FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Good News Only
By Doris Brosnan
Good to see that good
news continues. For in-
stance:
Although 14 new cases
of Covid-19 were reported
for Morrow County by
the Sheriff’s Emergency
Management for the week
of February 14-20, on Sat-
urday, the 20 th , not one case
was reported..
Greg Sweek hopes to
soon welcome a visit from
his grandson, Archer, from
Boise, since Greg will soon
be receiving his second
C-19 vaccination – now
available for his age group.
The weather that has
created some havoc and
complicated some plans has
been a welcome relief for
area farmers who so badly
needed, and continue to
need, the moisture for their
fields.
Also encouraging are
the SNOTEL figures for
Arbuckle Mt. on February
22, which put the amount of
precipitation at 117 percent
of the median amount and
104 percent of the average.
A March memorial
mass is being planned for
Fr. Gerry Condon, priest to
many and friend to many
more. Details will soon be
announced. On March 6,
his parish in Ireland will
be celebrating a memorial
mass, also.
Jessie Scott has pro-
vided the Gazette Times
details of a Widows Group
she and others have planned
for Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at
the Elks. An opportunity to
relax and visit.
Jeanne Daly is pleased
to be back in Heppner and
able to have one visitor at
a time (room 209) in Pio-
neer Memorial Hospital.
A week ago last Monday,
Jeanne fell and broke her
femur. After surgery by Dr.
Adams, she now carries
some hardware in that leg
and expects several weeks
of therapy before being able
to return to her apartment.
The Ione Library is
trying to identify children
in its district who could
be enrolled in the Dolly
Parton Imagination Library
(DPIL). Children from
birth to age five are eligible
to be enrolled. The DPIL
mails an age-appropriate
book to enrolled children
every month. There is no
charge, and a library card
is not necessary, though
the child must live in the
Ione Library District. More
information is available at
541-561-9828 or ioneli-
brary@gmail.com.
More than one reader
has contributed the “good
news” that Randall Peter-
son continues to offer his
jeweler’s services – gifts,
jewelry (one grateful per-
son recently pointed out her
new earrings, for example),
batteries and repairs.
Readers are encour-
aged to share their good
news. Anyone who has a
tidbit is invited to email it to
dbrosnan123@gmail.com
or to call 541-676-5382.
Hoping some good
news comes to everyone
reading this.
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editor@rapidserve.net
Business Speak
Spiritually Speaking
PPP deadline
draws near
Listen and be
transformed
By Greg Smith
Those businesses which have not yet
applied for the first or second draw of the
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) need Greg Smith
to do so before March 31, 2021. The pur-
pose of the PPP is to allow business owners to keep their
workforce in place during the pandemic and the loan can
be forgivable (in whole or in part) if the funds are spent
in accordance with the requirements of the program.
Please note that beginning February 24-March 10,
the PPP is open exclusively to those businesses which
employ less than 20 people. This will still allow larger
employers to apply after March 10 so as not to miss
March 31 deadline.
According to the Small Business Administration, a
minimum of 60 percent of PPP funds must be spent on
payroll costs (which included benefits). Additionally,
funds may be used to pay mortgage interest, rent, utilities,
worker protection costs related to Covid-19, uninsured
property damage costs resulting from looting or vandalism
during 2020, and certain supplier costs and expenses for
operations.
In addition:
-PPP loans have an interest rate of 1 percent.
-Loans issued prior to June 5, 2020 have a maturity
of two years. Loans issued after June 5, 2020 have a
maturity of five years.
-Loan payments will be deferred for employers who
apply for loan forgiveness until SBA remits the borrower’s
loan forgiveness amounts to the lender. If a borrower does
not apply for loan forgiveness, payments are deferred
10 months after the end of the covered period for the
borrower’s loan forgiveness (either eight or 24 weeks).
-No collateral or personal guarantees are required.
-Neither the government nor lenders will charge small
businesses any fees.
Certain businesses may qualify for a second draw of
the PPP loan program. A business will likely be eligible
if it:
-Previously received a First Draw PPP and either will
or have used the full amount for authorized purposes.
-Does not have more than 300 employees, AND
-Can demonstrate a minimum of a 25 percent reduc-
tion in gross receipts between comparable quarters in
2019 and 2020.
To apply, contact your lending institution or visit sba.
gov for more details including locating a lender near you.
