Tom and Arlynda Gates
named Ione grand marshals
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136
NO. 23 8 Pages
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
By Andrea Di Salvo
The grand marshals
for this year’s Fourth of
July parade in Ione will be
Tom and Arlynda Gates, the
Fourth of July committee
has announced. The parade
will take place Tuesday,
July 4, at 1 p.m. on Ione’s
Main Street.
The Gateses say they
are “very honored, very
appreciative,” though they
say the honor was never
something they looked for.
In fact, according to those
who know them, their des- Tom and Arlynda Gates have been named grand marshals of
ignation as grand marshals this year’s Fourth of July parade in Ione. The parade will go
down Main Street beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 4. -Photo
-See GRAND MARSHALS/ by Andrea Di Salvo
PAGE THREE
Storm unleashes fury on Morrow County Fun is heating up at
Ione Fourth of July
This downed tree on Arcade St. in Lexington, and another on
Water St. in Lexington, took out power to the town Monday
night during a thunderstorm that wreaked havoc throughout
the area. -Photo by Sandra Pointer
Monday night, a se- through Morrow Coun-
vere thunderstorm swept ty, wreaking havoc with
power lines and property
with thunder and lightning
strikes, heavy rain and, of
course, heavy winds. Mor-
row County Undersheriff
and Emergency Manager
John Bowles reported that
wind gusts reached up to
50 mph as the storm front
traveled across Morrow
County.
Among the damage
was a power outage that
took out much of Lexing-
ton. Josh Coiner with Co-
lumbia Basin reports that
downed trees went through
two separate transformer
poles in Lexington, one on
Arcade St. and one on Wa-
ter St. Coiner says the two
lines fed different parts of
town. While CBEC crews
had the bulk of customers,
about 157 meters, back
in service by around 8:30
p.m., several homes on Wa-
ter St. remained blacked out
until 11 p.m. Coiner also
said there were a few other
isolated outages around the
Morrow County service
area, but none as large as
Lexington.
Aside from damaged
power lines and poles, Mor-
row County Sheriff’s Office
reports multiple downed
trees and tree limbs, as well
as fires. Fires were reported
Monday evening in the ar-
eas of Gooseberry Rd. and
Tews Ln., Ione; Baseline
Ln., Lexington; and Black-
horse L. and Sand Hollow
Rd., Heppner.
“We were very lucky,
and no injuries were re-
ported as a result of the
storm,” Bowles said in a
statement. “Morrow Coun-
ty had deputies working
with other emergency re-
sponders, county wide, to
help keep the public safe.
We made many contacts to
make sure no one was hurt
or injured.”
Pioneer Memorial still waiting on state
endoscopy facility approval
Health district settles on $14,984,737 budget for the
next fiscal year
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District Board, at
its monthly meeting in Irri-
gon Monday night, learned
that resuming endoscopic
procedures at Pioneer Me-
morial Hospital in Heppner
has still not been approved
by the state.
CEO Bob Houser told
the board that the district
has still not received the
go-ahead to begin offer-
ing endoscopies (including
colonoscopies) once again.
Offering the procedures at
PMH in Heppner not only
enabled patients to have the
procedures done locally, but
also added to the district’s
bottom line. The procedure
room remodel, required by
the state, was completed
some time ago.
Also at the meeting, the
board approved changes
to the proposed budget
for 2017-18, and adopted
a $14,984,737 budget for
Window smashed in
apparent vandalism
the next fiscal year. Board
members expressed their
confidence in the budget.
“I thought we were
over-optimistic,” said board
member Joe Perry, “but
we’re really close.”
“You’re only looking
at about a 20 percent in-
crease,” said board member
Jill Parker. “But I don’t
think we’re too far off,”
adding that she and Perry
are bankers and used to
dealing with finances.
Chief Financial Officer
Nicole Mahoney noted a
$200,000 Medicaid/Medi-
care adjustment to the posi-
tive that the district is re-
ceiving, which will help the
district’s bottom line. “It’s a
really fine dance to come up
with these numbers,” com-
mented Mahoney. “We’ve
spent many hours to come
up with our best guess.”
Board member Aaron
Palmquist stressed that the
district is a nonprofit orga-
nization.
The budget includes
$8,916,556 for personal ser-
vices (including salaries),
$3,330,844 for materials
and supplies, $1,122,036
for revenue deductions and
bad debt, $1,307,240 for
capital purchases, $258,061
for capital lease and loan
reduction and $50,000 for
community benefit grants.
The board also imposed
taxes at the rate of $.6050
cents per $1,000 assessed
value for operations and
$.39 cents per $1,000 as-
sessed value for the local
option tax for operations.
