TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 9, 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
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lication must be specified. Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits
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meet news guidelines. Families wishing to include information not included in the guidelines
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AWANA Club to go
virtual this fall
Heppner AWANA Club
is returning this fall, with
some modifications due
to the ongoing COVID-19
situation.
Volunteers are working
on switching to a virtual
platform with online club
meetings that will be both
safe and fun for club mem-
bers. While they say not
all the details have been
worked out, they are plan-
ning for a start date around
Sept. 29. Meetings will last
about 45 minutes. In-person
club meetings will resume
when COVID-19 restric-
tions are lightened.
The AWANA program
is the combined effort of
local churches to teach
children what the Bible is
all about. Games, songs and
a Bible lesson are included
during a typical club meet-
ing. It includes activities
for Sparks (kindergarten
through second grade) and
Truth and Training (third
through sixth grade) mem-
bers.
To register or for more
information, contact AWA-
NA secretary Andrea Di
Salvo at adisalvo629@
gmail.com or 757-285-
5792.
Churches to provide
internet access for
students
The churches in Hep-
pner will be making their
facilities available for
school children in the south
end of the county who have
limited internet access.
The following churches
will be open for any student
who needs internet access
for distance learning: All
Saints Episcopal Church
(541-676-9970); Heppner
Christian Church (541-571-
2537); St. Patrick’s Catho-
lic Church (541-561-6768);
and Willow Creek Baptist
Church (541-219-2316).
Please contact each church
for additional information.
Arlington landfill
UMCHS receives
fined for radioactive donations from Nike
dumping
Chemical Waste Man-
agement, which operates
a landfill near Arlington,
has been fined $60,000
for disposing of 2.5 mil-
lion pounds of radioactive
waste from a North Dakota
oilfield site, against Oregon
law.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Energy (ODOE)
had issued Waste Man-
agement a notice of viola-
tion back in February for
the illegal dumping. When
news that the company had
been accepting radioac-
tive waste reached Mor-
row County government it
caused a stir. Commissioner
Jim Doherty became upset
learning that multiple train
carloads of the waste were
hauled through the county
without anyone notifying
the sheriff’s office. Law
enforcement is normally
notified when hazardous
materials come through on
trains, so in case of an acci-
dent, emergency personnel
will know for their, and the
townsfolk’s safety, what
they are up against.
Doherty was upset be-
cause first responders and
others who may go to an
accident scene would have
no idea the banned mate-
rial was waiting for them.
“How can the rail folks
be assured what is going
through this town (Board-
man)?” he asked at the time.
The waste came though
on rail between 2016 and
2019.
Recently the Oregon
Department of Environ-
mental Quality (DEQ) lev-
ied the Arlington landfill
a fine of $60,000 for the
illegal dumping. In addition
to Waste Management, a
Culbertson, Montana oil-
field waste logistics com-
pany was fined $303,856
for sending the material to
Oregon. The radioactive
material is a by-product of
fracking from oil drilling in
North Dakota.
However, in con-
sultation with other state
agencies, ODOE at the
time determined there is
no current threat to land-
fill workers, the public or
the environment from this
waste. ODOE also at the
time said the incident didn’t
meet the criteria to qualify
for a fine, however the DEQ
apparently did not agree
and issued the fine to Waste
Management.
The Neighborhood
Center is an essential, lo-
cal non-profit and remains
open to help those in need.
The center is providing
food boxes and other emer-
gency services (such as
rent and utility assistance)
to those who have fallen
on hard times and reside in
south Morrow County.
Food boxes can be
picked up Monday through
Friday from 10 a.m. to 12
noon and 2 to 4 p.m. at 441
N Main Street, Heppner.
Food boxes are filled with
a week’s work of food and
can be picked up through-
out the month.
The Neighborhood
Center is also accepting
gently used clothing, house-
hold items and paper and
plastic bags for the pantry.
Executive Director Lisa
Patton reported the center
is also partnered with the
Salvation Army and can
provide shelter for those
who are homeless or tempo-
rarily displaced. Emergency
gas assistance vouchers are
also available for those in
need of fuel.
