Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 22,2014 - THREE
Ebola!
BEO Bancorp announces dividend for 2014
By Molly Rhea, RN
As healthcare worker
and Director o f Nursing
at Pioneer Memorial Hos
pital, right now I’m think
ing a lot about Ebola— it’s
in the news, in my inbox
and in questions from our
patients and community
members. Whether it’s a
flu epidemic, a laceration
needing sutures, or a stroke,
we see them in our clinic
or emergency room first,
and so I’m always thinking
about how we’ll be ready.
So, what worries us and
what doesn’t?
As isolated as Heppner
seems, I will not be sur
prised when we encounter
our first E bola-suspect
ed patient. We know that
most— if not all—o f them
will likely test negative for
Ebola (even if you come
back from Africa with a
fever, it's still more likely
you have the flu or ma
laria). I’d be lying if I said
we aren’t concerned about
Ebola, mainly because it's a
disease that we have never
treated before, but as a
long-time nurse, dealing
with dangerous infections
isn’t new: pneumonia, men
ingitis, the flu.. .all of these
kill more than Ebola.
Going forward we will
be even more careful with
every p atien t, w hether
they’re suspected of Ebola
or not. We will also have
a much lower threshold to
wear protective equipment.
Our patients, coworkers and
our families all need us to
have a healthy dose of con
cern, and to act with caution
to protect and give care.
What really w orries
me? The upcoming flu sea
son plus panic over Ebola
equals a lot of scared peo
ple. Unfortunately, the
early flu can present much
like Ebola. That means that
once flu season starts, there
will be a flood of people
who have the flu rushing
to the Emergency Depart
ment because they think
they have Ebola. What can
you do to keep your family
safe? Flu shots. Get them.
Everyone older than six
months should get either the
flu shot or flu mist.
Wash your han d s...
for 20 seconds each time.
Preventing the flu in the first
place will be more crucial
than ever. Just as important
will be remembering how
unlikely Ebola exposure is
and not panicking about it.
What else worries me?
The growing Ebola epidem
ic in Africa and the tragedy
there. As long as thousands
o f people are infected in
Africa, there will continue
to be a tragic loss of lives.
There will also probably
continue to be people who
get through the screening
system and arrive in the
U.S. infected. They will be
a risk to those with whom
they live and have close
contact.
What doesn’t worry me
as much? Being infected
with Ebola in the general
public. 1 don’t expect an
“outbreak” situation over
here. I don’t worry about
catching it at the grocery
store. You may have heard
that if someone infected
with Ebola sneezes on you,
they can infect you and you
would have no idea. But
guess what, Ebola doesn’t
cause people to sneeze or
cough. So, at this point,
that scenario would be ex
trem ely unlikely. Some
one would literally have to
throw up on you. (I’m sorry
for the mental image there,
but I really wanted you to
understand).
So please, go about
your lives. Don’t lose sleep
over Ebola right now. If you
need to be concerned, I will
let you know. Believe me—
as a mom myself, I worry
about every little thing,
too. Ebola and its risk to
the general U.S. public are
just not one of those things
right now.
What I want you to do:
-Get your flu shot (or
flu mist, if indicated).
-Wash your hands. I
rely on soap and water as
much as 1 can. If you don’t
have access to them, or
your hands are not visibly
dirty, then you can use an
alcohol-based sanitizer with
60 percent alcohol. This is
especially important before
you eat anything or touch
your face.
-Clean (or avoid) sur
faces touched by many peo
ple, including doorknobs,
toilet handles, faucets and
buffet serving utensils, all
places where germs can
reside.
-If you are sick, stay
home.
-Know the symptoms
of Ebola. While the chances
are extremely slim, if you
com e into contact with
som eone who has trav
eled to Africa or cared for
a patient with Ebola and
appears to be ill, call the
authorities at the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC)
immediately: 1-800-CDC-
INFO is a great start.
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“ I am pleased to an
nounce that the Board of
Directors of BEO Bancorp
has voted to declare a $0.60
per share dividend for 2014.
The dividend will be
paid to shareholders o f
record as of December 1,
2014, payable on or before
December 15, 2014,” said
BEO President and CEO
Jeff Bailey.
A ccording to Board
Chairman Gary Neal, “BEO
Bancorp has paid a divi
dend 28 of the past 29 years.
Dividends are a reflection
of the financial stability and
profitability of the bank. We
are very happy to be able to
provide this dividend to our
shareholders.”
“The dividend of $0.60
per share is nine percent
higher than last year's divi
dend o f $0.55 per share
and shows a continued
upward trend in dividend
pay-out to our sharehold
ers. It is indicative of Bank
o f Eastern Oregon’s strong
capital position. The board
of directors and employees
work hard to improve the
overall strength of the bank,
add value to our sharehold
ers, as well as provide the
brand of banking that our
customers appreciate and
expect from Bank of East
ern Oregon.
“ The announcem ent
earlier this month of our
pending acquisition of Bank
Reale in Pasco, WA, is in
dicative o f management
and the board’s vision of
expanding our footprint in
eastern Oregon and Wash
ington when good oppor
tunities arise," said Bailey.
He concluded by say
ing. “The support o f our
shareholders, com m uni
ties, and employees have
made it possible for us to
succeed. We are pleased to
be in a position to provide
this dividend to our share
holders.”
