Weather doesn’t stop annual
Heppner Christmas event
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 135
NO. 51 8 Pages
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Zaleta Masterson, Irelynn Kollman and Zandra Masterson serve as Santa’s helpers at the an-
nual Celebrate Heppner Christmas event last Thrusday. See full story PAGE THREE -Photo
by David Sykes
Getting to Idaho company looks at Heppner
know your co-gen plant
exchange Has year option whether to purchase
By David
Sykes
students
The com-
Daniel Kelly
Age 16, Junior at Ione
From: Clyde North, Aus-
tralia
Host Parents: Keith and
Yvonne Morter
What do you think of
Ione? “Really like it. It’s a
small community compared
to what I’m
used to, but
I really like
it because
everyone
kind of
knows ev-
eryone. A
Daniel Kelly
lot more
buttes than what I’m used
to because (home) is more
flat.”
How has the experience
been for you? “It’s been
awesome. I’ve been able to
fit into the community eas-
ily. Plenty to do if you’re up
to the drive.”
What has been the most
difficult thing about this
experience? “The days go-
ing by too fast. Having to
look forward to leaving.
Having Coach Rietmann
understand my accent.”
What have you liked
best? “The family. The
community as a whole. Ev-
eryone’s accepted us, really.
It’s been easy. Plus, having
snow on your doorstep and
not having to go up to the
mountains.”
What special events or
holidays have you experi-
enced while you were here?
What was that experience
like? “Thanksgiving. It
was really good to meet
the extended host family.
Some good food, really nice
food I hadn’t tried before.
be online next
year; we just
don’t know.”
pany that did
He said
the original
the plant
rehabilitation
would em-
on the Kinzua
ploy 15-16
Mill co-gen
people plus
plant has
truck drivers
come back to
and support
take another
personnel if
look with an
the plant were
eye on pos-
to be opera-
sibly pur-
tional.
chasing and
“I have
restarting the
done this be-
plant.
fore and it is
Officials
very costly to
from Preci-
run a facility
sion Energy
like this be-
Services, Inc.
cause of the
(PES) out
inconsistency
of Hayden
of the wood
Lake, ID
fiber. We will
were in town Precision Energy Services of Hayden Lake, ID is looking into purchasing and starting up the use 100,000
recently look- long dormant wood-fueled power plant at the former Kinzua Mill site in Heppner.
tons of wood
ing over the
waste a year,”
long-dormant wood-fueled meeting of the Morrow tion.
Oswald said.
County Court and
“We did an inspec-
electrical generat-
Also at the meeting was
said his company tion yesterday,” he told Corey Bitton, of Willow
ing plant trying to
is inspecting the the court. “There has been Renewable Energy out of
decide whether to
plant, looking for equipment taken off and Pasco, WA, whose compa-
purchase the facil-
fuel sources and there is some wiring miss- ny would provide the wood
ity from the Port of
seeking a buyer for ing.”
Morrow and resume
waste to operate the plant.
the electricity if it is
He said the Heppner Bitton said they are contact-
making electricity
Michael
put back on line. He plant is a long-term project ing the Forest Service to
there.
and several others and at this time there is
Company Presi- Oswald
-See IDAHO COMPANY
recently toured the no projected start date. “I
dent Michael Os-
LOOKS AT MILL SITE/
wald attended the Dec. 14 plant inspecting its condi- cannot tell people this will
PAGE SIX
New scanner adds to services available at
Pioneer Memorial
Specialist Susan Bitner,
who traveled to PMH to
train staff on the use of
the new machine, said the
scanner can measure bone
density to determine how
healthy bones are, and if
they’re at risk for breaks or
diseases like osteoporosis.
Scans primarily focus on
DENTS/PAGE TWO
the lumbar spine and hips;
the nature of those bones
makes them the best indica-
tors of bone health through-
out the body, though other
bones can be scanned if
necessary, she said.
“And it doesn’t hurt at
all,” she said.
Bitner also said that this
particular model can also
look at body composition,
including the amount of
body fat on a patient and
its distribution throughout
the body. It can even as-
sess visceral fat—the fat
wrapped around internal
organs, which isn’t visible
to the naked eye. Visceral
fat can be an indicator of
conditions like heart dis-
ease, diabetes or metabolic
syndrome.
“Not every machine
has this capability. It’s ex-
Kenneth Troxell, 13, of Heppner took his first cow elk this citing that they have this,”
By Andrea Di Salvo
Pioneer Memorial Hos-
pital staff are receiving
training on a new piece
of equipment this week, a
Horizon DXA scanner that
will be used primarily to
measure bone density in
patients.
-See EXCHANGE STU-
Clinical Applications
G-T Trophy Corner
season in one shot at 479 yards. -Contributed photo
Your Trophy Photos Wanted!
The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see pictures of your trophy ani-
mals from this hunting season. Here’s how:
Stop by to have your picture taken, drop off photos, mail
them to PO Box 337 in Heppner, email them to editor@
rapidserve.net or text cell phone photos to 541-980-6674.
Getting to
know your
exchange
students
Tiarna Church
Age 15, Junior at Ione
From: Wodonga, Australia
Host Parents: Rick and
Sylvia Sandford
What do you think of
Ione? “I really love it here.
I like the small commu-
nity. It’s really nice to get
along with
everyone. I
live in kind
of the same
terrain, but
it is much
smaller than
w h a t I ’ m Tiarna Church
used to.”
How has the experience
been for you? “My experi-
ence has been amazing. My
host family has been incred-
ible. They’ve been taking
me all these places, and I’ve
been able to experience so
much I wouldn’t be able to
if I was in Australia.”
What has been the most
difficult thing about this
experience? “Missing fam-
ily. And, as much as the
culture’s similar, there’s
still a bunch of differences
we have to make our way
through. And the accent.
Rick never understands it.”
What have you liked
best? “Family. They’ve
been wonderful and given
me every experience I ever
could have wanted. The
school spirit, the dressing
up and fun days. And defi-
nitely the snow. It’s going
to be great to have a white
Christmas.”
What special events or
holidays have you experi-
enced while you were here?
What was that experience
like? “I really liked Thanks-
-See EXCHANGE STU-
DENTS/PAGE TWO
PMH technician Oscar Holguin performs a bone density scan
on health district employee Nicole Maahs during staff training
on the new Horizon DXA scanner this week. -Photo by Andrea
Di Salvo
said Bitner.
The new scanner cost
Morrow County Health
District $45,900, which
MCHD CEO Bob Houser
said was budgeted from
operating expenses. He
indicated the health district
mainly purchased the ma-
chine for its bone density
scanning functions.
“It’s a service they’ve
never had in this com-
munity before,” Houser
said. “Given the age of our
population, a bone density
scanner makes sense. It’s
needed in this area.”
Houser said that, before
acquiring the DXA scan-
ner, physicians at Pioneer
Memorial who needed bone
density scans for their pa-
tients had to send them out
of town, when the proce-
dure was something that
could be done at PMH in a
matter of minutes.
“With the referral num-
bers we’ve been tracking, it
was definitely a wise deci-
sion,” Houser added.
OSP seeks
info on
poaching
Oregon State Police
is seeking information on
a poached mule deer buck
at the Wilkinsons’ property
on Willow Creek Highway
across from the hay barn.
The incident was be-
lieved to have occurred
over the weekend of Dec.
17-18. Only the head and
backstraps were taken, with
the rest of the animal left to
waste.
Anyone with informa-
-See POACHING CASE/
PAGE EIGHT
2016 HOLIDAY HOURS:
CLOSING AT NOON CHRISTMAS EVE
CLOSED DECEMBER
25TH AND 26TH
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net