Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Overturned garbage truck results
in hazmat call
An overturned garbage
truck south of Heppner
resulted in a hazardous ma-
terials call last Wednesday
afternoon.
The garbage truck ap-
parently started across a
wooden bridge on private
property on upper Rhea
Creek, about 12 miles south
of Heppner, when it broke
through the bridge, over-
turning and landing in the
creek.
According to Heppner
Fire Chief Rusty Estes, it
was a struggle for the driv-
er to call 9-1-1, since the
phone line to the property
had been severed during
the collapse; the emergency
call actually came from a
rural mail carrier who came
in contact with the driver.
Heppner emergency
services were the irst re-
sponders on the scene, in-
cluding Heppner rescue,
Morrow County Sheriff’s
The Hermiston hazmat crew responded to an overturned gar-
bage truck on Upper Rhea Creek last week. -Photo courtesy of
Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services
Ofice and the Heppner am-
bulance for the driver. The
driver was transported to
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
with unknown injuries.
When the crews real-
ized the truck was leaking
oil and hydraulic luid into
the creek, they began con-
tainment measures but also
called Hermiston Fire &
Emergency Services, which
handles all hazardous ma-
terial calls for northeast
Oregon. Also called to the
scene were an environmen-
tal company from the Tri-
Cities and two tow trucks
to pull the vehicle from the
water.
The eight-man Herm-
iston hazmat crew arrived
about three hours after the
incident and continued the
containment work started
by Heppner crews. That
included removing oil from
the water and adding addi-
tional booms, long connec-
tions that loat above and
below the waterline to keep
oil and debris contained.
The team also removed oil
and hydraulic fluid from
the truck.
Hermiston battalion
chief Jim Davis said gaso-
line and diesel spills were
the most common calls for
the hazmat team.
Hermiston Fire &
Emergency Services also
advised anyone who used
water out of Rhea Creek to
watch for oil and plan on
using secondary water for
a few days till luids dis-
sipated.
DOERNBECHER
- THREE
His Little Feet
comes to Heppner
His Little Feet will be in concert tonight in Heppner. -Con-
tributed photo
His Little Feet Inter-
national Children’s Choir
will present a live concert
today, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m.
at St. Patrick’s Parish hall.
Admission is free but an
offering will be taken for
His Little Feet.
His Little Feet is an or-
ganization that seeks to help
children around the world
as well as equip people
to practically respond to
the needs of orphaned and
vulnerable children world-
wide.
Through His Little
Feet, children around the
world in need are given the
opportunity be a part of the
His Little Feet International
Children’s Choir. While the
children are in the choir
they also participate in the
His Little Feet Life Training
Academy, where they are
tutoring and trained in aca-
demics, performing arts and
life skills. The organization
also works to help children
in 26 countries around the
world.
Bass, Santoyo to
represent UEC on
D.C. Youth Tour
Some of Heppner High’s math students display just a few of the blankets handmade locally for the children at Doernbecher
in Portland. -Contributed photo
-Continued from PAGE ONE change from home.”
children’s hospital.
Morgan said he started
collecting supplies for Do-
ernbecher after working
with St. Jude’s Children’s
Hospital.
“About eight years ago
St. Jude’s contacted me
about doing a Math-A-
Thon with them. And we
did that. Then I learned
that our local kids would
go to Doernbecher if they
had needs. That’s when we
made the switch-over to
them.”
The math teacher has
organized fundraisers for
Doernbecher in two previ-
ous years, 2012 and 2013.
They did well those years,
raising $4,800 and $2,500
worth of supplies and do-
nations.
This year, though, Mor-
gan said the community
really stepped up, collecting
more than $5,000 in items
for Dorenbecher.
“I was shocked at how
much was donated,” he
said, pointing to one of
several boxes stacked in his
classroom. “That one alone
weighs 40 pounds.
“I was really impressed
with the students, how they
made this a priority,” he
added. “Some of them do-
nated their own money,
bringing in buckets of
One of the main areas
of focus was school sup-
plies. While school sup-
plies may not be the irst
thing that comes to mind
with a children’s hospital,
Doernbecher, like many
children’s hospitals, offers
classrooms for children
who are at the hospital for
an extended period of time.
According to the hospital’s
website, Doernbecher of-
fers two classrooms, which
are administered by the
Multnomah Education Ser-
vice District and funded by
the Oregon Department of
Education. The classrooms
serve students from kinder-
garten through 12 th grade—
kind of like a one-room
schoolhouse. The hospital
says its priority is to meet
students where they are,
medically, emotionally and
academically, which means
they need a wide variety of
supplies. Morgan says the
HHS fundraiser did a lot to
help supply that need.
“We have everything
they need to run a school.
There were fantastic busi-
nesses and people who
brought in school sup-
plies—from calculators to
pens, pencils—every item
a kid would need.”
It wasn’t all business,
though. Morgan said they
also received donations of
toys and books for all ages,
as well as cash donations to
buy supplies. The Heppner
students also participated in
two sewing nights, sewing
new blankets for the chil-
dren at Doernbecher.