PPP loans have been an important lifeline for many
businesses and have helped to ensure employees’ jobs
will remain in place. Fortunately, the IRS reversed its
decision regarding expenses paid with PPP loan proceeds
not being deductible expenses if the loan was forgiven
or if the recipient had a reasonable expectation it would
be. That guidance was rescinded with the issuance of
Revenue Ruling 2021-02. In short, those expenses are
now deductible business expenses.
There are some indicators the economy is recovering
but it is advisable that businesses take advantage of the
opportunity to apply for the PPP while the program is still
available. Make note of that March 31 deadline.
Greg Smith is the director of the Eastern Oregon
University Small Business Development Center located
at 1607 Gekeler Lane, Room 148 in La Grande, OR.
If you are seeking free, confidential business advising,
please call 541-962-1532 or email eousbdc@gmail.com.
By Fr. Thankachan
Joseph SDB, St. Patrick
Church
As we enter the second
week of Lent, the scripture
readings of the day take us
to the mountains to have
communion with the Father.
Abraham, the father of faith,
is tested on Mount Moriah
and proves his unconditional
love for his heavenly father. Fr. Thankachan Joseph
Similarly, in the transfigura-
tion scene on Mount Tabor
the heavenly father reveals the Son Jesus as His beloved.
The season of Lent is an invitation for all of us to move
from our old nature to a new way of living – to have that
wonderful experience like the disciples.
In Genesis (22: 1-2. 9-18, 26), Abraham was tested,
and he remained faithful to God. Abraham was willing to
observe God’s plan in his life, even when God asked for
something very dear to him, his only son to be sacrificed
on Mount Moriah. The command to Abraham to offer
his only son prefigures how God would later offer His
own son for our salvation. Abraham was willing to give
everything for God. Is it true with you and me? Are we
willing to give up anything for the Lord? Abraham’s faith
was firm. From the sacrifice of Abraham, we learn that
he was attentive to the word of God and obeyed God’s
command and that he trusted God. There is no place for
selfishness in one’s life with God. This is a season to pause
and to ask God, “Please Lord, what must I do to make You
happy?” The answer is simple: We must be ready to listen
to God and to do what He asks us to do, as Abraham did.
Our second reading is very encouraging because it
is full of hope, especially during this season of Lent. St.
Paul in his letter to the Roman (8: 31-34), offers us three
assurances, “The first promise is that when God is with us
who can be against us; tell us that there is no opposition;
there is no condemnation; and there is no separation.”
Through the second reading, St. Paul urges us to die for
our sins through our Lenten observances and practices of
mortification, almsgiving, prayer, fasting, etc.
The gospel for the second Sunday of Lent is always
one of the accounts of the transfiguration of the Lord
(Mk 9: 2-10). The transfiguration scene begins with
Jesus climbing the mountain with the selected apostles
Peter, James, and John, and He is somehow miraculously
changed. His clothes become white and His face radiant.
Christ is revealed through His transfiguration as the Son
of God. The only thing that God demands from us is to
“Listen to him!” If we listen to Christ, we shall be suc-
cessful in our journey with Him this season.
Recently I had a pleasure trip to Penland Lake along
with our friends the Tom Wolfe and Murray families. It is
very nice to witness all those areas in the intense winter
season. The first thought that came to my mind was the
scene of transfiguration, Jesus with his three apostles
who had the wonderful experience on Mount Tabor. It is
surely good for us to have this mountain experience; to
draw close to one another and to Christ. Once we spend
that time in communion with the Heavenly Father, when
we listen to Christ and experience Him up there on the
mountain, it will be like that of Peter, who forgets himself
and thinks of others only. Though Peter tells the Lord it is
nice to be there up on the mountain, He brings them down
the mountain to live a life of heavenly call, like Abraham.
Once when we listen to Him, the transfiguration
should give us inspiration and hope. In our daily life we
encounter problems, difficulties, tribulations and trials
of various things. But in the midst of all these, we are
reminded that the Lord we are following is a victorious
Lord, the beloved Son of the Father. All our troubles in
this world are momentary. Our final destiny is glory,
victory, and eternal happiness. It is like reading a novel
in which the happy ending is already known to us. No
matter how difficult the problems that the main characters
in the novel encounter, we are not discouraged because
we know the story will have a happy ending. We know
that with Jesus, our happy ending is certain. So, St. Paul
said, “The sufferings of the present times are as nothing
compared with the glory to be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).
Sufferings are part of our life, especially as we closely
follow the Crucified Lord. The zeal with which we have
begun these Lenten observances will take us forward to
achieve our victory.
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