New county accounting
position created
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136
NO. 33 10 Pages
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Dental
office
closes for
repairs
Advantage Dental Clin-
ics has announced it will
close its Heppner location
for repairs beginning this
Thursday. In a letter to cli-
ents the dental clinic stated
it would announce “if and
when” it will reopen. Staff
at the Redmond headquar-
ters declined to comment on
the prospective reopening
date or whether the office
would reopen.
Advantage Dental says
locations in Boardman and
Hermiston will remain open
to serve Morrow County.
New
massage
therapist in
Heppner
By Andrea Di Salvo
Those needing relax-
ation for body and soul
will now be able to find it
at the hands of Kaley Pat-
terson, LMT, a massage
therapist who set up shop
in Heppner recently.
Born in La Grande and
raised in Adel, OR, Patter-
son graduated from Lakev-
iew High School. She then
attended college in Walla
Walla for
two years,
working
toward an
associate’s
degree in
business.
Her
life Kaley
took a turn Patterson,
when her LMT
father was
injured and she took time
off to work the family
ranch. When she returned
to school, it was to Ash-
mead College in Portland,
where she graduated in
2005 with a degree in mas-
sage.
“Massage allows the
body to connect itself back
together and, if allowed,
help itself,” Patterson
says. “Massage gives the
receiver...a chance to truly
relax, leave the crazies of
life for a few moments,
Murray’s Drug
cancels Boardman
pharmacy plans
By Andrea Di Salvo
Murray’s Drug will not
be expanding operations to
Boardman as was report-
ed in the Aug. 2 Gazette-
Times. The decision to pull
out came when the Murrays
learned on Aug. 21 that
the Columbia River Com-
munity Health Services
(CRCHS) board had voted
over the previous weekend
to open their own pharmacy
in Boardman.
“We have worked for
the past four months in
open communication and
in good faith to purchase
the Good Shepherd Clinic
Pharmacy,” the Murrays
said in a written statement.
“We were blindsided by
the news this far into the
project.”
John and Ann Mur-
ray informed the Morrow
County Health District
Board July 31 that they
had purchased the phar-
macy from Good Shepherd,
which had been operating
out of Boardman Select
Market. The Murrays had
planned to relocate the
pharmacy to the Mountain
Valley Land Co. building,
which Murray’s Drug also
purchased, located kitty-
corner to the market, which
they said would provide
a drive-through option to
Boardman residents.
“After reviewing Mr.
Murray’s proposal and dis-
-See PHARMACY/PAGE
FIVE
Ione, Riverside football
teams to combine
Will play as Pirates on the
Riverside 3A schedule
By David Sykes
Because of lack of par-
ticipation, the Ione and Riv-
erside High School football
teams may combine this
year, and field one team
and play as the Riverside
Pirates, the Morrow County
School Board announced
Monday night. The coop-
erative agreement is neces-
sary to continue the sport
at the two schools with the
low number of students
turning out.
audit policies, and con-
tract requirements.” The
job was created after the
commission had appointed
Knop the additional duties
as county auditor, and de-
termined she would need
an assistant to handle the
added work load. The audi-
tor position was created by
the county court in 1982,
but had been vacant and
unfilled since the 1990s.
Knop was sworn in as the
auditor at the commission’s
Aug. 14 meeting.
The new staff accoun-
tant, when hired, will report
directly to Knop. Job re-
quirements are a BS degree
in accounting or related
field and two years in gov-
ernmental accounting. The
salary will be $90,000 per
year which includes base
pay of $50,000 and benefits
of approximately $40,000
per year. A new computer
and office equipment will
be purchased for the posi-
tion. In addition Knop’s sal-
ary will also be increased by
-See COUNTY COMMIS-
SION/PAGE FIVE
Velma Wight celebrates 100
years
By Bobbi Gordon
Local woman Velma
May Wight celebrated her
100 th birthday on July 30.
“I wanted to be 100
ever since I was a little
girl,” she said. “People kept
telling me, ‘You’ll get there,
Velma, knowing you.’”
She was born in St.
Helens, OR, but was raised
in Portland and attended
school in Sellwood. When
she was in her teens, she
took on the task of rais-
ing her siblings when her
mother passed away.
“In those days, you
could do that. I didn’t want
my brothers and sisters to
go here and there all over
the place. I loved my broth-
Isiah Martin and Nickolas Wenberg take a break for tether ers and sisters.”
ball during recess the first day of school Monday at Heppner
She says that in raising
Elementary. School started across the county Aug. 28. -Photo them, “I figure I accom-
by Megan Futter
plished something.”
During her lifetime, she
Velma Wight at her joint birthday party with Ida Farra
when she turned 100 last month. -Contributed photo
worked in restaurants and
did housework. She and her
husband ranched in Spray,
logged in Joseph and retired
in Terrebonne.
She raised three chil-
dren of her own, twin girls
Darlene and Arlene and
her son, Gary. Her daugh-
ters live in Portland and
-See WIGHT 100/PAGE
FIVE
Latest Nike uniform design
comes to Heppner football in
honor of Bob Kilkenny
The Heppner High
School football team will
open the 2017 football sea-
son at home Friday, Sept.
1, versus St. Paul, wearing
a new look normally seen
in NFL and Collegiate sta-
diums around the country
with specially designed
Nike Vapor Untouchable
uniforms. The state-of-the-
art uniforms were designed
to honor Heppner’s historic
success in Oregon High
School football, and the
late Robert Kilkenny, who
passed away last summer at
the age of 86.
The Mustangs famous-
ly won a state record 81
consecutive league games
from 1998 through 2011
under the leadership of head
coach Greg Grant, who is
236-51 at Heppner, includ-
ing state championships in
1992, and 2015 after an un-
defeated 13-0 season, and
assistant coach Les Payne
who has been a fixture with
the Mustang program for
41 years.
Kilkenny was a long-
time booster club leader
for the Mustangs and ardent
supporter. He spent his
entire life in and around
Heppner, and took great
pride in the Horseman—as
it is sometimes known—
-See NIKE/PAGE THREE
CBEC, Wheatridge Cut
Transmission Deal; Ball in
Umatilla’s Court
Reprinted with permis- ridge wind project that the
co-op says resolves
sion from August
jurisdictional issues
11, 2017 issue of
it had with Umatilla
Clearing Up, a pub-
Electric Coopera-
lication of Energy
tive (UEC).
NewsData Corpo-
Under an agree-
ration.
ment with Wheat-
By Rick Adair
Columbia Basin Thomas Wolff, ridge’s previous
owners, Umatilla
Electric Coopera- CEO and
was to build and
tive has reached an general
interconnection-line m a n a g e r o f own the 23-mile,
230-kV transmis-
settlement with the CBEC.
sion line that would
developers of the
proposed 500-MW Wheat- run from the project’s col-
Morrow County School
Superintendent Dirk Dirk-
sen told the board that be-
cause of health and safety
concerns, football turnout
across the country is go-
ing down, and this agree-
ment will give students
who want to play, the op-
portunity. Students are also
apparently turning out for
other sports. Riverside High
The Heppner Gazette-
School Principal David Times will be closed for the
-See PIRATE FOOTBALL/
Labor Day holiday on Mon-
PAGE FOUR
day, Sept. 4. The deadline
lector substation in Colum-
bia Basin’s territory and
terminate at BPA’s Morrow
Flat substation in UEC’s
territory.
However, Columbia
Basin said Umatilla’s plan
would violate state law
regarding utility service
territories, and brought
the dispute before the Or-
egon PUC in January. UEC
pushed back, saying that it
-See CBEC/PAGE FOUR
G-T closed for Labor Day
Health district goes
ahead with endoscopy
room remodel
By April Sykes
The Morrow County
Health District Board, at
its regular meeting Monday
night in Heppner, approved
-See MASSAGE/PAGE seeking a $179,000 loan to
FOUR
By David Sykes
The Morrow County
Commission has decided
to create a new position in
the accounting department,
to assist Finance Director/
County Auditor Kate Knop
with the additional duties
to which she was recently
assigned.
The new position will
be full-time and according
to the job description “is
responsible for research-
ing, interpreting, and un-
derstanding government
accounting and regulations,
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Winter
Back to school time
wheat had for Morrow County
strong
yields
With the close of wheat
harvest, 2017 yields re-
ported well county-wide.
County averages overall
were close to 50 bushels.
Spring wheat struggled,
producing in the low to mid
20s, while winter wheat
had a successful season
with yields of close to 60
bushels.
Commission votes to add additional staff
fund the completion of the
Pioneer Memorial Hospital
endoscopy room remodel
project, laboratory equip-
-See HEALTH DISTRICT/
PAGE FIVE
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for all news and advertising resume Tuesday, Sept. 5.
for the Sept. 6 issue will be
The G-T wishes every-
Friday, Sept. 1, at 5 p.m. one a happy and safe Labor
Normal business hours will Day weekend.
RED FLANNEL
PET FOOD
Morrow County Grain Growers Green Feed & Seed
242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)