Joel Peterson runs for
commissioner
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 139
NO. 13 6 Pages
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Lexington resident sews,
donates Covid-19 masks
Sandi Pointer of Lex-
ington, a busy mom of
three grown kids and a
doting grandmother, not
to mention an employee of
the Morrow County Public
Works Department, was
looking for an opportunity
to help during these times
of crises. So, when the
Stanfield quilt shop put out
a request to all sewers and
quilters for their help in
supplying masks in the fight
against COVID 19, Pointer
leapt for it.
After Googling a cou-
ple patterns, Pointer sewed
56 masks and distributed
them to Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, a special transpor-
tation office in Kelso and
Woodland, Washington, a
nursing home in Longview,
Washington, and staff at
her Public Works office.
Sandi says she was able to
do around 10 in a half hour,
with her two sons testing
and helping with the fit. She
says she made masks until
she ran out of elastic.
Sandi said she had tak-
en the elastic out of two
queen fitted sheets to use
the fabric for something
else but hung on to the
elastic. “I had several (fab-
ric) scraps too big to throw
away, but not big enough
for anything much else,”
said Pointer. She had ma-
terial left over from mak-
ing granddaughter Jude’s
dresses, quilts, Valentine
bags and Easter baskets,
“So, I felt I could do it.”
Sandi Pointer
Masks Pointer made, preparing to ship off.
“It looked easy enough, so
gave it a try and, after get-
ting an assembly line type
production and my two sons
testing and helping with fit,
I had some masks going
Local businesses
adapt to shutdown
By Bobbi Gordon
Area businesses have
adjusted hours, changed to
take-out only and imple-
mented new sanitizing and
cleaning processes due to
the shutdown caused by the
Coronavirus. Some have set
up delivery options and are
focusing on keeping their
business open and their
employees working.
The Heppner Ga-
zette-Times, as media, is
considered an essential
business so will remain
open and the newspaper
will continue to be pub-
lished. All news and adver-
tising must be received by
5 p.m. on Mondays.
Bucknum’s is open for
curbside service only from
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 8
p.m., Monday through Sat-
urday. Call 541-676-5274
to place orders as people are
not allowed to wait inside.
Check Facebook for the
menu.
Breaking Grounds Cof-
fee will remain open but
asks customers to call in all
coffee and food orders to
limit the amount of contact
time. They will continue to
practice all safety guide-
lines required for restau-
rants.
Granddaughter Jude, the re-
cipient of many outfits made
by grandma, the source of
scraps made into masks.
As of March 21, Two
Old Hags Pizza decided to
close down completely to
protect themselves, family,
employees and their cus-
tomers. They will reopen as
soon as it is considered safe.
Murray’s Drug will
remain open to serve their
customers. They have a
new handicap system in
the main entrance and ask
that it is pushed by using
your elbow. If you are sick,
they ask that you please stay
home and they will deliver
your medications to you.
Heppner Market Fresh
will remain open regular
hours. There will be no can
or bottle returns accepted at
this time.
The Neighborhood
Center in Heppner is cur-
rently closed except by ap-
pointment for food boxes.
Donations of household
and clothing are not being
accepted at this time but
donations of food, toiletries
and diapers are needed.
For additional information
check their Facebook page.
All Oregon Trail Li-
braries are closed. Virtu-
al services are available
and Heppner staff may be
-See BUSINESS SHUT-
DOWNS/PAGE TWO
pretty good.”
(Editor’s note: Not all
facilities accept homemade
masks, so it is best to check
with those facilities prior to
sewing and shipping.)
Joel Peterson is running
for Morrow County Com-
missioner, Position One
in the upcoming primary
election to be held in May.
In doing so, he is continuing
a family tradition of public
service begun by his grand-
father, Oscar Peterson, a
Morrow County judge and
founding member of the
Port of Morrow.
Throughout the years,
he has served multiple or-
ganizations in the county
including Morrow Coun-
ty Planning Commission,
Bank of Eastern Oregon,
Valby Lutheran Church,
Morrow County Wheat
Growers League, Jordan
Elevator Corporation, Ione
Community Agri-Business
Organization, Ione School
Board and Ione Education
Foundation. He served as
chairman of all of those
organizations at least once
and has also served on bud-
get committees for the Port
of Morrow and Ione Fire
Department.
Peterson stated, “My
service on the planning
Joel Peterson
commission in particular
gave me experience with
issues facing all of Morrow
County. I found the public
hearing process to be very
helpful when faced with
difficult choices. Many
times we made better de-
cisions because we could
understand the perspectives
of those being affected. As
commissioner, I promise to
keep listening.”
Peterson was born in
Heppner and attended Ione
schools, graduating in 1975.
After earning a degree from
Pacific Lutheran University
in engineering physics and a
minor in computer science,
he returned to Ione to farm.
He has been married to Lea
Mathieu, an educator and
minister, for 26 years. Lea
has taught in Ione, Heppner
and Boardman. Their three
children attended school
in Ione.
