HEPPNER
Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper I ibrar>
University of Oregon
Eugene. OR 97403
Access group urges citizen
involvem ent to stop forest
closures
Workshop teaches people how to comment on
proposed Blue Mountain Forest Plan
VOL. 133
N O . 23
10 Pages
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
By David Sykes
If the proposed Blue
Mountain Forest Plan goes
into effect without changes,
citizens will see a dramatic
reduction in their access
to the forests, a group
dedicated to keeping forests
open told a gathering in
Heppner Saturday.
Don George of Forest
Access For All has been
h o l d in g m e e t in g s an d
sounding the alarm over
a p ro p o se d u se-p lan
d e v e lo p e d by the U.S.
Forest Service that covers
the U m atilla, W allowa-
W h itm a n and M a lh e u r
national forests. His group
claim s that, if adopted,
the plan will shut down
hundreds o f roads and limit
access to huge portions
o f currently-open public
forests over the next 10 to
15 years.
George has studied the
June cold Clock tower back on watch
but low on
moisture
Relay
for Life:
Calling
Morrow
County
residents
Get ready for a
hot July, says
weather service
June was slightly colder
than norm al, a c cording
to the National Weather
Service in Pendleton, but
the cold didn’t bring along
rainfall to make up for the
water-year shortage.
The
average
tem perature in Heppner
d u r in g J u n e w as 6 1 .9
degrees, which was 0.8
degrees below normal. High
temperatures averaged 75.7
degrees, which was 0.9
degrees below normal. The
highest was 88 degrees on
the 24th. Low temperatures
averaged 48.1 d eg rees,
w hich was 0.8 d egrees
below normal. The lowest
was 42 degrees, on the 21s1.
Precipitation totaled
1.16 inches during June,
w hich was 0.22 inches
-See JUNE WEATHER/
PAGE FIVE
plan extensively, and is now
traveling across Eastern
Oregon holding workshops
and teaching people how
to subm it com m ents on
the plan and get it changed
before it's too late.
“ We a re a g r o u p
o f volunteers who have
watched the Forest Service
slowly, bit-by-bit take away
the c itiz e n s ’ access and
-See FOREST ACCESS,
PACE FOUR
Looking for a great
c o m m u n ity se rv ic e
opportunity?
Look no further than the
American Cancer Society
Relay for Life of Morrow
County being held August
2-3 at the Morrow County
Fairgrounds in Heppner.
Event supporter and
organizers say Relay for
Life is a celebration of
survivorship, “an occasion
to express hope and our
shared goal to end a disease
that threatens the lives of so
many people we love.”
All funds raised from
this e v e n t help c a n c e r
patients in Morrow County.
Left: The Morrow County Courthouse seems to receive an Irish blessing as a rainbow appears after its replacement on the Whether it is a fuel card
tower’s perch above Court Street. -Photo by Sandy Matthews Top right: Rod Wilson perches atop the tower in preparation for to tra v e l to a d o c t o r ’s
its replacement last Thursday. Bottom right: Workers guide the harness around the tower as it sits on the truck in Heppner.
-See RELAY FOR LIFE/
PAGE FIVE
-C'ontributed photos
-See full story PA GE THREE
PMH receives a helping hand from
some ‘Friends’
Pennie Miller demonstrates for Peggy Fishburn how easy it is
for hospital staff to use the HoverMatts to move patients, as
Rusty Estes looks on. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
Thanks to the efforts to make patients and staff a
of Friends Helping Friends little more comfortable in
and the g r o u p ’s annual an emergency.
In the spirit o f keeping
R em em brance Walk/5K
Run, Pioneer M emorial d o n a t i o n s l o c a l a n d
Hospital now has the ability benefitting local healthcare
and the elderly, Friends
Helping Friends committee
m em b ers a p p ro ach ed
staff at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital earlier this year
and asked if the hospital
needed any equipment that
th eir annual fu n d ra ise r
could help obtain. When
sta ff m em bers put their
heads together over the
question, the HoverMatt
became the answer.
A c c o r d in g to PMH
Director o f Nursing Molly
Rhea, the HoverM att is,
simply put, an inflatable
a ir m a ttre s s tra n s fe r
system. The HoverMatt is
positioned on the gurney,
so when the patient needs
to be transferred from the
a m b u la n c e gurney, the
staff is able to inflate the
mattress using a portable air
lone Red, White and Blues 2014
Friday, July 4
Fireman’s Breakfast - lone Fire Hall....7-10 a.m.