The center also works
with CAPECO and can
assist locals in applying
for COVID-19 relief funds
for CAPECO’s utility and
housing programs. For fur-
ther information or to set
up a time to pick up a food
box contact Lisa Patton at
541-676-5024.
Neighborhood
Center still open
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Head Start received furniture, playground equipment and
classroom materials from Nike. -Contributed photo.
The building blocks for
outfitting UMCHS (Uma-
tilla Morrow Head Start
Inc.) Eastern Oregon early
learning centers are rolling
in, literally, on trucks full
of high-quality furniture,
playground equipment and
classroom materials. NI-
KE’s Global Headquarters
in Beaverton, OR selected
UMCHS as a primary bene-
ficiary for what is estimated
as over a half million dol-
lars’ worth of furniture and
materials that will enrich
all UMCHS early learning
environments and services.
Dialogues began sever-
al weeks ago with NIKE’s
site directors and UMCHS
Executive Director, Mau-
reen McGrath. “The NIKE
team has always been a
groundbreaker when it
comes to supporting early
care and education, and this
gift of high-quality resourc-
es will ‘pay it forward’ to
some of our communities’
most vulnerable children in
eastern Oregon.”
The NIKE philanthrop-
ic gift could not have come
at a better time as UMCHS
recently received funding
for expansion. Forty-three
new infants/toddlers and
their families will be served
in our areas, and an ad-
ditional 26 children will
receive Preschool Promise
services through UMCHS.
New sites benefited by the
expansion include Board-
man, Hermiston, Stanfield,
Condon, Wallowa and
Pendleton.
This donation will di-
rectly support our Oregon
Pre-K, Birth to Three pro-
grams, as well as Head
Start, Early Head Start,
Child Care partnerships,
Child Care Resource and
Referral and our existing
expanse of programs un-
der the UMCHS umbrella.
McGrath explains that early
learning focused efforts like
these are investments that
will pay dividends later, in
kindergarten and beyond.
ECE materials, furni-
ture, outdoor playground
structures, fencing, bath-
room fixtures, books, stroll-
ers, cots, iPads and manip-
ulatives and so much more
have been transported to
UMCHS’ new Operations
Complex and will roll out
to classrooms and programs
this fall. “As a teacher, you
secretly wish for items for
your classroom that are
child-sized, of amazing
quality, enhance the ed-
ucational experience and
come from the heart,” says
UMCHS Head Start Direc-
tor Dennis Julian. “And this
gift exceeds that wish ten
times over.”
“People would be
shocked at what it costs to
set up a preschool class-
room,” says Dan Daltoso,
UMCHS Associate Direc-
tor for Operations. “On
average, it costs between
$20,000 and $40,000, and
we see dollar signs when
we see equipment and even
miniature toilets and sinks
sized for these small tots.”
It means that “we will be
able to re-purpose revenues
meant for hardware towards
direct services for children
and families,” Daltoso adds.
UMCHS programs
give children the tools they
need to succeed in higher
learning and to parents,
the resources they need
to excel. Parents can send
their children to preschool
knowing they are going to
learn skills that ensure they
are ready for kindergarten:
among them math, literacy,
social-emotional learning,
nutrition and physical ex-
ercise. Each aspect focuses
on preparing children for
higher forms of education
and this donation will help
enhance the environments
for our children. Julian
notes that, “After the year
we have all had, Nike’s gift
reminds us of how import-
ant it is to look out for one
another…we are not in this
alone because educating
children is everyone’s busi-
ness.” McGrath concurs,
“It’s truly a legacy gift that
will make a difference for
decades.”
If you are interested
in exploring early learning
opportunities like preschool
or would like to learn more
about the programs we offer
at UMCHS, call 541-564-
6878 or visit www.umchs.
com.
UMCHS is an agency
committed to ensuring that
children, and those who
care for them, are given all
the tools they need to create
healthy and happy futures
for the next generation. The
agency is founded on the
principles that have made
Head Start one of the earli-
est and most effective inter-
ventions for preparing our
young children for brighter
futures academically, so-
cially and emotionally.
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188 W Willow Street
Heppner, OR
editor@rapidserve.net