Bessie Wet/ell Newspaper Library
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
August to continue July heat,
predicts weather service
HEPPNER
azette
imes
VOL. 133
NO. 27
8 Pages
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
July was a hot one in
Heppner, with the weather
in A u g u st p re d ic te d to
c o n t i n u e th e a b o v e
normal trend, reports the
National Weather Service
in Pendleton.
The
average
tem perature in July was
73.8 degrees, which was
four degrees above normal.
High temperatures averaged
90.7 degrees, which was 5
degrees above normal. The
highest recorded was 101
degrees on the 17th. Low
temperatures averaged 57
d eg rees, w hich was 3.1
degrees above normal. The
lowest was 32 degrees on
Fair cleanup takes some heavy lifting
the 27th.
O n 17 d a y s , th e
tem perature exceeded 90
degrees. It was at least 100
degrees on three days.
P recipitation totaled
0.13 inches during July,
w hich w as 0.20 inches
below normal. Measurable
precipitation o f at least .01
inch was received on three
days with the heaviest, 0.08
inches, reported on the 24lh.
Precipitation this year
has reached 7.59 inches,
which is 1.40 inches below
normal. Since October, the
w ater year precipitation
at Heppner has been 9.96
inches, which is 3.09 inches
below normal.
T he o u tlo o k fo r
A u g u s t fro m N O A A ’s
Climate Prediction Center
c a lls for a b o v e -n o rm a l
te m p e ra tu re s and n e a r
n o rm a l p r e c i p i t a t i o n .
Normal highs for Heppner
d u rin g A u gust are 85.5
degrees and normal lows
are 53.5 degrees. The 30-
year normal precipitation
is 0.39 inches.
The
National
W eath er S e rv ic e is an
o ffic e o f th e N a tio n a l
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, an agency
o f the U .S. C o m m erc e
Department.
DEQ to hold Morrow
Pacific public hearings
T he D e p a rtm e n t o f
E n v iro n m e n ta l Q u ality
(DEQ) is coming to Eastern
O re g o n to h e a r lo c a l
thoughts on the M orrow
Pacific project.
T h is O re g o n D EQ
h e a r in g is to r e c e iv e
c o m m e n ts a b o u t th e
d raft 401 w ater q uality
c e r t i f i c a t i o n f o r th e
proposed C oyote Island
Coal Terminal Project in
Boardman.
The DEQ will hold a
public hearing on the project
Tuesday, Aug. 12, from 6-9
p.m. in the Port of Morrow
R iver Front C onference
Room, 2 Marine Drive in
Boardman.
T he DEQ w ill give
a b rie f presentation and
answer questions from 6-7
Barry Mlinkers of Lexington backs through the empty parking lot at the Morrow County Fairgrounds in Heppner as he
clears away downed tree branches in preparation for the 101st Morrow County Fair. The fair and rodeo will take place next p.m. and will begin taking
week, Aug. 13-17. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo ■
comments at 7 p.m.
Each person will have
a maximum o f two minutes
to comment on the draft 401
certification.
l'he hearing w ill be
d iv id e d into fo u r h a lf-
h our se ssio n s th a t w ill
accommodate 15 registered
speakers.
P r e - r e g is tr a tio n is
currently sold out, but DEQ
also will receive comments
on a walk in, first-come,
first-served basis in the Port
o f M orrow Well Springs
Room from 7-9 p.m.
Additional information
reg a rd in g the p ro p o sed
project is available at http://
w w w .o re g o n .g o v /D E Q /
Pages/CoalExport.aspx.
Q uestions about the
hearing, contact M arcia
Danab at danab.marcia@
deq.state.or.us.
MoCo Rodeo expands Pioneer Memorial named recipient of
entries to include
Critical Access Hospital grant
former residents
T h e O re g o n T r a il
Pro R o deo C o m m itte e
has announced that it has
opened up Morrow County
Rodeo entries to include
Morrow County alumni and
their immediate families.
The com m ittee has also
changed M orrow County
resid e n cy req u irem e n ts
from one year to six months.
Amateur C alf Roping
is still only for M orrow
County residents or alumni.
Mutton Bustin’ entries need
not be residents.
Entry deadline for the
Morrow County Rodeo is
Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. Entry
forms are available at www.
morrowcountyoregon.com/
fair/rodeo. Any questions,
c o n ta c t m o c o r o d e o @
hotmail.com.
The rodeo office will
be open Thursday, Aug. 14,
thru Sunday, Aug. 17; office
number is 541 -676-9451.
Special fair section in
this week’s paper
A special 28-page Fair and Rodeo section is included
in this w eek’s Heppner Gazette-Tim es. The section
contains articles, interviews, photos and other information
about the upcoming Morrow County Fair and Rodeo.