Also at the meeting, the
board learned from Houser
that the district has hired
Dr. Gayle Johnston, doctor
of osteopathic medicine, as
a general practitioner for
the Irrigon Clinic. Houser
said that once Dr. Johnston
receives approval from the
state of Oregon, she will
begin her practice in Irri-
Summer is finally
heating up—with a ven-
geance—and Ione Fourth of
July celebration is offering
some cool ways to have fun
and celebrate Independence
Day.
July 1
The festivities kick off
this Saturday, July 1, with
a volleyball tournament at
9 a.m. at Ione City Park.
Stay in town for dinner and
a poker tournament, plus
Bingo, at 5 p.m. at the Ione
Legion Hall.
Dinner is by donation
and will include a selec-
tion of chicken thighs with
bacon bourbon jam, bacon
ranch pasta salad, corn on
the cob, cheeseburgers with
bacon bourbon jam, pulled
pork sandwiches, bratwurst
and coleslaw.
Texas Hold ‘Em poker
sign-ups begin at 6 p.m.
with play beginning at 6:30.
Poker buy-in is $40, and
re-buys are allowed. Cash
prizes will be awarded.
Bingo begins at 6:30 p.m.
and is 25 cents per card.
The day will wrap up
with a free showing of
the moving “Sing” in the
park at dusk. The movie is
funded by Ione Community
Agri-Business Organiza-
tion (ICABO) with conces-
sions available from the
Ione Cardinal Booster Club.
July 3
Monday, July 3, golf-
ers can tee off at 9 a.m.
at Willow Creek Country
Club during the annual golf
tournament.
July 4
Tuesday, July 4, the
real action begins, starting
with the Fireman’s break-
fast at the Ione Fire Hall
from 7-10 a.m. Stretch your
legs—and maybe work off
the calories—at the Cre-
ative Care Preschool 5k
walk/run. Registration is
at Ione City Park and costs
$10; registration begins
at 7 a.m. with the walk at
7:30 a.m.
The Ken Turner Me-
morial Horseshoe Tourna-
ment will take place at the
horseshoe pits at 9 a.m., and
basketball players can form
teams of three and shoot for
-See FOURTH OF JULY/
PAGE THREE
Brittner retires after
44 years with health
district
By Andrea Di Salvo
Pioneer Memorial
nurse Peggy Brittner, LPN
has hung up her scrubs
this year after several de-
cades with Morrow County
Health District. Brittner, 72,
worked a total of 44 years
with the health district.
“I really enjoyed work-
ing up there…most of the
time,” says Brittner.
Though her path took
a few twists and turns,
Brittner has deep connec-
tions with Morrow County,
including being related
to several local families
throughout South Morrow.
She was born in The Dalles,
OR and raised by her grand-
parents, Louis and Marga-
ret Cason, on their ranch
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/ near Madison Butte. Her
PAGE FOUR
Peggy Brittner stands in front
a wall of family photos, includ-
ing one showing her grand-
father Louis Cason as grand
marshal of the Morrow Coun-
ty Fair and Rodeo Parade
in 1968; he was riding Floyd
Jones’s stud horse. -Photo by
Andrea Di Salvo
grandparents were heavily
involved in the community;
-See BRITTNER RETIRES/
PAGE SIX
Mahoney kids qualify for international
rodeo next month; Stewart qualified for junior
high nationals
This window on the front door of Artisan Village fabric store in
Heppner was broken in what appears to be an act of vandalism
Monday night. Store manager Sheena Shank says there was
Three young rodeo (OHSRA) Finals in Prin-
no debris to indicate the breakage was related to the storm
that passed through the area, and Dr. Ken Wenberg said glass contestants who com- eville recently qualified for
was scattered across the sidewalk in front of the store. Shank peted at the Oregon High other key rodeos around the
reports that nothing was taken from shop. Morrow County School Rodeo Association nation; Jaiden and Blane
Sheriff’s Office is investigating. -Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
Mahoney and Jett Stewart
all earned the right to travel honey of Heppner have
to prominent high school qualified for the Silver State
and junior high rodeo com- International Rodeo, held
-See RODEO QUALIFIERS/
petitions this summer.
PAGE SIX
Jaiden and Blane Ma-
Gazette will be closed July 4
WEEKS ROSES AND
Deadline for July 5 is Friday
The Heppner Gazette-
Times will be closed Tues-
day, July 4, due to the Inde-
pendence Day holiday.
The Gazette will go
to print on Monday, July
3, so the deadline for all
news and advertising will
be Friday, June 30, at 5 p.m.
Normal business hours
will resume Wednesday,
July 5.
ANNUAL
BEDDING PLANTS
20% OFF!!
ALL LOCATIONS WILL BE CLOSED JULY 4TH
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)