New members welcomed to
Honor Society
HEPPNER
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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.
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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
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