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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2017)
FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Waltons celebrate anniversaries in life, work Tax Wise & Otherwise The children of Paul and Sue Walton invite the community to join them as they celebrate their parents’ 40 th anniversary and Sue Walton’s 45 th year of nurs- ing at Pioneer Memorial Hospital (PMH). Sue was born July 14, 1950 at PMH, the daugh- ter of Don and Colleen Greenup, one of the first babies born after the hospi- tal opened. She was raised in Heppner, graduating in 1969 from Heppner High School. She attended Emanuel Hospital School of Nursing and graduated with honors in 1972, return- ing to Heppner in June of 1972, where she took a job as a charge nurse on the night shift. Paul was born and raised in Long Creek and graduated from Pendleton High School in 1963. He re- turned to Long Creek to his family’s third-generation cattle ranch, established in 1903. He joined joined the National Guard and served six years, achieving Staff Sargent status. Sue was also raised on her family’s cattle and wheat ranch, 10 miles out of Heppner on the Kilken- ny ranch, also the third generation. She worked there helping with calving, lambing, haying, and riding Paul and Sue Walton on their wedding day 40 years ago. horses to move the cattle. dren. Sue commuted, over The couple met through the next 40 years, to Hep- Paul’s cousin Susie French. pner to work. She stayed As it turned out, the Wal- with family while working tons were pasturing their her shifts, as it was 174 yearlings at La Grande, OR miles’ round trip. When asked how she with Sue’s father. Paul was could work in one hauling cattle from place for 45 years, La Grande to Hep- Sue says, “For the pner; it was Thanks- community where giving, and he spent I grew up, for the Thanksgiving with people and com- Sue’s family—thus munity that I love. the beginning of their courtship. Sue (Greenup) I would like to take Paul and Sue Walton as a this opportunity to were married June young nurse. say thank you to MCHD (Morrow 18, 1977 and estab- lished their home on the county Health District) Walton Ranch, where they and to the community for raised four children. They allowing me to serve and now have seven grandchil- give back.” Sue Walton says nurs- ing is a rewarding career with the smiles and appre- ciation shown by patients and their families, and the joy of a newborn baby, but that it can also be heart- breaking with the death of a friend or loved one, and the traumas of family and friends that will be forever in her heart. She adds that retiring will be one of the hardest things she has ever done but that the transition will be made easier with the new young and very eager nurses. “I feel I will be leav- ing my community, friends and co-workers in good hands.” Sue looks forward to spending time with her family and grandchildren and doing the things she loves—riding, hunting, reading and sewing. “Who knows, I may even unpack my suitcase,” she quips. Children Shannon, Jim- my, Katie and Cody and their families would like to invite the community to a potluck dinner with dancing and fun this Saturday, May 13, at 3 p.m. at the Heppner Elks Club. No RSVP is re- quired but those attending are invited to bring a dish to share. VANDALISM -Continued from PAGE ONE juveniles had been using broke stuff and stole at least extra patrols, focusing on over the last two and a half months—and that’s only the instances that have been reported. The city parks have re- ceived the brunt of the dam- age; Heppner Public Works Director Chad Doherty shared with the Gazette a long list of damages to both Hager Park and Hep- pner City Park. At Hager, Doherty says the basketball hoops and volleyball net were damaged. “The kids had been hanging on it (the volleyball net) and they broke both the posts and ripped big holes in the net,” he said. The basket hoops also were torn off their stands. “The basketball hoops took a long time. We had to take them all the way down and have them rewelded and put them back in,” he added. Also at Hager, older the teeter-totter meant for younger children. “It’s not broken yet, but it’s turned in a different position and the bolts were loose,” said Doherty. Heppner City Park also saw its share of damage, with broken restroom han- dles—Doherty estimates he’s replaced at least half a dozen door handles—bark chips scattered through- out the park, broken gate handles, and garbage cans emptied across the park grounds. A spring toy at the park received similar treat- ment to the Hager teeter- totter. The books from the Little Libraries started by Jamie Mullins last year were removed over the win- ter and left out in the rain. Also at city park, “the little schoolhouse, some kids broke the window in the back and got inside and MOTHER'S DAY ♥ MAY 14TH ♥ one thing,” says Doherty, though he adds that one if his greatest concerns is that somebody is going through the parks and lifting the lids off the meter boxes and water boxes and taking the insulation out and leaving them. “Not only is that an issue with someone disturb- ing the water supply, but if someone were to step in one of those, break an ankle, that scares me,” he says. Bowles says juveniles turned out to be respon- sible for at least some of the criminal mischief—the youth who scattered bark chips and took the books out of the Little Library were caught on film by cameras mounted at city park. The parents were noti- fied and the juveniles tres- passed from the city park for three months, Bowles told the G-T. Bowles says the sher- iff’s office is at work to reduce the number of com- plaints. “Morrow County Sher- iff’s Office has been doing the parks and juvenile ac- tivity,” says Bowles. “Our patrol deputies have been making contacts with juve- niles and parents. These are positive contacts, giving out stickers, helmets and build- ing a rapport. “Morrow County Sher- iff’s Office has also in- creased foot patrols within the City of Heppner. Our goal is building relation- ships and being