r e n ts :
problems (wherever
Tom and H eather
you are).”
Baumgartner,
What was the most
Boardman
difficult thing about
What Jo you think
this experience? •
o f lo n e /M o rro w
“ I had to get
County?
used to how people
“ S m a ll. I 'm Johann
act in America. They
from a city with half “Johnny
act really different,
a m illion people. Maier
e s p e c i a l l y t he
T hat’s the biggest
teenagers. They’re
difference. We don’t have pretty disrespectful.”
a lot o f ru ra l a re a s in What did you like best?
G erm any. T h a t’s also a
“ We go fishing from
difference.”
time to time. We also got to
go hunting once; that was
fun, even though we didn’t
get an y th in g . We d o n ’t
really get to go fishing and
hunting in Germany.”
Did you go to prom ?
“No.”
You stay in Boardman but
attend school in lone , what
was that like fo r you?
“ You have to get up
pretty early; that’s pretty
a n n o y in g . B ut, I d o n ’t
think I would have enjoyed
Boardm an schools more
(than lone).”
Any last thoughts?
“ S c h o o l is e a s ie r ;
i t ’s w ay e a sie r than in Heppncr’s boys 4x100 relay team placed seventh in finals at theOSAA2AState Championships
track meet in Eugene on Friday with a time of 47.41a. Pictured L-R: Jared Lemmon, Jeremiah
Germany.”
Petzoldt, Jacob Moses and Kavden Clark. Also representing Heppner at the state meet w as Kelly
Mustang golf girls take
second at state
Wilson, who finished 10th in long jump finals with a distance of 14-05.50. -Contributedphoto
Graduation approaches for
local seniors
G r a d u a tio n d a y is
quickly approaching for
seniors at Heppner and lone
high schools.
H e p p n e r ’ s
commencement ceremony
will take place Saturday,
May 31, beginning at 2 p.m.
in the Heppner Jr./Sr. High
School gymnasium.
Baccalaureate services
for Heppner will take place
this Wednesday, May 28,
at St. P atrick's Catholic
Church.
The se rv ice w ill be
at 6 p.m ., not 7 p.m . as
announced in last week's
Gazette.
lone's commencement
will be held Friday, June 6,
beginning at 7 p.m.
Baccalaureate services
will be held Monday, June
2, at 6 p.m. at St. W illiam's
Catholic Church.
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INSPECTION
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Th* Mustang girls' golf team placed second in the state tournament in Corvallis. Pictured (L-
R) are: Coach Greg (.rant. Coach Barry Munkers. Paige Grieb, Macy Gibbs, Blake Greenup,
Maddie Lindsay, Emily Rea, Amanda Rea and Coach Matt Schrivner. -Contributedphoto
-See full story PAGE SIX
4
I
'OIL
& FILTER
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