“Some wonderful la-
dies in the community took
charge of that,” Morgan
said, adding that Pam Nor-
ton was instrumental in
the sewing nights, but that
other local women also
provided invaluable help.
“It would have been
impossible to do without
their skill and knowledge,
not just in sewing but also
in teaching the students to
sew,” he said. “They were
great at working with the
students.”
Morgan also said he ad-
mired the students who took
the time to come and sew
blankets for the hospital.
“They had other things
they could have been do-
ing. And these were school
nights; they’d come after
school, or straight from
sports practice—I had
everything from seventh-
grade girls to football play-
ers who had just won the
state championship,” he
said. “It was really great to
see kids excited about giv-
ing back.”
The result, Morgan
said, was far beyond his
expectations.
“I was happy with 10
blankets. My goal was 20.
We have 57,” he said, add-
ing that about 15 quilts
were made at home by
community members and
then brought in—some
anonymously. “It far sur-
passed what I thought we
would get.”
Morgan said he hopes
to take a small group of
older students down to Do-
ernbecher in March. While
hospital policy won’t allow
them to hand out the items
themselves, Morgan hopes
to take his students on a
tour of Doernbecher, talk
with the teacher there, and
give his students a chance
to learn about jobs in the
medical ield and the educa-
tion they require.
For the future, Morgan
says he wants to run a fun-
draiser and supply drive for
the children’s hospital ev-
ery two years. He also says
he’s stunned and grateful
for the outpouring during
this year’s collection.
“I’m always amazed
how supportive this com-
munity is of our kids and
our schools,” said Morgan.
“This is just an example
of how supportive people
in this area are of a good
cause.”
Hermiston, OR—Kate-
lyn Bass, a junior at Ione
Community School, and
Lauren Santoyo, a junior
at Hermiston High School,
were selected to represent
Umatilla Electric Coopera-
tive at the 2016 Washing-
ton, D.C. Youth Tour June
9-16.
Katelyn is the daugh-
ter of Gary and Lani Bass
and resides in Boardman.
Katelyn has
maintained
a 4.0 GPA
during her
high school
years, and
is very in-
Katelyn Bass v o l v e d i n
her school
and community. She plays
volleyball, basketball and
tennis. Katelyn received
the Scholar Athlete Award
as a freshman and sopho-
more. This awards goes to
those athletes who maintain
a 3.5 GPA or better and
participate in one varsity
sport. For volleyball and
basketball, her team was
chosen to be part of the Top
10 academic all-state teams
sponsored by the OSAA
Dairy Farmers of Oregon.
She has received Outstand-
ing Achievement Awards in
biology, physical science
and band, and is in National
Honor Society. She played
the lute for ive years and
went to state last year with
her band. By the end of her
sophomore year she had a
little over 20 college cred-
its. Katelyn is also involved
in 4-H and FFA, where she
shows her different breeds
of fainting goats.
Lauren Santoyo is the
daughter of Luis and Nor-
ma Santoyo and resides
in Hermiston. Lauren has
maintained a 3.8 GPA dur-
ing her high school years.
She is a member of Key
Club, and is
running for
president of
the DECA
(Distribu -
tive Educa-
tion Club of
A m e r i c a ) Lauren
Club. She Santoyo
played vol-
leyball during her fresh-
man and sophomore year.
She works at the school’s
Student Store and Kennison
Concession. She is an ac-
tive participant in the youth
group activities held at Our
Lady of Angels Catholic
Church.
“We are excited to con-
tinue to promote this pro-
gram and be able to find
great candidates who will
represent UEC in Wash-
ington, D.C.,” said Connie
Shrum, Manager of Mem-
ber Services.
Katelyn and Lauren
will join 1,500 other stu-
dents from all over the
United States on a week-
long educational trip host-
ed by the National Rural
Electric Cooperative As-
sociation (NRECA). Kate-
lyn and Lauren will get to
speak with Oregon’s state
representatives at Capitol
Hill, visit the World War II,
Vietnam and Iwo Jima war
memorials, the Smithsonian
and Holocaust museums,
hear motivational speakers,
learn about electric coop-
eratives, and participate in
many fun activities.
This opportunity was
open to area high school
juniors whose parents or
guardians are members of
Umatilla Electric Coopera-
tive.
We Print
Letterhead &
Envelopes
8
Box 6
r • P.O. 9788
OR
N. Wate ton, 569-6889
)
Wes
2376
: (888 ) 566-
hone (541 566-9270 t
or
)
Telep
ci.ne t
(541
Fax: pcfcu@u al.ne
:
.virtu
E: mail kfcu
cree
pine
site:
103
ion
it Un
Cred 0
ral Since 196
Fede bers
eek Our Mem
e Cr Serving
Web
Pin
WILDHORS
E RESOR
T &
72777
PENDLET HWY 331
ON, OR
97801
CASIN
O
Heppner Gazette