City, county cooperate on
property clean-up
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 135
NO. 48 8 Pages
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Chamber gets SAGE
Center update
By David Sykes
SAGE Center Man-
ager Kalie Davis was a re-
cent visitor to the Heppner
Chamber of Commerce,
where she gave an update
on the changes and activi-
ties going on at the center.
Davis said the center is
considering making chang-
es in its business displays as
the businesses at the Port of
Morrow go through chang-
es. As an example, she said
since the poplar tree farms
have been sold, and the port
added a 20,000-square-foot
freezer warehouse, the cen-
ter will be making additions
and changes to its displays.
“It’s a work in prog-
ress,” she told the chamber.
Davis also said the ac-
tivity at the center includes
student field trips, holiday
parties, community events,
educational functions and
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
-See HEPPNER CHAMBER/
PAGE TWO
G-T Trophy Corner
By David Sykes
The city of Heppner
and Morrow County have
reached a tentative agree-
ment to allow the city to
convert unpaid clean-up
citations into property liens,
which ultimately could be
used to foreclose on and sell
the properties that are fined.
City Manager Kim
Cutsforth and City Attor-
ney Bill Kuhn attended
the Nov. 23 county court
meeting and asked for an
intergovernmental agree-
ment, or IGA, to allow
for the transfer of unpaid
nuisance tickets to the own-
ership of the city. The city
does not have a municipal
court, and the county-level
Justice of the Peace handles
all of its ticketing and fines.
However, an investiga-
tion by Kuhn found that
although the agreement has
been long-standing, the city
and county have no written
IGA. All three cities in the
county are under the same
arrangement. The Justice of
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN
GROWER
350 MAIN STREET
LEXINGTON, OR
-See COUNTY COURT/
PAGE FIVE
to pursue the idea again.
“Since this is a small
community and I can travel
almost everywhere on foot,
I thought, why not get it
now?”
He submitted an ap-
plication to Guide Dogs
for the Blind, which be-
gan his long road toward
teaming up with Earl. For
Earl, the process was even
longer—starting even be-
fore he was born. Long-
Drew explains that guide
dogs, mostly Labradors
and golden retrievers, are
Pastor Tony Long-Drew and his new guide dog, Earl. -Photo bred to be guide dogs. They
by Andrea Di Salvo
then go to puppy raisers,
tire life, considered getting cently, because of changing where they spend a year
-See GUIDE DOG/PAGE
a guide dog back in 1994, vision and problems getting
FIVE
but decided against it. Re- around at night, he decided
Endoscopies on hold at PMH due to
government requirements
By April Sykes
Morrow County Health
District CEO Bob Houser
told the MCHD Board, at its
meeting in Heppner Mon-
day night, that he expects
that the district’s proposed
procedure room will not be
ready for use for six to nine
months.
Dr. Russ Nichols had
been performing upper and
lower endoscopies (colo-
noscopies) at Pioneer Me-
morial Hospital in Heppner
until Sept. 27, when state
inspectors ruled the pro-
cedure room too small and
not well-enough ventilated.
Only minor changes
have been made to a new
procedure room, not major
remodeling, but still gov-
ernment inspectors advise
of delays for submission of
plans, approval of the plans
and subsequent inspections.
“We received final no-
tice of project approval
from the facilities planning
and safety with the Oregon
Health Authority for the lab
overflow and storage room
on Nov. 17,” said Houser.
“Licensure and the county
building inspector could
inspect as well, but may not
since the project consisted
of one room that is not used
for patient services. I have
now had to re-submit all
the documentation to the
county building inspector
in Boardman to review and
approve as he was not made
aware of the project prior to
it being done.”
Board member Aaron
Palmquist said he believes
paperwork could be expe-
dited to hasten the opening
of the procedure room so
that the valuable service
could once again be avail-
B2H final Environmental
Impact Statement released
Top: Alexis Cutsforth, 13, took this 3x4 with a 6.5 300 rifle.
She has been hunting for five years, with success each year.
Bottom: Morgan Cutsforth, 10, shot this three-point with a
6.5 300. This is her second year hunting, also with a successful
take each year. -Contributed photos
the Peace office handles all
the tickets, fines and penal-
ties, and keeps the money
from those fines as payment
for its services.
“We are grappling with
what to do with people who
don’t maintain their yards,”
Kuhn told the court. “Not a
large problem, but we have
some that just don’t go
away and we want to take
Justice Court judgements
and turn them into liens,”
Seeing the world through the eyes of a dog
By Andrea Di Salvo
You may spot a new
member of the community
as he’s out and about on the
job—and may be tempted
to say hello—but don’t be
offended if he doesn’t speak
back.
Earl is the new guide
dog for Christian Life Cen-
ter Pastor Tony Long-Drew
of Heppner. Long-Drew
says he has been back in
town only a week since
going through training with
Earl at Guide Dogs for the
Blind in Boring, OR.
“I’m so excited to have
him in my life,” says Long-
SAGE Center Manager Kalie Drew.
Davis recently visited the Hep-
Long-Drew, who has
pner Chamber of Commerce.
been
vision impaired his en-
-Photo by David Sykes
musical and movie events.
Another example is the
Harvest Festival, which
brought in 600 people in
Agreement will empower city to lien trashy
homes
The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) has
released the Final Environ-
mental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the Boardman to
Hemingway (B2H) Trans-
mission Line Project.
Idaho Power, Pacifi-
Corp and Bonneville Power
Administration propose
to design, construct, oper-
ate and maintain a new
500-kilovolt, single-circuit
electric transmission line
from a proposed substa-
tion near Boardman to the
Hemingway Substation
in Owyhee County near
Melba, ID—known as the
Boardman to Hemingway
Transmission Line Project
or B2H Project. Utility
officials say the new line
is needed to provide ad-
ditional power capacity in
the Pacific Northwest and
western states.
Development of the
able locally.
Also at the meeting, the
board approved a proposal
from Clark/KJOS Archi-
tects, LLC, Portland, to pro-
vide architectural planning
services for remodeling, ex-
pansions and possible con-
struction for the health care
facilities in Heppner and
Irrigon for $31,000. Two
other bids, one for $51,100
and one for $67,500, were
also received.
In other business, the
board:
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE THREE
On the Inside:
Births ....................
........ PAGE TWO
Deaths ...................
........ PAGE TWO
Extension agent receives OSU
award ....................
........ PAGE TWO
Ione Sports ...........
... PAGE THREE
Light parade Thursday ......
...... PAGE FOUR
Hardman news .....
...... PAGE FOUR
Mustang Sports ....
...... PAGE FOUR
Men recognized for clock tower
work ......................
........ PAGE FIVE
MCSO investigates OSP
robbery ..................
.... PAGE SEVEN
The Agency Preferred Alternative is identified by the light blue
line on the map. More detailed maps as well as an interactive
parcel search map are available online at boardmantoheming-
way.com/maps.aspx. -Map courtesy of B2H Project
B2H line was initiated in across 24 alternative routes
2007. The Final EIS con-
-See B2H UPDATE/PAGE
FOUR
siders resource impacts
Justice Court ........
.... PAGE SEVEN
DA’s Report ..........
.... PAGE SEVEN
Sheriff’s Report ...
.... PAGE SEVEN
CALL JASON FOR
MORE INFORMATION!
LEXINGTON 541-989-8221
1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWER
350 MAIN STREET
LEXINGTON, OR