available to the public while work- ing with the community,” he says. These efforts have so far been concentrated on Heppner. While Bowles says “there are always a few calls” in the other South Morrow communities, the criminal mischief seems to be centered on Heppner. Heppner city staff say it’s frustrating to put so much work and money the city parks only to have them subjected to van- dalism. While city staff say they have not kept a running tally of the repair costs over the past several months, man hours alone CARDS FLOWERS GIFTS LET THEM KNOW THEY ARE APPRECIATED Come check out our Wedding Tables 217 North Main St., Heppner • Phone 676-9158 • Floral 676-9426 We Print Letterhead & Envelopes 103 8 Box r • P.O. 97886 N. Wate on, OR 6889 West ) 569- 2376 : (888 hone (541) 566- 9270 Telep or ) 566- i.net (541 @uc Fax: pcfcu E: mail: Pine it ral de k Fe Cree n Cred . eekfcu Web site: pinecr nio U WILD- HORSE RESORT NO & CASI - Heppner Gazette 541-676-9228 Morrow County Road Dept. would like to remind all motorists that with any road maintenance project to be aware of the workers, they are very important to us. Watch for signs, flags and work-zone employees and equipment. Morrow County’s goal is to provide a safe roadway. However, it is always up to the motorist to drive according to conditions. Be patient and plan ahead. Leave early if you know you will be driving through work zones. Please use extreme caution and common sense. They will do their best and would appreciate your patience Temporary closers with grinding and reclaimation will be taking place with in the next few weeks. Some areas to be aware of with some delays and partial closers are... Laurel/Wilson Intersection in Boardman. Ione/Boardman Rd. (Juniper to Ella) Blackhorse east of Piper Canyon. Again be prepared and be safe. Questions or concerns may be addressed to 541-989-9500 Morrow County Road Department. A periodic column by Daniel Van Schoiack, CPA This is a follow up on last week’s article, which discussed the executive order and IRS notice which re- lieved taxpayers from disclosing on their 2016 tax returns whether or not they had health care coverage. The executive order and IRS notice also allowed filing of 2016 tax returns without paying the Individual Mandate Penalty. However, some tax preparers have not given their clients the option to make the health care coverage discloser, which allows them to avoid paying the penalty for lack of coverage with their tax returns. Last week I received an email from an individual who had prepared a tax return for her adult child. The adult child did not have health care coverage and was subject to a penalty of about $900. The mother consulted with her accountant regarding her child paying the penalty in light of the executive order and IRS notice, which was widely broadcast. It appears her accountant informed her that the child was required to make the discloser and pay the penalty. The question posed in her email was whether it would do any good to file an amended return in regards to the health care penalty. My answer is yes. Since the disclosure and payment of penalty were not required with the original return, then a misinformed tax payer should be allowed to file an amended tax return, which is “silent” regarding health care coverage, and request repayment of the penalty paid. However, since there is no precedence in this matter, it is unknown if the IRS will accept an amended return without disclosure when the disclosure was made on the original return. The preparation of an amended return in this situation would be a simple process. On page one of form 1040X is a summary of income, deductions and taxes as originally filed versus the corrected amount. The bottom line is the amount of refund due from the penalty that the taxpayer was not required to pay. If the IRS does not refund the penalty in this situa- tion, the only choice for the taxpayer is to wait and hope for retroactive appeal of the Individual Mandate Penalty. The American Health Care Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week and now goes to the Senate, contains that relief. Section 205 of the bill contains language to repeal the health care coverage penalty retroactive to the tax year 2016. However, section 133 of the bill brings forth another form of punishment for those who lack health insurance. That provision is titled the “Continuous Health Insurance Coverage Incentive.” It would impose a 30 percent surcharge that would be tacked on to the premium of policy holders who had a lapse in coverage for 64 days or more. That provision will be discussed more as the bill makes its way through the Senate, where it might be completely rewritten. Please feel free to contact me if you have any ques- tions or comments about this article. Daniel Van Schoiack CPA, can be contacted at 541- 676-9971 or danielrvan@yahoo.com. Recent articles can viewed at danielcpapro.com. have started to stack up, with Doherty estimating at least 100 man hours to clean up and repair the parks. Aside from the parks, other instances of vandalism have been reported throughout the community, including rocks thrown at cars and spray-painting on a shed in Heppner. “I’d just like people to report, call the sheriff’s of- fice if they see something going on,” says Doherty. “And make sure everyone picks up after themselves. Everything helps.” Bowles says that com- munity involvement has improved the situation, but more work needs to be done. “This has been going on for a couple of months, and since it started, the community has been call- ing in more activity, which has really helped,” says the undersheriff. “If somebody sees a cop sitting there, they’re not going to do any- thing; they’re going to do things when law enforce- ment isn’t around. Working together with more eyes out there is better. The more we can work together as a community the better off everyone is.” Bowles says the com- munity can continue to assist by contacting the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office at 541-676-5317 and reporting suspicious activity. NOW HIRING DRIVERS