TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 5, 2020
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
SEARCH OLD COPIES OF THE HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES ON-LINE:
http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/
Published weekly by Sykes Publishing and entered as periodical matter at the Post
Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Periodical postage paid
at Heppner, Oregon. Office at 188 W. Willow Street. Telephone (541) 676-9228. Fax
(541) 676-9211. E-mail: editor@rapidserve.net or david@rapidserve.net. Web site:
www.heppner.net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times,
P.O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $31 in Morrow County; $25
senior rate (in Morrow County only; 65 years or older); $37 elsewhere; $31 student
subscriptions.
David Sykes ..............................................................................................Publisher
Bobbi Gordon................................................................................................ Editor
Giselle Moses.........................................................................................Advertising
All News and Advertising Deadline is Monday at 5 p.m.
For Advertising: advertising deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Cost for a display ad is $5.25 per
column inch. Cost for classified ad is 50¢ per word. Cost for Card of Thanks is $10 up to
100 words. Cost for a classified display ad is $6.05 per column inch.
For Public/Legal Notices: public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for pub-
lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits
require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be
specified if required).
For Obituaries: Obituaries are published in the Heppner GT at no charge and are edited to
meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
or who wish to have the obituary written in a certain way must purchase advertising space
for the obituary.
For Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor MUST be signed by the author. The Heppner
GT will not publish unsigned letters. All letters MUST include the author’s address and phone
number for use by the GT office. The GT reserves the right to edit letters. The GT is not
responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. Any letters expressing thanks will
be placed in the classifieds under “Card of Thanks” at a cost of $10.
Governor Brown
Announces Changes
for Morrow County
Effective Friday, July 31,
Umatilla County moved
to Baseline Stay Home
Status, Morrow County
moved to Phase 1
Governor Kate
Brown announced July
31 that Umatilla County
was moved from Phase
2 back to a Baseline Stay
Home status effective
July 31 at noon. Morrow
County was moved to
Phase 1 status, also ef-
fective July 31, at noon.
.
COVID-19 has
spread rapidly in the two
counties over the past
month. Both counties
had been placed on the
state’s Watch List on July
3 and received additional
support from state public
health officials.
“COVID-19 has
spread dramatically in
both Umatilla and Mor-
row Counties for the past
month,” said Governor
Brown. “My heart goes
out to the families in
Morrow County, Umatilla
County, and the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation
who have been impacted
by this disease.”
Governor Brown
continued, “If we do
not act immediately, we
could see the virus spread
even more rapidly, infect-
ing and killing more com-
munity members. I know
that this is difficult news
for business owners and
working families in the
region.”
COVID-19 Up-
date for Morrow County:
•Morrow County
had 213 cases per 10,000
people.
•The
county
has a weekly test pos-
itivity rate of 30%, far
above the state average.
•Morrow County
has reported an average
of 7 new cases per day
over the last two weeks.
• Roughly 52%
of all cases from the last
week were sporadic cases
that could not be traced
back to a known source.
• The outbreak
in Morrow County first
began with social gath-
erings but that then led to
cases linked to large food
processing facilities and
agricultural facilities.
• The Oregon Health
Authority
deployed
2 case investigators
and 1 public informa-
tion officer to Mor-
row County on July 18.
.
“After weeks of
trying other measures to
get the disease under con-
trol, our only option is to
temporarily close certain
businesses and other com-
munity amenities,” said
Governor Brown. “I am
hopeful that these mea-
sures will help the commu-
nity control the spread of
COVID-19 quickly.”
These
changes
in county reopening sta-
tus will be in effect for
21 days. The Governor’s
office, along with public
health experts, will review
the situation and data on a
weekly basis and act ac-
cordingly in close commu-
nication with county lead-
ers.
In Baseline Stay Home
status, the following mea-
sures apply:
-All individuals should
minimize all non-essen-
tial travel and stay at their
home or place of residence
as much as possible.
-All businesses and
non-profits must imple-
ment work-from-home or
telework policies for em-
ployees to the maximum
extent possible.
.
-Civic, cultural, and faith-
based gatherings are limit-
ed to 25 people.
-All indoor and outdoor
social gatherings are limit-
ed to 10 people
- Grocery stores and
retail, museums, phar-
macies,
banks
and
credit unions, and gas
stations remain open.
