HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136
NO. 9 8 Pages
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Health district considers
facility remodels in Heppner,
Irrigon
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District Board, at
its meeting Monday night
in Heppner, viewed a pre-
sentation by architect Scott
Combs of Clark/Kjos archi-
tect firm on scenarios for
remodeling or rebuilding
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
and remodeling the Irrigon
Medical Clinic and Pioneer
Memorial Clinic.
Combs presented sche-
matic drawings outlining
remodeling plans for the
hospital, which he estimates
would cost in the neighbor-
hood of $10-$12 million,
according to MCHD CEO
Bob Houser, with another
40 percent tacked on for ar-
chitectural design, permits,
equipment and numerous
other costs, which would
put the estimated cost be-
tween $14 and $16.8 mil-
lion or more. Option One
would include an addition
to each side of the hospital
and entail extensive remod-
eling. Option Two would
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Economic
Flynn takes state wrestling championship
Development Becomes first Ione athlete to win state wrestling title
Group
seed. He was defeated 4-1
Cord Flynn and Trevor
in a closely-contested battle
Antonucci represented the
holds
that easily could have gone
Heppner/Ione wrestling
either way given slight
team at the OSAA wrestling
annual
changes of a couple situ-
championships last week-
ations.
end in Portland Memo-
meeting
Flynn defeated his
rial Coliseum. All divisions
The Willow Creek Val-
ley Economic Development
Group (WCVEDG) held its
annual meeting Friday, Feb.
17, at St. Patrick’s Senior
Center. Officers elected for
the coming year are: David
Sykes, chairman and trea-
surer; Kim Cutsforth, vice
chairman; Marcia Kemp,
board member and secre-
tary; and Jeff Bailey, Ed
Rollins, Nancy Snider, Bob
Houser and Jerry Sorte,
board members. Sheryll
Bates will continue as the
executive director of the
organization.
The group enjoyed
lunch and was treated to a
talk from State Representa-
tive Greg Smith, who gave
an outline of the current
legislative sessions and
the challenges facing law-
makers, and especially the
budgeting process. Smith
is currently serving his
ninth term in the Oregon
House of Representatives
and holds the following
positions: Joint Ways
and Means Committee,
co-vice chair; Joint Ways
and Means Subcommittee
on General Government,
co-chair; and Joint Ways
and Means Subcommittee
on Capital Construction;
House Revenue Commit-
tee; and chair of the House
GOP Caucus Budget Com-
mittee.
WCVEDG members
were also informed of the
from 1A to 6A compete
side by side on 12 mats at
the state championships. In
addition to the boys’ tourna-
ment, the girls’ wrestling
state championship tourna-
ment was held on Saturday
morning.
Both Mustangs were
successful Friday and ad-
vanced to the semifinals on
Saturday morning.
Antonucci entered the
tournament unseeded at
106 pounds and reached
the semifinals by pinning
the number-three seed from
the
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE FOUR
O’Planky race revived for this Water damage causes
county road closures
year’s St. Pat’s event
O’ Planky teams led by Dave Fowler and Vi Wilgers lead their
teams as they vie for first place during a plank race in 1998.
The race is returning during this year’s Wee Bit O’ Ireland
Celebration March 18. -Contributed photo
The O’Planky team
relay race will be revived
as new event for this year’s
-See WCVEDG ANNUAL St. Patrick’s weekend.
MEETING/PAGE FIVE
For those who have
F ind
semifinals opponent from
Lowell fairly easily by
a score of 9-3 to set up
a championship rematch
against Jaden Jones from
Culver. Jones defeated Fly-
nn last year in state champi-
onship bout.
The first period was a
flurry of activity as Jones
Cord Flynn of Ione, 2A wrestling champion at 195 pounds,
attacked explosively with
stands with father John Flynn at the state championships in
his well-known style of ath-
Portland last weekend. -Photo by Danny Doherty
leticism and speed that won
Vernonia. Flynn, the num- making a comeback to win him the gold medal in 2016.
ber-one seed at 195 pounds, 7-4.
fell behind 4-1 early in his
In the semifinals Anto- -See WRESTLING CHAMP/
PAGE THREE
quarterfinal match before nucci faced the number-two
involve an addition to the
east side of the current hos-
pital and moving in-patient
care to the south.
Combs also presented
alternate plans for build-
ing a new hospital, either
stick built or a stick-built
modular, which would also
include Pioneer Memorial
Clinic. Cost to build a new
hospital is estimated at
around $24 million.
