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.