Central Oregon Forestry
increases restrictions
Oregon Department of Forestry’s (OD F) Central Or-
egon District increased restrictions for forest operations
and the public beginning July 27. These restrictions are
intended to reduce the risk of fire ignition on lands within
the Central Oregon District in Lake, Harney, Deschutes,
Crook, Wasco, Hood River, Grant, Wheeler, Gilliam,
Jefferson, Morrow, and Umatilla counties.
Minimal precipitation combined with increasing
hot temperatures has continued to dry wildland vege-
tation and fuels, increasing the potential for rapid fire
spread.
The Regulated-Use Closure, affecting recre-
ational and non-industrial landowner activities, restricts
many high-risk activities between the hours of 10 a.m.
and 8 p.m., prohibits activities such as blasting, in addi-
tion to restricting other activities. Anyone traveling on
forested roads is required to have one shovel and one
gallon of water (or a 2 ½ pound fire extinguisher).
In addition to the Regulated-Use Closure, ODF
will be moving the Industrial Fire Precaution Level in
MH-1 (portion of The Dalles Unit east of Hwy 35) to
Level 3 and MH-4 (portion of The Dalles Unit west of
Hwy 35) to Level 2. A two-hour fire watch is required
after industrial operations are complete in both areas.
Activities included in these restrictions are power saw
use, loading or hauling of material, cable yarding sys-
tems, blasting, welding, cutting, and grinding of metal,
rotary head saws, and other spark emitting activities. Any
questions regarding these restrictions should be directed
to Brian Reel, The Dalles Unit Stewardship Forester.
Industrial forest operations in the John Day and
Prineville Units of the Central Oregon District will have
“Additional Fire Prevention Requirements” in place to
reduce the risk of fire ignition. Mechanized harvesters
with rotary saws, chainsaws, tracked felling and skidding
equipment, slash buster/mastication equipment, and ca-
ble yarding systems will be restricted during the hours
of 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Watchman service is required for
all industrial operations.
All other fire season restrictions remain in effect.
Full details of the closure and restrictions of industrial
activities are available at www.ODFcentraloregon.com.
ODF’s Central Oregon District continues to
serve landowners and the public as an essential service
for Oregonians. For more information call or email to
talk with their staff or schedule an appointment. For ad-
ditional information on ODF’s Central Oregon District,
including contact information and unit offices, please
visit www.ODFcentraloregon.com.
Spaghetti dinner take-out
fundraiser for Birthright
set SatudadAug. Aug. 15
Birthright of Mor-
row County is hosting a
spaghetti dinner fundraiser
on Saturday, August 15,
at the Parish Hall of St.
Patrick’s Catholic Church
here in Heppner. The fund-
raiser will run from 4 to
7 p.m. All meals will be
take-out due to COVID-19
and social distancing re-
Death Notice
Harry W. “Sam” Scott, 87,
of Heppner died, Friday
May 8, 2020 at his home.
He was born on Decem-
ber 22, 1032 at Vale, Or-
egon. A memorial service
with military honors will
be held on Saturday, Au-
gust 15, 2020 at 11 a.m.
at the Heppner City Park.
A complete obituary will
Restaurants must move to be in next week’s Ga-
take-out or delivery only. zette-Times.
Sweeney
.
Mortuary is in care of ar-
- Gyms, malls, venues, rangements.
indoor and outdoor en-
tertainment facilities, and
personal services business-
es must close.
.
-Recreational and youth
sports are no longer per-
mitted.
.
-Pools, spas, sports
courts, and playgrounds
must close.
In Phase 1, rec-
reational and youth sports,
venues like movie the-
aters, bowling alleys, ar-
cades, and pools remain
closed. Non-essential lo-
cal travel is allowed. Per-
sonal services businesses
are allowed to operate
with health and safety
measures in place. Restau- The First Annual Father
rants and bars are open for Gerald Condon Memorial
dine-in service until 10 golf tournament will be
pm with health and safety Saturday, August 15 at the
measures in place. Indoor Willow Creek Country
social gatherings remain Club beginning at 8:30 am.
capped at 10 people with Registration begins at 8.
physical distancing, with The Holy Name Society of
other gatherings limit- St. Patrick and St. William
ed to 50 indoors, 50 out- Parishes are sponsoring
doors. This means that in- the tournament to fund
door gatherings, including scholarships. All are wel-
faith-based, civic and cul- come. Please contact Mark
tural gatherings are limited McElligott or Jim Swanson
to 50 indoors and 50 out- for information.