HES school carnival
Rev. Greathouse to
planned for next week lead HUMC service on
side over HUMC’s annual
Sunday
Charge Conference. A soup
Derrick Smith and Cody Fletcher demonstrate the Football
Toss. -Contributed photo
The Heppner Elemen
tary school carnival is
planned for next Thursday.
Oct. 30, in the HES gym.
Dinner will begin at
5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria,
with a full meal deal o f
homemade chili, a hot dog,
baked potato, drink and
dessert for $5 per person or
$20 per family.
Games will be open
from 6:00-7:30 and will
include a junk food walk,
sucker board, duck scoop,
basketball shoot, mini golf
putt, tick tack toe, Plinko,
balloon darts, fish pond and
Nerf ball toss.
This event is a fund
raiser for the HES Parent
Teacher Club.
It’s stacking up to be
a busy week at Heppner
United Methodist Church.
On Sunday, Rev. Low
ell Greathouse, Columbia
District Superintendent,
will lead the service with
his message, “ H ow ’s It
Going With Your Appren
ticeship?”
Jean Brazell leads the
choir in “The Prayer” and
liturgist Ellen Rollis will
read from Second Timothy.
Hymns will include “How
Can We Name a Love,”
“ Here I Am Lord,” and
“God of Grace and God of
Glory."
Following the service,
Rev. Greathouse will pre
and bread luncheon and
October birthday cake and
ice cream will be served.
Last Wednesday Game
Night will be held Oct.
29. This is a community
event and all are welcome
to attend. Board and card
games, along with Mexican
Train dominoes, are just
some of the games available
for play. Pinochle players
are needed. Refreshments
are served and this event is
free of charge. Families are
welcome.
Service begins at 10:30
a m. All are welcome. The
Heppner United Methodist
Church is located at 175
West Church St.
HES students exceed
canned food challenge
1-84 CRASH
-Continuedfrom PAGE ONE
the Boardman interchange
near milepost 164.5 when
the trailer was struck in the
rear by a 2012 Ford Mus
tang driven by Mitchell E.
Davis, 27, from Mattawa,
WA. After the initial colli
sion the Ford Mustang was
disabled and stopped in the
right westbound lane.
Davis got out o f the
Mustang and helped his
passenger and grandfather,
Melvin J. Mitchell, 80, get
out. As they were stand
ing next to the car, three
commercial vehicles ap
proached from the rear and
weren’t able to stop. One
commercial truck passed
on the right shoulder. A sec
ond truck passed to the left
while the third truck struck
the Mustang and Mitchell,
resulting in fatal injuries to
the elderly male.
After impact, the Ford
Mustang spun into the sec
ond commercial truck be
fore coming to rest in the
westbound lanes.
Davis received minor
injuries but remained at the
scene to assist investigators.
The driver of the com
mercial truck that struck the
Ford Mustang was trans
ported to Good Shepherd
Medical Center in Herrn-
iston with minor injuries.
He is identified as Ronald
Cook, age 65, from Lin
coln, NE.
The Ford Explorer’s
driver, Joe W. Brogdon, 63,
from La Grande, was not
injured.
OSP troopers from the
Pendleton Area Command
office and Hermiston Work
Site are continuing the in
vestigation. Trooper John
Lombardi is the lead inves
tigator.
Assistance at the scene
was provided by Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office,
Boardman Police Depart
m ent, M orrow C ounty
District Attorney’s Office,
Boardman Rural Fire Pro
tection District, Morrow
County A m bulance and
ODOT (Oregon Dept, of
Transportation).
While this investiga
tion was being conducted,
a secondary collision oc
curred in the westbound
lanes near milepost 166.
That collision was investi
gated by Boardman Police
Department and Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office.
The westbound lanes
were re-opened about 3:30
p.m.
Heppner Elementary students were challenged by the student
council to bring in 500 pounds of canned food items Oct. 1-16.
Not only did they meet that challenge, but they exceeded it. HES
brought in a total of 65b pounds of food, which was donated
to the South Morrow Neighborhood Center for local families
in need. Pictured top (L-R) are: Derrick Smith, Kaden Combe
and Cody F'letcher. Bottom (L-R): Madelyn Nichols, Marlee
Mitchell and Trevor Nichols. -Contributedphoto
Accelerated reading goes
into the ‘rainforest’
Rainforest Reading is the Heppner Elementary Accelerated
Reader theme for the 2014-2015 school year. Students will
be climbing their way to the top of the Rainforest with fun
activities. To start off the year, the school gave away three gift
baskets filled with books, stickers, pencils and other fun items.
This month’s winners were Marlee Mitchell, Austin Brown and
Isiah Martin. -Contributedphoto
r HEPPNER LES SCHWAB CONGRATULATES THE MUSTANG^
VOLLEYBALL TEAMS ON THEIR SEAS0NI
G O O D LUCK
AT DISTRICTS
District Tourm m ent-
O ctober 25th 12:00PM
@ W eston-M cEw en
ÍES SCHWAB
(l-r): Jenny Marick, manager, Onna DeLoach, Jessica Kempken, kaelyn
Lindsay, Sophie Grant, Maddie Lindsay, Paige Grieb, kelly Wilson, Morgan
Correa, Dieter Waite, Rylee wagoner, Riane Dompier and Teri Gentry.
Not pictured: Sydney Maben
N. MAIN STREET HEPPNER