5K Walk/Run(Lady Cardinal basketball /Wounded Warrior Project, $10 fee)....7:30
a.m.
Topic Club Book Sale - lone Fire Hall/Post Office Lawn....9 a.m.
Ken Turner Memorial Horseshoe Tournament....9 a.m.
Basketball Tournament - Main Street.... 10 a.m.
Food Vendors/lnformation Booths/Raflfle Tickets - lone City Park
2014 Craft Fair - Rietmann Building. ...10:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.
Fourth o f July Show & Shine - lone City Park....10:30 a.m.
Fish Pond, Frog Jump, Bike Raffle, Money Pile - Fire Hall/Park....l 1 a.m.
Altar Society Pie Sale - lone Fire Hall
11:00 am
Red, White & Blues Parade - Grand Marshals, lone Community Band....l p.m.
Bed Races - Directly After the Parade. ...1 p.m.
Park Activities Begin - Dunk Tank, Duck Races, Photo Booth, and M ore....l p.m.
Free Swimming - lone Swimming Pool.... 1:30-3:30 p.m.
American Legion B in g o -lo n e Legion H all....2 p.m.
Legion Auxiliary Baskets - lone market....bidding ends 3 p.m.
Talent Show - Amphitheatre Stage....3:30 p.m.
*
Legion Auxiliary Baskets Winners Announced....4:30 p.m.
Featured Entertainment - Amphitheater Stage. ...After Talent Show
She’s Not Dead ~ Rythmn Culture - Lloyd Jones Struggle
Boat Trip Auction - on stage, lone Amphitheater. ...7 p.m.
Raffle D raw ings-on stage, lone Amphitheater ...7 p.m.
Teen Dance - 3rd St. by lone Communuty School....8-11 p.m.
Fireworks Display....Dusk
lone’s Fourth o f July celebration is sponsored in part by Morrow County Unified
Recreation District.
compressor and “float” him
or her on a cushion o f air
onto the emergency room
gurney. The washable matt
can also be used to transfer
the patient onto an x-ray or
CT table.
“ It hovers the patient
ab o v e the s tr e tc h e r so
there’s no friction between
them and the bed,” said
EMT Intermediate Pennie
Miller.
In th e p a s t, w h e n
the a m b u la n c e b ro u g h t
s o m e o n e to th e lo c a l
em ergency d e p a rtm e n t,
Rhea said it took five
to six people to sim ply
transfer the patient from
the ambulance gurney to the
emergency room gurney.
The H o v e rM att a llo w s
two to three caregivers—
or e v e n o n e , as s t a f f
demonstrated— to safely
and comfortably transfer
patients.
Miller and Emergency
Services Director Rusty
Estes gave Friends Helping
F riends m em b e r Peggy
F ishburn a ride on the
HoverMatt to demonstrate
the ease of use. Both Miller
and Estes were able to move
Fishburn single-handedly,
while Fishburn reported that
the ride was comfortable.
T h e H o v e r M a t t is
designed to pull patients
w e ig h in g n early 400
Heppner teacher
named ‘AgriScience
Ambassador
’
Dickenson will bring
innovative learning techniques
into science classrooms
WILMINGTON
D E -B eth D ick en so n ,
a g r i s c ie n c e t e a c h e r at
H e p p n e r High S c h o o l,
s u c ce ssfu lly c o m p le te d
the 12,h annual DuPont
N a tio n a l A g riS c ie n c e
T eachers A m b a ssa d o r
Academy (NATAA) at the
c o m p a n y ’s C h e sa p e ak e
F arm s in C h e s te rto w n ,
MD. Upon receiving the
certificate o f completion,
D ic k e n s o n b e c a m e an
“Ag Ambassador,” joining
the other 250 outstanding
teachers from across the
c o u n tr y w h o a tt e n d e d
NATAA and earned that
designation.
The NATAA “ Ag
Academy” is a professional
-See DK 'KENSON AG AM-
BASSADOR/PAGE FOUR
And then there were
none...
A backhoe works to deconstruct the third and final house
that will be cleared to make way for the construction of a new
-See PMH GETS A LIFT/ county building next to the courthouse in Heppner. -Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo