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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2018)
New members welcomed to Honor Society HEPPNER G T 50¢ azette imes VOL. 137 NO. 20 10 Pages Wednesday, May 16, 2018 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Two Heppner High School students were inducted into the National Honor Society at a ceremony and lunch held last week. Casey Fletcher and Nichole Propheter (right) were presented with certifi- cates and pins welcoming them into the national society, which stresses scholarship, service, leadership and char- acter in its members. At the ceremony, current Hon- or Society members Sophie Grant did the candle lighting ceremony, Jaiden Mahoney spoke on scholarship, Jacee Currin on service, Keegan Gibbs character and Hunter Nichols talked of leadership. In addition Grant gave the induction pledge and other current members Alex Lind- say spoke on the history of the society, Morgan Correa gave a personal statement, Madison Combe presented the certificates, Carson Brosnan presented new members with their pins, Claire Grieb took care of the register and Gibson McCurry gave the closing statement. Advisor to the local Honor Society is Hep- pner High School teacher Petra Payne. -Photo by David Sykes Meritorious Conduct awarded to citizens by Sheriff Matlack New Home Health and Hospice director hired Meritorious Conduct awards were presented by Sheriff Ken Matlack (left) to citizens who went above and beyond. Recipients pictured are (second from left) Phil Carlson, Pablo Cisneros-Garcia, Scott Smythe and Roger Britt. -Photo by Megan Futter. Sheriff Kenneth Mat- lack presented the Meri- torious Conduct award to ten people on May 9, fol- lowing recommendations by Lt. Terry Harper. The awards were presented to citizens who went above and beyond the duties of a citizen during an incident last December. According to the press release, the actions required to receive this award are so rarely found, that this is the first time in at least 30 years it has been awarded by the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office to a citizen. Local resident, Roger Britt, discovered a burglary that had just occurred and pursued the stolen suspect vehicle and was subse- quently shot at by a suspect. He obtained a description of the suspects and their direction of travel, which assisted in their arrest a short time later. Another local resident, Pablo Cisneros-Garcia ob- served a suspicious vehicle on Treo Ranch property. When he investigated, he found the vehicle aban- doned in a ravine and a fire had been started. He chased the subjects on foot, locat- ing them so they could be apprehended by the hunters from Yakima. Local resident, Scott Smythe assisted with put- ting out the vehicle fire and controlling a high stress situation involving fire- arms. Phil Carlson docu- mented and recorded the event which aided in the successful prosecution of the suspects. The hunters from Ya- kima, Myrl Brown, Max Brown, Cord Brown, Dru Brown, Robert Rogers and Lanny Gill, were enjoying a bird hunt on Treo Ranches when their day was inter- rupted by the fleeing sus- pects. They quickly took action and apprehended the two suspects at gunpoint, without regard to their per- sonal safety. Besides the Meritori- ous Conduct award, they also received a copy of the local paper that high- lighted the incident when it occurred in December, a Morrow County Sheriff’s Office uniform patch and a Morrow County Sheriff’s Office challenge coin. South Court Street to get work Council debates employee cost of living increases By David Sykes South Court Street in Heppner will be getting some work done thanks to a grant from the State of Oregon, the city council was told Monday night. Under a “Small Cities Allotment” grant, Heppner will receive $50,000 to do some surface work on the street. The city will kick in an additional $25,000 on the project, which is ex- pected to include an overlay and drainage work, said City Manager Edie Ball. Also at the meeting, the council debated how much of a cost of living raise to give city employees in the coming fiscal year. The city is starting its budget process and the council will need to decide what percentage wage increases to give its employees. Ball recommended a 4.2 percent increase, saying her recommendation came from a consumer price in- dex inflation calculation issued by the Local Govern- ment Personnel Institute, LGPI, of Oregon. The LGPI is a public agency that of- fers human resources and labor relations assistance to cities, counties and spe- cial districts throughout Oregon. The council discussed the proposed increase and then decided to table the matter for further study. Since the budget committee starts its deliberations May 29, it is necessary for the council to decide on an in- crease before then, to allow for wage figures to be put into next year’s proposed budget. The council decided to hold a special meeting next Monday May 21 at 5:30 pm to make its decision. Coun- cilmember Teresa Hughes asked the city manager to provide information at that time on pay increases being given by other cities Hep- pner’s size and also have the cost of living increase Morrow County recently granted its employees. In other business the council agreed to pay local man Al Osmin $300 for the spraying he has been doing on the old city dump land. Osmin, whose property is next to the old dump site owned by the city, has been taking care of the spraying to keep weeds down and from spreading to his land. The council estimated the payment should pay for about three years of spray- ing. In other action the council heard that Ball had met with various agencies about what to do about Hep- pner’s needed upgrade to its sewer treatment system. The Department of Envi- ronmental Quality, DEQ, has told the city it will have to reduce the amount of ammonia in its effluent cur- rently being discharged into Willow Creek. The city is investigating various ways to alleviate the problem, including a regional waste treatment facility including the city of Ione and town of Lexington. Ball said it is es- timated that the regional fa- cility could cost around $25 million. Ione and Lexington are looking to upgrade since they are currently using septic systems. Another option would be for Heppner to do a complete upgrade of its cur- rent aging septic treatment plant. This option is not de- sirable either, however, as eventually the DEQ wants all discharge effluent out of the creek so a new plant may not be a long term solution. In other business the council decided to officially appoint an Information Technology committee to study and discuss the city’s IT needs. Appointed to the committee Monday were Shawn Cutsforth, Dale Bates, Pat Lauritsen, John Bowles, Chad Doherty and Mayor Cody High. The committee has met twice already to discuss the city’s need for a new computer system and accounting soft- ware. The current system is old and not working very well. In further action, the council voted to approve a contract with the county sheriff providing police services for the coming year. The contract is the same that has been in place for the past two years with no changes. ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M. Caroline Jackson, new Home Health and Hospice director, didn’t set out to become a home health and hospice nurse, the busi- ness administration major was focused on accounting and workdays filled with calculations and spread- sheets. That career path all changed, however, when she became a caregiver for her grandmother as she battled cancer. Five years and two nursing degrees later, she has relocated to Morrow County to take the reins as Director of Pioneer Memorial Home Health and Hospice. Jackson, who grew up in Palm Springs and San Francisco, CA, began her new assignment Apr. 30 af- ter spending time in Kodiak and Seward, AK finishing her Masters in nursing with emphasis in leadership de- gree. Jackson said she likes small towns, saying Mor- row County isn’t as remote as Seward and will defi- nitely have better weather. Jackson’s interest in Home Health and Hospice began when she worked as a home caregiver when she was in college. After school she worked as a trainer for in-home care, then fell into Home Health and Hospice care. “I found I had a true passion for it,” she says. She said she started out as a staff nurse and worked her way up to the director position. Since she has been here, Jackson has spent time get- ting to know the Pioneer Memorial Home Health and Hospice staff, patients and volunteers, and learning about the Morrow County Health District organization and the area. Jackson said she is interested in expand- ing community awareness of the services the depart- ment offers and becoming involved in community activities. Jackson and her sig- nificant other, Mike, a chef, are purchasing a home in Lexington. They have two children, Michael, 15 and Lorelei, 11, who will be relocating with them. She also has three step-children, Steven, 21, Aspen, 17 and Michael, 11. Michael will be joining the family in Lexington mid-summer and the others will visit often. In her free time, Jack- son says she enjoys read- ing, gardening, playing cards, anything with ani- mals, working with service organizations and making a difference in the communi- ty. “I like being involved,” she says. The public is invited to meet Jackson at a meet and greet open house on Thursday, May 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Main Street office in Heppner. The South Morrow County Scholarship Trust has announced the recipi- ents of the 2018 scholar- ship: Sophie Grant, Sonia Medina and Morgan Orem will each receive $1,000; Alex Lindsay and Morgan Correa will each receive $750; Reiah Waite and Beau Wolters will each receive $500. The students were selected on the basis of academic achievement, chosen field of study, finan- cial need, school participa- tion, degree of effort in seeking sources for college and personal characteristics for success and school citi- zenship. Sophie Grant is the daughter of Greg and Vir- ginia Grant of Heppner. She attends Heppner High School and after gradu- ation, plans to major in biology, minor in Spanish with a career goal of being a rural optometrist. She will attend Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. Grant has maintained a 4.0 GPA while being an active mem- ber at HHS. She is a mem- ber of the National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America and held class and student body offices. She has participated and lettered in volleyball, basketball and golf and re- ceived several awards and acknowledgements in those sports. She volunteers at Pioneer Memorial Physical Therapy, Willow Creek As- sisted Living, the Multiple Sclerosis Walk and a variety of school and community activities. Sonia Medina is the daughter of Juan and Sonia Medina of Boardman. She attends Ione High School and after graduation, plans to study nursing at Western Oregon University with a goal to become a forensic nurse. Medina has main- tained a 4.0 GPA and has received academic awards in science and math. She has served as a class vice- president and secretary and is the current student body vice-president. She is a member of FFA and her lo- cal church youth group. She participated and lettered in track and field and received the Big Sky Scholar Athlete Award in 2017. She has par- ticipated in many charities involving providing food for the needy including canned food drives, Oregon FFA Food for All and Blue Mountain FFA Meals for Hope. Morgan Orem is the daughter of Eric and Brandi Orem of Heppner. She at- tends Ione High School and after graduation, plans to study animal science and agricultural business management at Oregon State University in Cor- vallis, OR. Her goal is to attend veterinary school to become a large animal veterinarian. Orem has a 4.0 GPA and has received many academic awards dur- ing her high school career. She is an active member Caroline Jackson has taken over the reins as the Home Health and Hospice Director. -Contributed photo. Scholarships awarded to area graduating seniors SEE HOMES FOR SALE ON PAGE 4 -See SCHOLARSHIPS/PAGE SEVEN www.sykesrealestate.net www.pendletonproperties. net
