TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 28, 2020
The Official Newspaper
of the City of Heppner and the County of Morrow
Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U.S.P.S. 240-420
Thingelstad receives Ione school receives
award
funds for welding
helmets
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 publi-
cation must be specified. Affidavits must be requested 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.
Birthright of
Morrow County
to open
Birthright of Morrow
County, an emergency
pregnancy service, will
open Monday, November
2 at 128 W. Willow St., for-
merly Dr. Rolen’s Optom-
etrist office. The hours of
operation will be Monday
10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Thursday
5 - 7 p.m. and Saturday
1 - 3 p.m.
The phone number for
the facility, 541-676-0530,
will be available Nov. 2.
Birthright will offer love
and compassion along with
free pregnancy testing to
those facing a crisis preg-
nancy.
Anyone interested in
helping may contact Julia
Finch at 252-382-4450.
Library to host
Friday Fun Days
Oregon Trail Library District’s Heppner Branch
began Friday Fun Days on October 23, with fun crafts
to make at home for preschool through fourth-grade
children. Each Friday will be a different Take and Make
craft-in-a-bag that can be picked up.
Those interested should call the library at 541-676-
9964 to register and reserve the supplies. Each registered
child will receive their own craft tool kit to create the
weekly projects.
New Baby in Your Family?
Engagement?
Wedding?
We want to share your life events!
Stop in the Heppner Gazette office or email us
with details and photos.
All birth, engagement and wedding
announcements are always free!
188 W Willow Street
Heppner, OR
editor@rapidserve.net
THERESA CRAWFORD
FOR
MORROW COUNTY
JUSTICE OF THE PEACE
•
•
•
•
Strong work ethic
Common sense
Compassion in and out of court
Fairness, consistency and respect
“I will treat the people of Morrow County and all
who come before me with respect, consistency,
effectiveness and fairness.”
~ Theresa Crawford
Please like my facebook page
Theresa Crawford for Justice of the Peace
You can also email me anytime with questions
t_buffy@live.com
Vote November 3rd
CICU nurse Melissa Thingelstad, daughter of Gene and Chire-
lla Wallace of Lexington, was awarded the Values in Action
Award at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center during their
Mission and Heritage week. It is the highest honor for Provi-
dence caregivers in Oregon.
Publication lists
Morrow County
stats
Pictured (L-R): Steve Schaber- math and shop teacher; Mike
Alldritt- business agent/ organizer for Ironworkers Local
#29 and Martin Vito- FFA advisor, science and math teacher.
The OSU Extension rural at 15 percent and ur- -Contributed photo.
publication “Oregon by the
Numbers,” just out, lists all
sorts of interesting data on
each county in the state.
According to the data,
Morrow County has a pop-
ulation of 11,215, with
46 percent rural, in 2,049
square miles; 17 percent
of land is public with
30 percent developed or
cultivated. The top three
employment industries in
Morrow County are listed
as food manufacturing,
crop production and animal
production.
Morrow County’s me-
dian household income, at
$55,440, trails the Oregon
median income at $59,393.
Life expectancy in
Morrow County is 83 years
for women and 79 years for
men with 59.9 percent of
the population white, 35.9
percent Hispanic/Latino,
2.6 percent two or more
races, .6 percent American
Indian/Alaska Native, .6
percent Asian, .2 percent
Black/African American,
.2 percent Native Hawaiian/
Pacific Islander.
As for “food insecuri-
ty”, Morrow, at 8 percent,
is lower than Oregon as a
whole at 12 percent, how-
ever child poverty, at 23
percent, is up over state
figures of 18 percent, with
17 percent rural and 18
percent urban. 42 percent
of households in Morrow
County are below the pov-
erty level and “ALICE
Thresholds”. The ALICE
Threshold represents the
minimum income necessary
for a household.
The Morrow County
foster care rate per 1,000
population is at 5, lower
than Oregon at 9 percent,
ban at 8 percent.
Crime in Morrow
County is 20 per thousand
population, lower than Or-
egon at 28, rural at 21 and
urban at 29 percent per
1,000.
Voter participation
in Morrow County at 63
percent, lags Oregon as a
whole at 70 percent.
In education, 8 of 26
kindergarten ready stu-
dents (who know their let-
ter sounds) is the same in
Morrow County as Oregon
as a whole. Third grade
reading on track at 35 per-
cent in Morrow County,
compared to 47 percent in
Oregon, however ninth-
grade students on track,
at 92 percent in Morrow
County, surpass Oregon at
85 percent. The five-year
graduation rate in Morrow
County, at 83 percent, is
slightly above Oregon as
a whole at 80 percent; but
those in Morrow County
with a four-year college
degree or greater at 11 per-
cent, seriously lags Oregon
at 33 percent.
The unemployment rate
in Morrow County matches
Oregon at 4 percent, but job
growth per 1,000 popula-
tion at 28 per thousand in
Morrow County. Property
tax in Morrow County per
person is quite a bit up at
$2,670 per person, com-
pared to $1,548 per person
in Oregon ($1,280 rural and
$1,600 urban).
Around 10 percent of
babies in Morrow County
have low birth rates, com-
pared to 7 percent in Ore-
gon. The vaccination rate
in Morrow County for two-
year-olds at 75 percent, is
up slightly from 73 percent
Earlier this month, the
members of Ironworkers
Local No. 29 in Portland,
OR voted to grant funds
to Ione High School’s Ca-
reer and Technical Educa-
tion Program to purchase
40 welding helmets. The
helmets will be given to
students enrolled in CTE
classes and will be theirs
to keep.
Construction Technol-
ogy, agricultural mechanics
and metal technologies are
programs that will benefit
from the welding helmets.
This will also make it pos-
sible for students to refrain
from share helmets, which
is not an option due to
COVID restrictions.
Career and Technical
Education (CTE) provides
an important pathway to
success for high school
students and offers each
student opportunities to
personalize his or her edu-
cation based on their career
interests and unique learn-
ing needs. This is hands
on learning that allows
students to focus on current
vocational opportunities.
Ironworkers Local No.
29 finds that reaching out
to rural schools and helping
them learn about appren-
ticeship programs within
the building trades is im-
portant and much needed.
They can introduce students
to an alternative to college
which is not a choice for
some of today’s graduates.
in Oregon. 48 percent of
people in Morrow County
have good physical health,
compared to 60 percent
in Oregon, however, 71
percent of Morrow County
residents have good men-
tal health, compared to 57
percent in Oregon. Morrow
County’s tobacco use is up,
at 37 percent, compared to
Oregon in general at 26
percent.
In terms of infrastruc-
ture, 78 percent of Morrow
County residents have ac-
cess to broadband, while
Oregon in general has 94
percent. Child care slots
per 100 children is lower
in Morrow County at 10,
compared to Oregon at 16.
Not surprisingly, transit
service in Morrow County
is a low 4 percent, with tran-
sit service in Oregon at 52
percent. Thirty-one percent
of people in Morrow Coun-
ty live in mobile homes,
with 8 percent in Oregon.
Also, not surprisingly,
Morrow County residents
per capita travel more than
three times as do Oregon
residents, at 17,282 in ve-
hicle miles, compared to
only 5,190 miles in Oregon.
Rural Oregon as a whole
travels 9,640 miles per
capita, compared to 4,326
urban.
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