Joel grew up with cattle
and now raises wheat, so
says he knows ranching
and farming firsthand. He
is involved with pasture
ground south of Hardman,
farmland south of Ione
and irrigation ground near
Boardman, giving him a
personal perspective on
Morrow County’s agricul-
tural needs.
“I believe that a leader
is someone who puts others
in the best position to suc-
ceed,” continued Peterson.
“As commissioner, I would
do that by hiring excellent
people and letting them use
their expertise to the fullest.
I will do my best to en-
sure that Morrow County’s
growing economy remains
strong for all of us.”
County declares emergency,
closes facilities to public
No cases in Morrow County - four test negative
By David Sykes
In an effort to slow the
spread of the Coronavirus,
the Morrow County Com-
mission last week declared
a state of emergency and
shut down all public access
to its buildings across the
county. Only the Sheriff’s
Office and the Circuit Court
will remain open. County
employees will be working
to help the public; however,
citizens will need to make
contact by phone or email.
As of Tuesday morn-
ing, there have been no
deaths or cases of the vi-
rus detected in the county.
Four people have tested
negative. In neighboring
counties Umatilla has two
cases, Grant has one and
Gilliam and Wheeler both
have zero.
At a meeting last week
the county also announced
it was discontinuing the
practice of rotating meet-
ings around the county
and will hold all meetings
until further notice at the
Bartholomew Building in
Heppner. Also at the meet-
ing the county turned down
a request to have the Sher-
iff’s Department conduct
background checks for a
newly formed volunteer
group called People Help-
ing People (see related
story). The group had asked
the Sheriff’s Office to do
checks on volunteers who
would be making trips to
people’s homes during the
governor’s recently enacted
stay at home order deliv-
ering food, supplies and
needed items. The sheriff’s
office was going to make
sure the volunteers did not
have any background issues
since the people will be
going to elderly people’s
homes. The commissioners
heard the request but denied
the help saying they did not
want the county’s name at-
tached to the group’s efforts
because of possible liability
issues and that granting
help would also open the
door to other groups ask-
ing for county help. Com-
missioners said they did
not want the sheriff to do
the background checks in
case something happened,
then the county would be
blamed. Organizer of the
new volunteer help group
is Cody High of Heppner,
who has so far signed up
50 local people to do the
volunteer work.
The commission also
held an emergency Coro-
navirus meeting on Thurs-
day, March 19 and mostly
discussed county personnel
issues and measures to keep
county employees safe and
healthy. It was also decided
at that time to hold a weekly
meeting of a newly formed
committee to monitor the
county’s response to the
virus. Other county officials
also meet on a regular basis
to discuss the “fluid” situa-
tion with the virus.
Volunteers band together to help others
By Bobbi Gordon
Cody High and The-
resa Crawford of Heppner
have formed a group of
volunteers to help anyone
in Morrow County who
may need assistance due to
the Coronavirus pandemic.
The group, Morrow Coun-
ty- People Helping People,
began on Facebook and is
already up to over 50 vol-
unteers.
High stated on the
Facebook page, “We are
in the midst of an unprec-
edented global pandemic.
Each day we are facing
new challenges and hurdles.
Theresa Crawford and I
came up with the idea for
this group with the concern
that the very rural way of
living that we all love here
in Morrow County could
provide added difficulties
if we started down the same
pathways other nations
have gone down.”
He continued, “The
very space that we love and
hopefully will keep us all
safe and healthy will add
hardships for some mem-
bers of our community to
get some of the basic needs
we all sometimes have
taken for granted. Together
we can make a difference
for all of Morrow County.
If we stop thinking about
others as from here or there
and just think of them as our
neighbor.”
The group has recruited
a volunteer leader in each of
the Morrow County cities.
In Heppner, Theresa Craw-
ford is the leader and can be
reached at 541-561-0629.
Lexington’s volunteer lead-
er is Tonja Lemmon Mori-
sette, 541-561-8953. Also
in Lexington, Will Lemmon
and Ralph Klock of Mor-
row County Grain Growers
have agreed to man the
drop-off site at MCGG, 350
Main Street.
Jeff Clabaugh of Ione
is the volunteer leader there
and can be reached at 971-
517-0548. Jim Doherty,
whose number is 541-571-
0584, has volunteered in
Boardman. In Irrigon, con-
tact the Columbia View
Community Church. Clau-
dia Guerra has volunteered
to be the translator so all of
the messages distributed by
the group are also available
in Spanish.
The goal of the group is
to help if someone is hungry
or unable to get something
they need. Everyone is
asked to donate if they are
able or reach out if they
need something. At this
time, financial resources are
not available.
“We have put names out
of individuals in each com-
munity who have stepped
forward to help. If someone
is hungry or lacking some-
thing, we all should reach
out to help regardless of our
current hometown. If you
have a need, reach out. If
you can help, reach out. Our
choices will determine if
this is a major disaster or a
defining moment of unity,”
Cody noted.
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