In addition, Combs pre-
sented two remodeling op-
tions for the Irrigon Medi-
cal Clinic, which has almost
reached its capacity, despite
a fairly recent remodel, and
two remodel options for
Pioneer Memorial Clinic,
which is also suffering from
close, cramped conditions.
Houser said that Combs
was to present the plans to
department heads for their
input Tuesday morning. At
the Monday night meeting
Houser said that they are
exploring funding sources
to pay for the remodels or
new construction, which
could include grants, loans
and possibly a bond issue.
Houser had recently
received $150,000 from the
Columbia River Enterprize
Zone (CREZ) toward re-
modeling the Irrigon Clinic.
Also at the meeting, the
board reviewed Houser’s
performance, giving him a
majority of excellent and
“meets-plus” marks on his
S hamrock !
Win A $50 Bill!
The Shamrock Hunt is
back! The first person to
find the hidden sham-
rock will win a $50 bill
donated by the Bank of
Eastern Oregon.
never seen the plank race,
the O’Planky race team
consists of four members
who race against other
teams while they walk on
planks with “foot holders.”
The competition is planned
from 12-12:45 p.m. on
Saturday, March 18, right
before the Great Green
Parade.
The competition will
start and end at the sham-
rock on Main Street. Teams
will race from the shamrock
to end of the block at Les
Schwab, where they will
get off the planks and turn
around and head back to the
shamrock to end the race.
The Heppner Chamber
of Commerce has a set of
the planks available for
anyone who would like
to check them out. The
winning team will have
its name put on a trophy,
and prizes will be awarded
to the first three teams.
Contact the chamber at
541-676-5536 or heppner-
chamber@centurytel.net to
get a registration form.
Eye doctor back in
business after water
damage closes office
This photo shared by Gregg and Shelly Rietmann shows a large
hole that formed on Johnson Grade Road out of Ione early
last week. The wash-out on Johnson Grade was one of many
issues caused by rain and melting snow, which led to several
road closures in the area. -Contributed photo
A mixture of rain and
melting snow wreaked
havoc with county roads
last week, causing serious
damage that led to several
road closures.
-RULES-
The majority of road
1. A new set of clues to guide you to the hidden shamrock
closures are in the general
will appear in each edition of the Heppner Gazette-Times.
Ione area. Some roads are
2. A total of five clues beginning with the Feb. 15 edition will
subject to full closures,
be published each week on the front page.
while others are open to
3. The hidden shamrock is not on private property and no
local traffic only.
digging or moving of objects, dirt or other materials is neces-
Morrow County Public
sary to find the shamrock.
Works staff say they have
4. The first person to find the shamrock and bring it to the
no projected dates for how
Heppner Gazette-Times office will claim their prize.
long road repairs will take
or when closed roads will
CLUE #2
be reopened. County roads
Word was received, last week was too tough (Aww!) Dr. Robert Rolen and wife Margaret Rolen are back in their currently closed are:
newly-repaired waiting room after water damage caused them
So this week for you, this old bard will – well,
-Buttermilk Canyon
rephrase some stuff
“Page and Brin’s communication machine”
How will this help me find the green?
A hunt tool it’s not, but something you’d use
To send letters or news to, say, your friend
with the blues
That’s all on that. Now on with the search,
And for those who got it, go down past the church.
Stronger than wind is the path you are traveling
But where do you turn, is what can be baffling.
Liz Magie’s game will answer that for you.
So see next week, for a great rail clue.
Sponsored by Bank of Eastern Oregon and The Heppner Gazette-Times
to close for two months this winter. -Photo by David Sykes
Heppner optometrist
Dr. Robert Rolen is again
keeping office hours in
Heppner after water dam-
age caused him to close his
Heppner location for nearly
two months.
On Dec. 20 of last year,
a water pipe broke on the
upper floor of the building
-See WATER DAMAGE/
PAGE FIVE
*
*
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from Hale Ridge to Gilliam
County is closed; the road
is also closed on the Gilliam
County side.
-Brenner Canyon Road
from Olden Road to Valby
is open to local traffic only.
-Howton Lane from the
Rhea residence to Morter
Lane is closed.
-Holtz Lane from Ione/
Gooseberry to Halvorsen is
open to local traffic only.
-Johnson Grade and El-
mer Griffith Road is closed
from Hwy. 74 to Rietmann
Lane, with local traffic al-
lowed at own risk.
-See ROAD CLOSURES/
PAGE FOUR
SELECT
WINTER
* *
APPAREL
*
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)