Fair-goers browse through entries at a past Morrow County
Fair. -File Photo
Umatilla Forest reports
small lightning fires
Pendleton— A total of
nine fires were reported
over the weekend on the
Umatilla National Forest as
a result of recent lightning
a c tiv ity , fo re s t a g e n ts
reported Monday.
Seven fires were located
on the North Fork John Day
Ranger District. The largest
w as th e B o n e C a n y o n
Fire, four m iles w est o f
Dale, OR near Bone Point.
Firefighters w orked late
into the evening and were
successful in containing
-See FOREST LIGHTNING
FIRES/PAGE FIVE
P o r tla n d , O r e .—
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
in Heppner is the recipient
o f a C ritic a l A c c e ss
Hospital grant, the Oregon
Office of Rural Health at
Oregon Health & Science
U n iv e rs ity a n n o u n c e d
Monday. Pioneer Memorial
received $19,500 out o f
$78,000 in grants that the
O regon O ffice o f Rural
Health has awarded to four
C ritical A ccess H ospital
communities.
Critical Access
Hospital grants, awarded
under the Medicare Rural
Hospital Flexibility Grant
Program, aim to improve
health-care outcom es for
M e d ic a re p a tie n ts and
enable hospitals and their
surrounding communities
to implem ent sustainable
p ro g ra m s in re s p o n s e
to ch allen g es identified
through community needs
assessments.
A c c o r d i n g to the
O regon O ffice o f Rural
Health, Pioneer Memorial
Hospital will use funds “to
im prove care transitions
and red u c e E m erg en cy
D ep artm en t ad m issio n s
for high-risk patients. A
hom e h ealth n u rse /c are
coordinator will identify
individuals from Irrigon
Medical Clinic and Pioneer
Memorial Clinic with high-
risk d ia b e te s, co ro n a ry
artery disease or multiple
chronic conditions.
Individualized care plans
will be developed for each
patient to help coordinate
and integrate patient care.
The care coordinator will be
part of the Morrow County
In te r-d is c ip lin a ry C are
Team and will collaborate
with them on identifying
ne eds and m atc h in g
patients with appropriate
resources.”
Morrow County
health D istrict CEO and
Adm inistrator Dan Grigg
says the grant is exciting,
as it will allow PMH to look
into a new model o f health
care. Morrow County Local
Community Advisory
Council ( LCA C) also
recently received a grant
to set up a medical wrap
around program in which
people in the community
come together to identify
local needs and resources.
“ This grant helps us
feed into that program ,”
says Grigg.
Grigg says the health
district plans to use home
h e a l t h n u r s e s as c a r e
coordinators to work with
patients, doctors and LCAC
to i dent i f y c o mmu n i t y
n e e d s and r e s o u r c e s
and create strategies for
b e tte r health care in the
community.
“ Most insurance
companies don’t pay for a
home health visit unless the
patient is homebound. This
grant allows us funding for
nurses to visit patients who
may not be hom ebound
but may need some help
to keep them healthy and
Talking rocks silent for now
Rocks promise plenty o f info, some high-tech
surprises
Basalt rocks from the Osmin Ranch quarry were recently placed around Heppner for the
Talking Rock project. Wilkinson Ranch will also donate large rocks later. Plaques are in the
process of being ordered and will each have a QR barcode for smart-phone scanning, leading
to extensive information about each subject and links about the Heppner area. There is also
a Facebook page. “Talking Rocks, Heppner, Oregon USA,” and a brochure with a map of
the rocks' locations. Some of the historical topics include the railroad, 1903 Flood survivors,
Jackson Morrow and the county courthouse. Donors are still being sought for the hospital,
Chinese, and the Willow Creek Dam plaques. Contact Heppner City Hall for more details.
-Photo by David Sykes
F A IR & R O D E O S P E C IA L
Bm
0
FREE RODEO TICKETS w it h e a c h p u r c h a s e
OF
$50
OR MORE OF W RANGLER CLOTHING
_______ Oregon Trail Pro Rodeo or Morrow County Rodeo
Morrow County Grain Growers Green F eed & Seed
^4^Jf^indenJWa^i9|>£ne^^676^942^^^894l22^MCG^wai™fnca)
I
V
1
out o f the clinic and out
o f the hospital. It’s pretty
innovative,” Grigg says.
“ R ight now w hen a
patient comes into the clinic,
there’s only so much time
they have with a doctor,
and there might be so much
more they need, like with
a chronic condition, for
instance. There m ight be
some education involved.
If a person has to go to the
ER a lot, there m ight be
-See PMH GRANT/PAGE
THREE
V