First Annual
Father
Condon golf
tournament
Tips for navigating the PPP
forgiveness process
By Greg Smith
Those businesses which re-
ceived Paycheck Protection Program
funds (PPP) are no doubt aware that all
or a portion of the loan is forgivable if
funds are utilized according to program
requirements.
The following information
comes from a webinar I participated
in hosted by a Small Business Administration lending
specialist, and I want to emphasize borrowers should al-
ways check with their lender or CPA for specific answers
pertaining to their individual situation.
To begin with, borrowers will submit an ap-
plication for forgiveness to their lender. The Paycheck
Protection Flexibility Act extended the amount of time
for submission from eight weeks after the date you
received the proceeds to 24. There are two different ap-
plications—form 3508 and form 3508 EZ. The EZ form
is considerably shorter, but not all businesses qualify to
use this.
You are eligible for the EZ form if you:
• are a self-employed borrower with no employees
and did not include any salaries in the calculation
of your monthly payroll when determining your
eligible loan amount.
• didn’t reduce wages by more than 25 percent
and didn’t reduce the number of employees or
average paid hours of employees.
• weren’t able to rehire/hire similarly qualified
employees.
• didn’t reduce wages by more than 25 percent
and were unable to operate at the same level of
activity due to government restrictions. (i.e. from
OSHA or another similar agency)
The lender will review the application and confirm:
• appropriate documentation has been submitted
to validate the information.
• the borrower’s certifications are true and correct.
• your mathematical calculations are accurate.
The lender has 60 days for the process to be com-
pleted and then will issue a decision to SBA along with
the required documents. The portal for submission by
lenders to the SBA is targeted to be available on August
10, but this could change. The lender’s decision will fall
into one of these categories:
1. Approval (in whole or in part)
2. Denial
3. Denial with prejudice due to pending SBA
review
Examples of supporting documents to be included
with the forgiveness application for payroll costs include
bank statements, tax forms, receipts, and cancelled
checks.
For allowable non-payroll costs you must prove
the service or obligation was in place prior to February
15, 2020 (with bills and invoices) and provide proof of
payment. For example, if you started new internet service
on February 15 or after, it would not be an allowable
utility expense. For such things as mortgage interest
payments, rent, or leases you will likely need to produce
an amortization schedule, lease agreements, copies of
cancelled checks, etc.
If using the 3508 form, you will need to include
the loan forgiveness calculation form, the PPP schedule
A and documentation showing the average number of
FTE (full time employees) on your payroll during the
referenced time periods.
Should you be required to pay back any portion
of PPP funds, no payment will be due for 10 months.
Ask your lender about additional terms and conditions
or refer to your loan documents.
While there is justifiable angst surrounding the
forgiveness process, SBA emphasizes simply approach-
ing it with honesty and integrity. With careful record
keeping and aligning the use of funds with allowable
expenses, you should have little difficulty being able
to produce necessary documentation for forgiveness.
Rely on the expertise of your CPA and always reach
out to your lender first as they are the ones who will be
recommending to SBA whether the loan is forgivable,
either in whole or in part.
quirements. The non-profit
organization is selling tick-
ets for $10 a plate, which
includes spaghetti, salad,
and garlic bread. People
may buy tickets ahead of
time or pay at the door.
“They will have a
drive-through set up so you
won’t even have to leave
your vehicle,” said co-di-
rector Julia Finch. “We
are raising money for rent,
utilities, phone service,
and other office needs. We
have several people from
the different churches in the
community selling tickets.
If you need help buying a
ticket or would like to help
with the fundraiser, contact
Julia at 252-382-4450.
Anyone wishing to
donate to Birthright of Mor-
row County is welcome to
do so, said Finch. Make
checks payable to Birth-
Greg Smith is the director of the Eastern Oregon Uni-
right of Morrow County
versity Small Business Development Center located at
and mail to: P.O. Box 923,
1607 Gekeler Lane, Room 148 in La Grande, OR. If you
Heppner, OR 97836
are seeking free, confidential business advising, please
call 541-962-1532 or email eousbdc@gmail.com.